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Week 4 Reflection

 Week 4 Reflection:

This week touched on the subjects of tags and folksonomies, digital badges and gamification, and crowdsourcing. Although I was relatively familiar with these concepts, it was fun to dig into how they can be utilized in terms of the learning environment. 

Folksonomies and tagging had the majority of my interest this week. I think it is a great method that can assist with building online learning communities. Although I do not utilize tags in my personal social media I can absolutely see how they can be effective in ensuring content reaches an intended audience. Obviously, there is a reason "Instafluencers" (the internet is a weird and wild place) end their captions with a bajillion different hashtags: they're working to make sure they reach as wide an audience as they possibly can. For me, the real magic of tagging and folksonomies comes from the information organizational method that comes with it. I love the idea that every bit of the web can be categorized and organized by these tags. That's probably the librarian in me. 

The concept of digital badges is interesting to me, but it is not something I have engaged with a ton so far. I was nominated for a badge, but had trouble logging in to see it and immediately gave up after failing to get in the second time. Gamification in learning is such a great tool, especially in terms of engagement. In the coming school year, I have convinced my site to buy the program Beanstack specifically because it uses gamification practices to enhance reading engagement. I am very stoked to see the results of it throughout the coming year, not that I am trying to rush summer.

Crowdsourcing is also a very fun concept. I love the idea that individuals can collectively build up the general public and local knowledge through the power of the web. In the readings, I found a very cool Wikipedia lesson plan that I would love to try and utilize with my middle schoolers next year. 

Overall this week, I have spent a lot of time on the Reddit message boards that discuss The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives in preparation for my community assignment. It has been very fun to converse with strangers on the internet who also enjoy trash reality television and it has given me an outlet other than my fiance, who, bless his heart, tries to keep up with the reality TV nonsense for my sake. 

Until next week! 

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