Educational Tech Blogs with Cody Grace

Many global collaborations fail because of two things one is not being prepared. Being prepared is one of the most important things to global collaboration, some objectives to being prepared are having a plan for connection, this can be achieved from the following actions using PLN and PLC to find partners in global collaboration and work out time zone differences, determine the tools you will use to connect this could be through apps like Twitter, remind, google hangouts etc. test these tools beforehand so that you can have access to these anywhere you go. Another objective to being prepared is determining how you will communicate, work with your collaborators to find ways to communicate and what tools and programs will be used also discuss what communication activities to have like synchronous meetups, asynchronous meetups, and determine the expectations for these communications.

The other reason many global collaborations fail is that these collaborations do not have a purpose some typical purposes of collaborations are as followed; cultural exchanges, inquiry, and exploration into topics, global projects, shared outcomes, and lastly artifact exchange or co-creation. These two reasons are just some of the many reasons global collaborations fail there are many other reasons but these two I feel have the most importance.

Ever wonder what a world without global collaboration would look like? Watch this video.

P.S – Want to follow a beginning tech blogger well than follow me on Twitter: @Cody__Grace

During this week I used a service called Google My Maps which is a service launched by Google in April 2007 that enables users to create custom maps for personal use or sharing. Users can customize each map by adding points, lines, and shapes on top of the maps. I personally believe this service is a great tool and can be used during many geography and historical classes or events. This service also creates an opportunity to make assignments for students that involve this service. An example would of an assignment would be: Students being taught about Washington D.C and the historical sites but live in California. The students could use Google My Maps to view each site as if they were there in person and also they can create a detailed map of all the sites. In conclusion this site is one of the better sites for mapping and is always on top of the recommendation list!

This is a tutorial on how to use Google My Maps:

This is a link to the Google My Maps service:

https://www.google.com/mymaps

P.S – Want to follow a beginning tech blogger well than follow me on Twitter: @Cody__Grace

What is a Personal Learning Network? Well thanks for asking or not, A Personal Learning Network codename PLN is best defined in the words of Dori Digenti she states that a “PLN consists of relationships between individuals where the goal is enhancement of mutual learning. The currency of the PLN is learning in the form of feedback, insights, documentation, new contacts, or new business opportunities. It is based on reciprocity and a level of trust that each party is actively seeking value-added information for the other.” So in more easier to understand language a PLN can be a platform were you connect with other people and share feedback and personal knowledge, thoughts and opinions towards a work or topic.

creating a PLN is very simple but daunting task as it does take some time and work but in the long run it can create a very powerful base for finding knowledge and spreading knowledge. One of the first steps to creating a PLN is making connections these connects can be formed on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Google+ communities anywhere people can connect and share. The second step is learning the power and the features of these platforms like how your posts are viewed, how can you edit your posts, and also how to add awesome content for your following to enjoy and absorb. The third step is incorporating hashtags and using them. Hashtags can be a very powerful tool in building a PLN because using a hashtag encircles all the knowledge around your hashtags topic for example if I used the hashtag #Edu I would most likely find information based on education based on my tag this works for almost everything. The fourth step is create a blog to help give your platform a base use a blog to express bigger ideas and thoughts you have on certain topics these create a larger place to house your knowledge that those little post boxes with maxed out word count can not handle. The fifth step is creating time to build your PLN using posts, hashtags, and connections build your PLN to expand your knowledge and learn things that can help improve you in your line of work this step is the most important of all because if you do not spend the time to expand your PLN you may miss out on valuable information.

Wanna watch a visual on how to create a PLN watch this short video!

P.S – Want to follow a beginning tech blogger well than follow me on Twitter: @Cody__Grace

Have you ever watched a movie not in your native language, while watching did you notice changes in the cultural aspects of the characters and the settings, did you see similarity to your culture and did you see what was different, what about physical surroundings, social cues, cultural influences, economic situations, and politics?

Well this weekend I decided to watch Pan’s labyrinth in Spanish it translate to El Laberinto del fauno, or The labyrinth of the Faun in English. The film is a 2006 Spanish dark fantasy drama which is directed by Guillermo Del Toro and is presented in the language Spanish with English subtitles. While watching I kept note on the differences and similarities. To start let me give a quick rundown of the plot. The story takes place in Spain, 1944, where the main character Ofelia has a new stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, who hunts the Spanish Marquis who fight against the Francoist regime while Ofelia’s pregnant mother Carmen grows increasingly ill. While this is going on Ofelia meets several strange and magical creatures who become important to her story, leading her through the trials of an old labyrinth. Now that I have discussed the plot lets start with the cultural aspects of the characters and the setting, with the movie being set in 1944 it has a strong male dominance present which represents how most of the world worked back then. Also it shows Ofelia as a young girl who wants to just play outside and explore nature showing off how less technology was involved in the world during the 1940s compared to today. They traveled by car in the movie which has not changed a whole lot in the present day. They did not really eat staple foods in the movie since they were placed in a cabin located in the woods  this is because Carmen and Ofelia moved to live with Captain Vidal who’s military post keep him in seclusion. For the surroundings in the movie It was very floral since it was a large forest in Spain which had the people and troops cut off from outside sources. The economic and politic situation in the movie is pretty bad since the country is at a type of rebellion or civil war deriving the country of unity and making the central government use funds to fight a war within themselves. These are just some of the differences I saw while watching this movie If you are interested in viewing or researching what this movie is all about I will have two links posted below!

This link is to a trailer to the movie!

This link is to the movie on Netflix!

https://www.netflix.com/watch/70050507?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2Cb8aff4e60c0c29036db78734169e3e2bb0075e6f%3A0716df003dc7051fa03dc26b9f0d3ff787c9f928%2C%2C

P.S – Want to follow a beginning tech blogger well than follow me on Twitter: @Cody__Grace