Week 7 - Facebook

Is Facebook really a learning tool?

In my opinion some of the main things to be learnt from Facebook are what your friends have had for lunch, or how many pounds they may have lost in fat club that week or even the next family holiday planned and just when their home may be unoccupied!

I think Facebook is a great social media tool for keeping in touch with family and friend who don’t live so close or even those who do but the business of life gets in the way Facebook helps to help people keep informed and to even feel still involved and know what’s going on in their lives,

I don’t think I have learnt anything educational from Facebook during my time as a Facebooker apart from the newest addition to the family in the little human kind or even the newest furry friend..

Facebook can be biased and only connect you the thing that you have shown an interest in and what you have shown as a common interest and not really introduce you to anything new, therefore not really giving you a wider knowledge of the world and what is in it,

Facebook in my experience has some good qualities and I have been able to stay in tune with some close friends who no longer live closer enough to have a cuppa with, but also some very negative ones with bullying as they are named key board warriors, the world can be a nasty place and people are not always positive and helpful and can really thrive from others unhappiness and so this is why you need to make sure your privacy settings are secure and correct and then it can be enjoyed but only for personal reasons I feel not for learning much about the world that is further than next door! 

Week 6 - Pinterest

Pinterest

here is a link to my pets board -

i think that Pinterest could be a useful tool for some but defiantly not suited for all,
what i have found that it is better for learning the basic life stuff,

cooking, crafts, making dog treats and even Christmas cards but for any help with higher education i have found this not to be the greatest tool..

it has sometimes given me diagrams of theory tables but i have then had to find the contents needed for another source,

Week 5 - Linkedin

check out my linkedin profile -

Public Profile

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/di-marshall-970a3b131

Public Profile
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/di-marshall-970a3b131

I have never actually though about using the social media to advertise myself..

Although I can see some benefits to it but maybe in particular lines of careers and maybe not so much in the field of care as I am,

It’s a good tool to keep your information up to date and to almost have an online CV if only just for yourself, this is what I would find it useful for, as all the jobs I have applied for will still want a written application form!

I have not made many contacts and this I think is because I have not found my navigation around the linkedin site, and the connections I have been those who use it regularly have added me!

I can see the benefits and feel this could be something of the future and great way for people to be given an appeal opportunity if they are PC savvies but for now I am not so this I feel at this time is not really for me... it’s not really my thing I much prefer the whole pen to paper thing and the paper copy,

Not that I wouldn’t be willing to give it a go and to even promote it with the people I support but not everyone has the money or the resources to access the internet much to people dismay and disbelief and also would we not be putting people out of a job if we do everything over the internet!

Week 4 - Google Docs

Google Docs

Google Doc's i can see would have some great pro's for people who are tasked to work together and are not able to meet up in the same location,
our task was to collaborative work as a group to create a google doc and have our input we were placed in groups but unfortunately this did not work as planned, maybe due to it being long life learning and everyone having other commitments and being unable to find suitable time for all,

in a learning capacity i can defiantly see the advantages of using google docs and how this could benefit, i am dyslexic and think this could work well to ask for help from my friend who is my proof reader who corrects all my spelling when even the PC spellchecker doesn't know what i am trying to write!

some of the other advantages of using google docs are -

• online storage and it is impossible to lose what has been written due to technical issues 
• it is easy to edit from smartphone / tablet thanks to the Google Drive application
• real-time multi-collaboration
• easy to manage user permission

however there are always the negatives which i have found to be the following -

• internet connections 
• You can’t load pictures into the folders

http://digitalis.nwp.org/resource/2196 

here is an interesting article from a student about how he feels about google docs being used in the classroom and i feel like him the positives of google docs do outweigh the negative. 

Week 3 - Twitter

The pros & cos of twitter... 

so sad #whatistheworldcomingtoo! https://t.co/OoqmtPA6DC 

— di marshall (@dieila10) November 7, 2016

so for me i had many trouble trying to get my head round twitter as a learning tool or even as a social media tool, i didn't understand the limitation on words and only being able to use 140 characters per post? i do think this was because i had been a Facebook users after very quickly giving in on twitter some time ago,
after learning more about twitter in class and understanding how to use it better i have realized that actually twitter is a good tool to keep in touch about the world and what is happening in the wider world around us, i found it easier to find topics that i was interested in and it gave me up to date information about changes in law or policy, this has been useful in my line of work being able to follow organisation which are useful to my role which is in housing and homelessness,

Week 2 - Youtube

How to save money -

great video for people who are looking to save money, which is something a lot of us wish we could do better!
you tube has some great tips on pretty much anything you want to find out about,

one of my favorite is a lady named Holly Vlogs who has made many video's about saving money and how to involve the whole family, all based in the UK with shops that everyone can access, here is one of her videos -

why do people work -

you tube has many different videos and i do believe that it can be a useful tool for learning, as i already stated above you can actually find anything you want and the good thing about you-tube is that it is a visual tool which i myself find much easier to use, in the past i have watched videos on you-tube to reset my car keys and also how to make a Victoria sponge,

should people work? 

well this in an interesting one for me because i feel that this topic is not as black and white so some people, the reason i say that is i work in a supported housing project for young people and they would like nothing more than to work and use there time more meaningful and not be stated as the bum's of society which a lot do judge them as, however due to there circumstances and them having to live in a project the rent that they would need to pay would get you a roof top apartments in London..

as much as i believe that some people do get the incorrect benefits and diddle the system so to speak them majority that i have met in life would like more and would like to work for their money but sometimes life gets in the way,