Communicate 4.1.1 Evaluation Methods and Communication Practices

• How do communication practices in the online environment correlate to effective feedback?

Communication, whether is be email, voicemail, comment on a discussion post, to text, allows the student and teacher to check in and stay connected and involved in the learning process.

• Why is authentic feedback important for online learners?

Authentic feedback is especially important for online learners to make them feel included.  Lacking the F2F atmosphere and non-verbal communication, online learners can easily fade into the background or feel like they are just a number so consistent and meaningful feedback from instructors is especially important.

• In what ways might an instructor enrich a student’s online experience through feedback?

I love a lot of things about this article, Technology Integration Research: Additional Tools and Programs by Vanessa Vega .  I think it has some great ideas for using formative assessment and feedback effectively.  I really think that this answers the question on how an instructor might enrich a student's online experience through feedback:

• Checking for real-time student understanding of content being taught

• Diagnosing student misconceptions and misunderstandings

• Displaying responses of the group to trigger discussion and reflection

• Gathering formative data to guide instruction

• Saving time in administering and scoring quizzes

• Introducing and monitoring peer learning methods

Communicate 3.2.2 Differentiation

It's always imperative in education to consider accommodating different learning styles and disabilities. Especially with online education a great way to do that is to vary techniques and engage learners with graphics, audio, video, and interactive tools.  It's a great idea to incorporate text and audio when possible to modify for students with hearing and/or vision disabilities.

Here are 3 awesome interactive tools that I have used for differentiated instruction:

1. Prezi:  the first time I saw Prezi I was in a workshop on a staff development day.  It blew my mind!  The presentation was so engaging and put together I thought that the instructor must have been a technological genius and that it must have taken him days to put together his seamless presentation.  I now know that it didn't but I would love it if people viewed me the way I viewed him that day.  For that reason I love Prezi.  Here's a presentation I created as an introduction to numbers for a Spanish 1 class.  It incorporates audio, video, text, and an interactive game so I think it's a great example of differentiation.

2.  Wordle:  Here's a Wordle that I created for a previous quest:

3. Padlet:  I created this homepage example using padlet.

Communicate 3.2.1 The Newsletter

Newsletters should be brief and engaging.  They need to be eye catching enough to be noticeable but not so busy as to be distracting.  The purpose is to convey important information like upcoming due dates, social events, and school related items.  For my three artifacts I tried all new (to me) highly effective modes of communication.  The first one shown in this post was created on thinglink.com, email, and I then used smore.com to create a newsletter.

I used thinglink.com to create this newsletter with important upcoming assignment due dates.  This was my first attempt with this and I definitely think that I could use more time to play around with it but I love the aspect of adding various types of media (images and video) to one single newsletter.  Hover over the image and click on the white and black circles to view the news item.



Here is an example of a weekly email I may send out to stakeholders:

Buenos días!
We have a busy month coming up so I wanted to highlight a few items so that you can plan ahead.
Final Exams:  Will be the week of 5/22.  You have one exam each day so check with your individual course teachers to find out the specific dates.  Spanish will be 5/23!Prom: Prom is on Saturday 5/3 this year.  Ticket are on sale now.  The cost is $50 per person or $80 per couple.  You must be a junior or senior to purchase tickets.
Summer Courses: Registration for summer courses is currently available.  Not all courses are offered.  There is a 4 week or 6 week option.  Contact your advisor with any questions.
Gracias!!!
Sra. Inglese

Here is a Smore.com newsletter that I created for a previous quest:

Communicate 3.1.2 News

As an online instructor, how do you plan to incorporate news items and announcements? 

News Items and announcements need to be used regularly in the online classroom; more than once/week.  They should be clear, eye-catching and engaging so that students notice them and pay attention.

What resources would you reference to format news items? 

I love Animoto.com for creating videos and love this example of a video News Item.  I've used Zamzar.com a lot in the classroom for converting files and saving educational YouTube videos so that they can be viewed at school without firewall prohibitions.

I used GoAnimate.com to create this graphic video News Item.  It was very quick and easy and my favorite part is that I was able to add voice by using a text to voice option!  I love this because I don't always like hearing my own voice and it can be challenging to find a quiet moment at my house to record things.  I was able to choose a language and even the country where the speaker is from.  So cool!!

Here's my example:

Communicate by ainglese2 on GoAnimate

Communicate 3.1.1 Homepages Quest

This was created on Padlet.com

Communicate 2.1.3 Ongoing Communication

Ongoing communication is especially important in an online classroom because verbal communication is not as constant as in a face-to-face classroom.  In a brick and mortar school there are regularly opportunities for a quick "great job" or verbal reminder.  These opportunities exist in the online classroom as well but must be a bit more deliberate and mindful.  In an online classroom, especially a very large one like a MOOC, it's easy for a student to blend into the background and feel like a "number".  Constant communication and personalized notes make the student feel more involved which enhances participation, motivation, and success.

I really like Smore.com for creating engaging flyers that can be used as newsletters, presentations, or event reminders.  Here's an event reminder that I created.

Communicate 2.1.2 Communication Guidelines

• Welcome email

A welcome email should contain a nice, enthusiastic message to students and parents as well as information about the instructor and the course.  This letter should be very informative making students and parents feel like they're "in the know" and ease any anxieties about starting a new course.  This email is typically followed by a phone call to each family a few days later.

• Personal notes versus mass communication to stakeholders

Periodically sending mass communications via email, text, or voicemail are certainly informative and necessary.  Mass communications would be used as reminders of due dates or other general course information.  Anything concerning grades, concerns, or personal information should definitely be taken care of with a personal note or phone call.  Documenting exchanges is usually a good idea as well.  I always keep a log to remind myself of past correspondence as well as a folder where I can save emails.

• Stakeholders

Stakeholders are encouraged to initiate communication as well.  Students and parents are encouraged to be active participants and to keep up with grades and assignments while communicating with the instructor about questions and/or concerns.

• School Policies regarding Communication

FERPA guidelines should always be followed in regards to communication.  

• Tools available for effective Communication

Dial My Calls, Remind 101, the school LMS, Smore; these are great examples of commonly used tools for communication.

Communicate 2.1.1 Identify Stakeholders

• Do the descriptions correlate to your perception?

Yes, I like how much emphasis and responsibility is put on the students to initiate and maintain communication as well as the encouragement of parents to be active participants in their child's education.

• How can they be expanded upon or described further?

It is a communicate quest but there could be more information added into other duties of the stakeholders outside of communication.  

• Are there other stakeholders within an online environment not considered above?

I would add any person who may invest money into the program, school board members, elected officials, and/or any community members who may have interest in the program.

Communicate 1.1.2 Laws of Communication

• How can one refrain from violating FERPA guidelines in online communication?

I think the best way is to be overly cautious.  Never share students' grades publicly or without permission and keep comments to student work private as well.  When in doubt, conversation with the student and/or parents face-to-face or on the phone is preferable.

• What methods could be employed to verify that copyright is not being violated?

Emphasize with students to always cite their work.  I probably cite way more than I need to just to make sure that all of my bases are covered.  Education on policy for teachers and students is key as well.  Then there are always websites like turnitin.com where teachers can scan to see if students have plagiarized; I think it's best to try to prevent this from happening in the first place.

• Does copyright require that all work, images, words, and graphics must be original?

According to Merriam-Webster the definition of copyright is:

the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (as a literary, musical, or artistic work)

In other words, use for educators in the classroom, especially if they receive federal funding, is usually permitted.

Communicate 1.1.1 Definitions of Communication

• How have your individual communication skills changed as with the innovations in technology?

I'm am definitely guilty of texting way too much!  I am pretty much constantly texting someone and it annoys my husband a lot.  It's just so convenient and with my two young kids I can't complete a conversation anyways or sometimes I need a quiet home so it's much easier to text my friends and family.  I think that I communicate more though because I really dislike talking on the phone so I actually keep up with people better with the ability to text.  I am part of a few different social media outlets and do use private messaging there.  I think it's a great informal way to make new friends without the awkward phone number exchange.  When I meet a new neighbor or something I can just friend them on Facebook and send a message if I want to invite them over for a glass of wine.  I'm not a huge participant in commenting publicly on people's posts as I don't really want people I don't know to see the comment.

• How have advancements in technology altered classroom communication? Will these change further?

Schools are constantly faced with the dilemma of allowing cell phones at school.  Obviously there's no way to keep them out but they can be hugely distracting to students.  At the same time, they can be really useful learning tools but teachers are very timid to use them either due to lack of administrative support or because they feel it may be a slippery slope to overuse in ways that are not course related.  While reading the 101 Email Etiquette Tips I realized that students really need formal training on how to write an email.  I once had students participate in a contest of sorts and they had to send an email to a book editor.  I hadn't really considered that I would need to tell them to use complete sentences that begin with a capital letter and end in punctuation!  Many of their emails were composed like text messages.  I quickly learned that they would need specific instruction on email etiquette.  Technology will definitely change further in regards to classroom communication.  There are so many tools available now that didn't even exist 5 or 10 years ago.  I've been out of the formal classroom for only 3 years and the idea of using Pinterest in the classroom is new to me.  I don't think that many of us can even predict where we're headed.

Navigate 4.1.1 Trend Impact

In my opinion mobile learning is going to have the biggest impact on digital learning over the next five years.  People, especially young people, are addicted to their phones and tablets.  It's kind of a horrible habit but I constantly have my phone in my hand and have to make a concerted effort to put it down at times when I want to be free of distraction.  It's just so amazing though; I can call people but why would I even bother when I can communicate with friends and family in more entertaining ways like text, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.  There's an app for everything and the whole point of digital learning is that it's more convenient so why wouldn't it explode on mobile devices?

Navigate 3.2.1 Tools for Deciding on an LMS

For this quest I have chosen to categorize LMS tools that best serve the K-12 scenario due to the fact that I primarily teach in the K-12 setting.
One of the main concerns for K-12 is cost.  The majority of users would be public schools which don't have a ton of extra funding to spend on expensive commercial LMSes so finding an affordable option would be key.  Through my research I found the top LMSes for K-12 education to be (not necessarily in order):
1. Moodle
2. Sakai
3. Canvas
4. Blackboard
5. Haiku
Here's a pretty interesting comparison chart I found on the Canvas website:

I also really like this video by Blackboard that I found on LinkedIn.

Navigate 3.1.4 LMS Reporting

The idea of grades and analytics is a really interesting one.  Education is so driven by grades and testing that one of the most common complaints about American education is focus on standardized testing as opposed to focus on learning.  However, quantitative data is one essential tool used to measure learning, success, comprehension, whatever it may be.  As Sir Ken Robinson Ph.D. discussed in his Ted Talk, education has changed so rapidly in the past century with the use of technology.  Prior to technology and LMS it would have been virtually impossible to compute the type of data that we now have access too (especially for 500 students or more).  It gives students a glimpse of where they stand in a course, it allows teachers to identify strengths and weaknesses and to tailor instruction to what works, and it allows administrators to measure teacher success.  

What are the options for grade reporting? 

I joined Canvas as my LMS and it has a lot of great options for entering grades and utilizing data.  I found a few guides on the website to help get started.  
First is "How do I enter and edit scores in the Gradebook?" and the other is "How do I use Speedgrader ™?  Here's how Canvas describes their unique tool "Speedgrader ™:

The SpeedGrader™ allows you to view and grade student assignment submissions in one place using a simple point scale or complex rubric. Canvas accepts a variety of document formats and even URLs as assignment submissions. Some document assignments can be marked up for feedback directly within the submission. You can also provide feedback to your students with text or media comments.

Are there various levels? 

Student level:  Students can check grades, receive grade notifications and even see "what-if" grades which allow them to calculate how grades will be affected by certain scores.

Teacher level:  This was taken from the Canvas website:

You can use SpeedGrader™ to:

• Sort submissions by student and hide student names for anonymous grading
• Evaluate assignments for each student, including resubmitted assignments
• Use rubrics to assign grades
• Leave feedback for your students
• Track your grading progress and hide assignments while grading

Course level and Program level:  Analytics are a big part of Canvas as part of the admin role.  With this tool you can "track and analyze what students, teachers, observers, and/or designers are doing within the account."  According to Canvas, "Analytics evaluate individual components of all the courses in your account and provide an overview of your account's activity."  For this reason I decided to combine course and program because I think they can kind of go together even though from an admin perspective analytics are more on the program level.  Check out this link where Canvas answers the question, "What are Analytics?"  It's a really great definition.

Program level:  See course level.

Which levels remain most valuable for the online instructor in regard to student performance? 
In regards to student performance, I think that students need to be able to view their grades.  Most online learners and higher ed learners are pretty intrinsically motivated so I think that their own check points and immediate feedback will help propel motivation and performance.

Navigate 3.1.3 Tools Within the LMS

After reading the article, Why Tech Training is a Waste of Time, I began to think about the LMS a little more dynamically.  Many teachers use tech tools for administrative purposes such as calendar and notes but it takes a few things to really get the most out of the LMS.  One of these things is training.  Teachers are busy and don't really have a lot of time to spend playing around with a new tool without a guarantee that their time will pay off.  Encouraging a community of life-long learners means that teachers need training on what they can do within the LMS, why they should do it, how it will help them teach, and how it will help students learn.  Teachers need to be patient, courageous, and open-minded in order to allow for pedagogical progress.

List each tool available within the LMS.
The LMS that I chose to join, Canvas, has assignments, grades, and calendar as well as more interactive tools such as discussions, modules, and conferences.  See image.

Which tools would be most valuable in the online classroom?   Which would be of least value?
They are all of equal value.  The most obvious would be administrative tools such as assignments, files, and calendar but when using the LMS to its full capacity, there would be ample room for dynamic instruction with the use of more pedagogical tools such as discussions and modules.

Navigate 3.1.2 Creation and Investigation Into Courses

Of the free software programs for creating a course shell I chose Canvas.  The reason I chose this one is that I really liked the interface, found it well organized, simple, and pleasant to look at.  I also really like Blackboard and Moodle but I have previous experience with those so I wanted to gain experience in a new (to me) program as well.
I found it extremely simple to begin my course.  I registered as an instructor and began a course called "TOOL Portfolio".  Within that course I created a module called "Digital Citizenship" where I began to upload content from the "Introduction to Digital Citizenship" module created by GaVS.  I found it to be a bit slow (I'm waiting for a video to upload now).  

It definitely takes some organization to get the course shell and the module in functioning order.  There are a lot of options as far as where to place assignments, images, files, videos, quizzes, and assignments so finding the most logical order and making sure that the information is clear and easy to follow may take some tweaking.  Other than slow downloads (SO annoying!) it was pretty easy and straightforward.  

What were those steps? 
First I created a new course.  There is then a side bar with information clearly listed (see image).  By clicking on the item I can easily add information to my course and students can navigate easily.

Is it important to follow these steps? 
I would say that it is somewhat important to follow the steps but it's really easy to go back and forth to edit material as well.

Navigate 3.1.1 LMS Tool Categories

There are a lot of options within Learning Management Systems for teachers to tailor the LMS to their course, content, and style.  A few of these options, to me, are crucial.  Here are my top 4 necessities (not in any specific order):
1. Email: it is impossible to exist in the world without email.
2. Grades: I found it kind of hilarious in this video when they were talking about saving time by computing grades with an online grading system as opposed to by hand.  Computing grades by hand for hundreds of students with assignments at different weights sounds daunting to say the least!  Thank goodness for technology!  They did also mention how students and parents are constantly updated with grading information and when assignments or quizzes are taken online they are instantly graded.  So easy!
3. LOR: As a teacher I have constantly kept an online LOR for end of the year evaluations.  It's a great way to keep up with and showcase great work.
4. Calendar:  It is absolutely essential to have important due dates in an online calendar.
I found most of the tools and options listed to be highly useful and definitely want to explore the use of discussion boards and blogs in my teaching in the future; I love the informal atmosphere and instant feedback.

Navigate 2.1.4 Lecture Capture

• How would the resource function in the online classroom?

I think Lecture Capture is suited to both an asynchronous course and a synchronous course.  For asynchronous the instructor would use the selected method to record and post and for the synchronous course the instructor would record the live lecture.

• How would the integration of Lecture Capture modify teaching methods?

The first thing that comes to mind for me when I think of using Lecture Capture is students with learning disabilities.  For many students being able to revisit a class lecture as often as necessary is going to be a huge development in knowledge acquisition.  Videos typically use multiple senses simultaneously; video (visual), audio (audial), and reading.  They may even be interactive which would incorporate speaking and kinesthetics.  Because of the wide range of options and the ability to be used over and over, Lecture Capture is a great modification for students of all learning styles but especially those with learning disabilities.

Navigate 2.1.3 Commercial vs Open Virtual Classrooms

As I've mentioned before, I really love free and I really love open-sourced.  There are so many options for great educational resources online that I find it really difficult to pay for any of them; there are also a lot of people who can not pay for them and this should be of consideration as well.  I love the accessibility of knowing that I can reach my materials online rather than on a specific computer.  There are a few drawbacks that come to mind especially in regards to student use.  A lot of free programs have ads which can be dangerous for minors, annoying, and distracting.  There are also firewalls and privacy issues to be considered.

Navigate 2.1.2 Recorded Session

I'm not gonna lie, I put this quest off until I had completed all of the other Navigate quests.  The process seemed a little daunting and although I'm not at all a procrastinator I felt like I needed to be in the right mindset for this one.  I ended up playing around with all of the resources suggested in the quest.  My first attempt was Adobe Connect because I believe that's the vendor used by GaVS.  The most difficult part of using Adobe Connect was figuring out the downloads.  After that, it's pretty simple to push a button and begin recording.  I've seen other asynchronous course presentations (they may also have initially been presented synchronously but recorded for future playback) by other online teachers that incorporate music and a lot of other effects so I definitely plan to play around with it a bit more to figure out how to make lessons more engaging.  Big Blue Button was pretty simple too.  Push the button to record with live chat as well.  I can foresee one of the most important issues being recording the synchronous lesson for playback by instructor or students asynchronously because if you forget to do that you'll have to go back to record and may have missed out on conversations and questions presented during the class meeting.  I found Go To Meeting to be the simplest to use but due to the fact that it's for smaller groups (max 25) it's not necessarily the best application for a class meeting.  Maybe for a small group break out session though.  The process was a lot easier than I expected it to be and I now feel more confident than I did before this quest.

Navigate 2.1.1 Delivery Methods and the Synchronous Vendor Market Quest

I've had a bit of experience in the synchronous classroom as a student working on my Education Specialist degree at UGA.  The program format for the Instructional Design and Development program at UGA is blended so some classes are face to face and some are online and mostly synchronous.  For that program we used Blackboard.  I like that program a lot, probably because I'm most familiar with it.  I do recall some audio issues from time to time and we never had a class meeting where I could actually see the instructor.  After looking at some of the other options it looks like there are a few others I would look into if choosing a program.  I'm partial to Google just because I use it for everything (email, documents, this blog…) so just to keep things all in one place I would think using Google+ Hangouts would be pretty convenient.  I really love free and I really love programs that are housed online rather than software.  That way they can be accessed from anywhere from any computer; that is kind of a key point to online learning anyways, right?  It also seems as though Go To Meeting has great reviews and is user-friendly but it has a capacity of 25 participants so that is likely best suited to business meetings and not education (especially not MOOCS!).  Join.me is another site recommended by my husband for synchronous business meetings.  It's less expensive than Go To Meeting and it's more accessible because there are no downloads involved; great for spur of the moment meetings.

Navigate 1.3.1 Discussing the LMS and CMS

Prior to beginning this quest I thought that the terms LMS and CMS were interchangeable.  I was actually more familiar with the term CMS which, according to some of the readings,  may actually mean that I'm a little out of date.  According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning or iNACOL, "The LMS is the set of tools that houses course content and provides the framework for communication between students, teachers, and parents." while the CMS is "The technology platform through which online courses are offered. A CMS includes software for the creation and editing of course content, communication tools, assessment tools, and other features designed to enhance access and ease of use.”
To me, the difference between these two relies on how holistic the program is.  The CMS may lend itself more to managing that certain course (hence the name) while the LMS would encompass a more holistic approach to the entire learning experience.
I really like this video by ProProfs and think it gives a great explanation of LMSs.

Navigate 1.2.1 Describe Roles and Functions in Online Learning Environments

I personally am a huge fan of LMS (Learning Management Systems) also known as CMS (Course Management Systems).  I have experience with a few different systems both as an instructor and as a student.  As an instructor, I used a LMS called Angel Learning Systems.  It was created by Blackboard which is another platform used for virtual education (I have also used Blackboard as a student for synchronous class meetings).  I absolutely LOVED Angel.  I was able to do so many things but mainly it allowed me to give a lot more responsibility to the students.  I created and maintained course calendars with topics of study, due dates for projects, and dates for summative assessments.  I also uploaded all course materials, notes, videos, music, and handouts.  I created formative assessments used for check points and the LMS graded them for me and provided me with data saving me countless hours grading and computing.  I also created class discussion forums that I knew would be safe for students to use.  Angel saved me so much time and resources printing materials and assisting students who were either absent or misplaced an assignment.  They knew to go straight to Angel.

Angel did not function as a "one stop shop" for teacher programs.  We also used separate Student Information Systems (SIS) for parent access, grading, and email even though it probably could have all been done through the LMS.

I also have experience with another LMS, Moodle, as a student.  While earning my Education Specialist in Instructional Design and Development at UGA the coursework was very much blended.  Depending on the course, some were face to face while some were entirely online with a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous class meetings.  Moodle was a great place to keep track of coursework, submit assignments, give and receive feedback from fellow students and professors, and basically have a sort of home base.

Navigate 1.1.1 Delineating Between Synchronous and Asynchronous Content

I created a simple chart showing some of the differences between synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Synchronous Asynchronous

Same time	Different times
Positives: real-life involved interactive communication instant feedback immediacy	Positives: extra time for thought flexibility easily accessible technology like email
Negatives: labor intensive for instructors technology glitches and malfunctions not as flexible often uses “newer” technology	Negatives: independent study lack of immediacy slower feedback
Tools: text phone video conferencing (eg. Skype) virtual classroom (eg. Blackboard)	Tools: email discussion boards/forums e-portfolios wikis/blogs

Participate 4.1.3 Digital Health

According to this video I have pretty horrible laptop ergonomics.  My biggest fault is either sitting on the floor (like I'm doing right now) so that my neck is curved downwards or sitting on the couch where I'm also pretty slumped over.  Over the past year (prior to beginning this training) I have not really used the laptop regularly for extended periods of time.  Now, working on this training and hoping to begin teaching online for GaVS I realize that I need to get situated in a comfortable and healthy position before working.  For that reason I made it a goal on my calendar to sit at the kitchen table everyday that I work on TOOL rather than on the floor or the couch and to sit up straight with a 90 degree angle at my knees and elbows.  I also added in a few "no phone" days.,

I exercise very regularly anyways; at least 30 minutes a day.  My workouts involve anything from jogging, walking through the neighborhood with my family, and lifting weights in the garage with my husband after the kids have gone to bed but I do have 2 regularly scheduled workouts that I included on my calendar; I never miss yoga on Wednesday nights and I also never miss TRX at the gym on Friday mornings.

One of my biggest goals in my personal life is to work on being present.  I once heard a quote (sorry not sure who to give credit to) but it went basically like this:
"Those who are depressed live in the past, those who are anxious live in the future, and those who are content live in the present."  It really resonated with me.  I also have two small children (3 and 8 months).  People are always saying how quickly it flies by and I do not want to be so distracted by my devices that I miss spending valuable time with my kids.  Don't get me wrong, I love taking pictures of my kids on my phone and I don't really know how parents go grocery shopping without an iPhone to occupy the kids.  That being said, I have removed most social media from my phone so that I don't just spend mindless minutes wasting time; when I use social media I aim to be more intentional.  I also closely monitor time that my 3 year old spends on "her" iPad.

• What is the most proactive means of ensuring the most balanced blend of technology and well-being?

In so many ways the key to life is balance.  Definitely putting forth the effort to create a healthy workspace is important as well as making sure that physical activity is a regular part of daily/weekly life.

• What can students and teachers do to make sure they get the most from technology while simultaneously safeguarding good health?

Most students need limitations on how many hours they are permitted to use technology and watch tv.  For online students, that's a little bit more difficult to enforce due to the fact that they will inherently be spending more time online than brick and mortar students.  Effort should definitely be put into getting involved in hobbies that do not involve technology such as sports, music, and/or art.  Being conscious and aware is a great place to start being mindful of a balanced life with technology and physical health and well-being.

Participate 4.1.2 Digital Safety and Security

• What is the most important step we can take in terms of ensuring our digital safety?

Technology changes everyday.  It's important not only as educators but as citizens to keep informed on dangers that are present in the digital world.  I'm not even very old but we didn't even have Facebook when I was in college.  As an educator and a parent it is very important to keep our eyes and minds open to technology and become a user on sites like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr just so we can understand how these sites work, what they're used for, and what possible pitfalls there may be.

• What strategies can we take to help our students consistently keep digital safety in the forefront of their minds?

Young adults think that they're invincible.  They either think that nothing bad can happen or that if they are behaving inappropriately it either won't affect anyone or they won't get caught.  Unfortunately, the best way to learn is by first-hand experience but as adults, we want to protect the young people of our society.  The best means of protection is education and information.  MTV does a great job of educating and keeping their information relevant to young people.  Constant dialogue is another clear way to keep digital safety in the forefront of students' minds.

Here's a link to my bookmark site.