Notes from Week 1

Hello #jdp8!  I want to thank all of you for your awesome participation and willingness to try some new technology tools.  Of course we ran out of time to do all of the things that I wanted to do with you.  However, I am very aware that you have a lot going on in your coursework as well as your lives.  To honor that, I am going to go fairly slow in terms of tool introduction.  We were able to get Twitter accounts in class last Tuesday.  I was able to create a Twitter list with those JDP 8 students who followed me.  Here is a link to the @jheil65/jdp8 list.  If you do not find yourself on the list, please follow me and then you can send a message to me noting that you are not on the list.  Please look at the excellent videos about Twitter and Tweetdeck on the PLN Tools tab on this blog.  It would be great if you could find some other educators/leaders to follow in the ongoing expansion of your PLN.

I would also like you to create a blog from blogger.com.  I have a video on the PLN Tools page that walks you through how to create this.  Once the blog has been created, please leave a comment on this post with the full address of your blog (it is easier to go to your blog and then copy-and-paste the url (address) to ensure you have the correct address).  If possible, you could also tweet your address with the hashtag #jdp8 on Twitter.   I will try and leave you a short video explanation of this process before your class on Tuesday evening!  Don't hesitate to email or call me with any questions.

What you should have by next week (Jan 31):
1.  Twitter account–include a picture of yourself and a short bio.
2.  Follow me @jheil65 Dr. Santamaria @DrLsantama and your fellow JDP 8 peers.  Create a list (on Twitter) or a column (in Tweetdeck or Hootsuite) for #jdp8
3.  Familiarize yourself with Tweetdeck or another social media dashboard application (the latest version of Tweetdeck is not as robust as the old version).  Create a column for #jdp8 to make it easier to receive information from the cohort.
4.  Create your blog using blogger.com.  Leave a comment on this post with your name and the blog address. 
5. On your blog, create a page titled "About Me", and include a brief bio and picture.
6.  Watch the following video: Visitors and Residents by Dr. White and then write a blog post reflecting on where you are in this continuum and how you see your future on the Internet.  If possible, leave a thoughtful comment on some of your peers' blogs (when I receive the blog addresses, I will create a class blogroll that will link all individual blogs on the class blog)

That should be more than enough to keep most of you busy. . .