This is your brain. This is your brain on slogans

Eat fresh? Good to the last drop? Don’t mind if I do.

I’ve always been more word oriented than image driven. Sure, I recognize the swish, but it was years before I realized that someone had taken a bit out of the apple. But, when it absolutely, positively, has to be there, do words, bring good things to life? Kellogg’s seems to have bet the bank on it when they redesigned Rice Krispies to prominently feature not the product name, but the slogan. Yes folks, the words Snap, Crackle, Pop are now bigger than life and the characters that have represented the sounds for decades.

For me, being a consumer is the toughest job I’ll ever love. Never will the words get in my way. And, maybe I’ve fallen and I can’t get up, but I think it’s time for clarity. What’s in my wallet stays in my wallet unless the product comes up to snuff and the price is right. Because while it’s not nice to fool mother nature, it’s also not nice to mess with the minds of consumers. Nobody should ever bet that I can’t eat just one. I will save money and live better and that’s 99 and forty-four-one-hundredths percent pure honest truth. Can you hear me now?

I’m lovin it!

Another reason to blog

So, third class that asks for a blog. Guess this blogging thing is catching on in academia ;-)

Doing my homework this evening and watching the Steelers tromp Philadelphia. Yes, I'm a Steelers fan and own several Terrible Towels and other paraphernalia. Always nice to see Terry Bradshaw.

I do have to say that this class is going MUCH better than the last. That was miserable and will kill my GPA forever. I'm also enjoying the various tools mentioned -- have a tad more time to play this term than last and the experimentation is fun.

Back to the discussion questions. Go Steelers!

Week 4 Musings

Bought an Apple iPad this week and having a good time with my new toy -- and that's what it is: a toy. It has some practical applications, but so far nothing I can't do with my lappie.

There is an awesome new app for Ashford that got good reviews at the Sloan C. We should be talking about these things in class, but we're not. Maybe things just happening faster than we can keep up.

What I Learned This Week

This is sort of like posting what you learned on the refrigerator as a kid!

This week my learning was rather random. Our discussion focused on Facebook privacy issues and the discussion has been interesting. I'm encouraged to find others who aren't comfortable with publicly recording their thoughts. And, through the discussion, I'm discouraged to find that when I disagree and say so it makes some of my classmates uncomfortable.

Since this is my blog . . .

I'm paying a lot for my degree. It is a purchase and I am a tightwad: I want value for the money and time I  spend. I want the people who graduate with me, that will have the same credentials, and will be working in the same profession to command a level of respect from peers. So, please do not expect me to smile and nod and by saying nothing to commend blatant inaccuracies.

Sometimes things people say should make you uncomfortable. A community of "yes-men" accomplishes nothing. I don't have to agree with you to like or respect you, but I can't either agree or respect nonsense and the posting I read was just nonsense. Nobody else would respond to that posting and I'm guessing that they wouldn't respond because they couldn't say anything nice, so they said nothing. Shame on us -- learning communities must learn to disagree if they are to fully consider many issues. I was neither rude, used inappropriate language or insulted the author, but I didn't appreciate the lack of thought, what I considered bizarre comparisons, or the obvious prejudices.

Stepping off my soapbox now.

Back to what I learned this week.

I tried Facebook several years ago and wasn't enamored. Still not thrilled, but I'll give it another try. I am definitely dissatisfied with the data mining technique used to locate friends. What an invasion of privacy! There's no telling how much information they can garner with access I elect to allow.

I learned about Google+ and their attempt to enter the social networking arena. And I continued attending the MOOC where I have learned about several LMSs, watched others blog about their studies and in general picked up some good tips about professional organizations and websites.

Last, I learned that one of our textbooks (Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts) ends in a comma.

Happy learning!

First Post - MOOC

This is my second Blogger attempt. The first (for my first class) was a humorous blog entitled Buttercup and Rooster which didn't get very far. This time I am to focus on what I'm learning, and this week I'm playing with a MOOC.

A MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course that and the one I am enrolled in is about Online Learning. (https://sites.google.com/site/edumooc/) There are over 2,000 people enrolled and I'm having a hard time just wading through all the material, but it's fascinating. What impresses me most is how participants are standing up and stating their own goals for the course. People may or may not participate in the entire course, they may start a learning group of people interested in related but uncovered topics, or they may just be learning to MOOC.

I'll keep you posted on the MOOC!

Lauri