Aggregate Pages and Their Application for Teachers/Entrepreneurs

What are aggregate sites?

By and large, aggregate sites are web pages designed to collect large amounts of data in small, understandable ways. These sites may use widgets or other RSS feed tools to track information/text from the moment of its publication. They are often used in website building and marketing as a form of content aggregation or means to encourage traffic/backlinking/SEO optimization in Google Analytics.

However, as the author of To Make A Website says,

While there are several great ones...there are also plenty of spam content aggregating websites that you shouldn’t want any part of.        --Matt Clark, 2015 

This week I explored two legitimate sites for content aggregation: Netvibes and Protopage.

Features:

Netvibes

• track sources
• track topics
• notification options integrated into Windows
• public dashboard settings
• ability to create multiple dashboards--presumably for both individual (as with Tweetdeck) and public (as in Wix or Wordpress) use

Protopage

• track topics via RSS feeds
• NO notification options integrated into Win7, Win8, Win10, Linux, or MAC but notification options can be adjusted via Chrome
• public & private dashboard settings
• ability to create multiple dashboards
• organizational widgets
• tools for site optimization and naming

Applications for Teachers:

• track personal and professional data (social media sites, work & personal emails, news sources, field-related topics, personal interests, etc).
• create a platform through which students can learn more about organizations or specific subjects
• create to-do lists students can modify

Business Applications:

• backlinking
• traffic generation
• SEO optimization
• overall improved Google analytics scores

Overall Takeaway:
For Netvibes, it is not clear what is displayed, when, and with what security/audience options in place for features like facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc. that may also be associated with the account user.
For my public dashboard, I could also NOT resolve the issue that all that displayed was the loading symbol [Loading...], see image below or this live link: 

Initially, I ran into a slight resistance with Protopages as the site:

• appeared to be lacking aesthetically when compared to Netvibes and 
• was down for maintenance the first instance I attempted to access it (see image below).

However, as you can see HERE I was able to get my site up and running with a few widgets. Unfortunately, there are still a few minor bugs surrounding the "delete widget" button--but you can get around this by editing an empty widget box to reflect the RSS origin or another more viable site.

Overall, if you're a teacher who doesn't need to have high analytics scores and/or already has a dedicated system in place for contacting students I recommend simply using a custom desktop skin to organize all of your personal, professional, and system information. Although the overall process of using widgets effectively and securely may be a steep learning curve for some, I have used Rainmeter (Windows 7 and up) in the past with a high level of success. You can create a fully custom and aesthetically astounding desktop experience that directly follows these same RSS streams as (sometimes untrustworthy) aggregate sites using this platform (if you also use Windows), GeekTool (for macOS), or Conky (for Linux). For more information, I highly recommend following r/Rainmeter on Reddit and following their tutorial tips. Happy organizing! 

How to Incorporate Live Streaming, Twitter, & YouTube into Your Classroom

The Basics:

YouTube LIVE is a function of the YouTube platform that allows channel hosts to live-stream their videos either publicly or privately. This feature was likely created to compete with the live-streaming service Twitch (see also: YouTube Gaming). Although this function can at first be difficult to implement if you do not have experience with broadcasting software, there are endless instructional videos available for review on the primary YouTube platform. From my experience, most people can learn all the skills they need to successfully host streams within less than 48hrs. YouTube reliability depends heavily on your regional internet access and speed, however, the primary site itself is always available. As far as I have experienced in the past, the only external links YouTube (YT) generates are for site monetization. However, users themselves are free to link to any external site they wish (as long as it follows YT content guidelines). In 2013, YouTube received a “technical Emmy” from the National Academy of Arts & Sciences for its video recommendation algorithms; however, the corporation has yet to receive any educational awards that I’m aware of.

Twitter, much like Facebook (FB), is a social media platform. However, unlike other applications, it offers the ability to communicate with global users, corporations, and organizations that otherwise, a singular user may not ordinarily have contact with. Moreover, while you may only receive occasional updates from your FB profile, Twitter offers the opportunity for constant and instantaneous communication between parties in a live format.

Existing Demographics:

Despite Donald Trump’s proclivity to use Twitter, this site is surprisingly unique in that many of the most vocal users belong to minority groups (see: black twitter).

Moreover, the primary group engaging on Twitter are of the same age as high school and college attendees (12-34 yr old).

According to archived Neilsen Reports and writers like PiperJaffray (author of The User Revolution)

the demographics for YouTube are situated within this same age range. However, YouTube's users more closely mirror the overall online population (with 87% of users identifying as non-Hispanic Caucasians).

Classroom Application:

By using both Twitter and YouTube simultaneously, teachers can encourage cross-cultural communication between various ethnicities that may not typically expose themselves to one another. Twitter can be used not only to update students on live classroom (or lecture) streams, but continues to offer surprising new educational discussions, techniques, and communities held together largely by specific hashtags. Teachers can follow along with multiple live hashtags by using various services like TweetDeck. Here’s an example of what my personal TweetDeck looked like earlier today.

I used the YouTube format to host a trial stream on academic discussion covering topics like Youtube, Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), and Elian for ESL learners & speakers. You can watch my work on my channel here. By integrating multiple web 2.0 software strategies, it is my belief that we have the opportunity now, more than ever, to connect with our students in meaningful, intuitive, and organic ways.

How Being Vain Could Save Your Job: The "Vanity Search"

Up until now, my posts have focused solely on how web technologies can positively affect your students, your classrooms, and your content. But how can web technologies help teachers and students as individuals?

Since roughly 5 years ago, I started hearing about the horrors of "googling yourself". 

Today, our president wields Twitter like a weapon of the Armed Forces. 

Your digital footprint is your new resume.

Read CNN's article "Donald Trump is giving a master class in how to use Twitter" here.

I've participated with countless digital corporations within the past few months alone. LinkedIn, Google+, UpWork, AirBnB, Tutor.com, Wordpress, Blogger, Etsy, Mechanical Turk (Amazon), YouTube, Twitch, eBay, Amazon.com: the list goes on. The list of employers who function within the rapidly growing e-commerce sector is rising exponentially. Even "stone and mason" businesses like WalMart are scrambling for a way to monetize their online presence. In this widening world of digital citizenship, every hiring manager who was once promised fame as a 90's kid is looking for a micro-celebrity. That's right. With 250 friends you can suggest a lot of products. You can become a local spokesperson. The problem is: those of us who have been employed with the same company for over 5 years, those who are just entering the workforce, and those interested in applying to prestigious schools may still be using these social media outlets for solely entertainment purposes without recognizing their level of public engagement.

The Internet Society answers "What is a Digital Footprint?"

Since I'm looking to expand my employment opportunities as I carry myself through graduate school (and only recently left a company at which I spent over 7 years) I decided it was time to do an in-depth look into my web presence. This meant googling my name, checking my profiles as they appear to others, and attempting to locate every account I've created linked to my personal and professional (opposed to purposely anonymous) accounts. 

Rather anticlimactically, when I egogoogled, there wasn't much to be found. And what was found was fragmented. I have a terrible habit of forming multiple accounts for multiple sections of life (i.e: facebook settings to separate coworkers, family, and friends; a separate email for personal and professional communications; etc). Moreover, and rather unexpectedly, I see more people who aren't me showing up when I search my relatively "unique" name. This does not necessarily mean that I'm producing less "content" than other people with my same name, but it does likely mean that I have not optimized the sites that I do engage on so that potential employers see the most qualified version of my "digital self".

Lucky for you, over the course of the next several weeks, I will be discussing the steps I undertake to solidify my online reputation, expose myself to new business opportunities, and cultivate my digital footprint.