February 22, 2012

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Support Services for Military Families

For military husbands and wives having a loved one that is serving overseas can be stressful. There is one less person to help with the household chores and less income coming into the family. Luckily, there are services and organizations that help military families find the support they need while their loved one is on active duty.

 

If you are a military family, here are some services you can consider looking into that can offer you the support and help you need during this time.

 

Online Support Groups 

U.S. Marine Aviation Training Support Group 53 

Image by US Mission Canada via Flickr

 

There are many Facebook and online forums that help military families through this tough time. These online support groups help military families in a number of ways. These groups help by offering emotional support and by offering practical advice like learning how to budget a new military family’s expenses.

 

Military and Government Support

 

The military and national government offers a wide range of financial and medical services that can help support a military family. These services can range from offering the chance to shop for food at a discounted price, low interest loans, help moving from one base to another, or providing low cost medical services to family members.

 

Military Discounts

 

Many stores and companies are starting to offer military discounts to not only the active military member but also other family members. Military families can take advantage of these discounts which will help save them money.

 

It isn’t easy serving in the armed forces but by taking advantage of some of these military support services, military husbands and wives can make their jobs easier while their loved ones are on active duty.

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Web 2 is Here but is it in Schools

In recent years Web 2 has evolved into a substantial set of tools that make any internet user a content provider.  Web 2 does not focus on software, but on practices such as sharing thoughts, sharing information, and harnessing the collective intelligence of users. Students come to school with Web 2 skills in place and ready to use.  School policies often forbid or severely restrict these tools. Education needs to think about this generation’s mode of learning and shift instructional delivery.

What are Web 2 tools?  Web 2 tools are blogs of personal publishing, wikis, rss content aggregators, streaming video such as YouTube, podcasting, and social networking sites likes MySpace and Facebook.

Blogs are on-line personal journals that range from expert information to an individual’s desire to let you know what they think.

Wikis is program that allows users to work collaboratively on a project using a web browser from any computer anywhere.  You can meet, brainstorm, and create and edit a project without ever meeting in person.

RSS content aggregators known as Real Simple Syndication, is a protocol which helps push website updates to readers around the world so they don’t have to search for new content.  This program is waning since Twitter has arrived on the net.

Streaming Video lets you see historic places, people, or events in short snippets.  It has numerous users, who provide thousands of videos on any topic you desire.

Podcasting is an audio broadcast usually in mp3 format that provides information.

Social networking sites provide an account and you acquire friends and discuss whatever your heart desires.  Presidential candidates use them.

Students come to school with Web 2 skills in place and ready to use.  All these programs promote interactive collaboration and design.  Many language arts state standards in education required collaborative efforts.  Finding ways to incorportate these skills into the daily learning process is win for education and a win for future careers.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: ,

Social Media and Education

Social media is web based programs that foster communication in an interactive way.  Examples of social media is Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.  Individuals, businesses, and even presidential candidates use these sites to interact with the public and disseminate information.  These programs are popular among youth.

There has been the usual dirge at the education sites about the negative impact of these type of programs.  It goes something like this it is distracting students, it is causing failing grades, and it too dangerous to use in classrooms. The truth is none of the social medias are evil or negative.  It is a tool people choose to interact with.  Any negativity is the result of a decision made by a human being to use the tool in a negative way.  If there is negative then there is positive.  Positive just does not make the news.

There are teachers using social media for teaching and learning.  This is the 21st century and 21st century jobs and learning demands and requires fluent use of the Internet which social media is a large part.   Many students come to school with the skills to use the media in place.  In other words, they are set up by the culture ready for teaching. Safety issues can be addressed by using sites that are created specifically for education.

Blogs can be used for research and for strengthening writing skills.  Some blogs are written by leading experts in a field and often have comment boxes.  After reading your favorite author’s book, you can go to their blog and ask questions. Political candidates use social media to dispense knowledge on  issues.  Facebook is a place where one can get President Obama’s stand on an issue.  Twitter is used to remind students of approaching deadlines, and pointing out needed resources for projects.

Every change that impacts education nay sayers come out.  In the classrooms, there are groups of yes sayers quietly integrating new technologies into learning, because they see the world as it is and not the way it was.

Filed Under: Educational Reference, Media Workers Tagged With: ,

How social media can help you land a job in the arts after graduation

As part of the art world your creativity will grow because of the demanding new vision of everyone, not just in the art circle, but in the sight of everyone who sees a billboard, a magazine.  And as for social media, is the way you may get notice, not just because you “know art” (for what they teach you at school), but what you can give to them.  Is the way you envision the world.  In the business world it’s what they need, want, or think is needed.  The customer can always be asked what they want, and it is up to you to know how to put it on paper.

Here is where all your years of school and your degree is about to put your knowledge to a test.  In how it can be applied to Social Media Company, because it is not only to get your grade or your score is how you can integrate yourself to the business and know what the customer wants. The customer always tells them as a matter of fact what he/she wants.  That’s where the arts play a big role.  Not just because of graphics, but how they can interpreter a customer’s insight, need and most of the cases desire, even if the customer doesn’t even know how to explain.  This is one of the reasons why Art for Social Media is important.

As we mention before Arts in Social Media is still progressing with the use of new technologies.  However it will never substitute the natural hand, but it can improve the development of new ideas.  As for 2011 new techniques for the arts, such as new computer programs, robotics, marketing approaches, communication skills.  This will give you the pace to continue with the innovations for the Arts in Social Media.

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The Use of Social Media in the Media

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase

Journalist, sports-writers, and news organizations can not chase a story. As a matter of fact, there is little room to verify a story. This is because the nature of their reading audience has changed. There used to be a time when the public expected their stories to be digested in the morning with the paper. This ability to wait out the story allowed writers to let the story develop and to find out exactly what the story was before reporting on it. This is no longer the case.

The job of a writer in this day and age is to report on a story almost as quickly as they receive information. There is no time for a story to develop. A lot of this has to do with the use of social media as a viable news source. Sites like Facebook, and more specifically Twitter, have helped to perpetuate the 24 hour news cycle that has been growing all over the world since the explosion of cable television in the late 80′s and early 90′s.

This constant feed into a news source has put a lot of added pressure on journalists. There is so much more room for error now that there is a constant hunger for news from their readers. This means when a writer gets a line on the story they have to make an almost instantaneous decision on whether to let the story out then and there. This means they have to make sure their sources are more reliable than ever before.

Journalist are judged these days on the stories they break as opposed to the quality of the stories they cover. With social media fueling the need for these breaking stories there are more errors in the news then ever before. But the use of social media will continue to present benefits and challenges to journalists.

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