Wide-Angle Wednesday- Get Connected

Greetings from the snowy Midwest!

One of the greatest inventions in technology created is the Internet. Prior to the Internet communication was limited but in today’s world we have the opportunity to communicate world wide in less than a second. As a military family, social networking keeps us connected to our families and friends no matter the location we’re currently in. As students our classmates can be in a combat zone or sitting on the sunny beaches of Hawaii at any given time. Online schooling is unique because we all have the opportunity to connect with one another through social networking like Google +.

            A few blogs back I wrote about life outside the classroom. One of the greatest discoveries for me as a student was the Photography Student Professional Network (PSPN) hosted right here on Google +. Moderated by our very own Ai Photography Department Faculty, the community page is a great place to ask questions, share imagery, community resource, and a chance to connect with both faculty and fellow photography students. The PSPN community main page runs just like other social networking news feeds, the newest posting appearing at the top. Off to the left of the news feed is a tool bar in which will narrow down the postings to a particular category.

            Photo sharing is very popular at PSPN and tops the tool bar list. When posting images expect faculty and fellow students to provide a critique. Some student’s will post images to give an idea to an issue their experiencing and specifically to ask how to solve the issue. Recently I shared images from an assignment, because I enjoy critiques and was proud of what I had accomplished.

            Look at the tool bar as a way to search through the postings on the main news feed. Though if your looking for something specific you can also use the “search community” box located directly above the tool bar. Below I searched “lighting” and all posting with reference to lighting was narrowed down in the feed from newest to oldest in posting. Being this is just a screen shot, you can only see a few postings, but the posting do continue as lighting is a commonly talked about.

            One of the highlights I look forward to is the posting of graduate’s portfolios. What a great way to congratulate our fellow classmates, review their hard work, and gain inspiration to continue your path in school. A few of the recent graduates were the original Student Ambassador bloggers. To narrow down the feed to view posting of portfolios just click on the BS Grad or AS Grad Portfolio tabs.  

            As you can see the tabs offer a quick way to narrow down your interest. The PSPN is more that an avenue for reading, your also invited to attend the webinars at no cost. Click on the event tab and you can view upcoming and past webinars. The Photo Live webinars focus on variety of subjects related to photography weekly. Artist Talk has been held monthly, in which an artist is invited to speak and share their work. Both Photo Live and Artist Talk welcome students to ask questions either by chat box or through a computer mic. The webinars don’t require a webcam, so no worries there. Feel free to show up in your PJ’s if you like, because no one will know. If you’re unable to be online you also have the option to call in and participate via phone. The only downside to phoning in is that you won’t be able to view any visual presentations.

            Personally I enjoy the webinars and look forward to meeting up with fellow students and faculty. I invite you to join the PSPN and to attend the next upcoming Photo Live webinar. Click the link below to view how to attend the upcoming Photo Live.

Photo Live: Get Connected  Thursday 6th of February @ 11am MST

I leave you with this quote;
“Introverts don't like small talk conversation, but they typically don't mind writing. The more people can "see" you on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or a blog, the more they will feel like they know you, even though you don't have one-on-one interaction with them.” 
― Thom S. Rainer

            The quote is very true as I tend to call a lot of people I have networked with online as friends even though we have never met face to face. Getting connected is more than building a friendship; it’s an opportunity to open doors. Whether it be a new technique, obtain a better understanding of a skill, there is always something new and exciting to see.

I look forward to meeting students on PSPN and hope to see you at the next Photo Live.

Sincerely,

The Wednesday Ambassador