Showcase Video Blog

WIKI Reflection Blog

WIKI Reflection Blog

          The first time I worked on the wiki I was confused because I had never worked on a wiki before.  While filled with questions and confusion, I read the instructions about five times to perhaps gain a better understanding about what needed to be done.  I believe it was the second or third week before I realized that I needed to be part of a group.  I originally chose the BYOD group but it was too late because the group was full.  After joining the branding group, I received an email from Bill Callister and it was relieving to get communication from someone in the branding group.  All was well at this point because we were able to discuss the group assignment and develop a game plan to complete the wiki. 

          While feeling like I was on the right track I immediately started to do research on branding which helped me to better understand what a brand truly is.  By doing research on branding, my knowledge on educational branding was increased in the area of how branding can benefit educators and students in the overall educational realm.  Branding has truly opened my eyes on the benefits it offers in education and now I am researching professional development workshops at my place of employment to continue the development of knowledge on its benefits.

          The second time I worked on the wiki was a little better experience because I was comfortable with doing research that benefitted my team members, and participate in group discussions online.  During our group discussions we covered basically everything that had to do with completing our class assignment collectively as a group. We were able to split up assignments, share a Google drive which was very beneficial in posting researched articles we found.  In the process of researching branding articles, I found myself reading a great deal on the subject and in turn helped to further enhance my knowledge on what a brand is, how it can benefit the educational realm, and how brands have benefitted the industry as well.

          Branding research has increased my interest on how a brand can be incorporated into a school or entire school district.  According to research, because of increased competition, economic pressures, and scrutiny by parents and students acting as consumers has increased the pressure of higher education and institutions to be unique from competitors (Peruta & Engelsman, 2013, p. 11).  Creating a school brand can perhaps say that this school or institution is unique from all others.  The main task is to get the school districts, the educators, and the parents to buy in on the concept of having a school brand and all the benefits it offers.  Through professional development workshops, I intend to continue to further my knowledge of branding and choosing the correct brand that is most conducive to the overall learning process.  Additionally, working on the wiki brand assignment has enriched my group experience by being able to interact and share ideas for a common cause.

          The third time I worked on the wiki was a continuation of research, reviewing my group member’s research articles, compiling a literature review, and meeting online to discuss current and future assignments.  Our group leader did an excellent job in setting up a Google drive, splitting up the assignments, setting up group meetings, and compiling group papers.  We all participated and worked together to create documents, and review each member’s work.  Working together with this group has been a pleasure and has increased my knowledge of what a brand is and how a brand can be used in education.

          My attitude towards branding has increased more than ever at this point and I intend to continue to do research and make recommendations to my school district on the benefits of branding.  During research I also learned that branding has successfully increased enrollment in higher education and choosing the right brand that is most effective in K-12 can also raise student participation and enrollment.  Finally, as a group we reviewed the social media group literature review and by doing so, I was able to enhance my knowledge on social media and the concentration of social media in the educational realm. As a result, I have begun to do more research on social media in education and up to this point, I am looking forward to continuing to work with my group and continue research and development.

 

References

Peruta, A., Ryan, W., & Engelsman, R. (2013). Social Media Branding Strategies for Higher

                    Education: Comparing Facebook Pages and Web Sites. International Journal Of

                    Technology, Knowledge & Society, 9(1), 11-23.

 

         

Muddiest Point Video Blog

Muddiest Point Blog

          My muddiest point video blog has to do with copyright violations and plagiarism.  Just the other day I had a conversation with a teacher that was telling me a story about a student in her class had requested to do extra work in order to earn extra credit to bring her grades up.  The teacher gracefully said yes and instructed the student to write an essay that consisted of approximately 500 words.  The teacher stated that the student is not a very good reader but can browse and research material on the Internet quite well. 

          A couple of days later, the student turned in her essay which was verbatim word for word on an article about India.  Now, faced with a dilemma, the teacher had to decide whether to punish the student for plagiarism or show her what she did wrong while at the same time explaining to her what the consequences of plagiarism.  Having to make a tough decision, the teacher decided to point out to the student what she did wrong and required her to watch videos on plagiarism.  The area that is unclear here is; how do you determine punishment on students  in k-8 that have not been taught what plagiarism is? Or, what if the student does know about plagiarism but simply forgot to cite something? 

          I want to move on and talk a little about copyright violations.  While talking with this same teacher, we started to discuss copyright laws and the use of copyright material.  During our conversation, the teacher showed me a series of pictures she had downloaded from the Internet.  The teacher hangs these pictures in her classroom for the visual learners and the majority of them were cited as to where they were obtained from.  Notice that I said the majority of them were cited.  I asked the teacher why some of the pictures were not cited and she said that not all the time she would do so simply because copyright laws and the fair use act can perhaps be contradictory of each other.  With current copyright laws in place, there is also the fair use act that would allow for use of material without having to obtain a license or permission mainly in not for profit organizations.  But research concludes that fair use is routinely described by courts and scholars as copyright law’s most troublesome doctrine (Balganesh, 2012, p. 271).

          The bottom line here is what is the best approach to avoiding copyright violations and plagiarism?  Who will train the teachers on the best practices for using material obtained from third-party sources?  And finally, how do we know that freeware is actually free?  What are your thoughts on this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Balganesh, S. (2012). The normativity of copying in copyright law.  Duke Law Journal,

          62(2), 203-284.

Craven, Brandi. "Copyrights." Letter to Isaac Pettway. 19 Nov. 2014. MS. Elementary School,

          Birmingham, Alabama.

 

 

Webibliography

 

 

 

 

 

 

Webibliography: Security vs. Access and Branding

Isaac Pettway

Liberty University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Webibliography: Security vs. Access

Summary

          Due to the increase in technology and online learning in all facets, the need for increased Internet access security is paramount.  The book entitled Security vs. Access starts out with a shared story of how a teacher was being monitored for inappropriate Internet usage and how CD drives were made inoperable to perhaps prohibit copyright violations.  Tom was a good teacher and very effective in his teaching style.  Then the question was raised; could concerns over Internet security be generating a fear that is now hindering the integration of technology?

          The purpose of this book is to get educators to take a closer look at the integration of technology in the classroom and evaluate the effectiveness of increased security in Internet access rather than viewing it as a deterrent to the overall learning process (Brown, Green, & Robinson, 2010, p. 17).  The book goes on to examine eight security threats that can be avoided with increased security in Internet access.  These threats are as follows:  Inappropriate content, predators or ensnarement, misuse of mobile communication devices, cyber bullying, network security, inappropriate network use, copyright infringement, and data and identity theft (Brown, Green, Robinson, 2010, p. 21).  It was also found that 87% of young people use the Internet and of which, two-thirds of them use the Internet at school and the number is steadily increasing.   Finally, with increased security in Internet access and filtering, concerns of fear from teachers for possibly using the Internet inappropriately raises concerns for putting their jobs in jeopardy and in turn, perhaps causes teachers to not use the Internet to the fullest extent in educating students and contributing to the overall learning process.

Critique

          I have two comments on this book.  My first comment is, when it comes to Internet access in a k-12 institution, the need for access security is a must.  Additionally, access security helps to filter inappropriateness from pop ups that appear even if you don’t go to the site.  Viewing Internet access security as a hindrance in education is a mistake because there are still unlimited resources readily available even when filters are applied. Due diligence is necessary when it comes to finding reliable resources that are not filtered. 

          There are also options in place when it comes to Internet access security.  For example, teachers can send in a request to have a certain site unblocked or evaluated to be unblocked to the district network administrator rather than assuming the resource is just not available.  As far as fear of using the Internet inappropriately, teachers should perhaps realize that filters can be a protection mechanism which protects the user from going to sites that may be inappropriate. 

          Ongoing training is necessary to help teachers understand the need for Internet security.  The use of Internet security has resulted in the blocking of hackers who could have otherwise hacked into networks, stole student data, and breeched the security of the entire school district.  When it comes to Internet access and security, the good definitely outweighs the bad. 

          Disabling CD drives and USB drives on computers is perhaps possibly a little extreme because ultimately, the user of that computer is responsible for the content that is input into his or her computer.  Internet access is different because inappropriate content can appear through pop ups without actually visiting the inappropriate site.  With that being said, users can view Internet access filtering as a mechanism to help protect the user of that computer.  The overall goal is to keep inappropriate out of the eyes of innocent students and educate them on things like cyber bullying, hackers, inappropriate websites and the like.  The Internet has to be made as safe as possible through filtering and limiting access to certain sites.  Although all Internet content cannot be filtered, the main goal is to do what can be done in ensuring a safe educational browsing environment.

Place Branding

          The purpose of this article is to discuss place branding in the culture of design and gain a better understanding of branded place structures.  According to (Homadovski, 2010, p. 195) place branding applies branding of commercial products to the majority of the criteria of geographic locations, and it is related to their restructuring, identity development, advertising promotion and marketing.   This article goes on to talk about the role of design which in turn increases productivity.  

          This article also discuss how back in the 1990s we saw a plethora of branding which was instrumental then in increasing productivity of goods and services and branding is a technique that is pretty much still strong to present day.  Branding is a way to not necessarily re-invent the wheel but rather use the wheel as a marketing tool.

Critique

          In critiquing this article, place branding was used strategically in certain areas which in turn increased productivity.  Place branding was a wide spread practice in the 1990s which proved to be the vehicle that drove the economy.  Companies were able to save money by simply branding existing products.  The irony in this is that branding is a technique that allows anyone to brand a product and create a competitive identity when that individual goes through the proper channels.

          However, according to (Homadovski, 2010, p. 195), place branding cannot fulfill its purpose only through the communicational methods used in marketing procedures since the perceptions of identity of nations, regions and cities are resistant to changes in longer temporal intervals.  It doesn’t matter how good or bad a product may be it is the willingness to change that has to be considered.  As long as branding is done and communicated strategically, success is inevitable.  Choosing the right brand is also critical when it comes to making a brand for a particular product.  Careful consideration perhaps has to be paid to brand option to ensure it is instrumental in what is to be conveyed in terms of usage and productivity.

Identity-based View of Place Branding

          This article starts out by painting the picture of a perhaps struggling economy where budgets are tight and pressure to produce or use the most efficient resource.  While concerned with image management, organizations in the public, private and non-profit sector want to control their images to create brand equity and loyalty (Zavattaro, 2013, p. 511). 

          The article goes on to discuss how place branding has its origins in a long-term strategic vision and careful attention must be adhered to in not taking brand meaning lightly which can prove to be very detrimental to the brand itself.  Avoidance of unintended consequences is paramount when it comes to place branding.

 

Critique

          In critiquing this article I will start with a question.  Do companies solely rely on place branding as an only means of increasing productivity?  I raised this question because as I read this article, I am reminded of Ronald McDonald which has the golden arches and promises quality, service, and cleanliness.  Then you have Burger King which is high on corporate responsibility.  Branding is indeed a good strategy but when it comes down to it, people simply want to be treated right and fairly. 

          I may opt to go to a restaurant that is courteous and fair rather than a restaurant that may have better food and rude employees.  McDonald’s promises good customer service and they secretly send people to their restaurant as a secret shopper to ensure quality of service.  That is a brand promise that is sure to be successful.  Having a long term strategic vision is great as long as everyone buy in to that strategy and work together to make it successful.

Brand-based approach: Opportunity and Risk

          This article talks about the risk for companies to use a brand-based approach to productivity.  As with any business venture, choosing the right brand is critical to the success of that brand.  This article goes on to talk about how the relationship between brands and sustainability can lead to promising alliances between business and consumers and make consumption more sustainability (Lehner & Halliday, 2014, p. 14).

          As I read more of this article, it begins to talk about how brands are relied upon to create a solid foundation in the market place and expected to be the beacon that drives the market itself.  As with any investment, this type of branding does not come cheap; in other words’ “there is no free lunch.”

Critique

          To critique this article I will start by mentioning the cost of creating a brand-based approach and the cost associated with the risk.  As with any business venture you are going to have risks.  It is unclear to me that a company would solely rely on a brand-based approach to present to the markets.  On the other hand, if the brand-based approach works then success is very rewarding.  However, the investment of a brand-based approach can be huge. 

          This article discusses how sustainability is inevitable when brands are used as a mechanism to attract a certain type of market.  In addition to having a brand-based approach strategy, markets can perhaps create a contingency brand that simply rewards and speak to customers by delivering what customers want in a way that is satisfactory and fair.  Having a unique brand sends a tone that says hey; follow my brand because nobody can deliver like we can. 

 

Branding Privacy

          This article talks about how branding privacy tends to create what you call a privacy lurch.  It goes on to explain how Google back in 2010, launched what you call Google Buzz, they then enrolled all Gmail users into Google Buzz and publically revealed each user’s most frequent Gmail information.  This was an action that was detrimental to the privacy of Gmail users.          The article goes on to discuss how Face Book back in 2007 launched Face Book ads which caused users to become spokespeople for companies products (Ohm, 2014, p.  218). 

Critique

          When it comes to protecting the privacy of users, companies like Google and face book have the corporate responsibility to do whatever is necessary to protect the privacy of its users.  Branding a product has the potential to attract snoopers. As such, when it comes to protecting privacy, we should consider using the law to tie privacy promises to trademarks and brands, and approach called branded privacy (Ohm, 2014, p. 943).   

          Branding privacy should go beyond just simple warnings; there should be tight security in what is allowed by the brand strategy. The unfortunate thing is that several companies share information all the time.  I have gotten several letters in the mail informing me that my information has been shared with different companies in order to give me a better rate on a service or good.  At the end of the day, your information is shared from company to company whether you like it or not.  So how do you combat that?  Well, leaving that company and going with another company may be an option but what about the brand privacy of the company you’re moving to?  The key here is to research companies before hand and gather as much information about company policy as possible.  To that end, brand privacy is necessary to ensure user privacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Brown, A.H., Green, T.D., & Robinson, L.K.  (2010). Security vs. access balancing safety and productivity in the digital school. Eugene, Or. International Society for Technology in Education.

Homadovski, A. (2010). Place branding in the culture of design.  Prostor, 18(1), 190-203.

 

Lehner, M., & Halliday, S. V. (2014). Branding sustainability: Opportunity and risk behind a  

          brand-based approach to sustainable markets. Ephemera: Theory & Politics In

          Organization, 14(1), 13-34.

 

Ohm, P. (2013). Branding Privacy. Minnesota Law Review, 97(3), 907-989

 

Zavattaro, S. M. (2013). Expanding Goffman's Theater Metaphor to an Identity-Based View of     

          Place Branding. Administrative Theory & Praxis (M.E. Sharpe), 35(4), 510-528.

          doi:10.2753/ATP1084-1806350403

 

 

 

 

 

Most Important Theory Blog

http://youtu.be/WE6BkuxtCbQ -YouTube Link

Virtual Campus

          As technology continues to grow, the need to research and utilize the latest and greatest technological tools is becoming paramount.  A theory that I read about while during research is the creation of a virtual campus.  Students today are more engaged in the new technological aspect in education than ever before.  Advancements in network capabilities have made it possible to create things like virtual campuses. Virtual campuses offer a real classroom like setting where students can log on from their current location where ever that may be, and participate in classroom assignments, talk with fellow students and even raise your hand if you have a question for the teacher.  As with any new change, there will also be opposition to new ideas that tend to deviate from the norm.  “However, a constant in educational institutions is the need to manage courses, students and teachers, a need usually addressed by virtual campuses” (Navarro, 2014, p. 252).

          Virtual campuses are important because of the opportunity to reach a higher number of students remotely whereas a normal classroom setting may be limited to about 30 or less students.  Additionally, virtual campuses offer face to face teaching, encourage teaching innovation and the authoring of learning material, and it fosters communication between various different users (Navarro, 2014, p. 252).

          The use of virtual campuses increased my view on technology in education because of the advantage to reach a higher number of learners at the same time, provide convenience for the student that cannot afford to travel to school, and it provides an option for learners that prefer a different learning style.  Virtual campuses also provide the opportunity for students in different countries to also participate with students in other countries while securing the overall learning process. 

          In the future and presently I plan to increase research on virtual classrooms and incorporate best practices in the field when it comes to educating students while at the same time exercising due diligence in developing a product of virtual learning where all students can be comfortable in the overall learning environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Navarro, A., Cigarrán, J., Huertas, F., Rodrìguez-Artacho, M., & Cogolludo, A. (2014). An

          Integration Architecture of Virtual Campuses with External e-Learning Tools. Journal  

          Of Educational Technology & Society, 17(3), 252-266.

 

http://youtu.be/WE6BkuxtCbQ

 

Trends and Issues in Educational Technology Interview

Here is the link to my field interview: 

http://youtu.be/eWzjQLexWp0