Week 12 Post

First off, I cannot believe how quick these 12 weeks went by.  Hard to imagine that it's already April and exams have already begun.  However I must say that I have learned a lot from this course and want to keep moving forward in learning about being a good digital citizen and what that involves.

In terms of building a digital footprint it's not easy.  It can't be built up over night as it takes a very long time.  Just as this week suggested I Googled myself.  What did I find?  Well after learning about digital security, I changed my Facebook privacy settings so it is not as easy to find that page.  What is most important is that my LinkedIn profile is the first item to appear.  This is perfect as this platform hosts my most professional layout and would be a great first impression to potential employers who may be searching me.

I think the biggest take away after learning about the 9 elements of becoming a digital citizen are the security and etiquette elements.  It's important to share the knowledge that we have learned from this course with others and I think I would start with the two elements just mentioned.  Security mainly because it is so easy to fall for phishing and hacking attacks.  Providing people with the knowledge of what to look for could save the frustration and head ache of having credit card information stolen without even realizing it.  In addition, etiquette is important as well.  Knowing where and when to use technology is important and knowing what tool to use is also crucial.  You don't want to be spending more time then you have to on something if there is a tool made to organize or prioritize things for you.

I think blogging is going to be the best form of communicating what I have learned in this course and try to teach others.  It is important that they learn how to be a good digital citizen and I want them to learn what this course has taught me to get them there.

Week 11 Post

This week’s learning involved using screencast and podcast tools online.  I have been exposed to these online tools before but I have never used them myself.  Therefore it was quite the learning experience for me to make a screencast of my own.  In creating my own screencast I decided it was appropriate to use it for educational purposes. 

LinkedIn just released some modifications to their privacy settings and I outlined how to make the appropriate changes.  This tool could be used to share a trip by going through the photos while providing dialogue or would be a great tool for FAQ sections of websites.  Ultimately this is a great tool and is very easy to use as long as the user has a microphone handy.  To make this video I used a site called www.screencast-o-matic.com.  It was very easy to use the software as you can pick what part of your screen you want the tool to capture while recording.  You can pause if you need to take a break and continue on with your screencast. 

There are various other sites that can be used to create either a podcast or screencast.  SoundCloud is one of them.  This site is very popular in the music industry as it allows you to record and publish any form of audio. Therefore this is a great outlet for aspiring musicians to upload and share their music with the world without needing a video and posting to YouTube.

Ultimately these tools can be used for personal purposes but also have a great educational function to them as well.

Screencast

This week I tried using a screencast for the first time.  I had to do a little research on what exactly this tool allowed me to do.  Essentially a screencast allows the user to speak while using their computer screen as a reference.  In the situation below, I used this tool in an educational setting.  LinkedIn just released some modifications to their privacy settings and I outlined how to make the appropriate changes.  This tool could be used to share a trip by going through the photos while providing dialogue or would be a great tool for FAQ sections of websites.  Ultimately this is a great tool and is very easy to use as long as the user has a microphone handy.  To make this video I used a site called www.screencast-o-matic.com.  It was very easy to use the software as you can pick what part of your screen you want the tool to capture while recording.  You can pause if you need to take a break and continue on with your screencast.

I hope you enjoy my screencast!