MHRM 6100 + Week 4

So this is the second blog I am to write for school… I’m asked to discuss mobile technology and social network I’ve used for this class.

I haven’t used a lot of new mobile technology for this class, though I did download the Walden University app for my iPhone – VERY nice, but all it really does is take you to Blackboard on my mobile browser. Still. I don’t have to bookmark Blackboard and sign in each time, so I approve! I’ve also joined the Walden University group on LinkedIn, though I haven’t participated in any discussions as of yet.

One bit of technology I tried to use was Zotero. I read about it in one of our texts, E-learning companion: A student's guide to online success, by Watkins and Corry (46). It is supposed to collect your resources to make it easier to format your works cited page at the end of the paper. So far, however, I have been unable to get it to work… L

This is a shame, because if I’ve had marks taken off in my work, it’s been for incorrectly citing references. As a fine arts major, I’ve used MLA style for papers my whole scholastic career. I guess I’m having some trouble adjusting to the APA style. But I’ll get there, Dr. P! I’ll get there!

We were also asked to discuss what stage of Bruce Tuckman’s team-development model was our class currently in. Tuckman believed every team had four basic stages to it – Forming, when everyone comes together; Storming, when the “honeymoon” ends and people compete and disagree; Norming, when team members become less defensive and everyone is more open; and Performing, when the team operates in an effective manner (Chaneski, 2009, 34).

I believe our team currently finds itself in the Storming stage. The first couple of weeks of class everyone agreed with everything on the Discussion Board. There were no real dissenting opinions. But I feel the group is becoming comfortable enough with the subject matter – and with each other – that they can begin to disagree with one another.

For example, last week Denise said that she thought using social media to advertise for the manager position was a good idea. Denetra and I respectfully disagreed though. We felt that anyone qualified to fill that position would not really use social media and we felt comfortable saying we disagreed. There was also some disagreement among class members about whether hiring from within the organization was best for the company. The group is now offering dissenting opinions, which I think is good. We will all learn more if we look at things from someone else’s perspective.

References

Chaneski, Wayne S. (2009, August). The stages teams go through. Modern Machine Shop. 82(3), 34-36.

Watkins, R. and Corry, M. (2004). E-learning Companion: A student's guide to online success. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Sunday Shoutouts

Just a few things that I found interesting this week. Here's a couple things I wanna give a shoutout to this week:


1. Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long blog. 

I know, I know. It's not new. Created during the infamous Hollywood writers' strike by the genius that is Joss Whedon, it's a 45-minute web series about hapless villain Dr. Horrible. I've had the songs in my head all week. Best line? "The world is a mess and I need to rule it." Dr. Horrible. Tell a friend.  http://drhorrible.com/ 



2. Bed Head's Candy Fixation Sugar Shock. I love this stuff! It makes your hair wavy and gives it a beach wave kind of texture. Did I mention it smells like cotton candy?



3. Backyard cookouts. My friends invited me to a cookout last night. Grilled chicken with chimichurri, corn on the cob and delicious grilled pineapple. It was a perfect meal. And I tried blood sausage! I thought it was delicious, but I'll do you all a favor and not include a picture!


Cookouts are my favorite part of the summer. I love the smell of the charcoal and the slight char on my food. It brings back so many memories of my dad at the backyard barbecue, grilling up steaks, hamburgers, chicken... anything he could find! Delicious memories, I tell you. Speaking of...


4. My dad, Larry Deffendall. It's his birthday. He would've been 73 today, but we lost him four years ago to cancer. I have a hard time each year on this day. I can't get him out of my head. We had a very complicated relationship, my dad and me. It's a regret of mine, though I am so grateful we had the opportunity to repair a lot of things before his passing.


I hope he's happy. I hope he's upstairs golfing and grilling with the Big Guy. And most of all, I hope he is proud of me. I miss him every day.


Happy birthday, Daddy!

My cat is obsessed with me!

I thought cats were supposed to be stand-offish? Mysterious and aloof so that we, their caretakers, are always left wanting more.

Not my Eleanor Roseypelt. She is obsessed with me. 

<----- This is the pretty lady.

Just look at her all smug and self-satisfied because she tricked me into giving her some attention.

I've had the cat nearly 10 years now. She's always been fond of me, but lately she's taken her affection to a whole new, creepy, Single White Feline kind of level...

She's always got to be with me. And always ON me.  She can't sit next to me, nooo. That does not provide enough tactile comfort. Only my lap will do for this finicky girl. Well, it's been in the 100's here in sunny Carolina, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to sit with a furry heat factory on my lap all night; it's hot!

"Oh, you foolish human," she laughs. "As if you had a choice!"

I went away last week, and I know she missed me, but this is ridiculous. She follows me through the house, wrapping her tail around my leg. When I wake up in the morning, there she is, wrapped in the crook of my arm, or worse, sandwiched between my legs so I can't move.

And this morning? When I opened the curtain after my shower? There she is on the edge of the tub, staring up at me with those huge Puss 'N Boots eyes. Just begging me to stay home from work and pet her.

Those of you familiar with the Dr. Demento favorite, Star Trekkin' Across the Universe may now sing in unison: "There's Klingons on the starboard bow! Scrape them off, Jim!" (Yeah, that was a bit offsides, wasn't it?)

Well, she may be an albatross around my neck, but she's a damn cute albatross, isn't she?

Yeah. I think I'll keep her.

My mom, the rock star

This is my mom.

She's 70 years old, has 2 cysts in her knee making it hard to bend her leg, and she's a total rock star!

Yesterday was the 4th and we decided to beat the incredible heat by jumping into the Saluda river.

Mom was a champ. She hiked down the long path from the boat dock, climbed down the river bank and waded through the ice cold water.

The family followed up the swim with a traditional cookout of hot dogs, hamburgers, and potato salad handmade by my same rock star mom.

A good time was had by all. Happy 4th everyone.

MHRM 6100 + Week 2

My first assigned blog! We are asked to blog about our experiences with mobile technology and social media.

Well, part of my responsibilities as a Marketing Coordinator for our hospital is to monitor our health system's social media presence. Therefore I spend a good part of my day on Facebook. Yes, it's turned into a little bit of an obsession. I've also used Twitter and ask any of my friends, they'll tell you I'm OBSESSED with Foursquare! I can't help it; I like people to know where I am at all times!

I'm very much a Generation Xer – I subscribe to several RSS feeds (heaven forbid I miss even one post from my favorite websites!). But blogging... this is new to me. I set up this site, but then never created a post. It's really nice to have an excuse to do so now!

One question we were asked was "do you think [mobile technology and social media] could be used differently to enhance their benefit in learning?"

Absolutely! I think there is a great opportunity to use this technology for learning. Why attend a lecture when you could listen to a podcast while on the run? Follow up with fellow classmates on Twitter instead of waiting for an email response. The possibilities are endless!