Exploring Web 2.0 Tools for Publishing

Social Networking:

1. edWeb (edweb.net)
     -edWeb is a type of social networking publication for teachers to connect and share ideas in a chat room. It is free for any educator to sign up by creating an account. It was very easy to figure out how to use the tool, because they have a virtual tour that shows you how to work everything. I think this is a good tool and I would recommend for all teacher to use it during the school year. It is a good way to pick up ideas from other teachers in the classroom. I would rate this tool a ten out of ten.

2. Myspace (myspace.com)
     -Myspace is another type of social networking publication for teens to adults to connect with others. It is free for anybody of age to sign up using an email address. It is very easy to use and create publication, but kind of cluttered with a lot of different links. After you sign in, there is a box right there that you can start typing for publication. I do not think I would use this tool, because it is not that popular anymore. People today like to use Facebook instead. I would rate this tool five out of ten.

Video:

3. Vine (vine.co)
     -Vine is a type of video publication that allow anybody of age to publish a short video. It is free for anybody to use with either an email address or signing up through Facebook. Vine is a web tool that allows you to publish a six second video and allows you to look at anybodies video that they have uploaded. Vines allows you to follow, revine, and like other peoples post. It is very easy to use because there are very few actions available. It has very good quality and loads all of the videos quickly and clearly. You could use this tool in the classroom with ipads or you could use it just for fun. I would rate this tool a ten out of ten.

4. Youtube (youtube.com)
     -Youtube is a type of video publication that allows anybody of age to make a profile and post videos for the world to look at. Youtube lets you subscribe to anybody you want to follow and be notified when they post videos. It is a free web tool, you do not even have to have an account to view video. You would use this to share your videos and get feedback from others. You could also use it as a researching tool and search for how to videos. This web tool is very easy to use, it has a search box and a sign in box that are very noticeable. I would rate this a ten out of ten.


Blog:

5. blog lovin' (bloglovin.com)
     -Blog lovin' is a type of blog publication that allows you to make a blog and offers you many other blogs to follow according to you interest. This is the first time I have used this tool and it is very neat! It is really easy to use and it is free to sign up with an email address or your Facebook profile. If you sign up with Facebook it will list you friends blogs for you to follow. Blog lovin' has a feed page with the blogs displayed from the people you follow. I would use this to look at new recipes, tell about my own recipes, look for new fashion trends, or blog about my own trends. I would recommend this tool to adolescents. I rate this tool an eight out of ten.

6. Weebly (weebly.com)
     -Weebly is a type of blog publication that allows you to blog from the computer or a mobile device. It is free to anybody, all someone has to do is sign up with an email address. Weebly has different themes you can choose for your blog. It also has more themes that are available for you to buy. It is very easy to work with it's drag and drop creator to design the blog page. It also gives people the opportunity to build an online store to sale products. I would rate this tool a ten out of ten.


Presentations:

7. Slide Share (http://www.slideshare.net/)
     -Slide Share is a type of presentation publication that allows you to upload your presentation to the tool and share with others. It is a free tool, all you have to do is sign up with an email address. You can upload you presentation for everybody or just for private sharing. This tool is very easy to work and create publication, because you can do it from the homepage. You upload it straight from your computer, or other devices, in seconds. It allows you to explore poplar, most liked, videos, info-graphs, and type subjects into the search bar.

8. Emaze (emaze.com)
     -Emaze is a type of presentation publication that allows you to create presentations from scratch. It is free to make an account with an email address. It is very easy to use and gives you examples of other to look at. You can include videos, pictures, and make cool transitions to different pieces of information. You can also add music and charts. This would be a good tool for students to use in high school when they need to make presentations for class. I rate this web tool a ten out of ten.


Images:

9. iPiccy (iPiccy.com)
     -iPiccy is a type of picture publication that allows you to edit pictures and create collages. Using this web too it allows you to fix, rotate, expose, blur, color, and sharpen any picture that you upload. After you finish editing you picture you can save it or upload it to any social networking web tool that you have an account with. I would use the web tool for more of a personal use to fix my pictures that were plain. I rate this web tool a seven out of ten.

10. PicMonkey (picmonkey.com)
     - PicMonkey is a type of picture publication that allows you to edit picture that can be uploaded from your computer. You can fix goof-up, such as red eye, add drama, make facial feature glow, add fonts, and tell stories by making collages. All you need is an account to start editing pictures and it offers an upgrade to get special features to use. It also has a blog site to share you pictures. I rate is web a six out of six because it was kind of time consuming to figure out.

Social Networking... Pro & Cons... What Do You Think?

Today I came across an article called “The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families.” It talked about the effects of social media on the society and it gave really good facts that every family should know if they have teenagers with a new cellphone. Sometime adolescents are even being effected by social media and do not realize it. Any website that allows interaction is considered social media. For example; facebook, instagram, twitter, youtube, and even virtual worlds.

Benefits. There were a few benefits that the article talked about that society does not think about. One benefit was being creative. With social networks today you are able to create blogs of expression, podcast, and educational gaming. Another benefit was staying connected. Today seventy-five percent of teenagers have cell phones. It is good for them to “stay connected with friends and family, make new friends, share pictures, and exchange ideas” (O’Keeffe).

Risk. Meanwhile, these are good benefits, there are a lot of risk in using social media that teenagers are not aware of. One risk the article talked about that stood out to me was cyberbullying and online harassment. “Cyberbullying is deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person” (O’Keeffe). Online harassment is not at risk as much as offline harassment but it can cause depression, isolation, anxiety, and suicide. Another risk that I had never heard of was Facebook Depression. This is “depression that develops when preeteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sties and then begin exhibit classic symptoms of depression” (O’Keeffe). I personally use this site all of the time and I have noticed that when I have not checked in awhile I have the urge to go check it again.

In my opinion, I think social networking can be good and bad. It all depends on the way you use it. Parents need to teach their children what not to do or what not to post on the internet. They need to know that it is a serious situation and it can punish them later on in life when they are wanting a job.

What is you opinion about social networking? Visit the link below to view the article.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full

Sorority Life

Greek life. Greek life is being in a sorority or fraternity. You always hear that Greek life is not a good decision, but the only people you hear saying this are the people that are not Greek. They say we pay for our friends, we have bad grades, we judge you, and all we do is party. Not true.

We have the highest GPA's on campuses, we do community service, and raise money for our philanthropies. At Henderson State University I joined the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority in 2010, my second semester of college. It was the best decision I have made and I would not have changed anything.

The group of girl I rushed with and still my best friends today!

My first semester at college I was not apart of Greek life and I was miserable. I had just moved into an apartment with two of my friends from high school, but I did not know anybody else. Growing up I was always really shy and not good at making friends, so I was scared to go to a school event by myself when everybody was in groups. I would go home every weekend and never hung out with anybody, except the people from back home. This was not a problem, but I just was not experience college the way I thought I was going to.

Rush. Rush is a process where you meet with different sororities on campus each night of the week to get to know the girls and decide which way you want to go. I received an email about joining Greek life from Henderson and I just knew this would be the right way to make friends and be involved.

I was excited to go through rush, but really scared at the same time of being turned down. I did not know what they would think of me, if they would like me because I was shy, if I looked good enough, or if I was going to fit in. As soon as I walked into the room to talk to the sorority girls all my thoughts changed about them judging me. They made it easy for me to talk to them and they were inviting. It was not anything like I thought it was going to be. I knew exactly which sorority I want to be in and luckily they wanted me too.

Accepting my bid to Alpha Sigma Alpha!

When I joined the sorority I did not realize how involved they were in helping others. Each sorority and fraternities have philanthropies. Alpha Sigma Alpha's philanthropies are S June Smith Center, Special Olympics, and Girls on the Run. The Polar Plunge, is a fundraising event held by the Special Olympics where people raise money before jumping, or taking the plunge, into a pool. We participate in this every year!

There are a million different things that we do during the school year. We have lip sync, Greek Olympics, Reddie to serve, step shows, homecoming, and plenty more.

Greek Olympics

Lip Sync

Homecoming

Reddi to Serve

Greek life is the best life, as you can see. I have met most of the special people in my life today through this sorority. I have grown into a better person because it keeps me on task with my grades by having a required GPA and it keeps me wanting to do good for my community! Look beyond the drinking cup and find out what Greek life really is.

For more information about Alpha Sigma Alpha visit the link below!

http://www.alphasigmaalpha.org/Home

Introduction of Myself

Hello followers and thank you for coming to my page! This is my first time to ever blog and I am starting now, because this is an assignment for one of my classes in college. I have never thought about blogging, but I have already had fun trying to plan ideas on what to write. Today my blog is just to inform you a little about me.

My name is Railey Williams and I am twenty-one years old; I will be twenty-two this summer in June. I am from Gurdon, Arkansas but I am now residing in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. I am from a very small town, so I could not see myself moving anywhere else except fifteen minutes up the road. I love being able to go home to see my family whenever I want. I have two sister (Devan and Blakely), one brother (Kade), and a poodle named Oscar. I am the oldest of my siblings. My parents divorced when I was a toddler so I lived with my mom and sister, Devan. Growing up Devan and I did everything together, my mother would even dress us identical. We use to fight all the time, but we have grown out of it and she has become my best friend. 

I live with my sister, Devan, in an apartment close to campus at Henderson State University where we both attend college. I am an Early Childhood Education Major and hope to be finishing soon. Right now I am finishing up on spring semester of my fourth year of college and unfortunately going to be returning as a fifth year senior.

I have had many great experience at college, a few of which I will share on this blog later. I am a member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority on campus, which was the best decision of my life. I would not be where I am now if I had not joined. College has helped me meet most of the special people in my life. I am currently dating the love of my life, which happened to be one of my sorority sister’s brother .

For the past four years I have been working part time at The Gossip Shop, a boutique and salon in Arkadelphia. I am a receptionist there so I make the appointments for my boss's clients and check people out. They have really cute clothes so go check their page out below!



https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Gossip-Shop-Salon-Boutique/154605274605347

I hope you feel like you know me now. My blog is going to be about my college experience, as you can read in the description. I hope you all come back to have another look into my life!