Exegesis
Helmond (2010) uses a definition
by Merriam-Webster to describe identity as “the distinguishing character or
personality of an individual” and explains it is through performative acts that we
distinguish our identity. In a web 2.0 environment these performative acts can
be constituted through a multitude of social networking platforms, both created
by the individual as well as other users to create a distributed identity. This
‘online identity’ “aggregates data
from multiple platforms and organises the online life into a continuous data
stream” (Helmond, 2010)
The challenge in creating an online identity through the use of social networking tools is the separation of our personal and professional identities. Too often the lines are blurred when one social networking tool is used with a single profile, often portraying conflicting identities and the risk of one identity having repercussions on the other, such as a persona negatively impacting current and future employment options. DiMicco & Millen (2007) propose the use of “multiple user profiles and multi-level access controls” to help users “manage their online identities, without unintended leakage between corporate and social personas” (DiMicco & Millen, 2007).
As such, creating an online web presence requires careful consideration of a number of tools to create the performative acts which will in turn contribute to the culmination of our online identity. The types of tools themselves also need to fit the particular image we are attempting to portray to the intended audience and hopefully counteract any non desirable identity acts created by other users as part of out unintentional digital shadow.
From a teaching perspective, the image that I wanted to convey from this web presence is one in which technology and innovation is embraced and used in practical applications to help foster a love of learning among students who have traditionally found it difficult to engage with the subject content in the classroom. In particular, students with autism spectrum disorder typically struggle with the traditional formats used in teaching but great success has been found when more innovative visual and interactive formats have been used. Through the use of games and online technology, these students can become engaged and motivated to learn and this inevitably helps to create a more inclusive classroom environment. It is not only students with special needs which benefit from this approach. The work of such theorists as Howard Gardener, who proposed the theory of multiple intelligences, recommended that teachers present material in different ways to capitalise on the student’s strengths and learning style (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, pp.127-132).
The objective of this web presence is to show how online educational games and activities can easily be accommodated in the classroom without the need for specialised equipment or financial outlays, hence the theme of free online games for the classroom. The central theme for this web presence developed from a need to collate all the resource websites which I had accumulated whilst studying a teaching degree. Accordingly, I needed a web2.0 tool which would enable me to organise these links in semblance of some sort of order which could be used by others from any location. The Delicious bookmarking software was the most suitable tool available for the job and was chosen as the first contributing node.
On its own however, Delicious did not provide a way in which to review and evaluate the effectiveness of each of the bookmarked sites. From this perspective, blogging presented as an effective tool with its ability to record and link to short amount of texts in a meaningful format. Consequently, Wordpress was chosen as the second contributing node for the task of recording my own personal reviews of the online game websites.
Next was the requirement to “get the message out” to a large audience and provide a sense of currency to attract interest to the central node. Twitter essentially provides this functionality through its broadcasting of status updates producing a notion of a ‘Continuous Partial Presence’ (Mayfield as cited in Leaver, 2007) in which through its brevity, provides users with an incentive to ensure content is kept current.
With an up to date content stream, the other nodes are effectively kept up to date as well through the use of synchronisation tools between the platforms. “This synchronization of updates between platforms enables the user to keep their different profiles on the web up-to-date” (Helmond, 2010). This requires a central node to pull all the content from the contributing nodes into one central accessible location and essentially builds the theme and identity of the web presence.
For this task I chose a fairly simple to use web site design tool being Weebly.com. Ease of use was particularly important for this choice as I did not have any html or website authoring experience so needed a tool which enabled me to bring together all the different format types of the contributing nodes. With the Weebly website design tool I was able to integrate a twitter feed, add a tag cloud from delicious as well as individual links to posts on my Wordpress blog site. It was also able to easily integrate text and graphics in order to author the “About Me’ section and this exegesis. Weebly also provided many attractive design templates from which to choose and the ‘Justin6’ template provided just the right balance of brightness and subtlety needed to convey the image required. This simple theme was then easy to replicate in the contributing nodes in order to correct a consistent feel and build on the theme created in the central node.
Overall the choice of a simple web site as the central node, with contributing nodes from twitter, delicious and a Wordpress blog, helped portray a professional image suitable for a student embarking on a teaching career without compromising on creativity and a simplistic yet innovative design. Together these web2.0 platforms hopefully provide an aggregated online identity which reflects a love of learning, innovation and technology with an advocacy for inclusive teaching practices.
References:
DiMicco, J.M. & Millen, D.R., (2007). Identity Management: Multiple Presentations of Self in Facebook. In Proc ACM Group Conference (2007). Retrieved from http://www.joandimicco.com/pubs/dimicco-millen-group07.pdf
Eggen, P. & Kauchak, D. (2010). Educational Psychology: Windows on Classrooms. (8th ed.) New Jersey: Merrill
Helmond, A. (2010). Identity 2.0: Constructing identity with cultural software. Anne Helmond. New Media Research Blog. Retrieved from http://www.annehelmond.nl/wordpress/wp-content/uploads//2010/01/helmond_identity20_dmiconference.pdf
Leaver, T. (2007). It’s a Small World After All: From Wired’s Minifesto to the Twitterati. Retrieved from http://www.tamaleaver.net/2007/03/11/its-a-small-world-after-all-from-wireds-minifesto-to-the-twitterati/
The challenge in creating an online identity through the use of social networking tools is the separation of our personal and professional identities. Too often the lines are blurred when one social networking tool is used with a single profile, often portraying conflicting identities and the risk of one identity having repercussions on the other, such as a persona negatively impacting current and future employment options. DiMicco & Millen (2007) propose the use of “multiple user profiles and multi-level access controls” to help users “manage their online identities, without unintended leakage between corporate and social personas” (DiMicco & Millen, 2007).
As such, creating an online web presence requires careful consideration of a number of tools to create the performative acts which will in turn contribute to the culmination of our online identity. The types of tools themselves also need to fit the particular image we are attempting to portray to the intended audience and hopefully counteract any non desirable identity acts created by other users as part of out unintentional digital shadow.
From a teaching perspective, the image that I wanted to convey from this web presence is one in which technology and innovation is embraced and used in practical applications to help foster a love of learning among students who have traditionally found it difficult to engage with the subject content in the classroom. In particular, students with autism spectrum disorder typically struggle with the traditional formats used in teaching but great success has been found when more innovative visual and interactive formats have been used. Through the use of games and online technology, these students can become engaged and motivated to learn and this inevitably helps to create a more inclusive classroom environment. It is not only students with special needs which benefit from this approach. The work of such theorists as Howard Gardener, who proposed the theory of multiple intelligences, recommended that teachers present material in different ways to capitalise on the student’s strengths and learning style (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, pp.127-132).
The objective of this web presence is to show how online educational games and activities can easily be accommodated in the classroom without the need for specialised equipment or financial outlays, hence the theme of free online games for the classroom. The central theme for this web presence developed from a need to collate all the resource websites which I had accumulated whilst studying a teaching degree. Accordingly, I needed a web2.0 tool which would enable me to organise these links in semblance of some sort of order which could be used by others from any location. The Delicious bookmarking software was the most suitable tool available for the job and was chosen as the first contributing node.
On its own however, Delicious did not provide a way in which to review and evaluate the effectiveness of each of the bookmarked sites. From this perspective, blogging presented as an effective tool with its ability to record and link to short amount of texts in a meaningful format. Consequently, Wordpress was chosen as the second contributing node for the task of recording my own personal reviews of the online game websites.
Next was the requirement to “get the message out” to a large audience and provide a sense of currency to attract interest to the central node. Twitter essentially provides this functionality through its broadcasting of status updates producing a notion of a ‘Continuous Partial Presence’ (Mayfield as cited in Leaver, 2007) in which through its brevity, provides users with an incentive to ensure content is kept current.
With an up to date content stream, the other nodes are effectively kept up to date as well through the use of synchronisation tools between the platforms. “This synchronization of updates between platforms enables the user to keep their different profiles on the web up-to-date” (Helmond, 2010). This requires a central node to pull all the content from the contributing nodes into one central accessible location and essentially builds the theme and identity of the web presence.
For this task I chose a fairly simple to use web site design tool being Weebly.com. Ease of use was particularly important for this choice as I did not have any html or website authoring experience so needed a tool which enabled me to bring together all the different format types of the contributing nodes. With the Weebly website design tool I was able to integrate a twitter feed, add a tag cloud from delicious as well as individual links to posts on my Wordpress blog site. It was also able to easily integrate text and graphics in order to author the “About Me’ section and this exegesis. Weebly also provided many attractive design templates from which to choose and the ‘Justin6’ template provided just the right balance of brightness and subtlety needed to convey the image required. This simple theme was then easy to replicate in the contributing nodes in order to correct a consistent feel and build on the theme created in the central node.
Overall the choice of a simple web site as the central node, with contributing nodes from twitter, delicious and a Wordpress blog, helped portray a professional image suitable for a student embarking on a teaching career without compromising on creativity and a simplistic yet innovative design. Together these web2.0 platforms hopefully provide an aggregated online identity which reflects a love of learning, innovation and technology with an advocacy for inclusive teaching practices.
References:
DiMicco, J.M. & Millen, D.R., (2007). Identity Management: Multiple Presentations of Self in Facebook. In Proc ACM Group Conference (2007). Retrieved from http://www.joandimicco.com/pubs/dimicco-millen-group07.pdf
Eggen, P. & Kauchak, D. (2010). Educational Psychology: Windows on Classrooms. (8th ed.) New Jersey: Merrill
Helmond, A. (2010). Identity 2.0: Constructing identity with cultural software. Anne Helmond. New Media Research Blog. Retrieved from http://www.annehelmond.nl/wordpress/wp-content/uploads//2010/01/helmond_identity20_dmiconference.pdf
Leaver, T. (2007). It’s a Small World After All: From Wired’s Minifesto to the Twitterati. Retrieved from http://www.tamaleaver.net/2007/03/11/its-a-small-world-after-all-from-wireds-minifesto-to-the-twitterati/