GEN2243

         The end of our semester is on its way.  Personally, I feel as if this semester flew by compared to the previous two.  My freshman year cannot compare to sophomore year so far due to obvious circumstances, but I appreciate the effort faculty and students have put in to make it tolerable.           GEN2243, Exploring Your Digital Profile, taught me so much about technology's impact in the professional world.  From using social media to expand our network to running a weekly blog, the class opened my eyes to the amount of effort people put into their brand.  Some of my favorite class moments were when we had guest speakers.  I enjoyed hearing from people who are successful because it gave me hope that I can be like them someday.  I enjoyed learning about various extensions and software to help life be more manageable online.  Without Tweetdeck , Twitter scared me because it was too confusing.  Now, it is much more manageable and  organized!  Through this class, APA format was

           Last class, we  discussed our final project.  For this project, we will be creating a professional website for ourselves to showcase what we accomplished and learned during the semester.  The website will include a resume, an about me page, a contact tab, and more!  Some examples of websites that can be used for building my project are Weebly , Wix , and Google Sites .  I am excited to create this project, and other people to see what I can offer!            There are many options available for website curation.  With all of the platform  available, people may feel overwhelmed with which builder to use.  In Business Matters Magazine , the people behind the magazine share information to determine which website builder is best for an individual's needs.   Squarespace has a starting cost of $12/month, but discounts are not hard to find since many YouTubers partner with Squarespace and provide trials.  This builder is good for security.  Wix and Weebly are very similar.  Bo

         Last class was really cool!  Once again, two guest speakers were invited to join the class.   Jaime Donally of ARVRinEDU and Chris Madsen of Immersive VR Education shared information about augmented, virtual, and mixed reality.  Changing the way reality presents itself is the future of humanity, and industries and educators are taking note.                            Image Source                                                                             Image Source          Professor Calderwood introduced Jaime Donally as the first guest speaker.  She resides in Texas and loves working with the latest techn ology!  XR, extended reality, is the umbrella term for all altered reality.  Donally spoke about the different forms of changing our reality: AR, VR, and MR.  AR, augmented reality,  incorporates reality by adding a digital layer on top of the world view.  VR, virtual reality, is completely digital and no longer shows the real world.  MR, mixed reality, is similar to

        The previous class was very eventful!  Casey Finestone and Mike Tholfsen joined the class to speak about the interview and resume process.  I love having guest speakers during the class.  Casey Finestone works with a startup company called Script as the schools outreach specialist, and Mike Tholfsen is the product manager of Microsoft Education.  Both guests were kind enough to have let us be a part of their busy schedules!                                      Image Source                                                                 Image Source          During the class discussion, we covered topics as social media,  redflags, and resumes.  Mike Tholfsen admits to never thinking Twitter would be useful.  Now, it is his career!  He utilizes YouTube for making instructional videos to help instructors on his channel .  Casey Finestone says that her online presence is a bit quieter and says that there is nothing wrong with having separate accounts from your personal and profes

         Last week, the class's midterm project was due.  The assignment involved us researching and creating a presentation on somebody who lost their job due to social media.  Students were to watch the videos and upload questions on three separate posts during the span of the scheduled class time.  There was no Zoom that night!   Personally, I enjoyed watching the videos but felt sad when I only received one question.  My paper and presentation was on Alec Holowka.            Alec Holowka found the game developer called Infinite Ammo.  He is best-known for his roles in the devolvement of the game Night in the Woods .  The game originated as a kickstarter and was available on Steam.  Themes in Night in the Woods include mental illness, mobile immobility, and economic despair.  Night in the Woods was very successful during 2018.  In 2018, the game won IGF's Seumus McNally prize for best independent game of the year.  Currently, the game is available on steam, playstation 4, x