I will be using this blog to reflect upon my coursework as I complete my Master’s in Educational Technology. I invite you to make comments, suggestions, and corrections as I navigate the ever-changing nature of this field!
It is interesting to think about the new “permanent record” that exists as a result of technological expansion. It is impossible to imagine our lives without it, and yet there is an Orwellian darkside that comes with its conveniences. Personally, I choose to make use of social-networking sites, as I was part of their target audience in my undergraduate years. Although I have a Myspace account, it is purely to direct people to find me on Facebook. Myspace is too “open” and cluttered for me, and I find Facebook more elegant. I also like the privacy settings on Facebook, and have set up my page so that only accepted friend can see my information. I use it primarily to keep friends and family (who are spread throughout countries) updated on the events in my life, and vice versa. I also upload pictures to my account and share them with loved ones. I like that Facebook allows me to send specific photo albums to non-Facebook users if I choose, and prevents them from accessing any other information. I have also used Facebook to organize informal events. By posting an event and adding friends, I can easily contact a wide array of people and let them know of an upcoming party, school meeting, or travel plan through their area of the world. I also use Facebook to contact classmates and ask questions and organize meetings.
I have searched for my friends and relatives social networking pages. Sometimes, it’s exciting to reconnect with a lost companion. Others, its sad to see that your interests may not be as compatible as initially thought. I am surprised by some of the things people have posted to relatively open pages. It is especially insightful at my place of employment where such searches are common as a way to weed through stacks of applicants and potential employees. I have seen more than a few resumes discarded as a result of such searches. However, I have also seen some reconsidered because of this, so it does seem to go both ways.
When I Googled myself, I only saw one piece of information that I considered worrisome, and I quickly remedied this. I had posted my Resume onto my afs space as part of a class project. This was all well and good, except for my address glaring from the top of the page. Two clicks and my resume was removed, but it was a little worrisome. I think I will remove private information and repost my resume, as I don’t mind this being readily available. The only other information was an Alumni listing from my University and a blog mention (a wedding present thank you).
I don’t think that a future employer would be all that impressed, as there isn’t that much information there, but I don’t think there’s anything detrimental online either. My resume may be impressive (or maybe not), but they would already be in possession of that information if they were Googling me in the first place.
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
Great page layout! I’m always trying to reconnect with old college friends by googling them, but I’m never successful, so you are lucky there. Maybe I’ll try using Facebook or MySpace to find them instead of such a large seach.
Your page looks great!
Very interesting information re: your resume. I guess it will become standard to create one for public posting sans personal info and one with contact info sent directly to a potential employer.
Jen:
Thanks for the compliments! I really like Facebook as a way to keep in touch with people, but it’s possible that it has something to do with the fact that I “grew up” with this way of communicating with my friends. I remember coming home from school and AIMing my friends for hours. It was way better than the phone, because you could carry on 6-7 conversations at once!
Also, just FYI, there’s a MAET Facebook group if you plan on continuing on w/ your Masters. Nothing crazy, but still, kind of fun. 
Diana:
Again, thanks! It’s interesting to see all the ways that technology is changing the protocols of society, I agree! I wonder how much longer we will even use things like paper newspapers, magazines, and even books! I see books going the way of the ipod and music very soon, especially w/ the new Amazon Kindle.
What an interesting perspective from a person much younger than myself. I have always been on top of everything myself and don’t consider myself as an immigrant even though I am in my mid 40’s. I have been lurker for years in MySpace and FaceBook and it bums me out that my kids finally caught on to me and made their spaces private. I knew where all the best parties were for a while! I was one of the first to get an audible account too, but I love my text still at night before I got to bed. But I agree with you and even though I am a librarian I promote the electronic text. It is so easy to put my hand on journals and put alerts on topics to let me know when there is a new article published on the topic that I am researching. It saves so much time! I look forward to hearing more comments from a tech literate young person!
I have daughters who were part of the AIMing generation and I would watch them for a while and thought about trying it. One day I thought, what the heck, let’s give it a try! I found that it was a great way to connect to people I didn’t normally talk with regularly and I could talk to so many people at once. That was the day I fell in love with technology.
Now my daughters are of the Facebook generation and I’m still watching. It’s probably because it’s new to me. I’m getting up the courage to jump in. It’s like jumping into the lake for me, I have to ease my way in one step at a time. Thank you for explaining all of the capabilities and ways in which you use it. It sounds like something that I will be trying soon!