Leah's Education Blog

When I think about online communities, I keep thinking back to our text Networked  referencing how many people living with disabilities, especially health conditions connect with others this way (Rainie & Wellman, 2014). I came across this post on a blog for Cystic Fibrosis, titled " How Connecting Online with People with CF Changed my Life ." The author writes about how when she was first diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, or CF, her network of people she knew who also had the disease was very small and limited to those in her geographic area, it then grew a little and she became 'connected' virtually through Facebook, but only in a very one-dimensional way. She explains that she would view photos and read posts, but there was limited or no engagement between them. This eventually changed when she was encouraged to log on to a video chat.  The author then shares how this video chat experience helped her launch a new digital platform to connect people with CF, subm

In   Tweet me, message me, like me: using social media to facilitate pedagogical change within an emerging community of practice   Goodyear, V. A., Casey, A., & Kirk, D. 2014) the authors use social media as a platform for teachers to communicate about their work. The beginning of the article introduces that only five of the seven teachers connect with the researcher on social media. Reading this article got me thinking, what is "normal" or "acceptable" when it comes to connecting with colleagues on social media?  I generally exclude LinkedIn from these discussions, since the purpose of LinkedIn is professional networking (for more reasons why you might consider a LinkedIn page read my blog post on 7 reasons why it should be ).  A quick Google search will show you that people are pretty split on their opinions. This article from Forbes  gives a pretty unbiased view, and one can think of pros and cons: connecting allows you to build relationships and use social

In reading one of the articles this week,  The use of social media in the Republic of Georgia and a discussion about American academic freedom with electronic communications   ( Noniashvili, M., Batiashvili, M., & Griffin, G. 2014), one of the many surprising facts I learned was how few people in Georgia were " internet subscribers". The article reports that approximately 500,000 people, or 10% of the popluation, have internet access ( 2014 ). Of this 10%, Facebook is the most commonly used socail media platform, with Twitter and LinkedIn growing in usage as people become more accustomed to technology ( Noniashvili, M., Batiashvili,  M., & Griffin, G. 2014). Curious to see how this related to other developing countries, and even how statistics have changed since the article was published, I wanted to see what else I could find. I came across this article from Pew Global, entitled  Social Media Use Continues to Rise in Developing Countries but Plateaus Across Develop

I've tried a lot of new tools this week, and I've tried some familiar tools in new ways. There's been some reading and researching, and a lot of thinking about how to engage this technology with students. So I thought I'd take a little time just to reflect on what's worked and what hasn't. In Favor VoiceThread From the beginning I enjoyed that our "lectures" were in this platform rather than reading PowerPoint slides. The shorter format, combined with audio recording, and ability to interact was very appealing to me. Creating my own was a little intimidating, but shockingly, I still really like this platform. I can see myself using VoiceThread for online lectures and will try to find ways to use it at work. It was very simple to navigate, so ease of use always helps me feel comfortable, but I do enjoy the different ways it allows learner to engage. Pearltrees Unlike some of the other curation sites, I find this one to be helpful for academ

"The most striking finding of the national survey is the extent of peer-to-peer help amount people living with chronic conditions...One in four internet users living with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions, lung conditions, cancer, or some other chronic ailment (23%) say they go online to find others with similar health concerns. By contrast 15% of internet users who report no chronic conditions have sough such help online." (Raine & Wellman, p.145) When I made the switch to higher education my first job was an advisor in the Office for Students with Disabilities, and it was an enlightening experiencing that has stayed with me. Since then I've been able to remain a liaison to those offices at the different places I've worked and try to help support people with diverse abilities in their career development. So I couldn't blog through this whole course and not talk about the impact that technology and social media has had on this community.

Those of you in higher education may be familiar with the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), but here's a little bit about NACE directly from their website : " Established in 1956, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) connects more than 8,100 college career services professionals at nearly 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide, more than 3,100 university relations and recruiting professionals, and the business affiliates that serve this community.  NACE is the leading source of information on the employment of the college educated, and forecasts hiring and trends in the job market; tracks starting salaries, recruiting and hiring practices, and student attitudes and outcomes; and identifies best practices and benchmarks. NACE provides its members with high-quality resources and research; networking and professional development opportunities; and standards, ethics, advocacy, and guidance on key issues." NACE provides caree