Week 3 Weekly Report and Reflection

One of the articles on my RSS feed, was called UN probes 7 more Syrian chemical weapons cases, written by Reuters for the Toronto Star. This article showing up on my feed allowed me to keep up to date in the goings-on, in Syria, where there are many more questions than answers. This article informs my own learning, by giving me the facts of what is currently happening in Syria, while also not giving an opinion on whom is right or wrong in this case, allowing for me to make my own, educated, opinion.

Biderman, A, (CC) 2013 - PLE

One of the great aspects of having a RSS feed is how it allows you to pick and choose the sources where you want to get your information from. By doing this, it allows one to be more selective in what they read, while also making sure that they get the information from a source that they trust. A RSS feed clearly helps one with their digital literacy for all the reasons I mentioned above. It also helps users be more digitally responsible, because they don't just search for a topic, but they find an article on a topic, through trusted sources. RSS feeds also help users become a better, and more well-rounded digital citizen because it helps organize all the information in to one area.

Referring back to my Personal Learning Environment (PLE), my Feedly RSS feed, would fit under the applications branch of it. This is because, like iTunes for example, it helps me to organize different files, and information in to one easy to access page.

My Experience with RSS Feeds

As a part of the ADED 1P32 class, I was assigned to set up a RSS feed in order to learn how they work. One of the first articles that my newly made RSS feed directed me to was an article about how RBC is donating $675,000 to Brock for their music programs. The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is getting $500,000 of it in order to turn the new facility into a world-class one, with the rest of the money going to the music at noon program already at Brock University. RBC is clearly showing their support for education, and especially for people pursuing careers in the arts. RBC is hoping that this gift will help keep arts education in Ontario and the Niagara region running for a long time.

Using a RSS feed is a very valuable tool for everyone because it allows you to sort all of the content that you would normally read into something a lot more organized. For whatever topic you like to learn about, there are a number of feeds worth subscribing too that would allow you not only to continue to learn what you did before, but also learn new things. If someone wants to become more up to date on the news outside of Canada and the U.S.A., they might want to subscribe to the New York Times - World feed, so that they get get news on the goings-on around the world. Overall, I believe RSS feeds to be a very valuable asset, that I will continue to use throughout my life.

Week 2 Weekly Report and Reflection

Graham Atwell defines a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) as an approach to using new tools for learning. To create an effective PLE, one must go through a series of 4 steps in order to make it as useful as possible. This blog post will go through those steps and apply them to myself.

Personal

Biderman, A. (CC) 2013 - PLE

In 5-10 years I would love to be working in the sports industry, being a player agent for one of the 4 major professional sports in North America. To do this, however, I would most likely need to graduate from Law school so that I would be fully qualified to understand the contract language, and more importantly, learn how to negotiate a contract better. I would also love to work for an already established firm, so that I could get my feet wet first an
d learn the business (along with gaining clients) before branching off into my own agency.

Right now, I am a 3rd year Sport Management student at Brock University. In order to achieve my goal, I have to first graduate from Brock, before applying to, and attending a law school. There are a lot of steps ahead of me in order to achieve my end goal, but I am on the right track now.

Learning

As I said above, in order to become a player agent, I must gain negotiating, and contract writing skills which are essentially only attainable through law school. In order to learn the way I need to I would need to use tools in the gathering information category in order to gain the information and knowledge that I would need to succeed in school, and then in my career. I would also need to use networking tools in order to make the connections necessary to get my foot in the door of the sport agency industry. Lastly I would need to use computer applications in order to do my work as effectively as possible both in school and in the business world.

Environment

I believe the quality of the environment that you work in is very much related to the quality of the work you produce. With that being said, I believe that working in a clean, uncluttered environment is conducive to doing your best possible work. I also think that the people that you associate with either helps or hinders the quality of work that you put out, so making sure that you work with people with a high work ethic is key to success. Knowing all of this I would want to make sure I work with more dedicated people and in an uncluttered working environment.

Habits

Getting rid of your old habits and replacing them with good ones is one of the biggest keys to improving upon your learning ability. One bad habit that I am trying to rid myself of is procrastination. I normally like to put things off to the last minute, but during the next 30 days I am trying to make sure I get my work done well in advance so I have time to improve it, and produce the best quality of work possible.


Reflection

Biderman, A. (CC) 2013 - Word Cloud

While creating my PLE, I learned a number of different things. The most important of them being that there are just so many different tools, and ways of learning that everyone's PLE would be different. I also learned that while I use everything for one task (gaining knowledge) there are a number of different avenues to gain that knowledge, and a number of other tools that help you do just that.

Making a word cloud for my Week 1 reflection post reminded me of the important of a digital footprint (as those are the two most prominent words). When creating a digital footprint one has to be careful of what they put out there and I believe those themes are evident in my Word Cloud.

Week 1 Weekly Report and Reflection

A digital footprint is information provided in cyberspace that is left behind for someone to see. I believe that a small digital footprint is good to have if in the right place. For example, having information about you on a Linkedin profile is beneficial, and can help you get employment in the future. That is an example of a positive digital footprint. However, a digital footprint can also be bad, if for example, you give your credit card information to an untrusted site where someone can find and use it. I believe the best strategy to keeping a positive digital footprint is to make sure you think twice about whether or not you would want someone knowing what you are going to put on the internet, and if the answer is no, don't put it there. The exception being if the site is very trustworthy (like amazon.ca), then you can trust that your information will be kept private. Netiquette is highly related to someones positive digital footprint because of how similar they are. If you keep civil and polite on a message or comment board there will be no chance that something bad that you said being kept and used against you. Someone who has the knowledge needed to be a digital citizen, generally would also have the knowledge to either not leave a digital footprint, or if they do, make sure that it is a positive one. I have learned that there are a number of different aspects about digital citizenship. One thing that I feel the need to learn more about would be about digital health and wellness. I did not realize that there were as many physical health problems spouting from the digital community as there are.

There are a few different aspects about digital citizenship that I look forward to learning more about in this class. One of them is digital literacy. I feel like all schools at this point in time need to focus more on teaching the students how to use technology as that is the way the world is changing. More and more communication on the internet is becoming a staple in the business world and learning how to use and communicate through the internet should be a topic in all classes.

About Myself

My name is Aaron Biderman, and currently I am a 3rd year Sport Management student at Brock University. When not in St. Catharines, I live in Thornhill, Ontario, a city just north of Toronto. My favourite activities including playing and following, all sports, but mainly baseball, hockey, football, and basketball.

With my Sport Management degree, I hope to obtain a job in one of the major professional sports, preferably on the marketing side. If not that, then I would also like to work on the personnel side of sports, in some capacity.

Taking ADED, will greatly help me in my future career because being able to connect with someone on the internet is becoming more and more essential to the world. Especially in the sport industry, there are so many people that want to constantly be updated on their favourite teams that the only way to truly interact with every fan around the world is on the internet. I also hope to refine my skills when it comes to navigating, and effectively using the web.

Me on my recent trip to Vancouver, BC in an Olympic bobsled