Weekly Reflection Report Week #12

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the final week, this class has been a great experience and this week is the last hurrah. The class has really helped me understand the necessity and path towards making a positive digital Footprint.

I learned that as a digital citizen I must follow the nine elements of digital citizenship, Access, Commerce, communication, literacy, etiquette, law, rights and responsibility, health, and security. And although all the elements are equally important in their own rights I found five of the nine elements particularly resonated with me. Those five elements are Digital Communication, Digital literacy, Rights and Responsibility, etiquette and law.

I learned the importance of communication through participating in the group project. As such the project will effectively go down the drain if there is no proper communication is not maintained between the group members. Proper communication is especially important when the team is not in the same room as you.

I have used this many times in by previous blogs but I never get tired of saying the fact that with great power comes great responsibility (I love Spiderman… so excited that he will be in the new movie). But as much as this sentence holds true for getting superpowers from a radioactive spider it is equally true for the having access to limitless knowledge through the internet. To be an effective digital citizen one must follow the outlined guidelines. This very effectively brings me the next element digital law, despite popular belief the internet is not the Wild West (which recent studies have shown was not that wild anyways). The law also applies to the internet and that fact that it is such a transparent system it is actually very easy to track down the wrongdoer. I am sure that none of my audience is in any shady business, however, as student the main concern we should be in areas surrounding academic misconduct and the only thing I can say is DON’T DO IT!!! (For all the auditory learners I have attached a catchy song to one of my previous blogs).

 

In terms of promoting appropriate digital behavior in other and helping other to develop the knowledge. I believe the best things I can do is to is to continue my blog because as the title of my blog says “Working towards creating a positive digital footprint” it is a marathon and small things can make a huge difference.

Finally I week I don’t want to share an article from my Feedly but instead, I read an interesting article on the side effects of banning plastic water bottles (Click Here). Yes… just like you guys I too found it hard to believe that how can something like that have any side effects. But the results of a study conducted by a nutrition professor Rachel Johnson, of the University of Vermont showed that the even after installing water fountains to accommodate reusable water bottles students instead switched to soda and energy drinks. This can have real consequences as it leads to empty calories and excessive sugar intake which in turn adds to the growing obesity and health problems. I article just makes me feel cynical as it leads me to believe that people don’t want to be reformed and we are very good at trading one evil for another.

That’s all for today folks.
Kev

Weekly Reflection Report Week #11

Hello everyone,

Welcome to week 11 we are one more week away from completing this course I personally really enjoyed the ride and the course was a lot of fun. Through the course, I have seen my PLE develop in a well-equipped arsenal of tools. But on the matter at hand this week I created my first podcast it was an amazing experience, however, I did find it a bit difficult as narrating something to myself was harder than expected. To overcome this situation I created wore down the items I wanted to address and make a makeshift script this made creating my podcast much easier. I have a new found respect for people who do improve because I tried doing that and it was very difficult.

I used Sound cloud to create my podcast and as I was kind of biased towards it since many of my friends use it for posting their EDM music. But keeping all bias aside I really enjoyed using Sound cloud as it was quite straight forward and as an added bonus I could use my google account to sign in, so I did not have to go through the hassle of creating a new account.

I am not sure if I will be adding sound cloud to my PLE as although I enjoy listening to podcasts I think this one experience is enough for me. And since I will rarely be making podcasts I am not sure how useful it is to add it to my PLE. Maybe I can add a new section to my PLE diagram titled ‘rarely used tools’ (I might just do that).

This week on my Feedly I came across an interesting article “how to: survive on a desert island” (click here). Everyone has seen survivor and thought this seems easy and can easily be replicated or am I the only one? Either way, this article shattered my dreams because it is anything but easy. The article is about the rescue of Alexander Selkirk a man’s whose adventure inspired the story of Robinson cruise. I always use to think once you have your food and shelter figured out you are pretty much set. However, I forgot to take into consideration one the main concerns loneliness. As humans, we are social creatures and thrive off social interactions, living on a deserted island the same loneliness will come to haunt you. I never considered loneliness as a factor but the more I think about it the more I come to grip with the gravity of the situation. That’s all for today folks see you next week

Kev

Creative Commons Licensing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Podcast

Hello Everyone,

Today I created my first podcast, hearing myself talk was weird but by all means, it was a great experience. I really think podcasts are a great way to communicate with your audience as it adds voice to the classroom. As we all know that everyone is a different learner auditory, visual, kinesthetic and verbal. Podcasts and screen casts are a great way to communicate with users who are auditory and visual learners. I also noted that podcasts offer a much personal touch, a blog is a great tool for getting your message across but unless you are an awesome writer it can sometimes be boring and dull. This is a common problem I have seen and experienced with a digital classroom, yes it allows greater communicating and collaboration. However, it always seems to be missing that feeling one gets when he or she is in a physical classroom (for some the feeling might be boredom but we are not including them in this example). I think podcast bridges this gap as it effectively brings the personal touch that a usual digital classroom is missing.

That’s all folks

Weekly Reflection Report Week #10

Hello Everyone,

This week we learned about copyright and why is it important. Intellectual property protection is an important part of the digital age as the easy access to information has made us less aware of the work created by others. Back when libraries still existed and people use to read books we the users were very self-aware that the information we are using is not ours, as we were getting our information from something physical like a book. However, the information we access on the internet feels personal as we can access it on out personal computers.

The use of information that does not belong to us is by no means off limits that being said whenever we use that information it is important that we give the proper credit to the author. As in failing to do so we can face charges such as intellectual theft and academic misconduct. While researching this topic I came across an interesting video. The video in a creative manner explains the reasoning behind the importance of attribution.

This week is also used the tool Animoto, I can’t say that I was impressed by the tool as first it is not free so I am not sure how practical it is for a student who is living on a shoestring budget. However, I did find the tool to be innovative as it is a different take on presentations. I really enjoyed using it as the user-friendly and doesn’t require much time to understand.  I am not sure on how useful this tool can be for academic presentations as you can’t really write much on the slides. I had to use creative means to incorporate the citations in today’s presentation, I wrote the citations in Microsoft word used the snipping tool to create a picture and add it to the presentation.

This week on my Feedly in keeping up with the change in weather I read an article call to cruise or not to cruise (Click here). Every year I start making plans for going on a cruise and like every year I get scared. Even after being an excellent swimmer and a certified lifeguard I am terrified of the ocean (it has sharks in it). Besides being terrified I have also noticed that cruises are extremely pricey and I am as broke as Wimpy from Popeye (I will gladly pay to Tuesday for a hamburger today). If you don’t get that reference then I am sorry but that guy was hilarious. But on to my conundrum to cruise or not to cruise because of my Co-op I am not as broke as before but the fear of the ocean is still real. I would love to hear your opinions.

Kev

Animoto

Hello Everybody,

This week's lesson made me ponder a few questions. The questions I started thinking about were simple yet required quite a bit of analysis. In this blog my understanding of these question and I look forward to hearing from you so I can expand my horizons. On to the questions

1) The Internet A free for all Pit

2) The most transparent medium

3) Why now?

4) Why is copyright important?

5) The truth behind the drapes

Is the internet a free for all pit of information, in my opinion, it depends on the what you want to use it for. Yes, it is a vast ocean of information, but one can't just fill his/her pot with the water with paying for it or, at least, acknowledging the metaphorical 'ocean'. So what does that make all the talk about the internet being a public domain a lie? Well yes and no the there are certain websites that are public domain but since the internet allows such easy access people often forget that the information they are using is not theirs. This also ties into my third question of why now, well the answer is simple today we are more connected than ever and this is only going to increase day by day.

Whenever I some got fired because of a video they posted on the internet get a good chuckle from the hypocrisy of the situation. On one hand everyone is up in arms about privacy and yet people are stupid enough to post incriminating evidence on the transparent medium of the modern age. the some concept applies to plagiarism don't do it people the lie will get caught by a simple search

Finally to my final two questions. Copyright is important because it allows the creator the ownership of their content. the law protects creators from intellectual theft as the damages can be just as serious a physical theft. That being said there are a lot of grey areas in the law, areas which many company and individuals take advantage of. A prime example of this is patent trolls, a new scam that is going around that involves companies patenting common processes/ideas and sue a smaller business for monetary gains (watch video for further info). I would like to conclude this blog by saying intellectual property laws protect people from being the victim of intellectual theft, however, it does have grey areas that still needs to be addressed.

Kev

Weekly Reflection Report Week #9

Hello Everyone,

This week I was introduced to a new tool called Voice Thread. It is a collaboration tool that allows users to upload different media files and create an interactive presentation. The tool allows users to give feedback using different mediums such as comments, Video and audio. I found that since VoiceThread allows users to make comments on specific slides of the presentation it makes it highly interactive and allows a high level of collaboration.

I think strictly judging this tool for its interactive ability it offers a lot more versatility than google docs, as first it allows slide specific comments and secondary it allows different ways to leave feedback.  To begin imagine a scenario when you are part of a big team working on a presentation to attract a new client. It would make the presenters life a lot easier if the team gave feedback on specific slides rather than a generic comment on the overall presentation. The second reason on why I think the tool is great is because users to use different mediums to leave feedback. Explaining something by writing can be a challenge but leaving audio / video messages is great as it makes it much easier to get you point across.

This week I also analyzed a technology use scenario, I selected to scenario #16 as I that using cell phones while driving is a current issue and is extremely dangerous.

This week on my Feedly I read an interesting article (click here) regarding how to be more creative. This article stumped me as ever since I was young I was taught to think outside the box. However, this article asks me to do the exact opposite, upon reading the rationale of the article I am inclined to agree with it. Sticking to the life lessons we are also taught that everyone is good at something and it that is true than then forget the outside of the box look within the box and you will find it.

That’s it, everyone, it is a short blog today as I am swamped with work.

Kev

Technology Use Scenario

Scenario 16 - Kelly just got her driver's license. Her parents allow her to take the car to school and to her part-time job. She enjoys the freedom of being able to drive. One night, her parents allow her to pick up her friend Sally to go to the movies. She begins driving to Sally's house and remembers she wanted to remind her other friend Lisa that they were meeting after the movie. She decides that she can text Lisa and continue to drive to Sally's house. Kelly gets so involved with typing the text to Lisa that she does not see the car ahead of her braking. At the last minute, she is able to step on the brakes and stop her car before becoming involved in an accident. Should we be doing distracting behaviors when driving?

I think distracted driving is a serious issue and is deserving receiving a lot of attention in the past few years. I think Kelly is using technology inappropriately as using the cell phone regardless the age or experience should never be done. Kelly being a new driver should have been even being more careful when driving.

The action that makes this scenario inappropriate is the fact that Kelly was texting while driving. There have been various studies that illustrate that driving is a task that requires complete our complete attention. According to http://stoptextsstopwrecks.org/ “ten percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes”, these stats can’t be ignored. as they paint a very strong image of the possible mishaps that can happen due to distracted driving.

Kelly could have prevented this situation by finding a safe spot to stop and text her friend

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #8

Hello Everyone,

Today we are talking about wikis but before I start to, let me ask you, what is a wiki? UHHHH I have no idea. ‘UHHHH’ is often the response I get from most people when I ask them the aforementioned question. Wikipedia, WikiHow and Wiki Answers are household names and yet it is misunderstood. We have been using wikis for over 10 years now and it is our best friend as it is a quick and easy tool to get some information on that paper/essay you have been pushing back for the past month. But on to the question ‘wiki’ derived from the Hawaiian word for quick is a collaborative environment that allows users to make  modifications to its content directly from the web browser without any HTML knowledge. In my personal opinion, I think a wiki is not an effective tool for group projects as I think it lags behind the other tools such as Google Docs. I am not trying to undersell the uses and benefits of a wiki, but I just think for a small scale group projects a wiki is not that user-friendly.

This week we also talked about the rights and responsibility of becoming a model digital citizen. Besides being informative it also gave me the option to use the line “with great power comes great responsibility” (what can I say I love Spider man).  Not taking into consideration my cheesy like I do think that we are privileged that we have access to the vast resources of the internet and us as digital citizens have to be aware of our rights and responsibilities. The three rights and responsibility I find the most important in this are the explained the diagram below.

K,Shah (CC) 2016

In my blog I always reserve the final paragraph about some article/ story I found interesting on the internet and usually they are about travel, business, and technology. But not today, this week I will introduce you to my other love, the culinary arts. In my opinion, cooking is the ultimate art as it pleases all the senses. Now on to the story (click here), the article explains the how cooking has changed us and aided towards our accelerated evaluation. This is because compared to eating raw food using heat to alter the food’s chemical structure releases a lot more energy. This article made me thing about the “raw food diet” fad that is been going on among many celebrities and young adults. This article clearly debunks the fact that cooking food destroys its nutrients, it is actually the other way around.

Till next time

Kev 

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #7

Hello Everyone,

I can’t believe we are already halfway through the course and spring finally. When I say finally I sound stupid as we really did not have a winter this year in Canada. But on to this week’s lesson, seven weeks into this course I have noticed there is a consistent lesson that is being taught in this course “collaboration”. A tool called Google docs was introduced this week, I have an on-off relation with Google docs as I use to use it a lot when I was in grade eight back in 2008. The main reason was because I was broke and could not afford my very own flash drive and the fact that it was accessible anywhere there is the internet made my life a lot easier. I started using Google docs again when I came to university because as a business student I had to participate in a lot of group projects. And since it allowed us to collaborate without sending each individual group member a specific file it reduced a lot of works when it came to final review and formatting.

http://www.vpnanswers.com/unblock-google-docs-in-china-with-vpn-step-by-step/

I don’t really want people to choose sides here but using google docs I can’t help pull parallels between Google docs and Prezi another tool that was introduced in this session. I am familiar with both tools and they both have their benefits. Google on one hand offers a comprehensive package word processing and all, however, Prezi is only a presentation tool. In my opinion, I think Prezi wins by a long margin as Prezi knows what it is and strives to be the best at it.  The creative freedom that Prezi offers to the users is awesome as it brings new life to what a presentation is all about. I know this because I have impressed my manager by using Prezi once and I am quite chuffed about that.

About adding Google Docs to my PLE I say why not, I am surprised why I forgot it in the first place. It is a great tool for collaborating and I have already been using it for years. I can actually say that I use to use Google docs before it was cool.

As an aspiring CPA working in an accounting firm I often hear other people often complaining about how the busy season can take a real toll on the work-life balance. But I for some reason have never felt that I don’t like my job or that my job is affecting my life in a negative way. This might because I am a student and don’t have many responsibilities, I cook when I want to, I don’t have to take care of my kids, I can get drunk on a weekday and still wake up and go to work without a hangover. However, after reading the article on my Feedly (Click here it is more of a video), I think it is because I try to find self-actualization everywhere I work. I love my job and I wake up every day eager to go meet my colleagues and talking to my clients. It might sound boring but that is who I am and I love it.

Till next time

Kev

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #6

Hello Everyone,

This week on the deep mysteries of the interweb we have a new tool on the horizon. Well no, not so much on the horizon as I am already using it. But in all seriousness this week was mission Evernote, after using Evernote this week I did not think it was all that revolutionary. As a student whose typing speed is at max 30 words per min, I always preferred a pencil and paper as it is much more versatile and I can make paper airplanes which are always fun. I think the main reason why I did not like Evernote is because I do not think I am as familiar with Evernote as I am with one other tool is used called as OneNote.

I, however, did enjoy certain features of Evernote as such as the ability to share my ones my notes at the click of a button and having a convenient add-on to snip articles, blogs, and websites I find interesting. However I am not sure if I was using the tool wrong but I could not figure out how to ship multiple things in the same note rather than creating a new one for every bookmark I created. I really found the aforementioned feature frustrating as I had to copy everything from other notes to a single page. I using OneNote I get to experience all the same features I get in Evernote along with the benefit of familiarity. I also have the ability to write notes manually with a stylus as my computer has a touch screen and can do a 360-degree flip. For the reasons explained above I do not think I will be adding ever note to my PLE as I just was not sold on the idea and I believe there are many other tools out there that can do the same job and are much more user-friendly.

This week I while getting familiar with Evernote I also did a lot of research about the impact of digital literacy in the modern age. And I found quite a few interesting articles regarding digital literacy once was my favorite was a thesis written by Douglas A.J. Belshaw (Click Here). It is a very lengthy paper however it does a great job of explaining what digital literacy as it breaks it down and begins with the definition of literacy itself.

https://howsecureismypassword.net/

While going through my Feedly, I came across a few good articles one was regarding digital security and how to protect yourself (Click Here). I really think this will be a useful article for my fellow badgers working on the project related to digital security. The article outlines some very simple techniques a person can use to secure this digital environment. Techniques such as not recycling your passwords and frequently changing your passwords. The article also referred to this tool that evaluates your passwords and informs you on how long it will take for a PC to crack your password. I tested my Netflix password and I was told it would take a desktop PC about 423 sextillion years to crack my password. No one shall steal my Netflix account hahaha.

Till next time

Kev

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #5

Hola a todos,

For people who did not get my greeting, it means hello everyone in Spanish. The reason I started this blog with a Spanish greeting because after experiencing the extreme cold we have been facing, I really wished if I could escape to a Latin American or Caribbean country. This week has been an interesting week as I would never have expected a course where Twitter use is promoted and encouraged. Many educators still live in the 20^th century when it comes to social media and believe that social media is usually a waste of time, this new viewpoint of using twitter as a personal learning network is really refreshing take on learning.

http://www.playbuzz.com/maximumpop10/which-celebrity-twitter-feud-are-you

My experience from today’s lesson and using a personal learning network has been nothing but positive. A personal learning network, in essence, allows me to participate in what I would call a global classroom. It is a place where learning happens through collaboration, I personally think I can really benefit from this sort of atmosphere as in essence a PLN is a vast think-tank. One difficulty I faced with twitter is its character limit, this constraint makes it a little bit tricky to get your points clearly across.

I have been using twitter for a while now but never have I used it for learning. Twitter for me was always served as a medium to stay in touch with pop culture (At my current age I don’t know why I ever thought that was important) and laugh at the stupid things some celebrities tweet about (Which I still do as laughter is the best medicine). But now I think that twitter can be a valuable tool for learning as nowadays all companies, professional institutes and news sources have twitter and I can just as easily follow people who have something valuable to offer. Twitter has been a part of connect and share section in my PLE diagram created in week #2 even though it was only for “learning” about pop culture.

Using microblogging tools such as twitter can greatly help in education as it truly encompasses digital citizenship. As it encourages global discussions and gives me the opportunity to share and collaborate with a large audience. Having a social learning environment has given me the ability to challenge people’s ideas and vice versa. This really expedites the learning process as you get the ability to learn from the experience of millions of people.

This week on my Feedly I found an article (Click here) that every college student needs, a lesson in savings for the future. From personal experience, I know that not long ago I was very bad at personal finance and an article like this would have helped me greatly. The article about the building an emergency fund and lists out some very simple yet interesting methods to build your savings. I think all the methods are interesting, however, my favorite method is the “Weekly challenge” as it is very simple and can lead to some pretty substantial savings.

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #4

Hello Everyone,

This week has been a challenge for me, as I was sick due to the flu that has been making it way around to town and I had to finish a big project for work. However, let’s forget the boring small talk, this week like every other week was an eye opener. As an aspiring CPA working in an accounting firm I regularly take parts in different audits, and I constantly use certain websites to assist me with my audits. Finding these sites was a hassle to begin with and I don’t look forward to finding them again on a different computer. Diigo is really going to allow me to organize my content in an effective manner and will allow me to access the content on any device. Besides bookmarking and tagging, I really find the highlighting is a really tool helpful as it will now allow me to highlight important accounting guidelines that I use on a regular bias during audits. The screenshot below shows the bookmark I have added so far.



Shah, K (CC) 2016

Personally, I think the use of curation tools can be best utilized for research as for me research can is an extremely boring process and I will gladly use any tool that will make my work easier. As I have mentioned in my earlier blogs earlier I am planning a nine-month trip to Asia and I am planning to live on a shoestring budget during that trip. So tools such as this will help me in my research for my trip and will definitely be an integral part of my PLE as it will help me in other endeavors.

Another thing I learned in this session was the TRASH method, the internet is filled with so much so-called “trash” that it the aforementioned method is a necessity. After reading the TRASH method, I noted that I have been subconsciously using this method all the time. As a final year student, I have written my fair share of papers and it is absolutely necessary for a student that we can short out the “trash” (I really want to use a different word here I need to keep this blog professional).

This week on my RSS feed in keeping up with the spirit of the big game, I read a weird article about serving wine like a pro during Super bowl. Even as a wine lover I thought this article was a bit off, what person in his/her right mind would drink wine during a Super bowl game. Super bowl as we all know is the unofficial beer and chicken wing day. There is a reason that beer companies pay millions of dollars to broadcast their commercials during the game. All personal feelings and bias aside, yes I did find the article interesting  as it does effectively explain how to pair wine with food served on Super bowl. Food served during the big game lacks the subtlety of flavor and is often like a punch to your taste buds so pairing wine with that is difficult, to say the least (Click here for the article).

That’s all for today Folks,

Till next time.

Weekly Report & Reflection Post #3

Ah, Digital illiteracy I can go on for ages to explain how outdated I sometimes feel, this assertion was only reaffirmed by this week’s activity. As I mentioned in my blog earlier today I am as clueless a baby when it comes to knowing what an RSS feed even is. However after going over this week’s lesson, I feel like I am a little bit smarter.


After setting up my feed in Feedly, I subscribed to many blogs related to travel. This is mostly because I really want to go a year-long excursion after graduating in December 2016. This mostly because the trip will make one hell of a story. For my trip, I am heavily leaning towards South and South East Asian countries such as India, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. My feed will keep me up to date on the things I need to prepare for a successful trip. I was really intrigued by one of the blog from my RSS feed (click here). The article was about a person going back to the city of her birth and the changes she notices. The author describes the feeling she gets from the city in which she was born, it is now a developed beyond belief but it emits the same echo. Although this is not necessary giving me tips on how to be a successful traveler, it does give me goosebumps as this is one of the main reason I want to travel. Despite the rapid global urbanization as a traveler you can still hear the sound of the past. As a person who has not been to the country of his birth for a while now, this article really resonated with me.  Moving back to the point, having an RSS feed will really help me as this will make it easier for me to read interesting blogs, articles, and journal as I won’t have to go searching through the web for that.
 

The RSS feed will contribute greatly towards my digital literacy and citizenship. As the internet is a vast ocean of information and this tool will give me access to that information in a very organized and structured way. For example, I would have never come across an article as the one I mentioned earlier as I would not have been able to find it. This tool also makes it such that new content comes to me rather than searching for it. This concept is described very elegantly in this video.

Shah. K (CC) 2016

As kids, we often think that if we had a few extra arms (hopefully I am not the only one who had that thought) we could have been able to do so many more activities. This new tool Feedly just makes it so, it definitely helps me in connecting with different content creators. I think this tool will fall under the organize and connect sections of my PLE diagram, as this allows me to absorb information in a structured manner and it also connects me various content providers without wasting much time.

 
Picture: http://ammaparentingcenter.com/amma-online-courses/

My Experience with RSS Feeds

More clueless than a Baby

Before starting this blog I had to prepare myself as I was sure that I will be pelted with tomatoes for my unfamiliarity and ignorance, as I personally have no idea about was an RSS feed was. to explain my experience regarding RSS feed in one word is amazement. I have been using YouTube to subscribe to various content creators for years now however, the I was never aware of a tool that allowed me to do such a thing with websites.

I think this will be a great tool for me as I am currently in the process of planning a year long trip to South and Southeast Asia. To make this a successful trip I have lately been visiting a lot of blogs and websites to research for the trip. After setting up  My Feedly, I really think this will help me in research for the upcoming trip.

The Perfect Trip? (click here for the article)

The article I read was regarding the "Indian Himalayas - perfect blend of adventure and peace". I am a native of south Asia and have lived there for a better part of my life, however, I yet have to explore the country. Of all the beautiful scenery India has to offer the Himalayas are its crowning jewel. The article explains all the beautiful things the Himalayas has to offer and can appeal to both an individual seeking thrill and the spiritually inclined person.This is only a small part of the very long trip I am planning and I can't wait to learn more about the other countries I am going to explore.
 

Week 2 Learning redefined

A look in to the future

Have you thought about your future? Are often words that our parents and teachers use, when I was young this six letter sentence often left me speechless and dumbfounded, not because I could not envision myself in the next five to ten years but mostly because I did not know the path to achieving these goals. Anyone can be a doctor, lawyer or accountant by going to university passing their exams. I am not saying if that there is anything wrong with the aforementioned approach. However, I think just following this one pathway often lacks in providing you the X-factor that makes you the best at what you do. I personally in the next ten years want to achieve my goals by following multiple paths. One of my main goals is to be a senior manager at the firm in which I am currently working. To reach this goal, I will have to pass my CPA exams and broaden my knowledge about the industry. I also want move out to Toronto or Montreal these are the two cultural hubs of Canada and are often at the cusp of innovation whether it is dramatics arts, culinary talent, finance or technology. I really think that this will bring a new perspective to my in life and will provide me diversified experience. Currently, I live in my parent’s basement during my Co-op terms and in St-Catharines during my study terms. My current situation is the polar opposite of what I want to in the coming years, however, I still make sure that I am well informed in the areas that interest me by using alternative learning methods (this is due to one of the many benefits of technology).
The more you know
Going to school every day was a nightmare for many kids, I decline to confirm or deny if I was one of those kids. In this age School and universities no longer hold a monopoly over knowledge as knowledge can be acquired from various outlets. To achieve my goals, most of the knowledge I need will come from non-institutional places such as blogs, forums, and other social media. Learning from non-conventional sources has many benefits as it gives you the freedom of choosing your own environment and allows you to acquire knowledge from the top practitioners in the field (click here for a video about being a network student).
Tailor your surroundings
As I mentioned in the earlier paragraph one of the benefits of learning from non-conventional sources is that you can tailor your learning environment to your liking. It is extremely important to use the proper tools for the job, as using a wrench as a hammer is not only bad for your wrench but also, for the result you are trying to achieve. I personally design my environment to compensate for my weakness. I currently use tools such as Grammarly and Google calendar as I am very bad at grammar and remembering important events. Another way I customize my environment is by filtering my social media feed I subscribe or follow things I find interesting and essential for growth. I have realized that this method had greatly improved my productivity

PLE

Shah, K (CC) 2016

before I could reflect on my personal learning environment, I had to understand what a PLE is. A PLE is a digital toolbox that helps us navigate the through the digital atmosphere. Personalized learning is the new form of learning that allows you to create an atmosphere that cares to you need and requirements (click here to learn more about PLE). After creating my PLE diagram, I noticed that I fall under the creator section of the ladder, explained by Josh Bernoff (click here). observing my PLE, I noticed that I am heavily focused on sharing and creating content. My employment is a major factor of this as I have to create many presentations for our clients.

Another tool  I used is Wordle, I found this to be an interesting tool as it condensed my entire blog into its are essentials. My blog last week was regarding digital footprint and the Wordle clearly illustrates that fact. I find this can be a great tool for marketing presentations as it can quickly get the message across.

Shah, K (CC) 2016

Till next time

Kev

 

The Digital Journery (Week 1)

Reflection:

Going through this session has genuinely fascinated me, people often say that life begins and end with a breath. However, this phrase is starting to lose its weight as in the twenty-first century, because after watching the video on about Digital Dossier (click here to watch video) strictly in terms of digital context a person is born way before his/her natural birth and stays alive well after his/her death.

Living in this day and age it does not come as a surprise to anyone that we are surrounded with technology. This constant interaction with technology has made it extremely easy for people to track someone online. In fact, just a quick google search can reveal all sorts of information about a person. Although this has given us the ability to be closers with friends, family, collogues who are miles away, this ability also comes with a huge responsibility (Yes I am aware I just used a line from Spiderman), therefore, it is extremely important that we are aware of what kind of digital tracks we are leaving behind. Our Digital footprint can affect us in some of the most unexpected ways, today employers are extremely vigilant about their current and potential employees Digital Footprint, and a negative digital footprint can cost a person his/her current job or a potential job. When I was a first-year student actively looking for a Co-op placement creating a creating a positive digital footprint was the first thing I was taught. While doing some background research on this session, I found a very interesting article on how your digital footprint can affect your reputation (click here to read the article)

The potential hazards of having an unrestricted access to a digital atmosphere are just as large as its benefits. The presence of these potential pitfalls is one of the main reason why students today should be taught about the rules of netiquette (Click here for the ten rules of netiquette) and take all the necessary steps towards creating a positive digital footprint. In my opinion having a negative digital footprint is same as having an unhealthy habit, the potentially harmful effects show up in the long run. I found that The Digital Drivers License (DDL) from the textbook is a great tool to see if a person is aware of his or her responsibility in a digital environment.

Report:

After reviewing the material in this session noticed two very interesting findings. One of the aforementioned findings was regarding the Digital Drivers License (DDL) test. After taking the test, I noticed that I scored pretty high on the test. This did not come as a surprise to me as I was taught about being a good digital citizen during my Co-op workshops. However, I was curious to find out how people with no knowledge regarding Digital Citizenship will score on the test. Therefore, I performed a small experiment with my sister and a few cousins, all of them are in high school are active on all social networking platforms. I asked them to take the DDL test and I noticed all of them failed or barely passed the test. This results while not very scientific but is still a good indicator of how our generation lacks digital literacy. Going over the rules of Netiquette and the nine elements of Digital citizenship (explained in the textbook) are very similar to the basic manners and people skills we learn when we are kids. 

The second interesting fact noticed that it is not very difficult to leave a good digital footprint. The ten rules of netiquette is a resource to start off with. Of  the ten rules, the one that many users forget is Rule 1 "Remember the Human", it is the first thing we are taught as kids and is the oldest rule in the book and yet going through the online posts and comments I have noticed that people often forget this.

I found this week very enlightening and thought provoking. I look forward to next week’s session.

Kev

Photo 1: http://www.notcot.org/post/14044/We-really-are-kids-of-the-digital-age-through-and-throu/
Photo 2: http://constanzadf.blogspot.com/2015/10/what-are-consequences-of-having-bad.html
Photo 3: http://libguides.infohio.org/digitalliteracy/digitalcitizenship

All About Me

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog my name is Keval, but everyone calls me Kev. As an Accounting major I am not very refined with my words but I will my best to keep my Blog interesting. As I mentioned earlier I am an Accounting Major currently on a Co-op term at one of the big four accounting firms in Toronto. I don't say that to brag, but instead to get some sympathy as the busy season in these firms are brutal and tend to take a toll. I personally love the hectic schedule as I get an excuse to stay late and enjoy Toronto's awesome nightlife and food scene. As an Analyst, I take part in client audits and this involves a lot of client interactions and I get a great view of the inner working of a lot of different industries. My job also involves a fair bit of grunt work, however, it does not make for an exciting read so I will not get into that.

Besides being an Analyst, I have also worked as a Lifeguard at Wonderland which I can say from personal experience is one of the best summer jobs anyone can ever have. In the four months I worked there I sat in the Leviathan more than anyone has in their entire life and for some reason, I am still not sick of it. When I am at Brock I work as a tutor for Finance, Accounting and Calculus, I think it is a great way to help my fellow badgers.

In my free time, I love to cook and I can make some mean Buffalo wings. I am also a big time foodie and love eat at different restaurants, this obsession of mine is further encouraged by the fact that I work in Toronto. I aspiring cook and plan to become a certified chef after graduating from Brock. I think becoming a Chef while working will be a bit of a challenge but I think I can pull through. My love for different cultures and cuisines is the main reason why I want to travel across Europe and Asia after graduation.

I also love the outdoors and experiencing the Brock university escarpment has only reaffirmed my belief on how wonderful the outdoors can be. I love to go running in the escarpment regardless the weather to clear my mind, my friends have often advised me against it as I have slipped and twisted my leg quite a few times. 

The main reason I am taking this course is because as a digitally active individual it is extremely important for me to have a positive digital footprint. As a positive digital footprint will have an immense impact on my career and employment prospects. Today an individual is not identified with his/her resume or an interview but by their digital profile. An individual’s digital image is one of the main things an employer looks at before hiring him/her. This course will not only prepare me on how to avoid pitfalls in a digital atmosphere but also teach me on how to make a positive digital footprint.

 

I look forward to sharing my findings, experiences and thoughts in this blog. Until next time

Kev :)