So far...

So far this class has given me the opportunity to explore topics I've thought about but never able explore deeply with them. I enjoyed learning about the social media use with my circle of friends and family. It opened up a lot of conversations and made me realize what a big part it is in their lives.

As we begin talking about our next project with the Japanese students from Kansai University I feel really confident. Since I've participated in this project before I know what to expect. I am very curious about who my group will be and what topics we will decide to do for our video. Last time we did our project I learned a lot about the Japanese students. It was one of the most fun projects I have have ever done.

Multitasking

This week we talked about multitasking. As we started discussing it in our groups I realized that all I do is multitask all day long until I get home. During my day at work I could be doing all of these at once. Teaching a lesson while scanning the class, taking a note out of a students hand, writing on the white board, and passing out papers. Well, this might be a slight exaggeration but it's pretty close. I feel like if I couldn't multitask then I couldn't be a teacher. What I thought was multitasking was actually switch tasking. My brain is just switching quickly between each task. I'm constantly watching 24 kids in my class at a time and sometimes half of them are lined up in front of me trying to get my attention to ask me a question. I didn't realize how bad multitasking can be for you. Here I thought I was making my brain stronger but really I'm just causing myself not to retain anything that I've done. Now I can understand why I can't ever remember anything. I thought it was just my memory and I was getting old but I'm pretty sure it's because I'm always trying to do a million things at once. I'm definitely going to start taking more time on single activities and put more energy and focus into one task instead of half the energy and focus into 5 tasks. Here's a video I found that talks about how you can only multitask in one way. 

Social Media

After looking at all the social media demographics reports there were a few things that stood out at me. First was how similar our data was to the PEW research even though we had a smaller scale of participants. That just shows how much people are involved with social media. I also noticed that there are people who are concerned about their privacy but still continue to put themselves out there.  So i guess they are concerned but not concerned enough. Lastly I realized how social media can really take over peoples lives. After interviewing my participants it felt like they were telling me things that they were actually embarrassed about. I found this video about how social media affects your brain.  It compares it to a drug and how it can become addictive. It's kind of interesting and even talks about multi tasking! Enjoy!

Personal Introduction

This is my personal introduction video I made on Powtoon. This is the most engaging presentation software I've ever used. It's fun to watch and create! I highly recommend it for presentations! In my video I talked about our house renovation story. My husband and I just bought our first home this past year and it needs to be completely renovated. We have been using You Tube to help us with all of our renovations. It's been quite a journey with a few surprises along the way. 

Blog Objectives

Welcome to my reflection blog. This will be where I can reflect on class each week. I will share my thoughts and inspirations as they run quickly through my head and hopefully before I forget them. I'm looking forward to learning from everyone in class as well as learning more about E-learning communities. I'm always open to new ideas and suggestions so please feel free to comment and share as much as possible.