Journal #7 PLN Reflection

The PLN that I chose to join is within the website of LinkedIn, the affinity group I joined is called Books and Writers.  It's dedicated to providing helpful resources for those just entering the world of publishing early works.  There are some established professionals also involved in the group and they help with creating a collaborative space for helping others with becoming new published professionals themselves.  I think that this group has been beneficial because I have been looking for online work spaces that are geared to helping those trying to begin a career in publishing.  I was slightly unguided when I began the EMM program and it the process of taking a few courses I have come to the conclusion that I want to assist in the business of education by providing new and modern learning techniques and resources.  I would like to be a part of the population that creates new learning resources and materials.  The exposure I've had to PLNs has made research readily available with instantaneous results. For example, Books and Writers has helped me get closer in achieving the goal of learning how to become a successful published author (in all fields) because there other individuals out there seeking the same professional advice.  I've seen many others posting about works they've already created and are now in search for the right avenues to pursue.  And if nothing else, the Books and Writers group serves as a great free advertising for many people.  

I feel that with the advantage from the particular courses I've been taking in the EMM program and the additional "real life" expertise from those in my PLN, I can develop the kinds of new learning materials I aspire to create.

Journal #6 Self-Reflection

This class has opened up my eyes to the unknown intricacies of the Internet.  I knew the basics of how to navigate through the web and different websites and pages, but I lacked an understanding of how to develop any of what it takes to create a functional webpage.  I appreciate this class because now I can say that I know to work the beginnings of fundamental website creation.  So far the hardest lesson has been the most recent lesson plans we've been working through.  For instance I understand how apply the basics of setting up a work-up document, but the difficulty comes in when trying to figure out which rules to apply to CSS styling.  There are so many attributes for particular functions, that it can be slightly overwhelming when trying to figure out which to use properly.

Though I'd have to say the chapter explaining how to create table charts was the most productive lesson for me so far.  I plan to incorporate this particular feature in my final webpage design.  Considering that I want to showcase a multitude of information and how it cross references each other at one time, it makes sense to utilize a tabled chart to portray all that info.  I hope that I begin to get even more comfortable with the CSS so that my chart will exemplify exactly what I want to showcase on my webpage.

For someone who has not had any prior experience with working fundamental web development, I can honestly say that I am improving every week that we go through.  And I'm looking forward to what I can complete in the near future.

Book Exercises html link:
http://www.csupomona.edu/~naeverett/512/books/work_table.html

Journal #5 Twitter in Education

In searching for positive reasons to incorporate Twitter in educational settings, I found some of the background information about Twitter.  Some facts state that Twitter was launched in 2006 and it's funny that I basically went on for the last 8 years having never been at all interested.  I can definitely understand the benefits of use in terms of social connections and why people love to feel easily accessible to celebrity life--yet I still could not find any reasons for why Twitter and education would go hand in hand.  

Through the class readings, I now see why today's teachers would be interested in incorporating Twitter and other social media tools in class.  Especially for the younger grades (middle school and up to 10th grade, maybe).  It inspires students to become engaged in modern platforms and allows them to increase their use from just social reasons but for academic achievement as well. 

Q1: Would the use of Twitter take away from any "traditional" teaching techniques?

A1: If anything it should be accompanying typically used techniques.  The use of Twitter can reinforce learned material and also serve as extra learning resources. It would keep the students updated at a constant pace and provide them with other skills on how to connect and obtain more information beyond what they could achieve in only the classroom.

Q2: Should the classroom eventually become all modern technology, or should it stick to the basics?

A2: We are nothing, if not a an advancing society.  So I believe it would be nearly impossible to move forward and not comply to the modern technology that comes with it.  The classroom does not have to necessarily become entirely a "smart" room, though it is definitely a true possibility.  But for the time being, involving Twitter in the classroom to change the student perspective on being engaged learners does not hurt.

Journal #4 Final Curriculum Project Plan

Site Title: "Then & Now: Music Sampling"

Developer: Nicole Everett

Rational/Focus: The goal of my site is to serve as an addition to my "published" iBook of the same title, and to showcase the increase in music sampling and hot it crosses genres in music everyday.  While also pinpointing that this is not a "new" phenomenon in musical history--it's been happening for generations.

Main Features Outline:

• typical navigation
• external links to other websites
• multimedia elements, i.e. sound and video clips, mp3s
• photo thumbnail images, and some in CSS styling
• comparison charts/tables

Content: 7 HTML webpages

1. home page- navigate the webpage options and functionality throughout site
2. basic info- explaining what is music sampling and other various definitions involved
3. history- explaining where the method originated and how it progressed through generations in popular music genres and the people associated with the business of sampling
4. examples- the page that will be most interactive, provided there will be sound clips to play and examine for comparison
5. resources- other web site links that draw similarities and more foundation to this method in music creation, and a link to how to download the iBook version

Target Audience: Everyone and anyone interested in learning the facts about alternative music history.  Music professionals, music teachers/students.

Design Consideration: I would want for the site to be informative but also fun.  Not for it to be just a site full of mundane factual information.  I want there to be interactive elements.

Limiting Factors: If there isn't an interested audience, the site is unnecessary.  It needs to be compelling. And technically, I need to be able to understand how to appropriately apply multimedia elements within the HTML write up and CSS styling, otherwise the site won't be functional.

The Site Map:
http://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/image/6373712/L.png

The Wire Map:
Site Title in the largest and enticing font
Headings of webpages in smaller, matched font. Animation graphic on each web page button
links open up to separate windows

Journal #3

Kessler.  (2010, September).  The Case For Social Media in Schools.  Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/

I was initially against any support of incorporating social media in education, but after reading through the evidence from Sarah Kessler's article, I find that there are many benefits of combining social media and young students. Some of the points made were from a direct study of Ms. Delmatoff's middle school class, but the fact that her social experiments proved success only further pushes the idea that if applied correctly, social media could now be considered another learning resource.  Those in support of incorporating social media in education have expressed that if, the professional (the teacher) can get ahead of the curve and understand where social media is beneficial to young students then the fear of the risks involved when surfing the internet can be limited. 

Q1: Considering there is no escape from the growth of both the Web and social media interaction, how much longer before other schools and teachers (nationwide) will begin to implement changes like those similar to Delmatoff's experiments?
A1: Just like we are not going to get adults and even adult learners to stop in the progress of social media, the same goes for the youth of our society.  The youth have dominated over social media.   And if proving including social media in educational curriculum has positive results, then it can only mean we should further encourage a collaboration of social media and learning sooner.  The more social expertise we gain in the years to come, and the technological advancements that are destined to accompany it, the more it should be available to students and not a thing of resistance.  This change is going to happen faster than expected.

Q2:  It's a new wave of excitement for young students to be able to incorporate what they know about social interaction with their everyday learning.  Will this change how they interact on Facebook vs. Kidsblog.org?
A: Hopefully with the right direction, students will learn how to conduct themselves in particular spaces within social media and the Web.  Just like their are social ques that we learn from culture, a new Web culture will develop and it should show students how to behave in cyber life and in real life.  How to be friendly on Facebook and how to be academically professional on Kidsblog.org, and alternatively how to be appropriate outside cyberspace as well. 

Journal #2- Affinity Group

Journal #2

Joining an Online Affinity Group

I have found the group “Books and Writers” on LinkedIn as my Affinity group.  It is a group that is dedicated to established and amateur professionals interested in the literary industry, specifically publishing.  Considering that I am in the process of narrowing down the career path I wish to follow, I figured this group would provide me with personal accounts from people already experiencing how this industry works.

The link to this group is:https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1697027&trk=groups_most_popular-h-logo&goback=.anb_1697027_*2_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1

Q1: What do you plan to take away from this group and what will you do with the information gained?

A1: I plan to find out more about the publishing business.  I have always had an interest in writing, and now that I’m in the EMM program I have discovered that I would like to produce written learning materials.  Being that this program focuses on multimedia elements I understand that I will gain the tools to manipulate technology to my advantage when time to create new learning materials for the future.  I hope that this group will shed some light on what the process is like for getting involved in this industry and hopefully I can combine what I’m learning from the EMM subject matter with real life accounts on how to become successfully published.

Q2: Do you think you will be able to gain any professional insight from the RSS Digg blogs?

A2: The RSS Digg blogs are nearly dependent on your personal preferences and how you acquire the information shared.  If I start to follow blogs that are providing information or any resources that would assist developing my professional path, then I'm bound to gain and an advantage with what's provided. 

Chapters 1-3

Journal #1

Robbins.  (2012, August).  Learning Web Design, 4^th Edition.  Retrieved from http://0-proquest.safaribooksonline.com.opac.library.csupomona.edu/book/web-design-and-development/9781449337513

Summary: Web development can be seen as a convoluted system of technical jargon and “trial and error” know-how to the untrained web design novice.  Though Jennifer N. Robbins’ Learning Web Design manages to explain all the intricate information in a concise breakdown so that web development doesn’t become as daunting as most people would expect.  In order to understand how to begin in web design, one must understand how the Internet and the Web are formed and how they function. She provides brief history throughout the explanations of Web functionality to further explain why we as a society have gotten as far as we have in the technological advancement of the Internet.  That simply provides a clear background of where we began with the Internet and how relative it is to understanding it now. 

Q1: What are the first things to consider when approaching the beginning of designing a website?

A1: According to Robbins, you cannot only consider the physical appeal of what a website could potentially look like, but you must think of how the site will work for the client to use.  There are 3 disciplines that outline how to begin working functionality of a site: the Interaction Design (IxD), User Interface (UI), and User Experience (UX). 

            IxD: making sure the site is “user friendly” and efficient.

            UI: focused more on the particular functions of site in terms of useable tools (buttons, links, 

            etc.)

            UX: ensuring the user experience as a whole is enjoyable through observational methods.

Q2: What is the difference between the Internet and the Web?

A2: The Internet is defined as a connected network between computers for the purpose of sharing information through a governed system of rules and standards; for example, email.  The Web is a subset within the Internet that performs as one of multiple ways to transfer shared info.