Format
- Online: All the activities for this week are located on the web.
- Asynchronous: There is no required component for this week that requires to connect in real time with colleagues or the instructor.
Quote
“I didn’t let my child loose on the streets without teaching her about traffic and looking both ways. Similarly, I don’t like to see otherwise well-educated people loose in digital culture without knowing something about what makes a small-world network work or why a portfolio of weak ties is important. Networks particularly affect privacy and reputation—the places where our private lives intersect or collide with public knowledge, whether or not we know what to do about it.”
Rheingold, Howard; Weeks, Anthony (2012-02-24). Net Smart (p. 24). MIT Press. Kindle Edition.
Overview
This week is all about you. Now that you know what connectivism is, that you have started to see what makes a good blog post, that you have looked at other people’s online profiles (good and bad), it’s time to take a step back and look at your online persona with a fresh eye. It’s also time to determine which channels will get your attention, and how you’re going to manage them effectively.
Objectives
- Understand the concept of weak ties, and how they are important for your career.
- Reflect on your current digital presence, and modify it to fit what you want it to be.
- Establish rules of engagement, things other people should know about the way you want to use social media for lifelong learning and professional development.
Action items
1. Read Tom Petters, Fast Company, 1997. The brand called you.
2. Read Seth Stevenson, Wired, 2012. What your Klout really means.
3. Read Seth Godin, 2008. Why bother having a resume?
4. Read Jonah Lehrer, Wired.com, 2010, Weak Ties, Twitter and Revolution
5. Read Todd Bacile, Florida State University, 2012, Florida State University class using Klout to determine student grades.
6. Watch this short clip about getting a LinkedIn Makeover with Donna Serdula.
7. Revisit your about.me page and your blog. What would you change on the about.me page at this point of the semester? How would you tweak your blog, both look and feel and content-wise? Make those changes (if the changes would involve getting a graphic designer involved, you can create a sketch or a mockup and take a picture).
8. Ask someone in the class to look at your remodeled about.me page and blog and give you feedback, in private. Tweak your spaces as you judge appropriate.
9. On your blog, explain some of the changes you made, and why you think they reflect your online professional brand better. Include screenshots as appropriate.
10. Write a first version of your social media policy (doesn’t have to be too long for now, just general guidelines on which tools you want to use personally and professionally would be enough) and make it a page or a post on your blog. You do not have to submit this as a part of the weekly assignment. Some examples:
11. Submit the URL of your blog post to the assignment titled Week 6: Blog post on Canvas. The submission is due by 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 6, EDT, and will be graded as a part of the weekly projects.
12. Check the course’s class feed for other posts by colleagues, and comment on their posts. You should at least read and comment on two or three posts, but you’re welcome to visit as many as you want. As a part of the online participation grade, you should also contribute and discuss on the different social media outlets, such as Diigo, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.
More to explore
Check our Diigo group and check for related tags.