Whitney Hammond's Blog for LBS 850

This week has a been a little stressful! It seems as though cold and flu season officially has begun because I have been out of commission for a few days! But I am back to almost normal! Anyway, I did a little exploration of the assistive and adaptive technologies and tools available at the current school I work at. My boss pointed me in the direction of the Center for Learning and Academic Success and I am glad I got to learn more about this program and the efforts of these teachers to help students who may need more assistance when it comes to learning and understanding the material they are presented in class. I also took a look at some articles this week including "Assistive Technology: 10 Things to Know," which was very interesting and informative. I think steps two and three are important to note. We should be aware of the different technologies and tools that are available to use that are assistive and adaptive for students. A lot of these tools are also free, which ...

This has been a really great week because I've been able think more about my social media journey and to get to know more about my boyfriend's journey as well. Before we moved in together this past July, he warned me about his love for playing World of Warcraft . This is the only game he plays and he only has the time to play it on his days off and sometimes for a little bit when he gets home from work. This is his hobby. My hobby is reading and watching too much television. His hobby is World of Warcraft and I refuse to judge him for this. I mentioned in my paper that at one point he was addicted to the game and some may think this is a cause for concern. However, I am not concerned because the game does not consume his life like it  did when he was a teenager.  Jared has a  job that he loves, a better relationship with his parents, friends that he cherishes, and an overall better outlook at life. I don't mean to make it sound like a "happily ever after" situa...

Ahhh social media. This is something that has been apart of my life for about fourteen years. It all started with AIM instant messenger. Back then I was known as Dolly34501. I remember in fifth grade we'd pass notes in class that said to write down our screen names. Then I'd rush home, log on to my family's desktop computer and add the screen names of my classmates that I collected that day.  I would wait until I heard that little ping sound that meant someone signed on and start chatting. This was my first step into social media. The second step was when my sister, Emily, told me it was time for me to make a Facebook profile when I was thirteen. It was the summer before 8th grade and I was always curious about why my sisters were always on this site called Facebook. I had no idea what it was but since I am the youngest sister, I always wanted to do what my sisters were doing. So one day Emily asked me if I wanted to make a profile and of course I said heck yes! I was t...

What a week it has been! I explored some new tools, I took a stab at using Animoto , and oh I started my new job! It has been a super busy and super crazy week, but I think I am back on track. Or getting there at least! Anyway, I really enjoyed finding different videos and podcasts that fit into my topic. I especially liked listening to the podcasts because I rarely listen to podcasts as I mentioned in the discussion board this week. But it really wasn't that bad and I kind of want to start listening to a podcast series. I'll need to ask around for some recommendations! As for the multimedia I had to make for this week I decided to use Animoto! I have never used this tool before but after exploring it last week I decided I wanted to test it out. I thought I would really like it but it just wasn't for me. Basically, you have the ability to upload a picture, insert text, change the colors, add in music, and that's it. It doesn't allow you to move around your media...