I have had a LinkedIn profile for quite a while now, basically ever since I graduated from university. I find it a useful place to list all my work and voluntary experience as well as all the courses and training I have completed. I have also added several skills such as playing the saxophone, knowledge of computer programmes and BSL & Makaton. I do not post on my LinkedIn a lot, the previous posts were of the #nowrongpath hashtag that SQA created to show students that if they failed or did not get the qualifications they wanted, they could still achieve great things despite of this. I follow several people and organisations on LinkedIn so I can see if people I know have started new positions or if certain organisations support different occasions such as Mental Health Awareness Week for example. I have sent a request to the Open Badges group on the site as the first two links did not work.
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The app I will be discussing for this Open Badge is the MyLearning app which I have had since it was first launched. It was really handy to have an app where all the information on your professional learning is all in one place. Once I have completed any professional learning, whether that is training that my setting has organised or I have listened to a podcast about early years, I can write down what I learned from it and how long I spent on that method. The app adds up all the recorded hours of professional learning so you know if you are reaching the 60 hours for the SSSC register. It is also handy that all of the SSSC Open Badges are added to this app once you have achieved them. The app is free to use. It has had updates throughout my time using it as before it would crash when you try to log in evidence of learning. You can choose for access to this app only to work with a thumbprint log in, which is what I use for my Apple Devices. My only wish is that it would work as an app for a Macbook or a Microsoft computer as well. Finger typing all the information on a phone screen takes longer than typing on the computer I feel so I could also copy and paste information easier that way as well.
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I chose to do the Intermediate task for the Open Badge as I used Twitter a lot quite a long time ago so I know how it works. I do have my own account for work so I created a list for accounts that I have used for early years information which you can see a screenshot of. As I used the app, there is a lists option when you click on the top left corner where your profile picture is. Then I looked at the accounts I follow and added them onto this list. It did take several clicks for them to be added but simple enough to do.
Then I looked to see anything about my Twitter analytics. I have previously deleted tweets as this used to be a spare account so I feel the information on Tweet impressions was from that. I have also removed spam looking accounts from following me. There was no information when I looked at events.
I have had a look on TweetDeck and have seen you can add more than one Twitter account on to the one platform. This may come in handy if I need to create new accounts for work or voluntary purposes.
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I love listening to podcasts. There are some that can help me to get to sleep at night. There are some that help me with my Fibromyalgia. I also find them a great resource for professional learning as they are free to access and can have lots of useful information I can take into my practice. I have listened to a couple of podcasts that I have recorded on the MyLearning app.
Play Scotland‘s podcast looks into the importance of play in many fields and interviews with people who run organisations or provide learning. They ask what play means to them and how important it is for children to learn.
The Early Years Staff Meeting is a newer podcast where three EYP’s come together for discussions. They have had episodes where they discussed how they would plan activities for children and have even discussed the benefits of those activities, for example Wet Play.
Edinburgh Early Years had a series discussing the Realising the Ambition which I found useful to listen to whilst reading the guide. It involved people from Education Scotland who created the document and specialised experts such as a children’s psychologist.
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For work, I have two emails. One gives me access to my Microsoft OneDrive and the other to my Google Drive. I have files on both. For my Microsoft account, it also gives me access to the nursery’s own OneDrive. So I keep certificates from all the training I complete on my own OneDrive and I also have some paperwork from my SVQ on there too. With my Google drive, I can also log onto the app on my work iPad. This handy for writing observations, I can use my iPad to write one whilst I am in the room. Then I can go to the office, log onto my work laptop and access the same document on the Drive.
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This exercise was useful for me to check how private my own Facebook profile is. All of my information is only available for Friends to see, I have even changed Friend requests to be Friends of Friends. The only information people can see publicly is my name (not full name), a short bio about me with no information on location and my profile and background pictures. Looking at Sarah Smith’s profile, she has written about work twice. Once where she had to cover and two where she mentioned that families are not supporting her service users. Sarah may be Facebook friends with her colleagues who can find those posts and pass their concerns to their line manager. Her location and where she works is public knowledge so anyone can put in a complaint to Care Inspectorate or to the company themselves about Sarah.
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I already set up an SSKS Open Athens account for previous SSSC Open Badges. I have had a quick browse of the online library and was impressed to see a lot of resources for books, journals and articles for various topics. Some cover early years and toddlers which of course is who I work with. There is one book I have seen which is Early Years Nutrition and Healthy Weight. I think that would be a good read to see what they would recommend as best practice for children’s health. I also had a look at Google Advanced Search. There were words you can type for the search to look for specifically and ones to avoid. You could also search based on the last update which is handy when you want up to date information. Unfortunately I wanted to look at more early years resources specifically in Scotland. You could only select the United Kingdom for the region which wasn’t the best.
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I will be honest and say that I need to be better in terms of digital security. I do have a free VPN on my phone and laptop that I use and have been looking for a Password Manager. Annoyingly to get full protection these products cost money which with the Cost of Living can be hard to afford. My password for my work email changes every 72 days which keeps my work account safe. It can be hard to come up with new passwords so it’s great that I have seen the Government’s Cyber Aware link to create passwords with three random words. I am aware of the permissions on my iPhone but I think I will need to go through every app to see that my location is not shared on the apps I don’t want them to. This is beneficial for work to prevent apps on the nursery iPads to see the location of our setting. If I do online shopping, it is usually at home with my Wifi, I try to limit any spending I will do outside of my home.
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It is important to make sure your personal social media profiles do not interfere with your work. Being friends with parents of the children I work with for example is a big no-no. It states in my nursery’s policy that you cannot communicate with them through your personal social media. The definition of muddy waters I feel is a good description for mixing work with personal life online. In my line of work privacy is essential. Making a social media post about work is probably worse than talking about it face to face with people outside of it. Once something is online, it is very difficult to get rid of. Yet there could be benefits to social media, SSSC, Care Inspectorate and various other organisations have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. Following them can help you to be in the know of recent news. I have gotten updates on training and guidance by following these accounts.
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When you search my name on Google, there is an actress of the same name who appeared on the Disney film Brave… I also have red curly hair so finding that out was a bit of a weird coincidence. My picture does appear on Google, which is a profile on a website for a charitable organisation I used to work for. I was a working musician so I still have a profile up on a website where people can look for music teachers. This page I should get rid of now as that information will be out of date. I used to have my personal social media public, I used to make videos on YouTube, however now it is all private. I also do not use my full name on these profiles anymore to keep my profiles separate from my work. Anything with my name online is for work or voluntary purposes.