Johnnie Allen Jr.

  I have always loved social media and my relationship with digital devices and platforms. However, it has been an adjustment throughout this course. EME 6414 has required me to be far more engaged on social media, which is okay, but I should have thought about how tired I could be from constantly trying to keep up and engage with multiple aspects of the online world. We are surrounded by and consumed by digital media in our everyday lives. The digital detox challenge could not have come at a better time; this challenge helped me take a break from everything I have felt overwhelmed by. The biggest challenge for this particular #EME6414 challenge was that I experienced moments where I felt like I missed out on information that could be beneficial to me in the real and digital world. I began with silencing notifications of the various social media apps I use daily, and after completing that, I decided to put my phone on do not disturb (DND). The DND feature on iPhones has been life-c...

What a perfect challenge to engage in! It is time for a CHANGE. Change is good. Change is scary. Change is important. I was curious to know how I wanted my blogger site to look when we were tasked with creating our blogger account. I went with something that felt "safe" or comfortable to my liking. I wanted to represent myself, given the headshot. I added something representing my fraternity, and then the overall color with the orange sunset vibe felt like something I would enjoy. I went with some standard or default choices regarding my fonts, backgrounds, and gadgets. The options were endless; I was correct! My blogger design worked for me, and I did not feel like it was something I would grow to hate or dislike. Due to the blog makeover challenge, I am open to embracing this new change! I changed parts of the layout; I chose a different color and switched some fonts to provide a more contemporary feel, look, and vibe. Any suggestions? Thoughts?   I am willing to continue t...

  What's up, Week 6! We are quickly making it through the Summer, and I can't believe we are in week 6. This week I've had the opportunity to be back home in Indiana! A trip that was needed and right on time, as the Summer term has been just as busy or even busier than the Spring semester? I am still deciding which one has moved quicker. However, week 6 had a tool that perfectly fits where I am presently in my life.  Futureme , I have never heard of it before this week, but I am happy I know now about Futureme. For those who have yet to explore Futureme, I highly recommend doing so because Futureme offers the opportunity to write a letter to yourself! I love activities and moments to self-reflect, journal, process, and read words of affirmation. Lately, I have been feeling overwhelmed by everything I have my hands in, whether in my personal life (adulting..." yay!" ), my own academics and coursework, teaching, research projects,  and just navigating life in genera...

  Overall this week was one of my favorites! I was able to participate and engage in multiple challenges, and the best challenge of them all was on Twitter. Twitter has become the social media app I constantly use, and I love the direction that my personal Twitter is evolving with a mix of my doctoral identity and leadership educator identity while also sharing the highs and lows of my experience. I discuss the joys of teaching, presenting, and doing research with outstanding faculty; while sharing updates about my life and the specific day I might have had, whether good or bad. I want to continue to be authentic when engaging in higher education. I want individuals to always feel comfortable speaking with me and knowing that I, too, am human, regardless of the level of education I might hold or even positions later on in my career. In this week's Twitter challenge, I was able to be funny with my Gif choices while also profoundly thinking about what I wanted to share for the challe...

  It took me a while to find memes to share! 😅 Here is what I am settling with for day one of the Twitter challenge! #EME6414 #MemeMonday pic.twitter.com/CWXYtkqRcG — Johnnie L. Allen Jr. (@JohnnieLAllenJr) June 12, 2023 For my #ToolboxTuesday resource I will have to mention Microsoft OneDrive. 🗂️💻I’ve grown to enjoy using OneDrive. It has been useful in collaboration projects, storing files in multiple places on/offline, and overall a nice place to stay organized. #EME6414 — Johnnie L. Allen Jr. (@JohnnieLAllenJr) June 13, 2023 What are your thoughts on asynchronous course discussion boards? Love it or hate it? Why? Do you engage in meaningful dialogue with others? Or do you just say “I agree with what Johnnie shared”and keep it moving. We’ve all been there before😅 #WonderingWednesday #EME6414 pic.twitter.com/GL4FuBTXt9 — Johnnie L. Allen Jr. (@JohnnieLAllenJr) June 14, 2023 #EME6414 #ThrowbackThursday I went with a throwback video game system!...

  Have you ever considered what is shown after entering your name into Google? I hope your answer is yes! Well, I have many times, and the first time I searched Google to see what images, links, articles, or posts would come up, I was nervous. I never really knew what would be attached to my name as the fear of whatever you put out in the digital world will live FOREVER. So, that is where my nerves kicked in. However, after I did it, I was content as most of the links were from interviews I have done during either my undergrad, master or now doctoral journey. In addition, some images were headshots on university websites or student social media accounts. While reading this week, I explored Dennen's (2015) article Technology Transience and Learner Data Shifting Notions of Privacy in Online Learning,  where there was an intentional discussion on the intersection of technology usage and privacy in digital and online environments/settings. One aspect of the article that stood out ...

This week we had the opportunity to engage in a fun Pinterest challenge, developing and creating a vision board! As usual, Dr. Dennen set the stage for week 5, providing a detailed overview of our course blog site. Week 5 included yet another challenge that could lead to a badge; as I enter each week with possible challenges, I often read over them and decide if my week is divinely aligned. Divinely aligned means I have the time to complete and engage fully in the challenge. One of the challenges for this week focused on creating a vision board using Pinterest. I never thought about using Pinterest in this way, but while reading the challenge description, I knew that this is something I would be interested in participating in. Whenever I think about vision boards, I instantly think of "new year, new me" mindsets and Raven Symoné on That's So Raven. Who doesn't love a fresh start?  At the beginning of the Spring 2023 semester, my doctoral cohort held a first-year docto...

  Class pulse check! I have been wondering if others have felt similar feelings that I have when it comes to missing some of the challenge opportunities or missing commenting and exploring other classmates' blogs, etc. I often reflect at the end of each week and think about ways to improve for the following week. Some weeks have improved, but I still need to overcome the obstacle of missing something! I offer myself grace in this situation as I engage a lot and in multiple contexts, but I am still missing something. I don't know if that ever goes away because it is not humanly possible to be at all places (even online spaces) at once. What do you do when you feel you have "missed" something? Do you set new goals for the following week? Do you have accountable partners? Do you have reminders? In addition to these probing questions, how do you handle the moments when you don't meet the goals you had set for the week?  I am all for wanting to engage and engage in sev...

  Pinterest? What in the Pinterest? Another week and another addition to the digital and social media family, which I have enjoyed.  Pinterest is "a visual discovery engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more" (Pinterest.com, nd.).  This week I got to revisit a platform I forgot about, Pinterest. I used Pinterest minimally and not to its fullest capacity. I heard of Pinterest through some friends who relied on Pinterest for EVERYTHING. Using Pinterest to brainstorm birthday party themes, graduation photo shoot suggestions, apartment decoration ideas, and even tattoo ideas. So I started to do the same as I prepared for my first tattoo or graduation photos for graduating undergrad, but after using it for what I needed, I never looked back. I did not see the value in continuously using Pinterest, as if it takes too much time to put things together and be creative about the images you select. Additionally, when I think about the various social...

  Joining the world of Reddit this week has been a major highlight for me! I had heard of Reddit before but only partially paid close attention to what individuals could do on Reddit. I assumed it was another place to offer reviews and commentary on topics of interest. As I began to work on the Community Norms assignment, I knew I wanted to participate in the full version; the full version offered a unique perspective to continue enhancing my knowledge and skills with the various digital and social media sites for class. Although I was excited to participate and engage in Reddit communities, there are a TON to choose from. Leaving me to feel overwhelmed by the many options. Continuing to explore Reddit, I joined communities of interest as it relates to Sports (NBA, WNBA), Reality Tv (Real Housewives Franchise, College Hill Celebrity Edition, Married to Medicine, etc.), Black memes, and Twitter communities, NBA 2K. These communities all felt normal and comfortable to me because thes...

 Using hashtags has been foundational to my digital and social media journey! I entered the world of social media using hashtags for everything because, to me, it seemed "cool" or the thing to do. I remember times in middle school when I would post several hashtags in one singular post, where I felt that the hashtags overpowered the message I was trying to convey. However, now that I think about hashtags and their usage, it is highly beneficial and used in educational spaces to promote conference updates, new publications, teaching resources, advancing one's network, etc. I attended the American College and Personnel Association (ACPA) national conference back in March of this year in New Orleans, and the hashtag "#ACPA23" was utilized and encouraged by presenters and participants of the conference. This was an easy and useful way to learn about the different sessions and presentations at the conference from my Twitter account. It also made connecting with other...

  On Wednesday, May 31st, I celebrated my 25th birthday! I am sharing this not for birthday praise (however, I am accepting birthday wishes all year long😊!) but because it is tied to my journey with this course. I have started to rely heavily on birthday reminders from various digital and social media sites. I have difficulty remembering some of my close friends and other people's birthdays, and I never want to entirely miss sharing some birthday love with them on their special day. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even LinkedIn offer daily notification reminders of "today's birthdays." I noticed on my LinkedIn page that it is displayed as "Wish Johnnie Allen Jr. M.S.Ed. a happy birthday (May 31)". I find this helpful and a clear example of using digital sites to our advantage to keep building community and networks through professional and social relationships. Many of the events in our lives are now far more public than private du...

  For so long, I have wondered why I have never fully adopted or embraced a pseudonym on the social media sites I engage. For example, when we were tasked with developing our blogger sites for class, I started debating whether I would be displayed as myself. I could not overcome the challenge of needing to be creative if I chose the pseudonym route, so I settled on just identifying as myself because that felt easier. Another reason I have not embraced a pseudonym because I never felt the "need" to engage as someone  else. After all, I thought I was just myself. Regardless of the spaces I enter, this has come with various challenges, mainly because not all spaces support individuals being their authentic selves. Web 2.0 and digital media sites serve multiple purposes, allowing individuals to escape reality and live in this fully virtual space with an alter ego. It provides people with community, knowledge, resources, and so forth. Dr. Vanessa Dennen's (2009) article regard...