Sunday, June 29, 2014

A New Spin on Internet Citizenship

For awhile now, I have been tinkering with the idea of developing an operating system for empowering online citizens. This idea aligns with my most recent research and graduate work in public administration and nonprofit management. The main focus is to provide the necessary tools for citizens to engage with outside individuals and organizations with privacy and security at the forefront. My reasoning for focusing upon privacy and security first links to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs which I studied a few semesters ago. Abraham Maslow proposed that all individuals seek five stages in life: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization.

Referencing Maslow's work, I focused on the two primary areas, privacy and security, for enabling internet citizens or netizens. However, instead of creating an operating system from scratch, I selected the Fedora Spins Project for developing a linux-based system. The initial specification for the new spin is located here. My goal for this project, Fedora Netizen, is to have an operational operating system for citizens to download and use from a USB stick or install entirely on their Mac, PC, or other internet enabled device.

--Corey

Monday, June 9, 2014

BlendKit Blended Course Reflection

Reflecting upon BlendKit 2014 blended course, new perspectives were gained regarding how blended courses could benefit students, as well as instructors when delivering required continuing education and licensure courses. In forming a suitable question for basing further blended course development, the following question may aid in the development process: in what ways can a blended course development approach improve effectiveness and efficiency for delivering high quality educational experiences within the real estate industry?

Implementing this question, the first benefit that my be realized is the dual allowance for learning synchronously and asynchronously by students. The opportunity for students to learn multiple and alternative may promote higher levels of cognitive learning. In addition, permitting remote participation may be more convenient at times for students, especially for those who work full-time jobs and have family responsibilities. On the contrary, those students who may have the need to directly interact with their instructors benefit from the in-class sessions eliminating the possible feeling of totally being disconnected.

From an instructor's perspective, blended course delivery may offer an increased amount of time for managing courses and responding to students' need due to the decreased amount of time required in a classroom. Moreover, integrating a blended mode may also aid in the implementation of a flipped classroom scenario. By assigning reading and work assignments for homework, students may be more attentive within the classroom since they are given the opportunity to work on their assignments before meeting in-class. Because more in-class time is available, alternative learning experiences may take place such as role playing, games, and other in-class group activities.

In conclusion, the implementation of blended courses may provide a significant impact to my future development and delivery of instructional courses. As identified in my original question, effectiveness and efficiency are two important keys to the ongoing success for my current course covering cybercrime and upcoming courses on internet privacy and cybersecurity. With this in mind, I envision offering these three courses in blended mode along with online versions at the start so that I can make proper adjustments for effectively and efficiently delivering higher learning experiences to my future students.

--Corey

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Certified Google YouTube Digital Citizenship

Today, I earned Google's YouTube Digital Citizenship Certification by passing the online examination. My official test record can be viewed here. Studying for the exam was actually an enjoyable task as I gained new insight into YouTube's safety and privacy policies and tools. The next Google certifications I plan to take are the Google Analytics certification and the Google Educator certification.

--Corey