Weekly Report & Reflection Post #3

Hello everyone, 

As stated in my previous blog post, week three was an exciting and interesting week with the introduction of RSS feeds. In a blog post by pro blogger, they defined RSS feeds as “a technology that is used by millions of web users around the world to keep track of their favorite 

Websites”(http://www.problogger.net/what-is-rss/).  The type of RSS feed we used this week was a program called Feedly. Before week three started I had no clue that programs like feedly existed in the online world. Upon learning the purpose served by RSS feeds I realized that I used Facebook in a similar way. Although a strange comparison, I make it because I use Facebook as a platform to see articles and information that social media outlets publish. However, using Facebook to gain knowledge on news and other published work online is very inefficient because there are many distractions associated with Facebook. RSS also contributes to digital literacy and citizenship because it solely encourages reading and retaining information that educate you about the recent happenings of the world. The organization of the articles is unique and promotes citizenship as it makes it very easy to read and grasp the headlines of many articles in a short period of time. The accessibility RSS feeds provide to articles promotes citizenship among individuals because it encourages people to read and know what is happening in the world. Reflecting among my personal experience with feedly, when I connected with the New York Times feeds, I was educated within 5 minutes about all the major headlines in the world. While going through the headlines I learned about the major snowstorm that is affecting major parts of the United States this weekend. An example like this ones shows that RSS feeds increase an individuals global citizenship because if I did not explore my RSS feed I would not have explored the New York Times headlines and therefore would not have known about the snowstorm. Being globally aware is very important and is something that young people in today’s society, including myself, overlook. After using this feedly, I believe that there really is no excuse to not be a globally informed citizen.   

Picture found at: google feedly

RSS Feeds in my Personal Learning Environment

RSS feeds are another technological tool that advances the way we gain knowledge in our society today. Like stated earlier, these tools encourage online users to become more engaged with the information that is available on the web. This tool serves this function because it makes information so accessible for its users. Also after exploring this tool, I believe that RSS feeds are a very important tool for online users. With the massive amounts of information to be explored, it is my belief that without feedly people are more likely to give up then to keep exploring. In a society that is high speed and does not allow a lot of time for anything to be done, the efficiency of RSS feeds allows all readers to access the necessary information in a small amount of time.

This picture depicts people being more connected to society, a benefit of RSS feeds.
Picture found at: http://oursocialtimes.com/tag/connected-marketing-2/

  

Last week (week two) I discussed in depth my Personal Learning Environment in regards to my online platforms and how they all work together to form my learning environment. Expanding on those thoughts and growing my PLE it is important to understand how feedly will fit into this environment. I believe that feedly will be under both my social and educational categories of my PLE.  I put feedly under my social (or personal) category because there is news and websites that I follow that is for my personal interest only. An example of this would be all the sports websites I immediately started following once I opened up my feedly account. I believe this is what will force me to check my feedly which will then translate to me exploring other headlines. By having headlines from the New York Times and other news related websites and blogs I subscribe too on Feedly, I will be expanding my knowledge to what is happening in the world around me.

Found at: https://pixabay.com/en/rss-news-feed-blog-web-icon-40674/
Picture represents the addition of RSS to my PLE 

Thanks for following and reading about my journey in ADED 1P32 during week 3I I hope you return to read my post next week!

All the best!

Week 3 - Blog Post 1: My Experience with RSS Feeds

Before beginning this week’s session I did not know about the social media platform “Feedly”. Over the week I realized that in a digital age where there are thousands of news articles posted every hour, a platform that organizes news in a way that feedly does is very beneficial.  Well exploring feedly I worked through the activities by adding the websites we were asked too, but I also added websites that were tailored to my interests such as sports. By adding sport websites it made me realize how much easier it is too see the same articles that I usually spend 5-10 minutes finding as I half to surf from to site to find them. I found that feedly nicely organizes all the information you are looking for in an effort to help you be a more informed reader in whatever topic interests you. While learning feedly one of the mandatory sites that I added to my feedly and explored was The Brock News. While exploring the site I found an article titled “BUSU releases student transit survey results”. I found it interesting that I came across this article because it is something that affects me greatly. The article is discussing the debate the Student Union is having in regards to the transit system and if they should continue charging all students for the U Pass. The article discussed the results of a recent survey, that I participated and therefore I shared a special interests with the results and the article. As well, I drive to campus and therefore have little need for the U Pass that I am forced to pay for which is another issue this article and survey were trying to solve. In conclusion, without using feedly I would not have found this article, which turned out to be something that I shared a great interest in and a topic that impacts my life in a huge way.    

Picture of meeting held by BUSU concerning Public Transit in St. Catharines
Picture can be found at: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/2016/01/busu-releases-student-transit-survey-results/

The Article discussed in my blog can be found at: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/2016/01/busu-releases-student-transit-survey-results/

Week 2

It is only the second week of the winter semester and the pace of school is already faster then I had even imagined. The assignments, midterms, and presentations are all pilling up and it is time to get back into work mode. I thought the content in week two of ADED 1P32 was interesting and fit nicely into what is currently going on in my life right now. With all the work that I mentioned turning into a mountain as I speak, I feel it is important to understand how I work and what environment is best for me to get all that work done. Fittingly enough, this week in class focused on our personal learning environments and how our digital world affects these environments.   For the purpose of this blog post I am going to explore the current state of my personal learning environment (PLE).

To establish the personal part of my environment, I feel it is important to explore my past, present and future.  As discussed in my introduction and week one on my blog, I am currently a second year sport management student at Brock University.  I am passionate about the sports industry and show that through my involvement with refereeing hockey and umpiring baseball in Ontario. When establishing my future outlook in the next 10 years I use these two things as a guide and place to start my goals. In 10 years from now it is my goal to have my Level 4 in the baseball Ontario umpiring program. Along with my level four it is my goal that I am umpiring baseball at the university level in Canada, as well as given the opportunity to work a national championship by the time I am 30. In refereeing, it is my goal in 10 years that I am a referee in the OHA, which is junior hockey in Ontario. Attached to this goal is that I would have achieved at least my level 3 in the Hockey Canada program, if not higher.  

Like these goals that are attached to my “hobbies” in life, my professional goals are also attached to the sports industry. In 5 years from now, my goal is that I have graduated from Brock University with my sport management degree and have secured a job within the sport industry. At this point in my life, the job I have does not matter, it is just my goal that it is somewhere within the sport industry. In 10 years from now, it is my goal that I am working in a job within the sport industry sector that I genuinely enjoy. My goal for this job at this point in my life is that it would be able to provide both happiness and financial support that would allow me to think about more then just my personal needs.

In order to be successful the second import part to a PLE is the learning aspect. In order to achieve goals like one’s I talked about above it is imperative that I learn new skills and knowledge in a number of different areas. An example of this would be the knowledge I need to gain about the rules of both Hockey and Baseball. In order to obtain my level four in both refereeing and umpiring I will need to pass a written exam. This will require me have a great understanding of both rulebooks. Additionally, in order to achieve my professional goals, which include having a job within the sport industry, I need to gain connections and learn workplace skills and knowledge.  In order to learn these things and gain these connections it is imperative that I surround my self within the correct environment.  

Environment is the third component in the “PLE” and it is very important because it brings both the Personal and Learning together, which helps you in the process to achieve your goals. In order to achieve my professional goals in the environment I will need to surround my self in, is the working / sports industry environment. This will allow me to make important connections, which could lead to job opportunities down the road. In order to do this it is important that I volunteer within the sport industry as much as possible. Secondly, I will need to gain the internship opportunity offered in my fourth year to students who have a 70 average. This internship will give me the opportunity to expand my skill set and knowledge of the sport industry as well as make important connections.

In conclusion, it is important to establish your PLE for maximize personal success in the future. It is important as individual to know what your goals are and how you are going to achieve them. Without this direction and end in mind, the day to day “grind” of life can seem unrewarding and cause people to not achieve there maximum success possible.  

Esler, B. (CC) 2016

I found the word cloud tool an interesting tools that allows you to think more deeply about how you express yourself and what it truly means. When looking at the bigger words in the picture below a couple such as important, people, believe, and positive stand out to me. These are four words that I feel represent my outlook on life right now and how I try to live each day.

Esler, B. (CC) 2016

Week 1

Just like that week one of the winter semester is over and it is time for my first blog post about my learning in ADED 1P32. Unlike my other classes which were filled with dry and boring lectures about course expectations and due dates, ADED was a week full of learning. To begin the week I was asked as part of the course component to open a pintrest account and this blog, which were both new technological platforms for myself. By creating these accounts I was adding to the digital footprint that I have been creating for the past 19 years of my life. Correction, more like 19 years and 9 months as the video included in this week’s lesson pointed out that our digital footprint begins when we are in our mother’s womb and an ultrasound is performed. The digital footprint begins here because information is being collected about you and stored in computer files for the rest of your life. I believe that digital footprint can be beneficial if it is managed correctly throughout your entire lifetime. The benefits of a digital footprint is that it allows your future contacts to understand more about your background in a easy and timely fashion. This is can be beneficial because by having someone understand your background it could help you land job or allow the person to understand you better making it easier to form relationships. However, if you poorly manage your digital footprint the background information that people gain when looking at it could tarnish your image. This could result in not getting the job in a interview process, or not forming the important relationships that are needed to be made. In order to ensure that my digital footprint is a positive one I have a couple important rules/strategies that I use. First, I ensure that anything I post on social media websites is appropriate and free of language or words that will someone could find offensive. When I posting on these sites are I always ask myself “what kind of image is this post going to create?” My second strategy is to make sure that I am not tagged in any posts or photos that is going to tarnish my image. Posting photos online are great but if they give my future boss or friends a wrong image it could prove to me disastrous for myself. My last strategy is I control who can look at my social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and twitter, by being a protected account and having people ask me for permission to view it. This allows me to know who is able to see anything I post. These three strategies help maintain a positive technological footprint for myself.

Picture found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com
/r/?sm=JrY0yjZhhJKVmTe1YNO%2bIxVWCvVHoU93
IDkjUuhjmvg%3d

I believe that the relationship between my digital footprint and my netiquette is something that goes hand in hand. I believe that these two things work together in way that if you are using the proper “netiquette” and following the rules of the online world, that being set by the law and the rules you set for yourself, then your digital footprint would be a positive one. The relationship between being a Digital Citizen and your digital footprint is another one that I believe is dependent on each other. I believe that being a good or bad digital citizen determines how your footprint looks. This observation comes from the idea that if you continue to do bad, or illegal things online it is tracked in your footprint leaving you with a negative digital footprint. Throughout this week I learned the importance that being a digital citizen is just as important as being a global citizen in the physical world.  Before doing this week’s readings it had not occurred to me how are actions online really do affect people worldwide. Throughout this course I will be focusing on how my actions online really do affect other people and what ways I need to change.

On the Digital Drivers License exam I finished with a 16 out 20. The three areas that I need to improve in are digital communication, digital commerce, and digital health and wellness. I will be focusing my attention especially on the digital communication category because I believe this is a very important one to know and understand. Being able to communicate correctly in this technological world is crucial to both my personal and professional success in life. I will take the opportunity in this course to expand my knowledge in this area and put a strong effort in to becoming much better in this category.

In conclusion, this week we looked deeply into what our digital footprint and use of technology has done and will continue to do the world. We learned the importance of managing a healthy digital footprint and the value of being a good digital citizen.  

Introduction

Hello,

            My name is Brandon Esler and I am in my second year of studying Sport Management at Brock University. My passion for sports and interest in business is a unique combination that has allowed myself to thoroughly enjoy my time in the program so far. This passion for sports and business that guided me into the program at Brock play a major role in my interests and jobs that I pursue in my free time. This is evident as I am very connected to the minor sports landscape through my passion of officiating. This summer I will be entering my ninth season of umpiring hardball in Ontario. Currently I have obtained my level three in the Baseball Ontario program. Being involved in sports in this manner has pushed me to have goals and aspirations. When it comes to umpiring my goal is to obtain my level four in the umpiring program.  As for refereeing I am “Level two Certified” in the Hockey Canada referee program, and my “goal” is to obtain my level three within the program. Officiating sports has become a major part of who I am because it has given me certain life goals which I dedicate much of my free time perusing.  Overall I am a dedicated individual that enjoys being connected to the sports world in both an educational and practical way, and I hope to find a permanent career in the sports industry one day.

             The reason I am beginning this blog and introducing the online world to myself through this platform, is because I am currently enrolled in an adult education course that deals with learning in a digital context. The course will use various online platforms such as pintrist, twitter, and this blog to help us learn how to effectively use the technology that is available to the world today. Personally I enrolled in this course because I believe that due to the technological advancements in our society, it will be very beneficial, if not crucial to have a great understanding of the technology in the world in order to obtain a job in the future. Also I took this course because although I might “think” I am very well versed with online platforms that are available, I believe there are many more important ones to learn about. We are just coming to the end of week one and I can already say this point is valid, as I did not know about pintrist until I opened one as a pat of our class activity this week.

In conclusion, I am looking forward to this class and the knowledge that I will gain about the digital world in the next 12 weeks!