My Digital Space




My Digital Space...

pretty much what I thought.😊


 

I really enjoyed this project...because it helped me to reflect on my technology usage. Although I was not surprised by how my map turned out, I was surprised by my usage and some of the apps and websites that I visit more frequently than others. 

Professional Resident

This is the section that probably has changed the most in the last year.  My digital presence in my professional career has exploded!  I log onto my computer at work at 7 AM.  I check my email, open the five apps that I will need for the day, and check my drive for the daily lesson plan.  I am teaching in a hybrid model right now, so if I do not have students in front of me that morning, they will be on a Zoom call soon enough!  I have also become quite the expert on WeVideo-I record between two and five lessons or activities for my students a week. I have learned how to add transitions, titles, and closings. I can clip and edit the videos so that they are fun and interesting for my students. I would guess by the end of October, that WeVideo icon will be a lot bigger. I utilize Teachers Pay Teachers often.  I love to find appropriate materials and activities to supplement my thematic units and lessons. I use Amazon in my professional life-also to supplement my classroom, and most recently to purchase a ring light to brighten my face during our Zoom calls.

Professional Visitor

I am a visitor to several sites in my professional career.  I use them, but do not use them to the extent of the features that they offer.  These sites are mostly the district sits I use for accessing certain pieces of information I need throughout my day.  Last year, Infinite Campus would have been bigger, because this was how I communicated with my parents via newsletters and weekly check-ins.  This year, I am required to use PowerSchool Learning.  Last year my map also would have included other apps and websites like Homeroom, Class Dojo or Remind-but those are now banned from usage per our district technology plan. Everything we do must now filter through PowerSchool.

Personal Resident

The residence I have taken up in my personal section has changed drastically over the last several months.  I have all but removed myself from Facebook.  There were so much negativity and hatefulness-lots of political agendas that I do not have time for-so although I will wish people happy birthday and love pictures of their kids and their dogs (especially those dogs!), I do not post much.  I have a Twitter account, but I do not access it, nor do I “tweet” which is why it is not even listed on my map.   I opened it for a class assignment in 2013-it has pretty much sat idle all that time. I do have some guilty pleasures on my personal side.  The rescue sites where I will sit in the evenings and peruse available dogs at the local shelters…if only my husband would agree to another one! I also play two games on my iPad-as an escape from the craziness of my life these days-so although those are technically on the visitor side, they’re pretty big and probably should move closer to residency.

I find the largest icon on this side is my text message icon.  I keep in touch with most people this way.  My parents, sisters, niece, and friends.  This is how I set up lunch dates, confirm activities with friends, and keep in contact with my husband and daughter. My phone is no longer a phone, but a “texter”.

I do all my banking online, so those icons are definitely something I access often. I still go to the grocery store; I still pick up my own prescriptions.  I do some shopping online-again, Amazon is a big piece of my personal residency.

Personal Visitor

I am only a personal visitor to a few sites regularly. I check the weather every day on the Weather Channel app.  I do not watch the news (I could never stay awake for it!) to see the weather, so it is a necessity to access the information this way.  I access my gym (LGN Performance) at least three times a week because I must sign up for the small (limit of 10 participants) classes they offer.

 

I looked at some of my classmate’s maps, and mine seems small in comparison.  I am OK with this.  Ideally, I think I would like my digital presence to be less than it is.  I find my life is more complicated with my “texter” in my pocket.  My dream is to retire to upper Minnesota on a piece of land on a lake.  My husband and I talk about building our own place-where I hope, I will reduce my digital footprint to something so vague, that no one notices me at all. 





Comments

  1. Alyson,

    Your comment about not being surprised by your digital map very much coincided with how I felt as I was creating mine as well. There were a couple of minor things that surprised me for how I categorized applications, but most of them felt fairly self-explanatory. When you noted how "My digital presence in my professional career has exploded," it was incredibly relatable for me as well. While I use technology on a regular basis in the classroom anyhow, the move to eLearning definitely encouraged substantial growth in how I have been utilizing technology. I feel like I have established a better balance now than in March with personal usage versus professional usage; back in the early days of eLearning, didn't it feel like we could never really "log off" from school?

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  2. I understand the reasoning behind wanting to step back from Facebook. One positive for me there lately, however, has been the amazing groups that have been created to support remote learning.

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  3. Alyson,

    I think it is fantastic that you have become so good at making videos with the level of sophistication with transitions, titles and editing. Wow! Just think of how much you have learned since last spring. Plus, you are keeping the videos fresh and interesting, which is so important as hybrid learning continues. I used to think that students didn't really care about the quality of the video production, but now I think they do, and appreciate when the videos are smooth.
    I also enjoyed reading your post because I could relate to so much of it. I also don't make phone calls-- it is all text-- even with my mom. And I also use Facebook for birthdays, babies, and dogs. The rest is ads and unkindness. I stay on Facebook to follow my favorite rescue organization. Two weeks ago, I fostered 6 dogs for them, and now I check FB at least once a day to see who has been adopted. So far, four have been adopted-- just 2 to go!

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