Today I presented a paper at a conference (on behalf of myself and Jae).
If you're interested, here are the slides. They only tell part of the story (are meant to have someone talking over them), but I think there's something to be gleaned from them in isolation.
If nothing else ... proof that your faculty do research? 😜
A few of you posted on the discussion board in Canvas, but many others of you blogged about international perspectives on social media.
Here's a collection of posts (apologies if I missed any):
Candace on Higher Education African Institutions
Jen looks at WeChat and Line
Web2.0 Learning Lab tells us about The Democratic Republic of Congo
Gradlab posted on the discussion board about social media in Pakistan, but their blog also has posts on Pakistani animal rescue and mango production
Pink talks about Facebook and learning in Vietnam and Zalo (another platform in Vietnam)
MakingMeaning has a thoughtful post about how Europe approaches digital citizenship.
Blessed reminds us that social media can be a powerful force for progress internationally.
Idam looks at what's happening in Bangladesh. She also reflected on her international day.
NetworkedNeuro has a 3-part series about global use.
Jae and I both attended and presentated at the social media conference last week. It was fabulous being around so many social media researchers. The topics covered in the sessions were broad — a bit of everything.
Here are some images of conference posters that I thought might interest all of you. Nothing fancy as I post, just a photo dump. See anything that interests you?
It's World Emoji Day (July 17). 😃
What emoji do you use most frequently?
Do emoji make you 🤣 or �
Do you already know what they all mean, or do you have to look them up in emojipedia?
Do you use emoji like the rest of your generation?
As this study suggests, do you find me less competent as an instructor because I occasionally use emoji in class communications?
Barry Wellman, co-author of Networked, passed away this week.
He had a long career as a sociologist who pioneered many ways that we study and theorize about networks today.
I was fortunate to meet him at conferences, and to have him as a guest speaker (over Skype/Zoom) for the EME6414 class a few times. He was not only insightful, but also kind and generous when interacting with scholars of all levels.
Here are some videos you might check out:
Dear Padlet,
I hope this is not to forward of me, but: I love you.
I did not expect to love you. It was not love at first sight. Not even close. When I first met you, I was introduced by a few enthusiasts over the course of a year. You reminded me of the stickies feature on my computer, which I used at the time, but I didn’t feel a strong need for yet another tool just to facilitate public sticky notes. I was okay with just defaulting back to fairly linear/hierarchical discussion board posts for sharing. And I really love comments and threading, which wasn’t really your thing at all.
And then you grew, and I grew and here we are.
I dabbled here and there, but when the pandemic came around I spent more time playing with a variety of tools and there was a spark. I got some ideas. I kept putting you to the test in different contexts, and as long as I could beckon others to contribute, things were great.
Shall I share some of what I love? Some of what you have helped me accomplish?
I love the ability to organize content. To share content. And to have other people share and comment on content.
Take a look at this! It’s the “base” Padlet I created for a class! I used a shelf format, with a week by week layout. Each week I was able to link in resources that we would use in class and interaction spaces for class activities and homework (including other Padlets). I controlled the base Padlet structure, but set it so students could add resources to a given week as well. Everyone could comment and like, too. The sub-Padlets, set up for activities, could be set up in a variety of formats and ways. I remember doing a timeline activity, for example. Oh, and if I planned something for one week and we didn’t get to it? I could just cascade it to the next week’s shelf with a simple click and drag.
I also love the ability to share so many different media types and sources in one spot, along with a title and annotated commentary. Text! Images! Videos! Web sites, including other interactive tools — anything with a URL works! Even VoiceThreads! I mean, you can even embed from Spotify or record quick videos on your webcam.
The More-than-a-sticky-note Padlet Challenge
Have you always wanted to try Padlet? Or have you used it for sticky notes but not much more? Here's your excuse to play with it!
What to do:
1. Make a Padlet. FSU has Padlet so you can use that account at http://fsu.padlet.org
Info on how to log in: https://support.canvas.fsu.edu/kb/article/1645-padlet-overview
Choose whatever content you like. Ideas and inspiration can be found here: https://padlet.blog/
2. Make a second Padlet with the same content, but using a different format. You don't have to remake it from scratch, but instead you can use the remake function to copy the Padlet and then change the format.
I made my content as a timeline and a map (I spent maybe 20 minutes making them):
3. Post your Padlets on the sharing Padlet: https://fsu.padlet.org/vdennen2/the-eme6414-padlet-challenge-sharing-padlet-s24-1xmtlbzrrdcylqzz
I've posted both of mine there as an example to get us started. Feel free to check out each other's padlets and leave feedback/comments.
And yes, a badge ....
Social media isn't just in our lives ... it's in our books, too.
I read The Curious Secrets of Yesterday [on Goodreads] by Namrata Patel.
I didn't set out to read it as an example of a social media fiction book. I think it was recommended to me on some platform and I downloaded it to my Kindle.
The book didn't start out about social media. It's about a young woman living and working with her mother and grandmother in Salem, MA. They own an Ayurveda spice shop, and the young woman is training (recalcitrantly) to be a spice healer and ultimately take over. Without giving away the plot ... at one point a mysterious social media account pops up for the spice shop. It promotes the shop, although somewhat inaccurately. They can't figure out who runs it. And then it leads to trouble. It's not the main plot line, but is an important plot device. Beyond that, the book has family drama and romance. It's hopeful. Not too heavy. Thoroughly enjoyable.
I think it's only fair that if I challenge you, I challenge myself as well. Or you can challenge me!
Monday was a bit hectic for me and I didn't plan for the Instagram Days of the Week challenge, but I'm going to dive in and start it late, on Tuesday. It'll be fine. Who else will join me?
And then there are the 7 challenges for the 7 days of Week 6.
I think I'll do most of them!
I've already started #2 (and Jian is in there with me)
I'm in on #4 and I'm planning #5.
I think #7 would be good for me (it's been a while).
And #1 would be difficult for me, but maybe? Anyone want to encourage me? I probably could do it on Saturday (a travel day, although I had anticipated using in-flight wifi and trying to work).
Oh, and if there are any other challenges you would like to issue to me, please do so in the comments.
Alas, we are in Week 2 of THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE!
This week, we have the Instagram Days of the Week challenge going on, but there's also an additional set of challenges going on. Do as many or as few as you like.
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Here's a list of challenges for the week. Full details below the fold.
Here's a challenge that we will begin on Monday, June 17
This challenge is designed to stretch your Instagram knowledge and skills a little bit. If you want to participate and don't want it to appear in your regular account, create a new account! Easy enough.
Remember, tag things with #eme6414 so we see it. Even though Instagram no longer aggregates effectively, I am able to see it in my RSS feed. Also, save evidence of your contributions to share at the end. Oh, and Instagram offers help if you need it: https://help.instagram.com/
#motivationmonday is a thing, but let's motivate people with technology. Share a post that motivates people to use a specific technology or to use it better.
Hashtags: #eme6414 #TechMotivationMonday
Choose your format (post / story / reel) and share how technology has transformed a part of life (your own or life in general).
Hashtags: #eme6414 #TechTransformationTuesday
Post a reel in which you share some form of technology wisdom (interpret that as you will).
Hashtags: #eme6414 #TechWisdomWednesday
Create and share an infographic (as simple or complex as you like) with interesting internet research summarized. Be sure to include attribution to the study!
Hashtags: #eme6414 #TechResearchThursday
Post a poll (you do this via stories, in the stickers) that asks some sort of technology or social media related question.
Hashtags: #eme6414 #FindOutFriday
Post a story or multi-image post that sums up your challenge contributions
Hashtags: #eme6414 #SaturdayStories
No need to post to Instagram this day. Write a blog post that reviews your daily Instagram activities for the challenge and your new insights on the medium.
We’ve had a lot of tools offered to us on our social media buffet.
Blogs. Instagram. LinkedIn. Reddit. YouTube. Pinterest. Diigo. Cluster. Flickr. I could go on. And more to come.
I mean, yay, right? But also it’s a lot.
How are you doing? How are you feeling?
Me, I’m exhausted, but that’s OK. I knew that my experience would be exhausted and resigned to the fact that I can’t be there to see it all and do it all. In any other class that might not be great, but in this class, it’s really okay to not see and do it all. It’s also okay to just sample a tool briefly and move on. We need to explore the tools so we can think about which ones will support us as we teach, network, and build community. This is connectivist learning that we’re experiencing.
I could make a list right now of things I’ve seen and done in this class so far, and things that I’ve not.
I choose where and how to participate based on a number of things:
Make your own vision board on Pinterest. Here are some theme ideas to get you going:
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Tools like Flickr are surprisingly versatile.
One of the Flickr features is the gallery. You can create a gallery (collection) of photos that others have shared on the site, and then you can share that gallery.
This feature could be quite useful to teachers, who can capitalize on the photos of others.
Your challenge, should you wish to engage:
Identify a topic you might teach (or some other reason for creating a gallery).
Search for relevant images on Flickr and create a gallery.
Write a blog post about the teaching idea (or other purpose) and share the gallery by embedding it and linking to it on your post.
Help files from Flickr:
Creating and Sharing Galleries
We're going to have some fun repeating what's known as the Getty Art Challenge and posting our results to Cluster (an image/video sharing tool -- the link to our class space is in Canvas, Week 5 Tools and on the home page).
What to do:
Create an original pin on Pinterest and share it to the legacy class pin board!
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| Look for the big "+" at the bottom of the screen and click on it to create a pin. |
Your pin content? A post on your blog -- so think about what you might want to share via a pin. Maybe it's a post you've already written. Maybe it's a new post that you write just for this challenge. A lot of people do "how to" blog posts and then create pins, but think more broadly. Imagine having a pinboard for a class to explore that is linked to various compelling web pages/stories?
You'll need a post (so you have a link), a visual to associate with it, and a Pinterest account.
Show us the receipts by posting it to your blog as an embed on a post (my example is below):
I made a pin about this challenge: https://pin.it/7FfIntlbP
It links back to this post.
And here it is as an embed:
Do you know what a meme (pronunciation: meem) is?
Most of us associate the term with funny images posted online with varying captions. However, the term has a broader definition and basically refers to a cultural replication of an item around the Internet, often on social media.
There have been some fun ones. And some strange ones like Planking and Owling.
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With that in mind, I offer you (drum roll, please) THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE.
What is it? Just a collection of smaller challenges.
What makes it ultimate? Umm, that it's multiple challenges?
Why should I care? Well, you can ignore it if you like. Or you can be a bystander. Or you can be a competitor.
Competitor? What's that about? Do the most challenges, get a reward.
What's the reward? It's a secret (which probably makes it sound better than it is, but still there is something). I'll mail the reward to the top 3-4 finishers (supposing your are comfortable with me doing so). I'll also send a digital reward.
How will I know about the challenges? They'll be posted here (but there may be some easter eggs hidden along the way, too). They'll be posted on Instagram. We'll keep a running list on the home page of the class in Canvas, too.
Do it for the glory. Do it for the learning. Do it for the badges.
Who's in?
On social media platforms, it’s fun to see how people all over the world spend their time in different places. In our class, some of you seemed busy enjoying the hot summer in various ways. If you’d like to take a peek, go ahead and see what your peers shared (and let us know if we missed anything).
There's no better way to learn how to use Diigo -- a social bookmarking tool -- than by jumping in and adding, tagging, and annotating resources. So don't be shy! Hop on over there and give it a try! Info in this week's Canvas module. I may need to moderate/approve what you post the first time you post there, so just be patient while I make my way over there to approve posts.
When I issued a challenge to myself last week, I didn't expect that I would earn a badge, but ... I earned a badge!
Yup, I'm now a "Top Digital Learning Voice" on LinkedIn.
How did this happen, exactly? Well, I said I would try to do more on there. I decided to share my recent conference proceedings paper in a post. It got some attention. I liked and commented on a few posts in my network. When exploring my feed, I actually came across a blog post where someone I know quoted me, and that was pretty cool. But none of that relates to the badge.
I was starting to get some notifications and in one of them I saw that I was invited to answer questions on a topic. To be honest, I was skeptical (why? what is the purpose? who will read this? am I just feeding some giant AI machine?) ... but then I told myself, " Girl, you have the expertise, your name will be attached to whatever you write, and you promised to push yourself."
After answering one question, I saw that if I answered at least three across the topic I would be considered for a badge. I kept going. And then people in my network (including some of you) reacted to what I posted. Two days later, I had the badge.
What does it all mean? Probably not much, but I am feeling a little bit bolder about sharing on LinkedIn (as long as I consider it a game).
Time to recommend some more posts that I've seen out there in the wilds ...
I set up some RSS feeds you can add to your RSS reader if you want to follow along with anything hashtagged EME6414.
Instagram: https://rss.app/feeds/CxbjQlAxBfhDwbrb.xml
X: https://rss.app/feeds/Bz0P8no98HMk1Xgx.xml
With this feed, I was able to create this Instagram embed. It's also on a page in our Canvas sidebar now as well.
One of our Week 4 tools is Flickr, a photosharing site.
I've been on Flickr for years. I used to take a ton of photos when traveling and would post them there. Some I would link into my blog (the era: 2004-2008). I was even asked for permission to share my photos in online travel guides, which was super cool.
What can you do with photosharing? You can share photos of things that you've encountered in your local environment. You can also share other kinds of image files.
Yes, you can also share on Instagram, but you'll see that Flickr aggregates photos a bit differently and even has groups.
I've set up this one group to be a space where we can all share photos on the theme "this is what online learning looks like." I've already shared one such photo (I'm traveling right now -- love the flexibility of online learning) and will continue to do so this summer. Please join the group and share your own photos.
And OF COURSE WE NEED A FLICKR CHALLENGE
Need something fun to do this loooong hot weekend?
A challenge! Earn a badge!
This challenge is deceptively easy. For some of you it may be really easy, but many of us are kind of shy at heart (hi! that's me!). Still, we also tend to like a little interaction as well as recognition for our work. Every performer needs an audience, right?
With that in mind, let's practice being social butterflies.
WHAT TO DO:
To earn this badge you must:
BADGE AWARDING
Vanessa and Jae will be monitoring blogs for the posts. Help us out -- title the post "Social Butterfly Challenge" or otherwise indicate that you're doing the challenge at the top of your post.
NEED HELP EMBEDDING Twitter or Linked In?
Look for the three dots on the top right of a post and click on them.
Hey there #eme6414 ... it's time for the social butterfly challenge. Details on blog. pic.twitter.com/Trz2daJj7H
— Vanessa Dennen (@vdennen) May 28, 2024
How about Instagram? Well ... it doesn't always work, but it does sometimes. I have luck on a browser but not the mobile app. Here's info on embedding an Instagram post.
LinkedIn. I've been on the platform for a long time, but if I'm honest I don't really use it.
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| My woefully neglected LinkedIn profile. |
In the early days, it was mostly perceived as a place for posting your online resume and being found by employers. People "endorsed" each other and shared jobs within their network.
I was on there for two reasons. First, I wanted to see what this platform was all about. Second, it was a way to interact with our ISLT alumni. For me personally, it wasn't going to be valuable for job seeking or hiring because the academic job market just doesn't work like that. It occurred to me that it could be valuable for consulting, but I really don't have a lot of bandwidth for that and consulting gigs of appropriate (read: minimal) scope tend to find me at opportune times (e.g., breaks).
Over time, the platform has changed. It incorporated groups, and I started to spend a little more time there with our alumni group. And then it added posts and a feed, and reactions. Scrolling through LinkedIn is not unlike going through a Facebook feed, minus the distinctly non-professional content. And I like to keep my Facebook personal and my LinkedIn professional, so having a feed for each life context makes sense.
Recently, for a whole host of reasons that I won't get into within this post (but I'm happy to share -- and no, I'm not changing jobs or anything like that), I've been thinking that I should get more engaged on LinkedIn. By more engaged, I mean regularly posting on there when I have things to share and having a presence. That also means reacting to others' posts (which I typically do when I log in; logging in is usually driven by a notification that I have a pending connection request or new message).
I'm not entirely comfortable. What do I have to post? I guess I can post about my presentations, publications, and other accomplishments. I see people who post all the time about these things on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. But that's just not me. I figure people who are interested will just find that stuff, no need for me to share it. However, professionally I keep getting told that I need to share these things. I guess I should? I know I should? And by doing that I maintain my network connections and awareness which means I'll have them to tap into under other circumstances (e.g., when I'm sharing a call for contributors or want to share an opportunity).
That leads me to today.
I told myself I would challenge myself during EME6414, when I have all of you to interact with.
Here we are. EME6414. Week 3. LinkedIn is a tool this week. We have a group for our class. And here I go ... started with a post this morning.
What are you going to challenge yourself to do? (Or are you waiting for my challenges?)
Have you been reading the blogs? If not, you should! There's so much great stuff being posted.
Here are some posts I recommend checking out:
It's summer, and that means it is time to teach #eme6414 again. Now that the blue bird has been X-ed out, I'm not sure my students will want to be here, but just in case, here I am. Say hi #eme6414 folks if you're over here.
— Vanessa Dennen (@vdennen) May 27, 2024
Week 3 is almost here, and that’s when we will begin challenges and badges.
To get a full sense of what we’re doing, I encourage you to review the Zoom recording (it’s only about 15 minutes long, you can watch it at 1.5 speed if you like) and learn more about what will be happening.
You can find it under the Zoom link in the Canvas sidebar menu [look for Cloud Recordings] and I put the link in the Module 2 file list, too.
The brief version is:
Entirely optional and just for fun, I’ll be issuing “challenges” here on the blog. I’ll announce them on Instagram, too, but the full details will appear on the blog. You can complete the challenge if you want, and if you do you’ll receive a digital badge. The challenges vary, but are designed to give you things to try out using different platforms. Engaging in challenges and earning badges will count toward participation in the course. Again: you do you, but I look forward to seeing some of you play along.
And until we actually begin the real challenges, here’s an informal on. Consider it a soft challenge (like a soft opening of a business):
Yeah, yeah, I know … I just say the word “twitter” and some of y’all shudder. And I get it.
Even in the best of times, the platform was misunderstood by many who heard the worst about it and didn’t have a chance to see the best of it. The best of it wasn’t for everyone, although I hoped people in this class would come to at least understand what good the platform brought to some folks.
But now, it’s changed. I don’t just mean the name (and what kind of a name is X? It feels so meaningless, although doesn’t allow for some witty comments about how changing its name to X was a means of canceling itself).
