Adventures in Aggregating Pages

Widgets has to be one of the funniest words that I have ever heard. I have had experience with working with widgets when I experienced my short love for an Android phone. I had no idea that they were used online in an aggregated page.

My experience:

I actually enjoyed creating my page. (Shh, us Apple product lovers like the minimum and should NOT enjoy Widgets) I think this will be something that I link to my other pages. I do find it a little tricky when I attempt to add pages that are already listed on the page. Click here to view my page.

YouTube Adventure

"Google it" has to be one the most used terms in today's time. With the use of Google there are no unaswered questions. I have found that YouTube can be used in that exact text. Need to know how to change a flat tire? Watch a YouTube video. There are millions of videos right at your finger tip when using YouTube. I have been tirelessly planning my wedding for next year and I have found YouTube to be tremendously helpful. I am able to view venues right from the comfort of my living room. I have also been able to watch makeup and hair tutorials. YouTube is also beneficial to my work life. I am able to refer a student to a specific school and they are able to watch the school's welcome video right in my classroom. This is extremly helpful since the majority of my students are unable to travel and visit colleges. I think it is an awesome Web 2.0 tool!

Twitter experience

Twitter is the newest Web 2.0 tool that I downloaded on my phone OR is Bitstrip considered to be a Web 2.0 tool?  I have had a Twitter account since June of 2012 and I have only made 585 tweets. <sad face> I tend to forget to post to that account but I do enjoy logging in every now and then in order to see what's trending. I do find that I use it most when I am out of town at conferences or workshops in order to promote my organization. (#TRiOworks) I also use it to keep "connected" with my favorite celebrities. Follow me @sophietoo

Vanity Search

What does your digital footprint look like? This is an opportunity to explore your digital presence. The more you are involved in online communications, the greater your digital footprint can become. It is important that you do this before you start to set up additional accounts for this class and interact in these spaces. You will have a chance to explore how your digital footprint changes over time as you interact in new spaces. This is important for you to understand as you will need to be able to help students understand the importance of being aware of their own digital footprints. This is a simple thing to do. Simply go to Google and enter your name in quotes. Then explore the results. Make sure you look at the returns for web pages, photos and videos. Take notes on what you find and reflect on what it means for the way you use the web and how you are represented. You will then write a post in your blog (Instructions for Blog are below) that addresses what you learned in your first vanity search.

Scary! I have often Googled myself for other reasons such as boredom or maybe vanity (that one time when I watched the show Catfish). <side eye> Anyhow, I am okay with my results or should I say that I am not surprised by anything. Listed was my current blogs and one from 2007 that I had forgotten about, my FB information and pictures from that site, local news article, a couple of Prezis that I made AND information about me and my current position at UNT and MY SALARY along with start date and my position title. I know that information is available to the public but should't you have to actually search for it? It's literally at the click of enter after searching my name. Interesting!  In the end, I think that I use the web cautiously and that I am represented very well. (clearly compensation is another story)