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Week # 11 Reflection

I am in the end stretch heading towards the last week of the semester. Intense would aptly describe the way that I am feeling. I took two courses this semester and so I am having to juggle the end of the semester demands this week; and on top of my full-time job, it is a crazy time. I am looking forward to a little break between this semester and the Fall. I think that I will use the downtime to go back and investigate some of the tools that I didn’t get a chance to experience during the summer. I definitely want to try Diigo, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. This course has taught me the importance of establishing an online presence and sharing with my fellow peers. I’ve learned so much from others and it’s important to contribute to the collective knowledge. I definitely plan to have fun as well. In fact, I’m off to Jacksonville this weekend for a short weekend get-away. And, after the hectic rush of assignments, I aim looking forward to relaxing on the beach, eating some seafo...
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The Monetizing Power of the Internet

My studies this semester have mainly focused on the US adoption of social media even though I know that the social networking platforms have been embraced by populations all over the world. Yesterday, CNN mentioned that a 6-year old You-Tube star, Boram, in South Korea bought an $8 million property from her YouTube earnings. According to CNN, Boram has 13.6 million subscribers for her toy review channel and 17.6 million subscribers for her video blog channel, and one of her videos has over 376 million views.   As a “digital immigrant”, it continues to amaze me how people can monetize their online endeavors. But, this and other online success cases indicate that the opportunity is available for those who can find the market for their perspective skills or talent. Can this success be replicated in some African countries, such as Ghana? Africa is set to be the next emerging market. According to Forbes (2017) the continent lacks an advanced technological infrastructure but is exp...
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Social Networking Technologies in Ghanaian Universities

I have always been interested in how developing nations can become more developed as I believe that will create a more universally peaceful world. So, I was intrigued by one of this week’s articles that focused on the adoption of Social Networking Technologies (SNTs) in teaching at Ghanaian universities. Arthur, Adu-Manu and Yeboah (2013) stated that “Social Networking Technologies when introduced into education cultivates several advantages such as faculty and staff sharing learning materials with students, making teaching and learning location independent, enhances creativity and innovation, etc.” (p 70). These are indicators that social networking technologies have been beneficial for improving learning outcomes. Arthur, Adu-Manu and Yeboah (2013) performed a research study on over 400 teachers and teacher support staff at private universities in Ghana to determine the factors that influence the adoption of social networking technologies and the adoption and implementation of ...
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Week # 10 Reflection

I can see the finish line for my summer session but I still have work to do to close out the semester stronger than when I started! I am grateful that the previous week, our instructor gave us some reprieve from blogging. With the July 4 th holiday and summer vacations, I have had to juggle multiple priorities. Last weekend, we had a family reunion cruise and I got a chance to sail with my   family to the Bahamas homework-free (well, at least I only had one class to worry about). Approximately 50 of my family members from Augusta, Atlanta, South Florida and other parts of the country set sail towards the Bahamas, which was a nice break in the midst of summer. It was a 4-day/3-night cruise, which was short and sweet. I hadn’t cruised in over 15 years, so it was a delight to cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas. We were able to debark on Saturday and Sunday and spent most of the day either on Nassau or Royal Caribbean’s island, “Coco-Cay.” At night, we got to dine o...
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Using Trello for Time Management

I was introduced to Trello a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share how I have been using it stay productive. Trello ( https://trello.com/en-US ) is an online platform that allows users to use a variety of boards and cards to organize their projects. As a new graduate student, I have been seeking a way to manage my school, personal and professional life. Trello’s platform makes it easy and actually fun to do! First, you can select your background to set the mood for your project. You can select either a color or photo that represents your personal style or the theme of your project. Since its summer time, I decided to go with a bright pink. I created a Weekly To Do Board and set it to private because it included a mix of personal and professional tasks. I adapted the tool to match my needs. I need a place where I could see all of my To Dos so I customized the board to include these components: Weekly View -  I created 8 lists for each day of the week (M, T, W, R, F,...
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Informal Learning and Information Exchange in the Workplace

How many times have you been asked to roll out a new technology solution at work in the hopes that it will lead to a new learner revolution only to have low adoption rates? To engage learners at work and increase the utilization of our LMS, I am often asked to do just this. At a past corporation, I was asked to upgrade the LMS and roll out the new LMS community feature in hopes of attracting a wider audience. I didn’t stay long at the company to determine what the long-term implications were for the community feature, but it did spark initial conversations with employees from around the globe and for the first time we could read user comments about their LMS experience. This week, I was inspired to read the article, “Actually, I Wanted to Learn”: Study-related knowledge exchange on social networking sites.” This article rightfully purports that with the rise of social networking sites, young adults are more inclined to use social media for educational purposes. According to Ca...
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Week # 7 Reflection

It’s the week of July 4 Th and I still don’t know what I plan to do for the weekend! It seems that this week will be one in which I leave the planning to the day of! Typically, I would venture to a cookout with family, where we would have barbecue chicken, ribs, potato salad, fruit salad, pound cake and maybe something green & healthy. Then, watch fireworks in the evening. But, this year, most of my family has decided to travel up to Augusta, GA so I will be alone, which means, I will likely have whatever is available at my local Fresh Market! I thought I would blog about food today because it is a common element that we all share, regardless of our race, gender, or ethnicity, we all must eat. I think food is a way to bridge communities and build relationships with others who may be different than you. I have traveled as far away as Moscow Russia and people still delight in being able to provide ‘good’ food for their family. We had a guest speaker this week in class, one of ...
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