The article “Social Networking in Undergraduate Education,” by Nicole A. Buzzetto-More talks about the several benefits of using social networking and social media sites as a way to teach and engage students in school. Today’s students have grown up
with technology for most of their lives and are used to "staying connected;" I, on the other hand did not grown up with many of these technological advances. In my opinion, many of these new technology advancements can have positive and negative influence on today’s students.

    In my educational experience, we did not have Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or even the Internet search engines to use as a tool for research. It was the good ole' fashion encyclopedias, dictionaries and class/library textbooks that we used for assignments. But I can say, that I always enjoyed when I walked into my classroom and my teacher had rolled the TV cart in the classroom. The TV cart meant that we were watching a movie or a video clip for learning and skipping the books. As I think about today’s youth, they have the Web at their constant fingertips by their mobile devices and computer tablets. They are constantly in "the know."

 Using Social media for education can be great. According to the Social Learning Theory,
social networking sites can fulfill social learning functions thorough collaboration and building students’ communication and technology skills and understanding different points of view (Buzzetto-More, 2012). Social media does allow for students to connect more with students in their class than the traditional way of learning, however, they are negatives to that. By using social media for education, I believe that its teaching students that is okay to not have to communicate normally; such as speaking face-to-face. However, I do agree with implementing it into different lessons and assignments because that is how it will keep the students engaged in learning because it is something that they use to as a form of communication anyway. It is important for teachers to stay up with the latest trends when it comes to engaging students and keep them interested in learning whether it be Facebook, Twitter or Youtube.


Buzzetto-More, N. A. (2012). Social networking in undergraduate education.  Interdisciplinar Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management, 7, 63-90. Retrieved from http://www.ijikm.org/Volume7/IJIKMv7p063-090Buzzetto611.pdf

My family. My wife, Ashley and my Son, Carter

Since I am not a "techy" kind of person. I was really confused when Professor Scott asked that we select a Personal Learning Network (PLN) to use as a resource. I am already out of my comfort level when it comes to Twitter and makes tweets let alone using a PLN. After reviewing a few options that were given to us, i decided to go with Pearltrees.
I really like how Pearltrees allows for me to organize all the the websites and topics that are of interest to me into one location. I am a type of person that like things organized and this just made surfing the web that much easier. I do not know about you, but it seems like it takes me forever to find the information I need online.
Once I created my Pearltree it is was very easy to navigate... I did not even have to ask my wife to show me...and that says alot!
I like how Pearltrees allows me to "follow" other people that have similar interest (or pearls) as me. I see this as a great way to network with other Pearltree users. Its great how you  can even link it to your Twitter and Facebook. I even created a link on my weebly site that links to my Pearltree.

I have never been a big internet user other than just the normal things like checking emails, game scores or maybe catching up on a little news that I might have missed.  I normally leave all the other stuff to my wife, who is constantly keeping up with the news, celebrity gossip, latest trends in fashion, and cooking ideas.  Google and yahoo.com are
the main search engines that I use when I am looking for answers on whatever may
come to mind and hoopcoach.org are one of my favorite sites. Hoopcoach.org alerts me daily via email about various basketball drills and basketball news.  

I have never “followed” an author but I do have a Facebook account that allows me to keep in contact with people from my past and present. Now because of this class,
I have a Twitter account that I can “follow” several people and eventually have my basketball players “follow” me as well.

 The Internet has been extremely helpful for me thus far in starting this Master’s program at Fresno Pacific University.  I have learned to search for creditable websites and sources that have helped in writing college papers in regards to APA format.  I have been out of
school for many years and even when I was in college, the Internet is nothing like how it is was then.  The Internet is something new that I am still trying to learn so that I can navigate faster and get more comfortable with.  I can see how the Internet can become a distraction in learning because there are so many sites that anybody can create, that sometimes you can come across a page that may not be a creditable site or
source for good information. 

If it were not for technology and learning, I would not be in this online Master’s program. Who would have thought that you would be able to take technology and pair it with learning such as education, and be able to receive a graduate degree for an accredited college online.  Completing a master’s degree online allows for many people to still live their normal lives such as working full-time, raising a family and being able to “Log On” when they make time during the week to complete their course assignments.  I think that is the greatest accomplishment in technology thus far.  However, the downfall with technology and learning is that you lose that personal interaction with classmates and even the college experience because every interaction is now done via Web.

After watching the Trombone Player Wanted video by Marcus Buckingham, I learned that less than 2 out of 10 people actually play to their strengths in their career. I am fortunate that I have a job that allows me to be in my “sweet spot” for most of the day, however there are times that I am put in uncomfortable situations that I realize are my weaknesses.

 I am a Basketball coach and I have my own business of personal training in basketball development and I have strength and weaknesses in both. As a coach, my strengths are being relatable, open and patient to the student players because I come from an extensive basketball background. During practices I want to make sure that each player is getting better at strengthening their weaknesses.  I understand what it takes to be a student athlete at all levels of basketball.  I can say one-on-one training is another “sweet spot” of mine.  The ability to train one person at a time allows me to correct their shot form, improve their ball handling and provide constructive criticism is easier because it’s more personable.  The one-on-one time allows for me to observe and hear what the player has to say so that it is a two-way interaction. 

In a team environment with all the players, I consider my weakness to having a limited time frame with each of my players. In order to have an effective practice and to be prepared for a game we have to practice drills that split them into smaller groups to work with the assistant coaches. My weakness in personal training is being my own worst critic. I constantly think I could have taught them regardless of the positive feedback that I hear from the parents and the kids that I train. I need to remind myself that even
though I consider these to be weakness, in the end they are actually playing to my strengths. I refuse to be the other 8 out of 10 people that  do not play to their strengths

When I first saw that we had to create a Twitter account for this class, I was a little intimidated. At first I did not see the correlation between twitter and athletics.  I was under the impression that it is about celebrities constantly “tweeting” about their every move in life, or the drama that “tweeting” would cause that would be addressed at “Twitter Wars”
through media. 

I started noticing that Twitter was becoming mainstream in the last couple years as it was a part of news and sports media. I noticed how many sports analyst on ESPN and Sportscenter would say “follow me @_____,” I did not know what that meant, nor did I really care to know.  I am the type of person that prefers actual interaction with someone and Facebook was as “techy” as I got and even then, I do not really know how to use it. 

However, after actually creating a Twitter account, I can see that there are some benefits to using it for athletics. As a basketball coach for a high school, I know several students are into social media and networking and constantly wanting to be in the “know” of things. I think the benefits of me having a Twitter would be great for my basketball program because I can have my basketball players “follow me” where I can give them updates about practice, game uniforms to wear, where to meet for team fundraisers and events and even announce “Player of the Game” with their personal stats. I would even have the
students at Kerman High, school personnel and school booster clubs “follow me”
because I want to stay connected to the school and the community which would
hopefully bring more support and attendance to the games. I look forward to
“following” other coaches where we can share success and failures and how we can
improve our coaching skills.

 I think as long as I use Twitter as a fun and informational platform, I think I could avoid the “Twitter Wars.” 

Now I can say Follow me @staylor776, and know what it means!

I enjoyed Dexter Young PWP. His PWP seemed to represent him with
having such an in-depth basketball background. I was able to relate to many
things he had posted on his site, due to my extensive basketball career like
him. The website was catchy and I like how he described his life using four
quarters like a basketball game. It really shows that he put a lot of thought
into his PWP and really wanted his readers to know who “Dexter Young”is.  I kind of was looking for more information regarding his coaching philosophy. He seemed to have a lot of information on all his other tabs but this philosophy tab I feel was lacking some substance. I would have wanted to know more about the successes of his philosophy. Dexter’s website has a professional appeal. His PWP represents his personal and professional accomplishments in regards to basketball. I liked how he has actual stats in a visual file format posted on his site under
“Resume/Bio”tab that allows the reader to know his background and the type of
basketball player that he was and where he is at today.

 

 

My name is Shannon Taylor from Fresno California.  I was just hired as the boys 
Head Varisty Basketball Coach at Kerman High School. I know that getting a masters
degree in kinesiology, is getting me one step closer to my goal of becoming a
head coach at the college level becoming a better asset to a school program. I have been playing basketball since I was 2 years old and played at every level of basketball into playing professionally. I have been married to my wife, Ashley for almost 3 years and have one son named Carter who is already showing athletic skills at 11 months old. I am excited about this new journey and I am ready to implement some of the things that I will learn in this Master's program at Fresno Pacific University.