Friends

Wealth gained quickly and without hard work brings many temporary friends but wealth gained over time with persistent hard work brings many permanent enemies.

Genie.

E.Badal

Great tips

The Important Things You Should Do When You Get a New Computer http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/n0-PPpQSI08/the-important-things-you-should-do-when-you-get-a-new-c-1559946098

DEBUT - My video/ screen capture software of choice

Introducing Screenr

Ted talks - online courses

Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education #TED : http://on.ted.com/qmW2

Creative Commons news

CC BY 4.0 required on U.S. Department of Labor $150M grant http://feedly.com/e/ajyxg5wd

Weekly Report and Reflection Blog Post #10

Retrieved from: University of Fraser
 (http://blogs.ufv.ca/cmns)

          This week I had the opportunity to learn about copyright and creative commons. Copyright is a set of laws put together to protect creators of text, videos, images and artistic work from being copied and/or reproduced without the creator's permission. With the increase in technology, it is becoming even more difficult to manage illegal use of material by the general public. It can be so easy to copy and paste information without seeking permission.           
          Creative Commons seeks to do just the opposite of Copyright. It is a set of legal documents drawn up for people who would like to share their work. It is free and users of creative commons can state whether they would like their work to be shared or not and whether it can be altered in any way or not. In their website, Creative Commons states that they "help you share your knowledge and creativity with the world" they develop and support "... legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing and innovation."

Retrieved from:theoldguys.blogspot.com

          It's based that no work is new work and from the very beginning, people use other peoples work to build upon and improve to be enjoyed by future generations. An example of how it works is Flickr where work of people are available to be shared. I believe that this is a fabulous idea in that digital citizens can create work based on other work while at the same time be responsible and not run the risk of using work illegally.
          In my evolution as digital immigrant I am happy to be exposed to all these digital tools that are available out there. This week for example, I explored and was somewhat fascinated with Animoto which is a very fun simple way of creating slideshows that can be used in a number of settings. In this case I attempted to use the free version to create a short presentation on Copyright.
I must say that I intend to explore further uses for this within my PLE. I hope to engage my audience which ranges from my children to classmates to my work peers. I believe that it's a fun way to capture their attention.
          Animoto and Flickr will be great tools in my PLE as I can use them to gather and share information both on a social and an educational level. I have learned to pay attention to properly citing work of others and that there are other ways of obtaining material that is free and available for use without legal implications. In my journey thus far I have gained knowledge that will allow me to be more resourceful, collaborative, digitally responsible, digitally secure and aware of what is required to successfully participate in an ever increasing digital world!

            Below is embedded my first attempt at a video presentation that I created using Animoto. Check it out and feel free to comment on what you think. I hope that you have as much fun viewing it as I had putting it together.

Copyright. Badal,E. (cc)2014.


Image 1, retrieved from:
http://www.wikispaces.psu.edu (Copyright in Cyberspace).

Image 2, retrieved from:
http://www.myfreestreaming (movies.com)

Image 3, retrieved from:
http://www.lumaxart.com

Image 4, retrieved from:
http://www.jenniferdeshler.com (sharing our stories)

Image 5, retrieved from:
http://www.njea.org (Digital Citizenship: responsible technology use in the classroom)


Additional reading from Feedly:  http://feedly.com/e/ajyxg5wd 

Genie.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Technology Use Scenario 9

Scenario 9:

Jaime has persuaded her parents to let her talk to her friends in an online chat room. Many of the people in the chat room are Jamie's friends, but there are some people she does not know. For several days, she has notices one if these individuals talking to some of her friends. Now, this person is starting to ask Jamie about herself and what she looks like. Jamie becomes uncomfortable and logs off the chat room. Later that evening, she talks to her parents and mentions the person in the chat room and how it made her feel.

Badal,E. (cc)2014.

Initially Jamie has started off on the right track by seeking her parents' permission before engaging in online chatting. There can be very serious implications to children chatting online.  An article written by the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation - Publications ( A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety) states that "There are individuals who attempt to sexually exploit children through the use of on-line services and the Internet. Some of these individuals gradually seduce their targets through the use of attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts".  In this case she was displaying appropriate use of technology by  first requesting permission, secondly recognising a potential threat and thirdly reporting it to her parents in a timely manner expressing her discomfort.  Jamie should be applauded for being very responsible.

Genie.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Voice Threads

I’ve had the opportunity this week to explore the use of Voice Threads in my ADED 1P32 class. This allows collaborators to connect on specific topics of interest. Your contribution can be made by registering to the forum and comment using Voice recording, Video recording or text input. This can be used with great success by a community of learners who wish to share information or engage in dialog with peers on any topic of interest.

This can be beneficial to both professionals in the field or students who wish to make use of the wealth of ideas available to them from people with varied levels of education and different life experiences. 
Check out the link below!

http://voicethread.com/

Genie.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post # 8

        I've been on the user end of wiki's thus far; mainly learning from Wikipedia. I've never contributed to the wikis but I do appreciate the insight gained from the wealth of knowledge out there. In the case of Wiki's, the knowledge that is being imparted to the end user comes from a diverse authorship as opposed to one body. This allows for a broader view of topics through different lenses.

            After exploring wikis in this session, I now see the use of them beyond an online reference tool; I have seen the personal advantage of it now and may even use it in the future. I have however quickly become a fan of Google Chrome and all of its Apps. I have backed up many of my schoolwork documents in the cloud . I love the fact that all my apps and features are integrated into one platform and can be accessed across devices as long as you have internet connectivity.

            Last week I had the pleasure of working with two classmates from different courses using Google Docs. Interestingly enough one was a younger student, who was seemingly tech savvy and the other was an older adult with limited computer skills. Both were unfamiliar with Google docs but had no problems navigating the "docs" app!

         Alongside the embracing of new technologies, I recognise that there comes Digital Rights and Responsibilities. They are the "privileges and freedom extended to all digital technology users, and the behavioral expectations that come with them" (Ribble & Bailey, 2007).  Using technology responsibly involves an understanding of many issues. We want to be safe and act responsibly when using technology, therefore we must understand the rules for technology and act morally, ethically and legally to have positive online experiences. 

         Using technology responsibly involves an understanding of many issues. We want to be safe and act responsibly when using technology, therefore we must understand the rules for technology and act morally, ethically and legally to have safe experiences online.  Below, I have indentified, what I deem to be three of the more important aspects of Digital Responsibility:

        Plagiarism - Students should be taught how to use material they find online appropriately. Many of us are not well informed about copyright, it's meaning nor consequences. We must cite material and acknowledge the work of anyone besides ourselves.

        Cyber bullying - Threatening others through technology is an inappropriate use of technology. Within recent times, cyber bullying has been on the increase. In many cases suicide as been traced back to this type of bullying leaving the often unaware/uninformed attacker to face serious criminal charges.

Privacy/Security - As responsible, proactive digital citizens, we should recognize the potential risk that information sharing poses to all of us. "...as responsible citizens, we must protect our information from outside forces that might cause disruption or harm.” (Ribble, 2014). Identity thieves, hackers and viruses are only  a few of the many online threats that should encourage to practice digital safety.

         In order to become digital citizens we must understand the rights and responsibilities as participants in the digital world. Safe, informed and appropriate practices online will enable us to engage in positively with technology.

Genie.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Digital Responsibility image: Badal,E. (cc)2014.

Wiki image retrieved from: http://www.creativeeducation.co.uk/blog/index.php/2011/06/class-wiki/

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post # 7

This week I was challenged to complete a collaborative group project that had to be done completely online. In retrospect, It was quite unique, posing it's own set of challenges, distinct from any face to face collaborative project that I've ever worked on before. 

Finding a partner: I tried unsuccessfully on Twitter and Sakai to make the link with a few other classmates to complete this project. Finally I was contacted via Twitter by a classmate JW asking if we could work together. I agreed and explain that I was a strictly online/off-campus student so online was the only possible way. 

Maintaining contact: JW and I messaged each other on twitter and shared phone numbers and email addresses to add as alternative methods of communication. 

Decisions: We both quickly decided what topic we would like to do for the project and agreed that we would take the weekend to read the assignment requirements and begin collecting information on topic. That following week, we again made contact via Twitter and Text. We shared our individual research with each other via email, evernote and twitter. 

Bringing it together: We both did sample presentations and shared it with each other via GMail Google Docs. This was an awesome tool that allowed us to create, share, and edit the same document without having it being sent back and forth as an attachment and then each person editing. This saved valuable time. 
A todaysmeet account was set up where we again confirmed details of the final product. From there we pulled slides from both  and incorporated it into one coherent document. We were able to work together in getting the project completed way ahead of schedule and both submitted it two days prior to the due date.

Challenges: Personally I felt very worried as to how my partner would perceive me. Without knowing my personality, work ethics, life schedule, background or abilities, I was at the mercy of a stranger's imagination! Would my distribution and allocation of time be received well? I tried to be as diligent as possible on this assignment without expressing my struggle to manage time with three sons under the age of nine years all with different extra curricular  activities (basketball, soccer and taekwando), different school times, a wife who is working full time and studying and me working full time and doing two courses simultaneously! 
Do I explain and run the risk of sounding like I was making excuses or do I suck it up and give it my all ..... I sucked it up!

In the end the experience was a great one and I must say that my partner was quite good. We did not encounter any roadblocks. We worked around our schedules and got the job done. Using solely online tools we were able to come up with a great project given the specified assignment parameters.
The tools that we used for gathering, sharing and presentation will definitely remain as part of my personal and professional toolkit in enhancing my PLE!

Genie.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi


Image retrieved from: http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning/collaborative-tools-learning

Special Report: Digital Security

Interesting read:

Special Report: Digital Security - WLOS News13 - Top Stories

In becoming a responsible digital citizen

How to Avoid Spreading Myths and Misinformation Online.
http://feedly.com/e/C1J0BKJ6

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #6

The power to remember everything? ... It must be divine!

When it comes to smarts, elephants are right up there with dolphins, apes and humans, says WCS cognitive scientist Diana Reiss and colleagues at Emory University in Atlanta. They reported in 2006 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA that elephants, like the other mammals in that exclusive circle, are the only animals known to recognize their reflections in a mirror. In Hinduism, Lord Ganesha represents the power of the Supreme Beign that takes away obstacles and and gurantees victory in himan accomplishments.

Ever since I was a child, I heard the saying that "an elephant never forgets". It would seem only logical then that I chose the app that used an elephant in its branding to assist me in remembering and keeping track of everything that I had to do!

My first note was a record of my reflection while watching my son at his Tae Kwon Do classes. I did so on my phone recalling when he was younger and the dreams I had for him and how far we had come as parents. This simple recorded document turned out to be my first personal reflection journal for non-educational purposes. I now continue to record my feelings and thoughts several times a week on evernote often staring them on one device and finishing them on another. Its mobility suites my busy lifestyle!

As a tool to enhance my personal learning, evernote has already proven to be invaluable. I have recorded my thoughts on research topics, bookmarked some articles and pasted some relevant texts to my notes on my project. In class, I now have a few text books, my cellphone and my laptop. Evernote made it possible to store all my notes, pdf's, voice notes, pictures and everything related to my course work. There was some responsibility too (as being a new digital citizen) on my behalf, so I made it a point to inform my professor about evernote and the fact that I may now take notes on my cellphone too! She understood, as prior to now I never used my phone during classtime.

Evernote has quickly become my very own cloud-based database. I use it together with my feedly and google alerts to store relevant content for personal and educational purposes. I definitely would recommend evernote to my peers at work and at school as its usefulness is almost limitless and it is so simple to use.

Genie.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Image retrieved from: http://wallpaperswide9.blogspot.ca/2012/12/lord-ganesh.html

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #5

Useless Chatter

Although I signed up for Twitter four years ago, I never really understood its purpose or usefulness. To me Twitter was a board for socialites to talk about what they were doing and share random pictures of themselves or places they have been. I guess that my judgement of Twitter was heavily influenced by what was highlighted in the news ..... "Pics of baby North West revealed!", "Justin Bieber's spotted in Nightclub", "Miley lights up on stage". Is this what Twitter is ALL about? 

I decided to check it out anyway just to try to stay in the tech loop a bit! My first proud moment of tweeting went like this "Totally frustrated with Bell's internet service!" Proud that my message was out there and will start a chain reaction of followers in agreement and Bell getting their act together to provide a higher quality of service! Minutes turned to hours which turned to days, weeks, months and years but not one blue bird's poop happened! This is rubbish, Twitter isn't useful unless you're a celebrity or a celeb-wann-a-be, I thought!

My Evolution

As we evolve, so too does our network. People, Places, Interest, Hobbies and Knowledge can now more than ever before be shared with others and discussed on forums of many social networking platforms.

My negative perception changed when taking Brock University's ADED1P32 course - Learning in digital contexts. Session 5 requires setting up a Twitter account and interacting with it from an educational or learning context. This was an eye opener for me... I now understood the meaning of all those @'s and #'s symbols that I frequently saw on post, comments and discussions. In my time those symbols were used to filling the missing letters of profane words! Hence prior to that session, I didn't give a S#@t about those symbols!   

Had I known about the reasons and purpose of  hash tags and at symbols on twitter my first post on Twitter expressing my frustration on Bell's internet service might have actually gone somewhere. My resurrected Tweet might have been @Bell Canada I'm totally frustrated with your internet service #Bellcanada #Frustrated #poorinternetservice.  With only 107 characters, my distress signal might have  reached an audience with similar experiences and perhaps even heard by service providers customer service department; Geeze, I could have started a revolution ... OK, back to reality, maybe not a revolution... a movement perhaps?

I have begun to re-enter the Twitterverse with renewed enthusiasm and with high expectations. I have included a mini bio about me and added a list on my account with a few peers and our facilitator. I have cleaned up my account by Un-following Kanye and Kim choosing instead to nourish my mind with insightful post from my peers, the university I attend, educational bodies and news agencies and a few other reputable people in my field. In growing my PLN, Twitter will no doubt be an invaluable tool in directing content my way and allow to participate in hundreds of discussions that I would not normally be privy to.

This course has been quite an exacting and insightful journey for me thus far. It has given me useful tools to reintegrate into the digital world. I am quite excited to share my knowledge wit my friends and family and I believe that this new found knowledge, once practiced, will allow me to communicate with my children who are no doubt Digital Natives. I hope to pass on to them the importance of a PLN, potential for social media to have a positive influence on their educational endeavours and the importance to of online responsibility and security!

Genie.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Images retrieved from:
www.picstopin.com
http://bigbeacon.org/tag/twitter-chat

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #4

I've been having a lot of fun this past  week reading the feeds from my reader. It has proven to be an asset in locating articles of interest and has aided in the efficient use of my time.  Because Feedly is web-based, I have an abundance of RELEVANT information available to me wherever I go. I can keep up-to-date on local and International news and also any topic of interest I have, for recreational reading.

I have also explored some bookmarking tools such as delicious and diigo. I have found Diigo to be a more user friendly platform than delicious, but that's just my personal preference. You can feel free to try both of them out and comment on this blog to let me know what your views are as to those two.

Content Curation involves the sorting through of the endless resources available over the internet on any given topic. It is collated, organized and published into digital presentation much like a newspaper would collate several stories onto one physical printed publication. The difference is that a curator will usually define a specific topic, sift through numerous online articles pick the ones that they find most relevant and publishing those links onto his or her online page. In striving to become a 'reputable' curator, one must be careful not to 'pull' and share random links; The curators that would stand out are those who carefully select the information relevant to his or her niche or circle.

Lets Scoop.it ! ...And so I did.
I decided to explore scoop.it as my curation tool and was fascinated by the simplicity of its design and functionality. It helped me locate content that was of interest to me, or even topics that I needed information on. I was able to scoop them all right onto my publication with ease. It was simple to use, pick your topic, create a heading,then search for relevant content that you can include in your publication. 

Scoop.it will search for all the articles related to the keywords you specify! Even if my first set of keywords does not give me the results that I expected, I can simply modify my search (keywords) criteria until I get exactly what I am looking for. Supplementary course reading on Beth's Blog was quite insightful in outlining what content curation was and how it can be valuable.

I have also installed the app on my android phone and it works quite well. It is just as simple to use, all I have to do is hit the share button and 'share using' scoop.it. That content will be published and automatically synced with all my internet devices. It is similar to  flipboard  in its magazine-like layout but allows for more user interaction and customization which is a neat way of making your publication more personal.  

In maintaining a professional image as a Digital Citizen new curators should be responsible in their publications as they will be deemed your publications hence inferring that you may subscribe (unless otherwise specified) to the views of the articles that you publish. As always, think of the implications of your publications and how you are viewed online now, and 20 years from now.... Be responsible!

Genie

Creating PDF's in your Google drive.

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: A Quick Tip to Create PDFs in Your Google Drive http://feedly.com/k/1fTVZFt

An interesting creative writing tool!

A Calendar of Daily Writing Prompts http://feedly.com/e/X5Cplv_b

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #3

Using RSS Feeds - A liberating and empowering feeling.

I've recently begun to explore the fascinating RSS Feeds world and I find it to be so useful with Feedly as my reader of choice. I have added quite a number of feeds and and even set them up into categories, including News, Technology, Education and Cooking. I now, almost religiously, scan my reader every morning and evening to catch up on interesting articles that I have subscribed to. Through my RSS feeds I stumbled across an article "Blazing the education trail", I found this to be a very inspiring article about four home schooled girls who's parents opted to deviate from traditional mainstream education, customizing each of their education to suit their individual interests and talents resulting in amazing accomplishments by them all. I have subscribed to Ted Talks and CNN just to name a few, and also found a interesting article on Digital Citizenship.

I found that RSS feeds allow me to get the content that I am interested in free from distracting ads, it also saves me time in that, I do not have to spend additional time searching for article that I need; With RSS, they come to my device! Prior to using RSS feeds, I was subjected to reading articles that were not interesting or useful to me. News articles were filled with irrelevant data that took up too much time even when scanning. I no longer have to be a recipient of ads and promotions thrown to me daily, by marketing companies, that have 'statistically analyzed and accumulated data based on my browsing history and patterns'!

There are unlimited positive possibilities for the use of RSS feeds in the field of education; Quoting from an article I read recently, "In a ‘socially mobile learning environment, it is no longer sufficient to use online learning and teaching technologies simply for the delivery of content to students. A ‘digital literacy’ exists where flexible and mobile technologies must be explored for collaborative and (co)creative purposes, as well as for the critical assessment and evaluation of information".

I am content being in control of what I want to read or learn. It's a liberating feeling to be able to choose what I want to read and have updates come to me automatically, it also gives that feeling of empowerment to have something as powerful as the internet at your will. This is definitely a tool to be used in growing my PLE.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Genie.

References:

            Duffy, Peter D. & Bruns, Axel (2006) The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities. In OnlineLearning and Teaching Conference 2006, 26 Sep. 2006, Brisbane.

Picture obtained from: http://www.businessmarketingmastery.com/leverage-the-power-of-rss-readers/

Blazing the education trail

Blazing the education trail

Interesting article... how easy it is for hackers!

How I Lost My $50,000 Twitter Username:
http://feedly.com/e/I1ESWSPK

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #2

PLE's and PLN's

A Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a system that helps learners take control of and manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to set their own learning goals, manage their learning, manage both content and process, and communicate with others in the process of learning.
A Personal Learning Network (PLN) is a network of people that connect or have interactions specifically for the purpose of information sharing and learning. "...these people may assist you in your learning by acting as a guide, direct you to learning opportunities, and assist you with finding answers to questions (Tobin, 1998). "
 A Learning Management System (LMS) on the other hand is a computer based platform designed to integrate facilitators management of courses and students participation/ involvement towards the successful completion of pre-assigned content of the curriculum. The system can often track the progress of learners and can be monitored by both teachers and learners but may be too limited in content.
Your PLE or PLN as expressed before is a part of taking responsibility for your own learning. It allows you access to information from 'global peers' with your same interests in a way that traditional networking was unable to. This information may be scholarly articles, peer reviewed, or even just opinions expressed by non-academics, even so it serves to spark deeper thinking and reflection that is required in higher learning.
"Conventional learning methodologies tend to be theory-based classroom experiences, relying on explicit knowledge." (Raelin, 2008). It is however quickly being realised that the act of teaching is not to simply transfer content or knowledge onto learners who are expected to receive, store and regurgitate it. Learners are now expected to seek out knowledge on their own and become contributors to the body ok knowledge thereby in essence splitting roles of teacher and learner.
Modern, proactive students inevitably begin to build a repertoire of tools that enhance their learning experience. By sharing and collaborating with others students they create an environment that fosters a comunity of learners that is shaped by the similar attitudes and beliefs of like minded individuals lending support to each other.
That being said, this week I've had the opportunity to explore some online tools that can aid in enhancing my online learning experience and build my PLE. I explored word clouds by tagul (an example Posted at the bottom of my previous post 'Digital Footprints'), created mind maps by gliffy and bubbl. I began to recognize the potential uses of pinterest which categorizes similar interesting topics from home, to food, to education. One of my personal favorites however is iPP podcast player which pulls popular podcasts from all over the world and feeds it to my Samsung mobile phone.
Within the next five years I hope to have completed my Masters in Education and Community Development and working with community members to encourage lifelong learning. This will only be possible by acquiring the required credentials and gathering the required set of tools to have a PLE that encourages and nurtures learning in all types of settings, replacing bad habits with good ones and by building a vast PLN.

Badal,E. (cc)2014.

Geoffrey Canada: Our failing schools. Enough is enough!

Digital Footprints

We have embarked on times that are no longer as forgiving as they once were. Our footprints are no longer erased from the sands of time by the forgiving tide of life. In earlier times it was far easier to erase, forget or forgive a negative comment, action or attitude. Today we are held at the mercy of the very technology that was created to make our lives easier, machines without the compassion that makes us human seems to hold us accountable for every mistake we make. I remember when "to err" was human and forgiveness was a virtue.

Every beverage we consume makes us a potential alcoholic, every comment we deliver make us offensive or chauvinistic, every place we are seen defines our character, every raised hand makes us abusive every post that we 'like' we are accused of experiencing or have been through, and the mistakes of your friends define who you are. Life under a microscope isn't all that fun now is it? Even if we try to escape one slide, we are bound to end up in another one, for observation at a later date.

We cannot avoid what others may say about us, but we can, to an extent control what we put out about ourselves and how we 'brand' ourselves. We must remember that once we have posted something online or even emailed something to someone, that it will now be in cyberspace forever and we have essentially lost control of where these messages may end up. We have to assume responsibility for our digital footprints . We also have to practice netiquette
More employers can look at potential, or current employee's digital presence and persona by simply using any online search tool. It's not a bad idea to set up an alert for whenever your name is used. One such tool is Google Alerts which allows you to see on a daily basis what, (if anything) is being said about you out there!

Within recent years, it has become almost impossible for someone to not have a digital footprint, we are in the age of information technology and most devices that have become common place in our lives make some mark on our virtual identity. People without (or limited) digital footprints can often be thought of as having something to hide so to speak.  I believe that the important thing is being proactive and diligent in managing one's online identity and we should use available tools to monitor our "e-selves" frequently. Remember that while netiquette is a guideline to courtesy and manners online, and digital footprints are the marks you make online to define your identity, the two can be combined to reflect you in a more positive or professional light. This is not only for consideration by digital citizens, but it is equally important for those of us who are aspiring to make that transition from a digital immigrant to a digital citizen.

Don't let your inevitable digital presence put you at risk nor at a disadvantage!

So as yourself before you hit that 'send' button .... Do I want that picture, comment or message out there for re-distribution and out of my control FOREVER?

Be vigilant!

Genie.

Picture downloaded from: http://www.thatericalper.com/2013/04/18/upgrade-your-ears-elective-auditory-implants-give-you-cyborg-hearing/

Badal,E. (CC) 2014.

Education

As parents,  educators and future decision makers;  How would we choose to have our children educated?
Will we continue to perpetuate a "one size fits all" system of education or will we lobby to change that system to one that is tailored to the diverse learning styles of our children?
The choice is ours to make!

I had fun looking at this video... hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcgN0lEh5IA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Blogging

I thought I was current an up to date with technology until I began this course!
I just realized that I've never explored the world of blogging. Oh well, better late than never! There are a couple of online tutorials that were a bit helpful; Here are two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSs3XXSCuoE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckrMLqS99qk

About me

I graduated with honors from George Brown College’s Culinary Management program. While there, I volunteered in the school’s many career fairs and productions, and was awarded a scholarship for commitment and passion in the culinary field. I gained valuable experience while working in the banquet kitchen of a popular restaurant in Mississauga and at an Extended Care facility in Scarborough often catering to clients with food allergies and dietary restrictions.

In my current position, I work closely with the BGMS Head of School and Administration to create an variety of nutritious and tasty menu items, acknowledging the diversity of the school. In managing the Food Services, my goal is to support and encourage lifelong healthy eating habits for the students. He believes that a nutritious diet combined with regular physical activity supports proper physical and intellectual growth and development in children, giving them the best opportunity for a healthy lifestyle in the future.