Angus Ferguson

I've never really got to grips with Twitter. It seemed to me the Twittersphere was for mutual admiration and back slapping. However I spent some time tonight going through the twitter guides in Thing 7 and can now see I was only scratching the surface. Sadly as I get older I am learning  - you always need a plan! I spent about an hour searching for topics related to my area of interest at work and finding out what students thought of my place of work, some good, some bad! I actually used my time productively instead looking for the latest Fozzy Bear tweets. The thing that has held me back from posting on twitter is the thought that I have nothing interesting to add or say and what if people think I am just talking rubbish! That may well be the case but its no longer going to hold me back. I'm going to re-read some of the twitter guides and get out there and start tweeting and back slapping! If you want to feel good about yourself and get...

What a great course this has been so far. I've learnt something new in every activity. It must have been about the mid 90's when I got my first Nokia mobile phone. I remember it went off when I was on the bus and the entire bus turned around to look at me as if to say who is the big-shot!  I thought I knew what features and functions I had on my phone, it turns out I know nothing. The level of customisation was a real eye-opener. I have a Samsung Galaxy 5 and was unaware it had the capability of subtitles, sound balance and even a baby crying detector. The talk back option was great until I had difficulties turning it off! The magnifier option was also a real find and I've kept that one activated. These functions showed me the different types of support a user may need in order to access something I take for granted. I will take this forward in future when I develop web content and different learning materials.

I got this message from my wife today.   Mmmmm..........what have I done? I'm sure I emptied the dishwasher this morning.    Maybe I didn't. This doesn't look good. Where's the nearest garage? Some emergency flowers may be in order.   Hang on a minute! Forget the garage this calls for a trip to Tesco's for a flower upgrade and maybe a bottle of Pinot Grigio as well!   Emojis or emotional icons can add meaning and depth to plain text. Starting as a craze among Japanese teenagers they are now used widely around the world. Emojis can set the tone of a message and help convey the intentions of the sender. They are also in picture form which means they can be understood even if the texters don't speak the same language.    The development of new emoji is not without controversy though. The introduction of characters of different colours and racial backgrounds gives the texter a decision to make, 'how do I want to portray ...

I'm great at starting a social media account with the best of intentions. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, I think I also have a pinterest account and back in the day I paid my £5 to contact an old school pal on Friends Reunited. I've never really thought about how I use this media and why I use this media until I read this section. I spend too much of my time scrolling down pages of other peoples posts and not contributing much myself. I enjoyed reading the checklist and will re-evaluate my use of social media to make it (hopefully!) a more productive use of my time. The main point I took away from Googling myself was how many Angus Ferguson's there are in the world. Although we can think of ourselves as being unique I read a number of profiles from an Angus Ferguson in the USA or Canada which wasn't too far away from my own!

My work colleague told me about #23ThingsEdiUni. "It's a great introduction into how people are using new technologies to learn. The classroom, lecturer and their powerpoint slides are dead. Oh yes! It's also free!" Sold. Having spent some time now watching lecturers in classrooms teaching for 5 hours a day. Students with 7 hours on their timetable each day. You could draw a linear graph to show the energy and enthusiasm of both parties. The peak would be at the start of the term and steadily decrease as the end of the course approaches. Survival not learning becomes the aim of the game. For both parties. I would like to understand some of the ways to engage and develop the knowledge and understanding away from the traditional classroom. I read the social media policy and was surprised how comprehensive it was. To an amateur like myself a lot of what goes on in social media seems unregulated and without structure. I particularly liked the flowchart. I'm lo...