Fun Group Project Ideas

This is how university life is!
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=Lll-voUKiQU

I love this!  I think something like this we could definitely do.  It wouldn't have to be a cartoon, we could each do videos on "our exam/finals time" and then put them together from start of something (like before exams) to finish (like sending that last email to the listserv).

Social Media ROI:  Socialnomics
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=ypmfs3z8esI&p=A72A277F7EEFB39A&playnext=1&index=12

I thought something like this would be a cool project where we could take in to consideration of one of our objective, researching trends of social media.  We could assign each person to gathering some kind of data, and then putting it together in a cool video presentation like this one.

Objectives Gap

I just added a page to the CMSimple site, "Objectives Gap".  Here is a link.
In identifying gaps in our original objectives, I found that we are/only have done about 50%.  That's something to think about because If I hadn't gone back to look at those objectives, I may have had missed the whole purpose, right?  What we missed????  I think that with all of the assignments we've had, we really hadn't had much on web 2.0 trends research.  This may come into play, however with the projects that are upcoming.  We also haven't had as much collaboration and sharing as initially I thought we would...most assignments have been individual.  I'm kind of torn between if I like that or not.  I like having individual assignments, because I am able to get things done without waiting on others, but this is a social media course, right?  I think the course should have been more of a collaboration of a couple of complex group projects rather than the abundance of individual assignments in order to meet our objectives.  This could change with each class semester, but for our particular objectives, this may have worked better.
As far as the doing something differently...I think the group projects should have been brainstormed and been in the works all semester rather than waiting on trying to cram 4 projects in on a tight deadline.  I realize we need time to learn and experience new programs, but experiencing these programs could have been a step in planning the group projects.  Example, learning about the Wiki sites could have been step one in the planning part of our group wiki.  That much of the project would have been completed.  This is just my opinion...

Overall, we are moving along and learning, which is most important.  I'm sure we will meet all of our objectives, and it will be all worth it in the end.

SLED Event...Second Life

I attended the event, Copyright and Fair Use by Dr Crissman on Wed 10/20.  Very interesting to say the least.  It was on the USDLC campus in Second Life.  There were about 6 participants and there was also a guest speaker.  Teleporting was very easy, a simple click to "get me there".  I arrived when they were just beginning to take a pole on everyones views of fair use and copyright.  The poll was taken by different color bars that you would click on, and it would give the speaker a percentage of the votes.  There was also a notecard of information provided on the main topics of the presentation.  Second Life is definitely a nice break from the "norm" in presentations, as it gives you the opportunity to meet people how they would like you to see them, and it's more interactive than just looking at someone speaking for an hour.  I still had a little about of trouble with the navigation, but it was much easier than before.  I flew away away for a brief moment somehow...I guess I pushed "page up"...really not exactly sure, but I landed on another presentation about rivers and mountains of some sort.  Maybe it was an environmental group, but when I landed, the first thing I heard was someone say "Welcome Shantell Avora, have a seat"!  I quickly excused myself, and ended up landing right in the middle of the original SLED event, this time on someone's lap!  But, from an educational standpoint, it does give more "spice" to a meeting or presentation, and the interactive tools like the poll, can help others to be come more engaged.

An Informal Study about graduate students

What this study means for education in the US and globally???  For one, we may need to focus on more math and science concepts, not just on the business side of learning.  I failed miserably to the questions of what causes seasonal temperature changes and different phases of the moon.  Not only did I not know the answer...I didn't even know where to begin in explaining.  This is a basic science concept, and every child in the US should be able to answer.  But as the study concluded, we even as graduate students didn't know the answer.  We have preconceived ideas of what the answer is, and we build from this as we get older.  The study said we each have "private theories" for things...very true.  You believe you are right on something, it can be difficult to change that way of thinking without proving (smelling, touching, seeing) it is wrong.  Our new media era will help in disproving our private theory on some things, by enabling us to become involved and becoming a "part" of the education practice.  We will be able to educate ourselves and our youth by more than just reading a line of text, but by actual experience that may not have otherwise been possible.

CouchSurfing

Introduced to a new tool...Couchsurfing.  Setting up an account isn't like any other account I've set up before.  Normally, an account creation just takes an email, maybe a name, photo, basic stuff...this site wants your whole life story and more.  I guess for those who want to use the site for it's best features and really getting to know others, it is best that the site verifies to the fullest.  Personally, I haven't been verified, but I'm sure to complete the assignments associated with the site, I'll have to break down and do it.  I'm just not sure of how "comfortable" I am with this site.  I understand that everyone out in this world is not out to get me...but I am very cautious with my personal life, and I really try to keep it off the internet.  Sharing your couch (in real life) with some random person seems kind of shady to me...no matter how "verified" they are.  Maybe it's just me..but I tend to speak my mind, and no amount of convincing will make me think differently about meeting people on the internet.  Anyway, I've tried to find classmates and have had difficulty finding them...the friend requests made it easy...thank you Alana and Brad.  In comparing it to other media tools, I think it's a little too complex for someone just wanting to play around...and keep in touch.  For the organization, I think Couchsurfing should be a closed tool, where you would be accepted...kind of like a membership, and the verification process should be more than just putting in an address or credit card for donation.  If Couchsurfing is going to be a community that meets, the membership shouldn't be a free and open avenue for anybody that feels like they want to sign up that day.  I guess I'm a little scorned from sites like this...they give people the wrong impression of safety...I had a friend that met someone off the internet (who claimed to verify their members) and the person she met turned out to be someone else looking to commit a crime.  I'll keep trying with this site, and making referrals...
To be continued...

How will Twitter change the way we live...

Well this article definitely answered that!  There are so many communities that didn't start out using this tool, and probably thought they wouldn't...if you ask me, I would haven't thought it would be used as a professional tool at the beginning.  An interesting point in this article...that it was used "real time" at a educational conference in Manhattan where tweeting was done during the commentary about the event and content.  The tweeting craze went from just attendees to worldwide on the event.  Could you imaging just sitting at a conference tweeting what you really want to say??  Businesses are also jumping on the Twitter wagon, campaigning for followers to do more than just post updates.  They are using Twitter for advertising new products, live customer service, brainstorming for new products, and customer engagement.  I had a personal experience with this with US Airways.  They had a week of Twitter deals, where they would randomly update with flight steals like $99 flights/first class to NY.  It was pretty cool way to get people involved and also they provided other prizes just for participating.  I think Twitter will or rather HAS changed the way we live...it's kind of exciting to see what's next!

NC ZOO

I put samples of my NC Zoo experience on both Youtube and Slide.  I also uploaded to my CMSimple site, which was a bit tricky because of the HTML code.  Thank goodness for the intro to web design class, or I may have been here all day trying to figure it out.  Here is my attempt to upload to this blog...

Creating and Linking Cinchcast

Cinch is an audio sharing site.  It allows you to create audio via your computer or mobile phone and add tags or photos.  I just did a brief introduction audio through my computer.  It took about 15 minutes to be approved and then it was available to link, download, or embed.  There wasn't much you could do to your profile other than add things, so I added some general info and a photo.  Here is a link to my audio profile:
http://www.cinchcast.com/chilover30

Creating and Linking Youtube

I had already created a Youtube account previously, so I just did a few updates to my favorites and channel.  I uploaded a video on wildlife that I had previously made and made a change to a pretty pink princess theme.  Youtube is very easy to navigate and update, a tool that should be used.
Here is a link to my Youtube profile:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ssdavis2011

Creating and Linking Flickr

I  created a Flickr account, a tool to upload and share photos.  It was very simple, as all I really had to do was sign into my yahoo account.  I uploaded 3 NC Zoo photos with ease, adding to my "love wildlife" theme for this assignment.  With Flickr, I didn't find where you can add other accounts other than your website and IM, so I just put a link to my blog.   The upload process was easy enough, not much to it at all.  Here is a link to my Flickr profile:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chilover30/