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Smackdown #3 - Good VS Bad Websites (eBay vs Craigslist)

(Apologies for the bad quality at the start of the video. It fixes at 0:12.) 

    For this Smackdown, I looked at the differences between the websites of eBay and Craigslist. These companies are similar in a sense that they are used for reselling used items. They cater to a wide range of product categories, including electronics, clothing, furniture, and vehicles, which users can upload pictures of themselves. On both platforms, sellers create their own listings and set prices, while buyers browse and contact sellers about items they’re interested in. Upon first glance at the Craigslist website, you would have no idea what the site is for. The website is very unorganized and extremely overwhelming. The site has no pictures on the home page and is just a long list of items. When I typed in "bookshelf" just to see what would come up, majority of the results were completely unrelated. 

    Looking at the eBay website, the site is immediately better. It's bright and colorful with images of recommended and trending items, as opposed to the long list of words on Craigslist. I typed in "bookshelf" and was given pictures of hundreds of bookshelves. The option to filter results is also very easy to use. eBay is much more user friendly and much more visually appealing. Craigslist looks sketchy and for websites that don't have real stores, the websites need to be amazing. I've never actually shopped on either of these sites, but eBay would be the clear winner based on looks of the website alone.

Technology Blog #4 - Building a Collaborative Culture: Connecting Chapter 4 to Teaching

This chapter emphasizes the importance of personal learning networks (PLNs) for educators. The chapter outlines how PLNs provide a platform for continuous, self-directed learning and collaboration with other teachers on the global level. Through various digital tools, such as blogs as well as social media, teachers can share ideas, access resources, and talk with peers for various reasons. The chapter encourages educators to make connections within three main networks: the local professional learning community (PLC), a global PLN, and a community of practice. This networked approach creates an open, growth-oriented environment that increases teaching effectiveness and promotes innovative learning practices.

This is really important for me as a future teacher. With the use of a PLN, I am able to continuously learn from my connections online. I will basically never run out of ideas or resources. I can also stay up to date on the newest trends and how I can incorporate them into my teaching in order to keep the class engaged. Once I start my blog, I am able to ask questions and hopefully receive answers in a timely manner if I want someone’s opinion on something or if I just need some assistance. With the use of a PLN, I am able to give my students a well rounded education. Personal learning networks have so many advantages for teachers. Do you think there are any careers where a PLN wouldn’t be that beneficial? How might classrooms differ with a teacher who has a PLN vs a teacher who does not?

  

 

Technology Blog #3 - Using Tools to Support Connected Learning: Connecting Chapter 5 to Teaching

Chapter five of the book is about the tools needed to create a personal learning network (PLN). The book lists and describes a few different sites that would be useful if creating a blog a website. Some of these resources include Edublog, Google Reader, podcasts, Twitter, Google Docs, Ning, and TeacherTube (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 77-86). When using either one of these sites or a different one you may have found, it is very important to keep a good reputation online. According to the book, “Your digital footprint is a collection of the activities and behaviors that are recorded while you interact in online spaces. Everything you post is recorded, for the most part. The trick is to take control of your footprint in such a way that when you are searched for online, the content you want affiliated with your name turns up in the search” (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 88). 

This definitely relates to me as a future high school teacher because I know students look up their teachers online. I want to make sure my online reputation is professional, but also not embarrassing. Just like the book says, we have all Googled ourselves to see what comes up. I know when I look up my name, there are a lot of links and pictures from things I did in high school. I imagine there would be a lot of activity on my blog because of all of the interaction going on between myself and collaborators, so once I create my own PLN/ blog, hopefully that will become the new first result when my name is Googled. 

What are some web tools that you are aware of that would be useful in creating your own PLN?

Smackdown #2 - Citation Machine

 

Citation Machine is a free website that makes citations for you. There are a variety of different formats that you can input for citing. This includes websites, books, videos, journals, magazines, and more. Simply by copying and pasting the link to a website or searching by title, the website is able to pull all of the necessary information for making a citation for you. Most of the time, it can pull the author’s name, publisher, date published, and title. Both in text citations and full works cited citations are created. The site even has options to change the citation style from MLA, APA, or Chicago. After creating each of your citations, Citation Machine will automatically put them in alphabetical order with hanging indents. You can simply copy and paste these directly into your essay. While it is free, the site does have you watch a short ad before it completes your first citation. There is a paid version offered, but it’s not necessary to use the website. 

My main goal is to be an English teacher, but I would also like to be a published author. If I continue writing, I’m going to be using Citation Machine a lot to make sure I am citing correctly. I have been using this website for years and I’ve never had any problems with it, other than the lag. I think the citations always come out correct and it takes less than a minute to create multiple citations. It’s very user friendly.

Technology Blog #2 - Building Your Connected Learning Community: Connecting Chapter 6 to Teaching

This chapter of the book is about how to start building your network to create a connected learning community. The text states, "Personal learning networks help you leverage deeper connections and relationships, and from those networked relationships, you grow a community of connected learners and leaders" (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 92). The first step to building your network is deciding who you want to reach out to and follow. What type of people do you want to connect with? As a future teacher, I would want to reach out to some teachers that I have pre-existing connections with and who I know would be willing to help me to get started. The next step is to explore online blogs. There are thousands of online resources that are available to the public, all you have to do is go looking for them. On a blog, you may find potential candidates you want to follow. It's important to make sure that the people you are following are trustworthy and have good reputations. "Some research suggests that an individual cannot maintain a stable social relationship with more than 150 people at one time", so it's vital to not overwhelm yourself and start mass following people in an effort to get a response (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 95). 

Within a network, there are various roles to be had by not only the creator of the blog, but also the people who view it. Always keep in mind that people may be viewing your blog, but not interacting. Assume that every post is going to be seen by hundreds of people. It is important to remember the purpose of creating a network which is that, "Networks are just the place to connect, share resources, meet others, and get inspired" (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 97). I can see a network like this being beneficial to teachers because we can share lesson plans, tests, ideas, etc. On paper, this may sound like the resources to cheat are getting more apparent, but I can easily use someone else's test and add to it or just take a few questions from multiple tests. Using a network would make my life so much easier as a teacher because I won't have to come up with everything on my own. 

While I'm going to have a plethora of resources ready for me to use, it is so important to remember that not every student is the same. The lesson plan that was used somewhere in Oklahoma, might not work as well on my class in New Jersey. The students in my class are more important than the ease of having less work to do. I would rather make sure my students are getting an efficient education than use someone else's lesson plans that aren't working. One heading from this chapter stuck with me, which was, "Design With Real Learning in Mind" (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 104). Don't just go with what's easy and available, make sure you have real people in mind and whether or not this would be valuable for them. 

What do you think the benefit of connecting with people in other countries would be? As opposed to networking across America, how would networking with people from overseas be beneficial?