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"School in the Cloud" Gives New Meaning to 'Remote Learning'

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Advancements in technology have not only allowed for progression in the lives of everyday professionals, but in the classroom as well. While colleges and universities have continuously led the way in this theatre since the 1960s, K-12 schools have been progressing steadily in advancing their efforts in the online (or virtual) classroom since around the late 1990s. Matt Donnelly advises in his writings that almost two-thirds of schools in the 2005-06 school year had at least one student taking blended course[s], or one conducted entirely online. Furthermore, Donnelly adds that number is suggested to increase 19% over the next two years. That being said, while there have been plans in place at most K-12 school districts nationally to continue to advance in the online learning arena, we must also consider how COVID-19 has caused superintendents and principals to expand their efforts more rapidly than planned. Overall, based on my own assessments, the advancements of technology in the cla...
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"Always On": How Productive Technology Has Made Us Less Productive

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As Technological advancements to make us more productive in the workplace continue to abound, it can be difficult to disconnect and find ourselves in an “always-on” state. Even for myself, prior to COVID, my occupation by design is a work-from-home position. This is a huge advantage to me personally, and to my family. Not having to fight traffic, being master over my daily schedule, and having everything I needed technologically at my fingertips made the transition from pre-COVID times to government mandated quarantine status an almost non-disruptive item. In fact, there are many others cited in a 2013 study conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) as being  happy about the ability to blend their work and personal lives. About 71% surveyed said they had control over their hours and 56% said technology makes it easier to get their work done. However, while being always-on may feel like a reward to some, others view it as a disadvantage. For myself, when I beg...
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Separation Anxiety to Separation Preference: How Technology Has Changed Our Need for Face-to-Face Interaction

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Time has certainly seen its share of advances in technology and communication, but none more than in the last 60 years. From the first computer in 1951, to the most recent tech advances with search engines and social networking sites, no period in history has experienced more technological and communicative growth that what we are experiencing now. While advancements in technology are fantastic and a benefit to all, in the afterglow of these advancements, we may have overlooked the unforeseen  side effects and decline in interpersonal skills we are currently working through in society today. Think about it! Just 15 years ago (2007) sending a text to someone, having a laptop (or a tablet) out to take notes during a meeting would have seemed odd and/or rude. From that, it seems we have moved to the other extreme where not having one of these devices available during that same meeting makes us look unprepared and not engaged.  The shift between these two extremes has set ...
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The Importance of Training Employees & Embracing Digital Culture

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Within the last decade we have begun to see a cultural shift in the workplace nationally in the US, if not globally, to one of open communication and culture. This change in culture is due in large part to technology, which undoubtedly has improved employee productivity, and overall progress of the organizations that elect utilize tech to its fullest capacity.  But, as  Sara Brown , writer for MIT’s Sloan School of Management shares, focusing too much on the technology and tasks that come with digital transformation leaves out another vital component to successful transitions — a company’s employees, who need to be able to use new technology and feel comfortable and supported in new roles.   Moreover, and what is even more important to a company’s culture and growth is “what happens when the boss leaves the room. This workplace truism is particularly useful for leaders contemplating a significant culture shift . Furthermore as Westerman and his team from MIT, also w...
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From Gatekeepers, To Stewards: How Social Media has Changed Public Relations

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In 2009, when Social Media was still somewhat in its infancy, many people were beginning to think long term about where technology was taking us. Also at this time more and more companies were beginning to interact directly with their consumers via social media. Organizations such as Apple, Wal-Mart, Dell, McDonald’s and United Airlines discovered that the internet is a great leveler. As seen in the infographic below , author and PR expert Iliyana Stareva displays just how many positive benefits there are to utilizing social media and its positive impact to a PR teams game plan. T his move away from PR firms and hiring out this type of work to other companies was a bold new step because up until that point, marketing and PR departments, a few directors and salesmen were the mouthpieces of the company and would see to it that only they would have the opportunity to interact with opinion influencing third parties such as journalists, mass media and consumers.  Today, organizatio...
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Fact or Fiction? Deciphering Fake News on the Internet

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With the advent of social media and its rise and dominance as the go-to source for information on just about any topic, one of the unfortunate bi-products of the ability for anyone and everyone to publish has been creditability of the writer, expertise on the subject they are writing about, and the writer’s ability to research and vet their sources.  Sadly, there now exists a growing library of case studies that document news reports featuring ‘fake’ content sourced from social media, including ‘Photoshopped’ pictures following the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, fake photographs of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and the identification of innocent people as suspects following attempts to ‘crowdsource’ the capture of the Boston Marathon bomber in 2013. To combat this rise in ‘fake news’ postings more and more journalists, bloggers, and avid social media users are turning to training and other methods (i.e. fact-checking sites) to test the validity of a news story to determine it level o...
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Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography Drushel, B., & German, K. (2011). The ethics of emerging media : information, social norms, and new media technology. Continuum. Retrieved from https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=2d488170-d05b-4b58-a0a0-42e55dbf2d04%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=snhu.b1143678&db=cat04477a   Bruce E. Drushel, and Kathleen M. German, both PhD’s and professors in at Miami University (OH), address and assess ethical questions at the forefront of new media and its development. This broad sweeping work brings to the forefront questions how changing media formats affect current theoretical understanding of ethics. Through cross-examining conventional ethical theory, new insight to ethical decision making can be ascertained in an age of rapidly evolving media. Stuhlfaut, M. W., & Windels, K. (2019). Altered States: The Effects of Media and Technology on th...
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