This is a test... (or, it will be!)

I just found something new... and I'm trying it on my blog!

A friend called last night to tell me that she's in the hospital getting worked up for potential meningitis (yikes!).  Today the update was that while CSF cultures are pending, they are running tests for Lyme disease because they symptoms match and working in veterinary medicine presents a potential for exposure.  Now, I teach clinical pathology and am familiar with Lyme disease in pets, prevention, yada yada... but I've never dealt with it in a human!  So I ran off to the CDC and started reading about Lyme in humans to see if there might be any differences :)  Bottom line, if it's caught early she should recover with no troubles (if it even comes back as Lyme- we really don't know for sure yet).

So at the CDC Lyme page, I spotted this:

 

Of course, I have no idea what to do with it... but I'm going to try and put it on my blog page!  In the meantime, for your learning pleasure, here's a super fun Lyme disease quiz:
http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/quiz/q1/index.html

Confessions of a RICE Queen

My name is Carrie, and I love to ice!  You know you’ve heard it before; RICE for injury- rest, ice, compression, elevation.  I love them all; who doesn’t want a reason to rest, ice feels great on sore spots (or hey, at least makes them numb), compression really speeds recovery, and elevation just makes you look like a serious athlete, right?  Knees are my weakness… the more I run, the more ice they enjoy! 

But wait, there’s a new kid in town, and his name is METH (I swear, I’m not kidding).  Today in one of my online communities, we are discussing this article about a new set of recommendations:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/2014/05/26/more_trainers_rejecting_rice_treatment_for_minor_sport_injuries.html

Will it change my habits?  I’m not sure yet; the evidence is interesting but the article is far from comprehensive.  I like the idea of active recovery but using heat just screams inflammation to me!  Not to mention it speeds transmission of pain… while ice slows it.  Dangit, I am so resistant to change!

Observations 1

I am having great fun observing my communities!  A few days ago, I spotted some links from one of them; one link was to a runner academy interview with a pretty famous endurance coach, and the other was to a live webinars (or podcasts if you couldn’t make the live versions) being held about finding a quiet mind during a race, visualizing victory (I never bother with that, ha! I am a back-of-the-pack girl), and speed play!  At any rate, I look forward to continuing this project, and participating in the community eventually.  In the meantime, a quick ‘you know you’re running in Florida when…’ moment:

Communities

The community observation paper assignment appeared very straightforward upon first reading… and then I tried to locate my communities, ha!  The only social media sites I have previously used are facebook and a perfume enthusiast’s discussion board (no, I am not kidding; I am really really into perfume).  These two don’t have much to do with each other, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t find something new, since I needed new communities anyway!  I got a bit caught up in trying to find a social media based community that revolved around my profession, or the profession that I teach.  But really, all I could find were organizations, and these are groups that I already participate in.  So I went with a hobby that I have; triathlon.  My husband and I both compete very casually in the sport of triathlon.  I’ve only done it since 2012, so I am still quite the beginner… and I am crazy happy if I somehow manage to beat one or two people at the back of the pack!  But I’m in it for the experience, so I am happy just to finish (for now anyway).  My blog wallpaper is a photo of the type of triathlon bike that I own; meet the Specialized Transition Apex- she is a beauty!  At any rate, I have not participated in communities related to triathlon before, so that’s what I hunted next.  I found a local group of triathletes that is on facebook, and a discussion board arm of the perfume-aholic website that is the fit board.  Since I have used both sites previously, the learning curve shouldn’t be too dramatic.  But each distinct community within the social media site is novel to me, so I look forward to seeing what I find!

Sign of (me being behind...) the Times

This week’s topics and references have really made me feel behind the times… I’ve been online and a distance learner for a long time, and I guess I have fallen into the trap of thinking that this status means I am making use of web 2.0 and I am sort of ‘with it’ when it comes to technology in education.  I’m not.  This class is apparently right where I need to be, because I don’t have a handle on how some of these basic web tools can allow me to better facilitate learning experiences!  I am excited to learn about twitter and feed readers because I see an opportunity to customize my own experience while expanding my resources in education.  I won’t pretend as though I don’t feel a bit overwhelmed, because I do.  Every time I start searching for resources online, I get distracted by this cool thing, and that neat page, what's this article, I should read this, but I'll need to follow this link to read the original... you know what I mean.  But the idea of bringing my favorite resources, blogs, and social media to one spot with a feed reader seems like a great time and effort savings!  Even if it makes me feel ten years behind the curve…

Exploring

Today I began exploring Twitter… which is very new to me, I’ve never used or followed or paid much attention to it.  So before heading straight there, I thought I should do some research online in an effort to see what educators might already use twitter for, or what they see it doing for learners in general.  I stumbled upon a few different sites and articles, but I really didn’t know too much about what sorts of credibility these resources hold?  For instance, here’s one:

http://www.edudemic.com/twitter-in-education/

It’s an article about the use of twitter in education obviously, and the author overviews some history of communication prior to discussing the use of twitter to encourage student participation, overcome shyness in the classroom, and steps to using twitter.  But where did this come from?  Who is Edudemic and why do I want to listen to what they have to say about the use of twitter in education?  As I explored the ‘about’ page, I learned that this is an education technology website attempting to connect teachers and administrators with the best technological tools.  But it seems as though users and members are the contributing authors… which I suppose is fine.  I think.  Maybe?  The content seems to be current, the topics relevant.  But is this a blog?  Dare I say ‘just’ a blog?  Does that matter?!  And yes, I know how much this runs smack into topics found in the Bruns reading… another post for another moment.

At any rate, I have veered off on a tangent!  One issue is my orientation to twitter; I’ll get to work on that J  The other issue is; as I look for resources to assist me in getting comfortable with twitter, is this the type of resource I want to use?  I readily admit to obsessively checking my premises… I never want to get caught building tools, habits, arguments, or reasoning on faulty premises.  So I try to make sure that I am getting information from valid and reliable sources.  I am having fun exploring, but if anyone is willing to make recommendations, please feel free!

Web 2.0

Blog note: the post timing function seems to be off… I will try to fix it, but posts have been time stamped three hours earlier than my current time zone, even though the date stamp is correct.

I have to say… web 2.0 has been instrumental in my education.  For five years, I have been a distance learner in various situations; with a college, in a university program, and even as a professional completing continuing education credits.  In fact, the only reason I am still able to be a Seminole is thanks to online learning!  As I decided to return to college, leaving central Florida was not something I wanted to do.  Giving up my career was not very tempting either; I had to decide whether I could be successful at doing and getting what was necessary through a distance learning program.  I have done so, and I have never felt as though my education is compromised or lacking in any way due to it being online.  I am consistently amazed at people who assert ‘this lab could never be online’ or ‘my course doesn’t lend itself to distance learning’.  Because I have done it; lab classes, anatomy classes, clinical experience coordination, you name it and I have done it successfully within an online course.

I have participated in classes from too many airports to count, cruise ships hopping around the Caribbean, a dockside coffee shop in Alaska, and after climbing out of the catacombs in Paris.  Let’s face it, distance learners are spoiled!  There is simply nothing in the way of learners’ ability to go after education; as long as we have the initiative, the mechanisms are out there.  Making use of web 2.0 has consistently been a huge part of my education, and I hope to learn techniques this semester that will improve my implementation of it in an effort to improve the experiences of my own students. 

Social Media Building Blocks

I found this week’s Kietzmann article about the building blocks of social media very interesting!  Never before have I found myself noting the individual facets of the social media users’ experience, or the focus on different facets that varying social media outlets place.  The article does a great job of demonstrating this and outlining how firms might maximize their social media functionality.  I’ll admit though, that I am having a hard time relating this back to education as yet… (although I suppose that’s why we are in this class, yes?!).  I can see how differing social media outlets are engaging users, creating relationships among them, and allowing them to contribute or adjust content.  I can see how and why firms might want to take advantage of social media and the diverse ways that platforms may impact users. 

Maybe if we simply lift this honeycomb framework from the context of social media and applied it to a learning community, it would make more sense to me?  Facilitating the building blocks found in this article could result in a more flexible learning environment and experience for students or trainees that we are attempting to engage.  The functionality among the blocks seems to be successful in a number of social media platforms, so why wouldn’t it work in a learning setting?  The focus can vary, as demonstrated by Kietzmann; perhaps some courses or training modules focus on learner identity, some on sharing, some on presence.  The bottom line is that consumers are utilizing these platforms, so they do potentially bring a proven track record to the field of learning and performance!

First Post...

This blog will be used as my electronic journal for EME6414 throughout Summer 2014.  I will journal my reflections on the course material, note and provide commentary on resources that I have found online, and document experiences related to the class. 

I have never created or utilized a blog before... so this could be awkward, informative, reflective, boring, or all of the above!  I am excited to use this type of tool though, while journaling my own experiences and reading what my classmates post.

And my first reflection is in fact not a weekly topic reflection... it's about this Blogger template.  The title of it is 'picture window', and yet the unfocused photo seems to me to be of a highway.  I find this a bit odd; shouldn't a picture window be looking out upon a beautiful canyon or breathtaking waterfall?  Not traffic.  At any rate, soon I hope to learn this blogging thing well enough to find a way to replace the photo with some fantastic and meaningful picture that I took myself!