listen to ‘Learning Journal 6’ on Audioboo

LJ5

In this learning module we learned about more web 2.0 tools. Web 2.0 became popular in 2004. The term was created by Tim O'Reilly. It is considered the movement from static web pages to user generated content. Web 2.0 tools are used so widely now. People of all ages use them and a lot of them are fairly easy to use.

The web is always developing. People are always trying to find new way to improve everything that is out there. Pretty soon, Web 2.0 will be a thing of the past and Web 3.0 will be part of our everyday lives.

Here's a little video on Web 2.0 and it developing into Web 3.0.

We also briefly discussed copyright laws. It has become such a big thing in our society now. A lot of people do it because it's cheaper than going out and buying what they want because computer products, movies, music, etc. are so expensive to buy. It's where p2p came into play, or peer to peer. What that means is how people use to share content among themselves. The biggest example of it is Napster. People would search through a search engine and would type in what they are looking for. Other people would upload what stuff they have. So people would be searching for other people's things while other people are supplying it, hence the peer to peer.

Here's a little video on illegal downloading.



Some of the tools we learned to use are Web Resizer, Kizoa, and Voki. With Image Opt, we learned how to edit a photo. It was pretty much a free and basic use of Photoshop. When posting a image from the web, if you don't optimize it, the picture can turn out blurry or distorted. When you optimize it, you can crop it, change the contrast, and a bunch of other little random touch ups. When you upload it to www.webresizer.com, once you upload it, it will automatically make the file size a lot smaller. The next free website we used was Kizoa, www.kizoa.com. It's where you can upload picture from off of your computer and create a slideshow with them. It gives you different options to customize your slideshow. You can add different transitions, effects, text, animations and music. You can choose to either start from scratch or choose a template. My slideshow is in one of my previous post and I did it from when I went to Disney a couple summers ago. The other tool that we learned to use is Voki, www.voki.com.Voki is a free website where you can create your own personal avatar. You can make it look like yourself or you can even make it an animal. You can either type the text it speaks or you can call in or record it straight on your computer but you only get 60 seconds. My avatar is in my previous post.

Our Facebook discussion had to do with illegal downloading of music and content. There were videos that were pretty much based on teens and college kids who have downloaded music. It seems that today, a lot of the blame is being put on teenagers and college students because that seems to be who the soul downloaders are. But it's not true. People of all ages download music illegally. I think people do it because the price of music downloads are expensive. On the iTunes store, it's $1.29 per song. I remember when they use to all be $0.99. It seems like the music industry is raising the prices because so many people download the music illegally so they're trying to make their money somewhere. I understand musicians want to get rewarded for their hard work, but it's expensive to be able to afford all of the music you want. CDs are becoming a thing of the past. Pretty soon they won't exist at all. It will only be mp3 files that you'll be able to get.

I think I put a lot of effort into this learning module. I had fun learning how to use all the new web 2.0 tools like making an avatar, creating a slideshow and learning how to optimize images for the web. The Facebook discussion was interesting because it had to do with illegal music downloading and I really enjoyed seeing people's views on it and whether or not we should be able to do it. It was interesting to read one post where someone, who is an artist, wouldn't mind there music being shared for free because it was free advertisement and the people get free music. Personally I think I'm for free music, but we live in a society where nothing is free. I look forward to learning new web 2.0 tools in our new module!

Terminology:

Resolution- the quantity of pixels within a particular unit of measure

Vector Images- images that are created by mathematical equations that communicate to the software how to draw lines and shapes to create an image

Shareware- Software that you can download and try out, but must pay for it if you decide to use it on a permanent basis

Pixel- the smallest unit of space on a monitor screen that can be addressed by software

Folksonomy- a social collaborative tagging system for classification

Disney World - slideshows

LJ4

This has probably been my favorite module by far. We learned about different types of social media and then within social media, the web tools that they incorporate.  Probably the most popular form of Social Media is Social Networks, or it is in my opinion. The most popular web tool in social media probably is Facebook. Social Media is becoming the main form of communications in this generations. It will probably take over all forms of face-to-face everyday conversations. There are programs, such a Skype, where you can video chat over the internet through a computer or a phone. It's actually a neat program, because if someone in your family has moved away, say overseas, it's an easy form of staying in contact with them and the best part is that you will still be able to see them through a webcam. Some companies do web seminars using programs like Skype. It will be the way of the future and you won't even have to leave the comfort of your own home eventually all together.

We learned how to use a tool called Delicious, which is a Bookmarking Site. What you do is download Delicious to your toolbar. You find websites that you think are useful for whatever you want people to see, you bookmark them and tag them to a specific list, that way when you're done finding what you want, you give the link to your bookmark list, and people can access the websites that you have found.

Another thing we learned was about LinkedIn and Twitter. Twitter is a microblogging website where you can "tweet" a small update. It can consist of anything, from how you're feeling, to what you're doing, or you can "retweet" what someone else has said, that you are following. LinkedIn is more for businesses. It's like the professional version of Facebook. You can pretty much put anything and everything about you on there. You can put what schools you have gone too, what honors you have received, where you have worked, what kind of jobs you have done, and you can list qualities that you have. A lot of businesses are looking at LinkedIn profiles and are offering jobs on there. It's a good website to set up an account on and list all your background information for a professional field.

There are six types of social media.

1. Social Networks (Facebook, LinkedIn)
2. Bookmarking Sites (Delicious and StumbleUpon)
3. Social News (Digg and Reddit)
4. Media Sharing (Youtube and Flickr)
5. Microblogging (Twitter)
6. Blog Comments and Forums (Blogger, Wordpress)

Here's a video about the revolution of social media which I thought was really cool!




One of the social media tools that we used was Glogster.com . With that website you can make an online digital poster about anything that you want. It can be used for school, businesses, or anything actually. I made mine on Instagram.

Here's my Glog. http://bmerritt717.edu.glogster.com/merrittsocialweblab9

What amazes me is how many businesses use social media to help promote their businesses. Like on Facebook, they can set up a page for their business so people can check out what their business is about, the location and they can review, whether it be a product or a restaurant. It can help a business with no reputation, earn one. Some of the businesses I have added on Facebook, they have online coupons that are only through Facebook. So you have to like their Facebook page in order to have access to the coupons. Some companies do contests through Facebook, they also do them through Twitter.

The Facebook discussion we had, had to do with Digital vs face-to-face conversations. It had to do with what we preferred, face-to face conversations or through texting and digital communication. Personally I prefer face-to-face that way I know exactly what the person means behind what they say, like their emotions. I also stated that kids today are becoming more and more reliant on technology and digital sources to communicate with people. Pretty soon, they're not going to have a clue how to interact with each other face-to-face. Kids are starting out way too young using technology. What happened to hanging out with friends and going outside on an adventure or making a fort in your bedroom. Technology can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Terminology:

Social Networking- sites that allow individuals to create online personal and professional network

Content Sharing sites- allow users to recommend their favorite news story or other web content by clicking a link on a web page

Short Message Service (SMS)- text messaging

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)- messages with audio and video

Social Opinion Sites- sites where you can check out user reviews for products, movies, books, travel accommodations, local restaurants and local service providers

LJ3

In this learning module I learned about different types of search engines you can use to find different information you need. We also learned how to use databases to find specific information we are looking for. The database I found most useful is AcademicOne, which I can access through our online school library. Some search engines would be considered general-purpose search tools. Those would include: google.com, ask.com, dogpile.com, yahoo.com, bing.com, and many other general names that you know.

In general search engines, they will search for anything you type in the search bar. It will usually cut out words like and, or and simple basic words. If you want to search more specific words, search engines will usually have an advanced search section and you can type in only the words you are searching for. With databases it gives you keywords to type in. You can change what they call the Boolean Operator. When you have multiple keywords in a query, you can change the options to AND, OR, and NOT which will decide which words to incorporate in your search and which ones you do not need. It can help narrow down your search immensely.

For our Facebook discussion we learned about our digitalfoot print. We used different websites to try and search our names too see what we have put on the web that people can access. A lot of employers and businesses are using search websites to research their future employees to see if there digital footprint is clean. Your digital footprint can either make or break a deal with your dream job. It can destroy your reputation even if you did go to the best school. If they find pictures of you doing illegal things, most likely you've sunk your own ship and can kiss that amazing opportunity goodbye.  I suggested that someone creates some type of software that will track anyone who has access to your information or pictures so that way, if someone is using your information or pictures in a wrong way, you can somehow be able to delete the pictures.

Here's a little video on Digital Footprints



I learned that there are Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship. They are:

1. Digital Etiquette
2. Digital Communication
3. Digital Literacy
4. Digital Access
5. Digital Commerce
6. Digital Law
7. Digital Rights & Responsibilities
8. Digital Health & Wellness
9. Digital Security

I think that Digital Etiquette and Digital Security are probably the most important. You want to post on the web what you want and know other people, whom you may not know, to be able to see. If you're questioning your decision to post it, chances are you probably shouldn't. With Digital Security, you want to make sure that your information is going to stay safe, which actually ties in with Digital Etiquette because you really shouldn't be posting things that people are not going to want to see and probably will use it poorly against you.

Terminology:

Metasearch Engine- a special type of search tool that complies the search results from multiple search engines into a single search results list

Wiki- a web site that allows users to edit, update and add content

Open-ended search- seeks information on a broader scale using a simple keyword

Search Query- a question that defines the information you seek. It should include at least one keyword

Keyword- a specific word that describes that information