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Thing 17 - OER

  Thing 17 – Open Educational Resources The idea behind OER is to make learning resources available for more than just research purposes. It is to enable learners to utilise information and repurpose it. OER allows users to develop their learning by offering the opportunity to use their resources for their own purposes such as creating presentations or designing online courses. This can make introducing or sharing learning in the work setting much easier whilst avoiding copyright issues. Resources such as OER are great for enabling learning in an interactive way, its like a lending library for educational resources and this allows users to share resources and information with colleagues in a way that works for them. I find this particularly interesting as I often have to deliver new information in my setting and it can be challenging to find new ways to share it in order to keep the audience engaged. I used OER Commons to search for some information regarding transitioning elderl
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Thing 16 - Learning Digitally

   Thing 16 - Learning Digitally  On the scale below, I rated myself on the following six metrics, identified by Clarke (2008) as the characteristics of successful elearners.       1 - Very Low 2 – Low 3 - Average 4 - High 5 – Very High Self-confidence.       ü   Motivation.         ü Positive attitude.         ü Good communication skills.       ü   Good collaborator.       ü   Competent user of ICT.       ü     I have been working on improving my self confidence for some time now and after starting my Open Badge and Digital Learning journey I must say it has imp
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Thing 15 - Video chat and webinars

Thing 15 – Video chat/webinars Video chat has been a real life-saver over the last year and a half. This pandemic really knocked the world for six and I dread to think what state society would be in by now had we not had the option of video chat throughout the lockdown. In my setting it has been a particular blessing, I have been able to keep service users connected with their relatives in a way that they can understand and appreciate and it has made a huge difference to their wellbeing, keeping their spirits light and preventing them from feeling as isolated as other people. Video chat is much more personal than a text or telephone conversation, we can see facial expressions, reactions and share moments and experiences with each other as if we are beside one another. It is the next best thing to spending time together. Video chat however does come with some potential risks unfortunately. Identity theft is still a possibility, especially if vulnerable people are utilising it, perso
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E-mail

Email is something that I use on a daily basis and have been using on a daily basis for over ten years now. It is essential to both my work life and my private life. I would confidently say that around 70% of my career is managed via email, and around 50% of my personal life. Even more so since the pandemic. I heavily rely on email, don’t we all? I am sent emails to remind me to pay my bills, renew my car insurance, book my MOT, take a gas or electricity meter reading. My house insurance, boiler insurance, phone insurance and car insurance documents are sent to me via email. My children’s activity schedules and information are emailed, my sons nursery send all information via email. There is no aspect of my life that does not involve email. All communication relating to my work is via email, phone calls are becoming a ting of the past. Junk and Spam really are a pet peeve of mine, when I open my inbox to 70+ emails I probably delete 30 or so junk mails before I even start to proces
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LinkedIn

  Thing 13   Discovering LinkedIn. Or rather, exploring LinkedIn has been an eye opener. I have thus far avoided it like the plague, intimidated by the professionalism of it all. But it turns out that it really is just like Facebook for your professional qualities! Signing up was easy, setting up my profile was a breeze, you are walked through the process with step-by-step instructions, none of which are complicated which is so refreshing. I went mad adding people; I think I added every other person on LinkedIn who is in the same job role as me! Maybe we can learn something from each other. Joining the groups were easy too, although I did use the hyperlink in the Thing 13 instructions initially. Now that I have set up my account; https://www.linkedin.com/in/roslyn-smith-66908b212/ I am quite interested in the prospect of having a professional identity online as opposed to just my personal one. It’s refreshing to be able to share my achievements within my career and it’s g
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Apps

  Thing 12 – Apps I downloaded the Adult Support and Protection App onto my iPhone today and all I can say is wow! The app itself is such a useful resource to have at your fingertips, the content is split into sections so you can navigate to your particular query quicky and easily which is so useful. The sections include; My concerns (types of harm); My Responsibilities; Legislation; FAQ; Support. Each of these categories feature sub sections which is useful for specific and quick access. When exploring the sections, explanations and definitions are not too lengthy or complicated, they are simple and easy to comprehend then they finish with an option for ‘Action to take if required’. Some of the sections even include links to specific contacts if needed. This is an amazing resource to have on hand for quick research without getting bogged down with endless information which may not be relevant. The sections talk you through actions such as reporting so you can be full
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Twitter

Thing 11 – Twitter The dreaded Twitter, the one social media site that I just never understood. Is it my age? Well, thanks to Thing 11, I am now fully in the know and will be Tweeting like a bird from now on. So here's what i learned; Tweet is the name given to the action of sharing your thoughts on Twitter. You type your status and share it on your feed; you can add up to four photographs, GIF’s or a video with your Tweet. Then you have the option to notify other twitter users of your tweet using the @ tag, or you can make your tweet easier to search by using a hashtag (#) to categorise it. With Twitter you have the option to Follow other Twitter users, this means that you essentially subscribe to their Tweets as a follower, their updates will appear on your personal timeline and they can send you direct messages. Twitter Feed is simply an ongoing thread of Twitter messages, so essentially a conversation which happens between Twitter users. Twitter also offers the option of sendin
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