Agility (Trying to Keep up with Mobile Devices in Business)

Mobile devices are portable technology: iPhone and iPad, devices running Google Android and Windows 8 or using RIM Blackberry. They use “transmission media such as: radio wave, microwave, infra-red, GPS and Bluetooth to allow for the transfer of data via voice, text, video, 2-dimensional barcodes and more.” (Daichendt) "To take advantage of the value mobility brings to employees and customers, companies are redesigning the building blocks of their business." (Smith)

Several sources report that the average mobile marketing campaign response rates are typically 12 – 15% (as opposed to direct mail which averages 2 – 3%) with some companies seeing response rates as high as 60% or more. It is anticipated that, by 2013, the U.S. will top 100% per capita penetration of mobile phone use! According to Forbes, “Mobility is about how your customers are increasingly getting things done.” (Michele-Ross) Therefore, to remain competitive, business MUST take advantage of the opportunities that mobile technologies afford them. Businesses need to understand how mobility will change their customers in order to plot a plan for keeping their own business relevant. They must stay informed about mobile developments as a way to plot their own path to the future; they must stay ahead of the curve and be flexible.

http://bit.ly/U2NuK0

[My mother, the librarian says:] October is National INFORMATION LITERACY Awareness Month

Before the month ends, my mother (the librarian) wanted you to know that October is National Information Literacy Month! (The President recognized the importance of information literacy on October 1, 2009 and issued a proclamation to that effect.)

President Barack H. Obama – National Information Literacy Month, October 2009

“Every day, we are inundated with vast amounts of information. A 24-hour news cycle and thousands of global television and radio networks, coupled with an immense array of online resources, have challenged our long-held perceptions of information management. Rather than merely possessing data, we must also learn the skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate information for any situation. This new type of literacy also requires competency with communication technologies, including computers and mobile devices that can help in our day-to-day decision making. National Information Literacy Awareness Month highlights the need for all Americans to be adept in the skills necessary to effectively navigate the Information Age.”

Much of what we are learning in this Web 2.0 course concerns Information Literacy (IL) in addition to Information Technology (IT) fluency. The IT gives us the tools we need to develop our IL. As professionals, we need both these skill sets to develop and maintain our PLN – our lifelong learning. We should strive to make every day Information Literacy Day.

Chapter 3 Overview - I'm Searching for...



http://bit.ly/XBxSSx

Typing in the URL for a Web page or selecting it from a list of favorites are some of the more common ways to find the information you’re looking for on your browser, but you won’t always know the URL you need or have something saved to your favorites. Shelly and Campbell mention that Internet Explorer 9 has a new search feature to help you find the correct URL by just entering keywords or taking a guess as to what the URL may be. There are several Internet search tools available for use. I’m a Google user myself, but Bing is out there, along with others. Each engine offers different features and these are continuously changing and developing. The authors advise that each “… user’s search needs might vary from one search to another, making one tool more appropriate for that type of search.” (112)

Want to Learn More Tools?

Jane Hart and her C4LPT website are an important part of my PLN. Check out the slideshare presentation on the website or review the HTML list.

I found a new tool - TACKK - and used it to create this poster. You can link to the poster or try creating your own Tackk.

Search ‘Wisely’: Using Advanced Search Features

Don’t confuse a web browser (a software program that helps you find, display and read a variety of document types) with a search engine (a web site that collects and indexes content from a vast array of Internet websites). A search engine sends its spiders to crawl the web and bring back page images to the search engine, which then indexes their content – therefore, when you search, it is NOT in ‘real time’ but is rather time-delayed, based upon when that search engine’s spiders last captured the web page and when that page was last indexed by the search engine! [For more detail, I recommend “How Does a Web Crawler Work?”

For the sake of brevity, I’ll limit myself to the “Big 3” search engines: Bing, Google and Yahoo!. When you search the Internet, do you use BASIC search?

BASIC searching is just that – it’s basic! It doesn’t take advantage of a wealth of limiters (if you read my Boolean search blogpost , you know that these help to refine your search or narrow its scope.) BASIC searching is great for a quick definition, the weather, an address or phone number, or a currency conversion, etc.

ADVANCED searching, however, will give you a smaller, more targeted result set. But your favorite Search Engine might not make ADVANCED Searching easy for you to do.

Before You SEARCH, Think about WHAT You are SEARCHING FOR

Even if you are an Internet wizard, this site  will assist you in identifying Internet search tools that help you:

• Find a topic, understand the scope of a topic, investigate alternative or related topics, or refine and narrow a topic.
• Identify quality results (authoritative and scholarly sites chosen by a subject expert or sites ranked or tagged as valuable or relevant).
• Conduct research in a specific discipline.
• Do research based upon the timeliness of information.
• Identify facts or find opinions and perspectives.
• Look for specific media.

For more information on how to formulate your searches, limiting your results using special search commands, and numerous special search engines, look at the Guidebook to Internet Searching.

Register on the MakeUseof site (http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/guide-internet-searching) to download or download directly (http://bit.ly/5mA8Um)

References:

Abilock, Debbie. "Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need." NoodleTools. N.p., 22 July 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html.

Sherwin, Dean. Guidebook to Internet Searching. MakeUseOf, 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. <http://manuals.makeuseof.com.s3.amazonaws.com/MakeUseOf.com_-_Searching.pdf>.

Boolean Logic is NOT Logical

“Boolean logic refers to the logical relationship among search terms, and is named for the British-born Irish mathematician George Boole.”

“Boolean logic allows you to combine words and phrases into search statements to retrieve documents from searchable databases.” (Cohen) 

To use Boolean logic, you have to stop thinking in the English language or in the language of math.  When we say the word AND or when we use the plus sign (+), we make more - we expand our  universe. Dogs AND Cats (Dogs + Cats) contain more animals than just Dogs or just Cats, right?

But in Boolean logic, AND actually limits your results - you end up with less: Dogs AND Cats (Dogs + Cats)  gives you only the intersection of the two (as shown in the Venn diagram).

And in English, when we use the word OR, we are limiting our universe so that we have less. Either Dogs OR Cats (but not both of them together). Well,  guess what? the Boolean OR expands your results - that's right...you get more as a result:

The Boolean OR is useful when you want to search for synonymous terms at the same time (example: personal learning network OR PLN).

Even a Hungry Hippo Knows How to Surf the Net! [GoAnimate Assignment]

Hungry Hungry Hippo by beets1278 on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.

This was fun. Hope you enjoy.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet – That is the Question

I’ve pulled back from social networking and hardly ever go on FaceBook any more. However, this Web 2.0 class has given new meaning to the concept of social networking: it’s not just about keeping up with your friends and family – it’s about developing professional connections, keeping up with professional trends, and having a group of colleagues to use as resources. So I was encouraged to set up a Twitter account.

According to the Social Learning Centre [you have to become a member to access this link], “One of the key reasons for joining Twitter is to become part of a community. A “community” can take several forms. It might be: your Personal or Professional Learning Network (PLN); a Community of Practice (CoP) – a collection of like-minded people who join together to improve their practice; a Learning Community – a body students/learners and others who learn together.” The trick is finding the people and groups to build your community and then learning how to use that community! That meant I had to learn about hashtags (#), lists, shortened URLs, etc.

I agree with Noel, there are numerous cons to Twitter: “There isn’t a clear concise message with twitter. All twitter posts are erratic at best and don’t have a common style.” “…Twitter posts are only 140 characters and can’t really tell the story of what’s going on. Which means that it is more or less used as a starting point for driving people to another source in which you can read more about it.” I disagree with his statement that “the major usefulness for Twitter is primarily for business marketing and brand awareness and for news reporting.” Surely educators and trainers believe that it should be a part of our PLN and/or our PKN. 

While I do TXT my friends and family routinely, I honestly don’t know that I’m still comfortable in the Twitter world. While I grew up with the sound-bites of Sesame Street, I prefer my learning to be by the plateful. To follow the analogy further, I can see myself using Twitter when I need a snack, but not when I want to eat a meal.

Works Cited:

"How to use Twitter for Social Learning." Social Learning Centre. Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. <http://sociallearningcentre.co.uk/activities/how-to-use-twitter-for-social-learning/>. [You must register as a user to access this resource.]

Noel, Jason. "Do you think that Twitter will last?." Pros And Cons Of Twitter. N.p., 16 July 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mavenwebsites.com/pros-and-cons-of-twitter/>. 

 

 

 

Branding: Creating Your Identity Visually

Your Logo is the first "face" people see and should convey your aims & ideas. A successful logo should have the features of appropriate, practical, graphic, simple, and UNIQUE. This is a great overview and lasts less than 2 minutes.

A Guide for Baby Birds

http://nonprofitorgs.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/twitter-viral.png

If you, too, are new to the wonderful world of Twitter, here’s an abbreviated list of terms/concepts you should know [or click for the complete Glossary]: 

• At symbol [@] : used to call out usernames in Tweets if you are tweeting an individual. When a username is preceded by the @ sign, it becomes a link to a Twitter profile. When you use the @username, the message you write appears in that person’s inbox on Twitter.com and on any of the desktop or mobile clients they might be using. According to Suster, “… if you’re really responding to somebody and you don’t want all your followers to see it (but you don’t necessarily want to send a private message via DM or you can’t because they don’t follow you) then start with an @. Otherwise make sure it has text in front of it.” [See Direct Message below for really private Tweets.]

• Bio : Describe yourself in 160 characters. [Talk about creating a 90 second commercial to introduce yourself!]
• Chat : Twitter conversations already in progress. Some include gathering on specific days and times. [See Hashtags for more.] Read Don Power’s Twitter Tip Join a Twitter Chat.
• Direct Message [DM] : these Tweets are private between the sender and recipient.
• Email Notifications : Preferences you set to receive notifications via email about events on your account, such as new followers and new direct messages.
• Favorites [represented by a small star icon next to a Tweet] : used when you like a Tweet. Favoriting a Tweet can let the original poster know that you liked their Tweet, or when you want to save the Tweet for later reference.
• Handle : A user's "Twitter handle" is the username s/he has selected and its accompanying URL [mine is: http://twitter.com/Beets1278]. [See Also User Name.]
• Hashtags [#] : A clickable link and convenient way to become part of chats and discussions that share the latest news, resources, and ideas. If you click the hashtag in any tweet, you’ll display a live feed of every tweet that has that hashtag in it. You can find the most up to date tweets by clicking the bar that says “x new tweets.” According to Power , hashtags have to be one continuous keyword, with no spaces in between words are not case sensitive. To find a hashtag, try 20 Hottest Hashtags for Teachers on Twitter or take a look at the Twitter chat schedule, which includes a description of hundreds of chats, their host/moderator, a link to the chat, and a calendar of days/times you can participate in real-time chat. 

• Lists : Curated groups of other Twitter users (does not include yourself) creating a group on your Twitter account. You can create your own lists or subscribe to lists created by others. Viewing a list timeline will show you a stream of Tweets from only the users on that list. [Lists are used for reading Tweets only. You cannot send or direct a Tweet to members of a list, for only those list members to see.] List names cannot exceed 25 characters, nor can they begin with a number. 

• Retweet [verb] : The act of forwarding another user's Tweet to all of your followers. Abbreviated RT and placed before the retweeted text when manually retweeting a message. Some articles have a widget that allows you to Retweet without having to sign into your Twitter account and do a manual post. 

• Search [Integrated Search] : A box on your Twitter homepage that allows you to search all public Tweets for keywords, usernames, hashtags, or subject. Searches can also be performed at search.twitter.com. 

• Timeline : Real-time list of Tweets on Twitter. When you log in, your Tweets timeline view will appear on your homepage. The home timeline is a long stream showing all Tweets from those you have chosen to follow on Twitter displayed in reverse chronological order with the newest at the top. Interact with Tweets from within the timeline by hovering your mouse over a Tweet to reply, retweet, or favorite. 

• Tweet [verb] : The act of posting a message on Twitter. 

• Tweet [noun] : A message posted via Twitter containing 140 characters or fewer. 

• Twitterer: An account holder on Twitter who posts and reads Tweets. [I am now a Twitterer!] 

• URL Shortener: Used to turn long URLs into shorter URLs. Twitter automatically shortens URLS but you can also use services like Bitly to do so before posting your Tweet or even referring to a long URL in a paper, email, or your blog. 

• Username : Your Twitter handle must be unique and contain fewer than 15 characters and is used to identify you on Twitter for replies and mentions. While your username appears in your profile URL and is unique to you, it’s not the same as your real name, which is also displayed in your profile page and used to identify you to friends, especially if your username is something mysterious [like Beets1278].

• Widget : Bits of code you see on websites  that allow you to Like on Facebook or lead you to a Twitter Homepage. [Did you notice the Twitter Updates I added to the sidebar of my blog?]
  

A Story About Web2.0/PLN/Just-in-Time Learning

It all started with an email from Events@techlearning.com which was sent to my mailbox on Thursday, 10/18/12 at around noon. [Backstep: to get that email, I had to be signed up with Tech&Learning  to receive their enews and top stories via email –this was before I considered getting RSS feeds.] It said:

Tune in this Friday, October 19 to Tech Forum Live Online, Tech & Learning's live broadcast stream direct from Tech Forum New York. Join this preeminent group of education leaders as they tackle some of the most pressing, and promising, issues for today's schools. The schedule includes:

• Tools for Education Professionals - 9:30-10:40 am Presenters: David Andrade, Sal Contes and Nancy Caramanico Looking for the best apps and Web 2.0 tools for planning, communicating, and building your own learning community? Dubious about tweeting or social networking as professional endeavors? Our panelists will share their favorite productivity tools for teachers and administrators and then invite you to do the same."

“Great” I said. [I even created a tiny URL for the LiveStream URL and shared it as a Tweet.] The info immediately went on my calendar.

www.livestream.com/techlearning

And, a few minutes before 9:30 on conference day, I opened the link to the broadcast. [As with any technology, there were glitches with the audio and the video; but they were soon remediated.]

In that hour, I learned about a number of tools: Evernote, Twitter, Celly, Google Voice, Edmodo and Audioboo. For those of you who missed it, you can get the session outline from GoogleDocs.

Symbaloo (vs. Delicious)

My Symbaloo WebMix

While I like the idea of a dashboard of favorites you can retrieve from any Internet-accessible computer, I can see that this graphical dashboard has some limitations - a tile for a website works well. A tile that is a 'folder' composite is less useful.

Delicious has the benefit of 'growing' your favorite links, since you can use other people's bookmarks as a way of keeping up with what's new that other net users are discovering in 'real time'.

If I were looking for links to grow my own PLN, Delicious would be an exceptionally great resource. It provides suggested tags as well as showing me what the website/webpage looks like.


Today's Delicious PLN links

And I can add any of these resources to my own Delicious account. This is social bookmarking to the max!

But "every rose has its thorns"...

Social Networking Timeline (Just FYI)



from The Complete Timeline of Social Learning Networks from 1960 to 2012 
or link to image

Graphically interesting, wouldn't you agree? Who says there's nothing new under the sun?

PLN (Part 3) - My PLN

Rebekah's PLN subscriptions



Rebekah's PLN on Symbaloo

As part of researching Web 2.0, learning technologies, and social learning, I often found interesting/relevant resources which came from blogs. I then went to that blog's HomePage and scrolled through the other posts. Were they interesting/relevant as well? Is/are the author(s) reliable sources? Would I benefit from seeing new things they were writing? If 'yes' then add to my Google Reader subscriptions. [If 'yes' but the blogs were no longer actively maintained, then I'd just add the articles to my browser favorites.]

I also looked at the Blogroll of each site to see if I could identify other 'experts' and their blogs to follow. [Follow the links and see what you find.]

Finally, I used my subscriptions to help me develop this Symbaloo webmix:

This Webmix represents most of the sites I have discovered while developing my PLN and, therefore, most of the public sites found in my Google Reader. I'd appreciate your feedback.



PLN (Part 2) - HOW to develop a PLN

Scott Leslie http://edtechpost.wikispaces.com/file/view/swl_ple2.gif

"PLN is an acronym for Personal Learning Network. The acronym is relatively new, but the idea is not. Teachers have always had learning networks—people we learn from and share with. Teachers are information junkies. We’re also social. Put the two together and you have a personal learning network…. The kinds of discussions I have, and information I share with my PLN hasn’t changed all that much over the years–what works in class, how students learn, how to become a better teacher. How I meet other teachers, where we discuss ideas, and how we share information has changed." (Sakamoto)

Chapter 2 Overview

http://flatclassroom10-1.flatclassroomproject.org/How+the+World+Wide+Web+has+Changed+the+World

Millions of Web sites and billions of Web pages, huh? I guess I really hadn't thought about it. I've definitely thought of the Internet as infinite but I haven’t ever tried to associate a numerical value to it. With new pages continuously being added to existing sites, it’s no surprise that the number is immeasurable. Shelly and Campbell tell us that “Web sites can consist of a single Web page or thousands of pages.” (38) From a business perspective, sites can be used to sell products or services. There are personal Web sites that can be used for communication purposes. A primary Web page on a Web site is called a Home Page. The web site itself could be a singular page or have multiple pages, links or tabs so navigation is easier. These pages, links, or tabs would allow the reader to review general information about the site and should also include frequently asked questions (FAQs) for problem resolution.

I've never heard of Yahoo! referred to as a Web Portal (AKA portal).  A portal “… is a special type of Web site that offers a doorway to a vast range of content and services.” (39) Portals provide a place for those opening browsers and can feature news, weather, reference tools, etc. Web pages need to be eye catching in order to keep viewers interested (kind of like our blogs!). Things like logos, images, links, and advertisements can be found on Web pages. These things can frequently change. 

“A single Web server can store or host many small Web sites.” (41) Client/server computing is a process by which a Web browser (or client) sends a request to a Web server where the page is stored. The server should respond “… by sending a copy of the Web page to the browser.” (41) A client is defined by Shelly and Campbell as “… an application that runs on computer, such as a personal computer, and requests resources or services from another computer.” Whereas a server is defined as: “… a computer that ‘serves up,’ or provides, the requested resources or services.” (41) Servers can be in the same location or a location far removed from the main location(s).

Alerts [a PLN tip from my mother, the ‘retired’ librarian]

Researching a topic for a long-term project or thesis? Did you know that you can generate on-going searches and receive results as e-mail messages or as RSS feeds to your feed reader?

Both the EbscoHost and ProQuest (journal databases providers we can access via the Empire State library website) allow you to receive an automatic email notification or RSS feed whenever:

• a new issue of a journal you are interested in ‘subscribing’ to has been added to that database or when 

• new articles are available to update a search you have run in that database. 

You can read more about these neat services from EbscoHost and ProQuest.

And you can use GoogleAlerts to notify you of new, updated results for a search you are interested in following on the Internet over time. Each email you receive contains a link to delete the alert, so you can cancel any time you want. Google Alerts has several other settings to help you customize your updates. Learn more fine-tuning your search by source type and frequency of reporting.

PLN (Part 1)



From Building a Future-Ready Personal Learning Network
School Library Monthly/Volume XXVII, Number 3/December 2010 p.35

WHAT is a PLN?

According to Wikipedia: “A personal learning network is an informal learning network that consists of the people a learner interacts with and derives knowledge from in a personal learning environment. In a PLN, a person makes a connection with another person with the specific intent that some type of learning will occur because of that connection. An important part of this concept is the theory of connectivism developed by George Siemens and Stephen Downes. Learners create connections and develop a network that contributes to their professional development and knowledge. The learner does not have to know these people personally or ever meet them in person.”

Need Training?

Jing seems to be an ideal solution for many educational needs. The range is broad and includes things like screen and video captures (which we've been working on). Jing is also being used for other things, like "paperless teaching", virtual training, and evaluation!