Weekly Report & Reflection #4

To give a little background before I begin my blog to anyone that isn't part of "Learning for Success" at Brock, this week we learned about various online tools that can be used to improve the usability and overall effectiveness of the internet. Among the new tools that we discovered this week was an advanced bookmarking tool called Diigo, which allows the user to highlight, add sticky notes, and bookmark web pages with ease among other things. Diigo shows up as a toolbar in the web browser and easily organizes all of a person's highlighted material on the website under a free account. After creating an account on Diigo, I found that the first thing that I noticed was the ease of use as all of the options previously mentioned were clearly shown across the toolbar. This simplicity makes it a user-friendly application, which obviously pleases user and will make them more likely to upgrade to full versions. The ability for the bookmarks and user mark-ups to transfer between devices is another reason that Diigo is a great application as most people now use multiple computers or a tablet. Using these tools will be a great help to educational activities, as it will allow me to keep track of websites and even highlight certain pieces of information that is particularly important. For anyone interested in trying Diigo out, there is a four step guide to getting the proper setup:

Diigo Setup

Valid and reliable online bookmarks are one of the most important contributing factors to building and conveying knowledge. Finding scholarly websites is critical to building knowledge because the materials in these articles are proven and referenced as opposed to many sites on the internet where the information may not be completely true. Being able to highlight and keep track of these valid sources of information can increase knowledge and communication of the knowledge dramatically.

The second item of investigation this week was various curation tools. There were several options of different curation tools, each of which we did a little bit of research on, but there was one in particular that I found would be useful. It is called "Google Alerts" and it basically allows you to enter in certain words or phrases using your Google account that you would like to receive notifications when they are used. You can enter anything from your name, to your email, to a topic that you are looking for recent news on and you will receive notifications when it is mentioned. This could be a great tool to use when you are looking for something that is currently happening in the news to build your understanding of the topic, probably long before others hear about it.

If I were to update my PLE (see previous blog on Personal Learning Environment), the bookmarking tool that we learned about this week would fit in the "convenience" section of the diagram. The explanation is fairly straightforward as this application is obviously meant to provide an easy way for users to keep track important websites and information in one place. The curation tool could be classified in two different locations on the PLE. I would put Google Alerts between the "connect" and "convenience" sections of the diagram. It allows the user to input the keywords that they want to "follow" and connects them to the entire internet by sending notifications, which also makes it a convenient tool because the user doesn't have to constantly look up the terms online.

After learning about these new tools, I decided to look on Feedly to find a RSS feed that gives tips on Diigo. I found out that Diigo has its own feed and it had a lot of great tips for using the tool. There is a tutorial that I found helpful with learning the application so I figured I would share it on my blog:

PDF Annotating With Diigo

Just as a final note, this week we also tried out being an “internet detective” which was basically learning about internet safety in a fun and creative way.

Internet Detective

Thanks for reading and good luck with your newly found applications!Diigo Setup

Weekly Report & Reflection #3: RSS Feeds

In the past couple days, since creating my Feedly account I have been checking my feed for articles posted my subscribed websites. There are a few articles that have interested me, but there was one in particular that I found compelling. As an accounting student, I have an interest in business and finance and this article was on one of the most common finance questions, "How Do I Invest?". Of course there are many different ways to invest and each person has to find a way that fits their lifestyle and budget.

How Do I Invest?

This article addresses the roadblocks of investing first, which is where most people get stuck because they feel that they can't invest because they don't have enough extra money or the willingness to put in time to make investments successful. The article addresses that any amount of investment adds up over the long-run and for people that are tight for money, creating a budget that isn't suffocating, but it should be crucial to not exceed the allowed amount. Another common deterrent for potential investors is that they aren't willing to spend the time or feel like they don't have enough time to invest. Putting in a couple hours a week into investing can help your finances grow exponentially in the future, so although it may seem like a lot of effort for not a lot of gain, investing is about putting in the time and being patient. From this article I found a couple of pieces of information that I will try to consider when I start to invest and also take the knowledge to my workplace.

RSS Feed Readers can be a contributor to building knowledge about digital literacy as it is another effective use of the internet for information. By using RSS Readers, it is a different way to navigate information on websites of the user's choice. Rather than having to regularly go through commonly visited sites or bookmarked sites, using an RSS Reader such as Feedly gathers and organizes recent posts on all subscribed websites and shows them all in one spot. RSS Feeds can also improve digital citizenship and responsibility by allowing users to subscribe to receive articles on various topics, which could include digital topics. In today's world, much of the mainstream news is related to the digital world and protecting user privacy so there would be many articles on improving responsibility and therefore citizenship. Overall, an RSS Reader can improve the efficiency of anyone's internet use and make it more user friendly. It is truly a great application and I would highly recommend looking into getting Feedly or some other equivalent program.

My Experience with RSS Feeds

The internet is a vast expanse of knowledge and information, it is just a matter of extracting that information to use it. Throughout all of my experiences with the internet, it always started with either looking at a website that I used many times before or opening up Google and searching for my topic of interest and skimming through suggested results. In this week's session of "Learning in a Digital Context" we learned about RSS feeds and how they can be used to subscribe to websites that interest us and it will send updated articles and changes to the websites to one location. For this activity, we used an RSS reader called Feedly. I had never heard of an RSS feed, much less Feedly, but this week was by far the most interesting week of the semester thus far.

Having customized my Feedly feed, I was able to look through articles from various news sources as well as articles geared towards university and college students. Of the articles that populated my feed, I found that one was particularly interesting and had a strong connection to online courses specifically. The article is on the importance of organization to achieve success in school, but it doesn't only address that organizational behaviour is important, it gives some suggestions about improving organization skills.

Organization Brings Success

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my first experience with RSS and I will be back soon with my weekly reflection. If you have never tried an RSS reader before I would highly recommend that you give Feedly a try, you won't be disappointed.

Feedly

EARPOPPER (CC), Retrieved from: http://earpopper.com/blog/what-is-rss-how-can-it-save-time

Personal Learning Environment

  Creating a PLE or personal learning environment involves steps that enable us to look at our current abilities and plan for our future goals and how we will achieve them. Before continuing on through this blog I would encourage anyone unfamiliar or needing a refresher on what a PLE is to take a look at the following link:

https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7049.pdf

  The first aspect of PLE is of course personal, represented by the P in the acronym. In this blog, we are supposed to envision our self in five to ten years time and compare that to our current situation. As a fourth year student with just over one year remaining in my undergraduate degree, my goal involves being in the working world for a few years by that stage of my life. Once I get my degree I may choose to get my Masters degree in some aspect of business whether it is accounting or something else. After completing that if that is my path I would write my exams to become a designated accountant. Hopefully in five to ten years I will have achieved this goal and have a couple years of experience in public accounting. I also want to know within the next ten years the career path that I will like to follow based on my education and experience. Currently I am still completing my undergraduate and deciding if I want to go for my Masters or follow the more conventional route of becoming a licensed accountant and go through the test for my designation. I am in the co-op program so I am also getting some experience in different aspects of accounting, which will help me choose my career path in the future.

  The L in PLE represents learning, meaning the skills and knowledge required to meet future goals. Accounting is a large area of study and most people specialize in a certain area in order to have a greater depth of knowledge. Through the next few years I will have to continue to study the basics of accounting through formal education, work experience and preparation for the CPA testing. My knowledge of the rules of Canadian businesses as well as tax treatments would be a good place to start expanding my knowledge, and if a certain area peaks my interest, I can follow that path.

  Environment is the third aspect of our PLE. In order to achieve success, I must control my environment to the best of my ability so it can be a useful tool for my growth. An important aspect of one's environment in the business world is the connections that they make with other professionals, superiors, co-workers as well as clients. One of the most important ways of improving my environment is by increasing my network of people that can help develop my skills. This will help me perform better in the work world, but also when studying for the exams to become certified. Another crucial factor of creating an ideal environment is reducing distractions and being able to focus my attention appropriately. This will improve as I discover new ways to deal with distractions and overcome them.

  The final aspect of creating an effective PLE is by changing habits. It is important to create good habits such as being timely and well organized. My superiors at Grant Thornton LLP have told me that I do a great job of budgeting time and getting all my work done on time, which is a product of improving my time management and organizational habits. Equally important is eliminating the bad habits that plague our ability to perform. I have been improving my timeliness by trying not to procrastinate, but I will need to continue to do this to reach my goals. Having a better schedule and forcing myself into some type of routine will help me stop this problem, which is why it is a goal of mine this semester.

  As an illustration of my current PLE environment, I have created a diagram of some of the programs that I use on a regular basis. I created this diagram on Gliffy:

Wassink, A. (CC) 2014

  The above diagram allowed me to categorize the various applications that I use regularly into three unique groups. On the bottom-left are the methods that I use to communicate with peers, friends and anyone else I have a connection with through applications like Twitter, Email and Sakai, etc. The bottom-right shows applications that are used for various tasks that make daily activities easier such as iTunes, Adobe and Calendar, etc. The applications on the top are creative programs that allow me to produce music or word documents and examples of these are GarageBand, Microsoft Office, etc. The Google Docs and Blogger symbols are both attached to the "Connect" and "Create" aspects of the diagram because they both allow me to create and share my own ideas, but also allow interaction by others, making them unique programs.

  The final requirement of this week's session was to create a "Wordle" which is basically a jumble of words that I posted in my last blog illustrated in a creative fashion.

Wassink, A. (CC) 2014

  After adding the words from last week's post, I played around with the layout of the Wordle before deciding on the layout that you see in the above image. I thought that the group of words behind "digital" looked somewhat like a running shoe, which I thought was appropriate as it related to the discussion from last week on creating a digital footprint.

Digital Footprint

I apologize to all the avid fans of my newly created blog for posting two slightly repetitive blogs. My original introduction was supposed to reflect what I hoped to learn from the “Learning in a Digital Context” and I also included some of what we learned in the current week. For this blog, we were asked to reflect on our first session’s material, so some of the information will seem similar as my opinions have not changed in a matter of hours.

Do you want a digital footprint?

I talked quite a bit in my first post that creating a digital footprint and how it can benefit your search for employment and ensuring that you uphold a professional image of yourself. As a result I won’t expand much, but instead refer you back to my original post titled “Blog Introduction”. I will summarize my original point by saying that it is important to create a digital footprint so you can portray yourself in the manner you desire.

http://djainslietech.com/2009/12/19/digital-footprint/

What is a positive digital footprint? What strategies help to create a positive digital footprint?

Once again, this was a point that I expanded on in my previous post, without knowing that I would later be asked to reflect on it. To summarize, a positive digital footprint can be various things, but it is based the image that the person wants to convey. For example, if someone is trying to gain employment at an accounting office, they may want to have professional pictures of themselves and experiences related to a professional environment as opposed to a pictures of them painting a picture. Although both professional and personal life are important, the person that seems more business like may be more appealing to potential employers.

What is the relationship between Netiquette and a positive digital footprint?

As the name may suggest, Netiquette is a short form for Internet etiquette, which basically means it is the socially acceptable means of conducting oneself on the web. Based on the definition, the code of acceptable behaviour or Netiquette is a key component of creating a positive digital footprint. To create a positive image in a business setting, a person must behave appropriately, which means proper eye contact, shaking hands, etc. and there are similar regulations in a digital context. By posting knowledgeable comments, you can help to build a positive image without being discriminated against based on physical appearances. In the digital world, writing is the way to make an impression, so good writing skills are an important part of Netiquette and a positive digital footprint.

What is the connection between the knowledge needed to be a Digital Citizen and the digital footprint?

The knowledge needed to be a digital citizen and creating a digital footprint goes hand in hand. Being a digital citizen is closely related to Netiquette, as it is the set of rules and expectations for behaviour in a digital context. Similar to being a citizen of a real community, being a digital citizen means being respectful of others as well as yourself. Obviously by maintaining a positive image as a citizen, you will begin to build a strong digital footprint.

What have you learned about digital learning and digital citizenship? What do you need to learn?

After reading and viewing the various materials of this session related to digital learning, I have learned many things that will help improve my use of the digital environment to promote myself and build relationships. I have learned that despite the initial thought of avoiding disclosure of anything online and keeping it off the web, society puts a strong emphasis on having a digital profile. As a result, it is ideal for everyone to create their own profile in the way they would like to be viewed, in most cases professional and respectful. As a result, posting online while following the rules and regulations of digital citizenship can help to build this image. There are many ways to create a digital footprint and throughout the remainder of this course and beyond, my goal is to continue to gain knowledge on the subject and become a better digital citizen.

As a side note and for further knowledge about my posting, our online class was encouraged to take this quiz on Netiquette. I hope you enjoy:

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/netiquiz.html

Based on the results from the Digital Driver's License exam, what areas of digital citizenship will become your focus in your learning over the next few weeks of the course?

After completing the Digital Driver’s License exam, I feel that I will be mostly focused on digital law and digital rights and responsibilities. It is extremely important to know the laws and rights and responsibilities of using information that you find on the Internet. It is extremely important especially when submitting work with portions from sources on the Internet to know the laws and regulations that have to be followed for legal use.

Blog Introduction

Hello fellow bloggers,

My name is Austin; I am a Brock University student in the Bachelor of Accounting Co-op Program. During my first three years in this program I have enjoyed a mix of classroom education and several months of work experience at a certified training office for the Certified Public Accountant (formerly Chartered Accountant) profession. Aside from work and school I love everything to do with hockey from playing to watching to attending games. During the summer months, I enjoy golfing frequently. Due to the digital nature of my job and the direction of society as a whole towards an increase in the use of the digital environment, I have enrolled in an adult education class titled "Learning in a Digital Context", also known as the reason I am writing this blog. Throughout my education thus far, the Internet has been a great resource for research and general knowledge. For the most part, especially early on I used it exclusively as a resource, just as you would a book from the library or an encyclopedia. As the Internet and my understanding of the web improved, I began to create profiles on sites that interested me or that I visited frequently, either as a form of communication with the digital world. Without knowing, I had started to create my own “digital footprint” a term that I had never heard of until beginning this adult education course. Most people, especially ones that aren’t familiar with the Internet have a strong opinion that leaving any type of trail on the Internet is a bad thing, and in certain situations that may be true. However, through the opening weeks of “Learning in a Digital Context” I have learned that it is important to create a digital footprint for yourself so that you can be reflected in a positive light. Creating a positive and professional image on the Internet will allow you to seem more appealing to potential employers. There are various methods for creating and maintaining the digital perception you want of yourself, many of which I have learned more about through the readings before creating this blog. As I have discovered, it is apparently not enough to “Google yourself” every once in a while to see what embarrassing pictures show up. It is ideal to be proactive and create a professional image, so when your employer searches your name it comes up with something that is a reflection of your professionalism and integrity. Throughout the remainder of this course, my main goal is to continue to learn about the various aspects of the digital world and how to better use them in an educational, personal and professional setting. I look forward to discovering new means of communication that could increase the chances of making connections with potential employers and peers throughout and following the conclusion of the course. I know that there is so much to learn about effective use of the digital world in everyday life, but I believe that throughout this course I will be given some of the tools to utilize all the World Wide Web has to offer.