Grocery Apps: A College Student’s Dream Come True

iBotta: You earned it!

            Let’s face it, college students love spending money. Whether it’s from parents or refund checks, we will find a way to blow it on some nonsense or cool new hi-tech gadget: that is, until it’s our own “hard-earned” money. After paying rent and other various bills, the last thing we want to do is spend it on food we actually have to make.

I’ve often wished that there was some magical iPhone application in the App Store I could download that does all of my grocery shopping for me. Fortunately, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel: incorporating social media into shopping for groceries.

With its slogan, “You earned it!” the app known as iBotta is quickly becoming a must-have for anyone going grocery shopping. Its design is user-friendly and its reasoning is even better: “Why not earn money for products that you’re going to buy anyway?” “Earn money for grocery shopping?” you might wonder, “That’s unheard of!” The best thing is that it’s absolutely true.

 iBotta has partnered up with companies to promote certain products, which can change week-to-week. For example, before I go shopping, I always check out this app to see if there is anything I was planning on purchasing. I find my item and the app shows me that if I purchase a certain brand of almond milk I can earn up to $1.50. After I click on the offer, it tells me how I earn this money.  I might have to watch a minute long video and take a one question survey before I am eligible.

 Once my shopping is complete I open the app back up and click on “Redeem Offer”. Now this is the easiest part. I scan the items I purchased (that were featured on the app) and take a picture of my receipt. It takes a couple of minutes to validate my purchases but as soon as they are accepted the company automatically puts my earned money into my personal PayPal account. 

 Thanks to this app I've been able to earn $11 so far, and that is just through two trips to the grocery store. I plan to continue to use this app and maybe use that easily-earned money on some extra groceries for the month.

Bree Rogers is a communications major at Tarleton State University and a TSMRI intern set to graduate in fall of 2013. You can find her on Twitter.

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"Farm It Maybe": Agvocacy & Social Media

Believe it or not, some people might be surprised that a farmer knows how to use a computer, much less create a viral video.

However, the younger generation of American farmers has taken up a method of “agvocacy” like none before them. Last summer, the Peterson brothers from Kansas uploaded a video that forever changed the agriculture industry. A parody of LMFAO’s “I’m Sexy and I Know It,” their video, “I’m Farming and I Grow It,” went viral, with over 8 million views as of this writing.

After the success of the Peterson brothers, others set out to do something similar. This agriculture-related video parodies Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” , and is called “Farm It Maybe” by Lil Fred.  It features a young boy, Lil Fred, who makes a cute rap about a day in his life as farmer.

Both  videos  entertain while giving viewers a glimpse of farm life. So share these videos, or make one of your own, and help the Peterson brothers and Lil Fred in their efforts to advocate for agriculture.

Laura Procter is an Agricultural Communications graduate of Tarleton State University. She is from the small community of Lingleville and has been involved in the agriculture industry her entire life. You can follow her at @ProcterLaura.

Build Your PLN on Twitter

Twitter is now considered an important tool for many educators, but this wasn't always the case. Several years ago, faculty started exploring possible uses in the classroom and educators of all sorts began to find each other and to share information. Twitter quickly became a core component of the emerging Web 2.0 Personal Learning Network (PLN).

“Prevail-Whale” by John Lemasney on Flickr

 Twitter has continued to grow in size (170+ million active users) and  popular and political influence.  For many, Twitter has become an incredibly important tool in their PLN and for  professional development.

How to Get Started
Find & follow
---Search hash tags (a hash tag is a way to designate a topic in Twitter using the # sign) and to find people posting valuable links and information. Some education hash tags: #Edtech, #SAChat (student affairs), #elearning, #STEM.
---Check out this post for more on hash tags and education.
---There is also a Google doc Index to Educational Twitter Hash tags.

Use lists to network
---Find lists of relevant people by topic (and add yourself to lists) at Listorious or WeFollow.
---When you find relevant people, see who they follow. This is the network effect.

Try Twitter chats
---Twitter chats are live chats that occur at a regularly specified time and use a has hash tag to filter the Twitter stream. A tool like Tweetchat can help make these chats easier to follow and for adding your own contributions to the discussion. This post provides a list of some popular education-related chats. There is also a Google calendar of Educational Twitter Chats.
---Want more? A quick Google search will give you a lot to explore.

Twitter provides an excellent opportunity to make connections and collaborate with others.
 Try a couple of these suggestions and add your voice to the conversation.

Mark Gammon is an Academic Technology Researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder and a 2012-2013 TSMRI Research Fellow. You can find him on Twitter at @markgammon.

Easing your Pinterest Addiction...from a former Pinterest addict

When I first heard about Pinterest I thought,
"How crazy and pointless. Who would want to sit around looking at things online and pinning them to a 'board'?

But, I was wrong. 
So, so wrong.

When I finally acquired my Pinterest account, I wasn’t on it that much.
I mainly used it to occasionally kill time in one of my classes (never mind which one).
Pretty soon.... I was hooked.

"Can't...stop...pinning..."
Photo credit: Y. Mulhern. Model: C. Money

 My need for Pinterest went from getting on for 30 minutes to hours at a time.  The moment I experienced a pinprick of fatigue or boredom, Pinterest was my first stop. The minutes eventually turned into hours, multiple times a day.  I knew that I had a problem because every sentence out of my mouth began, “So I was on Pinterest and....”

I pinned constantly: in doctors’ offices, waiting in the hall for class, and while resting in bed.  Pinterest was how I relaxed, no question.

With all of the different ways to access Pinterest--the internet, smart phones, and even an app-- becoming a Pinterest addict, even for a short time, is inevitable. 

Kicking Your Habit
Take it slowly.

• Timing
  Place a time limit on how long you are on your account. Use an actual timer.
• Log ins
  Limit how many times a day you log in.
• Less is more
  After logging in once a day for a certain amount of time, log in every other day.  

Although I am no longer addicted, I will never fully get away from Pinterest. And that's OK. Yes, it is a good place to waste time but it also has some great resources. So if you’re like me and can’t eliminate Pinterest totally, just cut back on it and use it as a reward.  Log in when you have accomplished everything--not just to avoid doing something.

What do you look at most on Pinterest? Tell us in the comments.




Sarah Richards graduated from Tarleton State University in the Spring of 2013.