Blog 4 What did you learn from social media this term

Tell my what got you interested in social media this term?

There is only one reason I had any interest in taking social media this term. That reason is the college doesn't give you an option, even if you didn't chose social media as an elective this term you where put into anyway. I guess this means it is not an elective but that's besides the point. I think the fact that they just put whoever they wanted to into a hybrid class was a disappointment to myself and others. I believe after taking the course that hybrid courses have there place. Some advantages are that you can do your work when it fits into your busy schedule instead of arranging your schedule to meet your social media class times. I also believe that you get a better understanding of social media because you are forced to use to meet the requirements of your assignments instead of being spoon feed the material without having to work your way through it. I assume it is the way the professor operated the class that made this class a hands on social media course by making you ask the questions needed to succeed. By him making sure that people had access to others work to give comments and allowing people to post their work to clarify guidelines of the work required, This is social media at work.(thanks to Damon for the audit sample). At first I thought the hybrid course was a curse for me but in the end I feel that I learn more by doing that hearing.

How do you think social media will change by the time you graduate? 

Graduation is not very far away so I think that social media won't look all that different from the present when I graduate. However I do feel over the next 3-5 years it is going to change drastically. I feel that by me completing this class it has better prepared myself to keep pace with the ever changing world of social media into the future.

How do you think social media in education has changed the role of the student and the teacher?

I believe that the students are becoming a bigger part of learning than the teacher is. The teacher is providing the guidance of where the course is focused but providing less feedback to the students. The fact that education is being taught more on-line around the world, the students are forming social media platforms to help one another to answer questions that the teacher wouldn't be able to answer in a timely manner based on the volume of questions posed to one individual, where as with the 100,000's of thousands of students enrolled in many different programs there is always someone to respond at anytime of day and night. By people sharing their ideas, thoughts and/or perception of a particular  item, thing, place, etc. it can give others a much better outcome to learning. I learned a lot this term by reading others work and/or comments on my work for future assignments. So thank you to everyone who shared their comments or opinions with me over the term, commenting on my blogs or allowing me access to read and comment on your blogs, It allowed me to see where I could improve my work or gave me a different perspective on  my work which I wouldn't have thought of on my own. 

Blog#3 - Self reflection on social media use during this and other courses

 With my limited use and understanding of  what is or isn't considered to be a social media platform previous to starting college in January. I was unsure how much I actually was involved with different forms of social media. I have used many  forms of social media for this particular class , these include Dc Connect, Dc Mail, Gmail, Blogs,Wiki pages (google drive) and personal emails. When it comes to my other courses I mostly utilize Dc Connect to obtain the information I need on course specifics such as test dates, grades, and assignment outlines and due dates. Occasionally  I will fire off an email through dc mail to a classmate if I am in need of help or clarification on something.

I prefer to use Dc Connect And DcMail when it comes to college related interactions. I feel that I have a good grasp of these platforms.The information is readily available and easy to manage and understand. The fact that there are class lists for each course, helps  me to get the contact information for other students that I need to keep in contact with over the course of a semester, or length of a group project. Another reason I prefer these  platforms is because I can access it from anywhere and respond promptly when needed. If I am being honest with myself I probably have chosen these platforms because they were forced upon me to get the information I needed to be successful in my courses. I am actually glad that I  was forced to participate more in social media, because I don't know if I would have chosen that route for myself. I feel that I am slowly gaining a better understanding of what social media can do for me, so I am going to continue to learn about more platforms to increase my social media involvement in the future.

When it comes to social media platforms that I used, I can't say that there were any that I disliked. I did however try to avoid a few of the platforms, the main reason was I didn't really know how to use them effectively. I would have avoided the wiki page assignment, had I had other options I was more familiar with. Reflecting back on this assignment, I could have accomplished my part of this task in a shorter time frame had I had a better understanding of the platform previous to the assignment. Now that I have a better understanding of how the platform is meant to be used I will use it more effectivly for group projects in future courses. I am going to stop avoiding social media platforms in the future, I have learned that some are better suited for me than others but they all have their place in the ever changing world of social media.

 

To what extent does social media impact your personal/professional life?

When it comes to the 2-3 social media technologies I use regularly use, maybe not so regularly, okay very little. I would say Linked-In and Youtube would be the two I use very infrequently.
Linked-in is a social media site where people join other people on a professional level. The more connections you make the larger your network grows. You can also add skills and expertise you posess   and these can be endorsed by others, which can give you credibility with people who have mutual connections to you without any direct interaction with them. Linked-In also shows you what jobs might be of interest  to you based on your profile, skills and expertise as well as what companies you are following. Saving you a lot of  time  from searching of other social media sites like Monster, Workopolis, etc.
Youtube is a social media site where people post videos on basically anything and everything. (both good and bad) You can post comments on these videos if you choose. Some of the videos are educational, some are humorous  and others are offensive in nature, so be careful of the wording you use when you are typing in a search prompt. Basically you sign up for an account if you want to post a video, if you just want to view videos without posting any content then you can do this without having an account. Youtube was founded in 2005, It allows from around the world to share original videos for billions of people to view.Youtube is a providing a forum for people to inspire, inform and connect globally. Advertisers small and large as well as creators of original content use it as a distribution platform. The videos are sorted in many categories  of interest a few being music, gaming,sports and movies.

I have a Linked-in profile that is only partially complete. I currently have 28 connections and I am following a few companies. Although I receive e-mails weekly from this site I usually only login every few months. At this time I use linked-In to see what types of jobs I will be qualified for once I graduate from college.I feel that this site provides detailed job descriptions, qualifications and experience needed to obtain jobs posted on the site. The positive affect of linked-in on my personal life has been that people have gone out of their way to try and help me in finding a job. If you have many people helping  you in your job search it can only help you to come across opportunities you would not have come across on your own.Another positive on my personal life from linked-In is that I have learned that a lot of your professional connections are created through your personal connections. Meaning the saying "its who you know, not what you know" is what gets your foot in the door. I really have only experienced one negative from linked-In and that is people you thought you made a good business relationship with in the past do not accept your invitation to join them.
When it comes to youtube I basically use it to view funny material, and they occasional how to video.
One positive in my personal life was that by being able to view  video on how to change a sink, i was able to save money by doing it myself. When your a full-time student saving money on anything you do can only be a positive. Another positive for me from youtube is the I enjoy watching funny prank videos. This changes my mood in a positive way. Everyone should try to laugh at least once a day, the longer the better.
When it comes to my professional life, these two forms of social media will impact me in very different ways. Youtube will have very little affect, both negatively and positively on my professional life in the future. The only way I can see it impacting me in a positive way would be that I could gain some knowledge that I could incorporate into my professional career.
Linked-In on the other hand will affect my professional career on a much larger scale than youtube. Once I enter the workforce again,  I am going to make it my goal to keep in touch with as many of my professional connections to make sure I am still aware of opportunities that present themselves. I also feel like having a strong linked-In account with endorsed skills and expertise shows the rest of your network that you are progressing in your professional career and goals. So I can see as my career moves forward that my linked-In profile becoming  more complete and stronger would be a positive in my professional life. Another positive is that you can help others by endorsing their skills and expertise, a perfect example of you scratch my back and I will scratch yours. Networking is a big part of business today so linked-In can help make it easier than doing everything on a personal level.

references
http://www.youtube.com/?noredirect=1
http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=nav_responsive_tab_home