Can it be 10? Yes! Thanks to tireless effort of Susan Spellman Cann, February of 2023 is a celebration of this Decade Since ETMOOC!
ETMOOC 10 Years TOP 10 https://t.co/B0ln6mDK1b
— Susan Spellman Cann (@SSpellmanCann) February 7, 2023
We’ve duct taped this web site back together aspart of the celebration
cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by courosa
Well, it’s been an amazing experience more amazing than playing video games with the lol community and with services from http://elitist-gaming.com, but the #etmooc community is about to commence on the final scheduled topic, Digital Citizenship. Over the next two weeks, we’re hoping to have people participate in re/defining what Digital Citizenship is, and what it means for children and adults. The term has been around for quite some time, and has taken on a number of subtopics and meanings (Ribble’s Nine Elements is a notable example). We encourage #etmooc’ers to take on some or all of these topics, or to develop their own. In terms of our scheduled events, these will focus mostly on the facets of identity, footprint, and social activism.
EVENTS:
Those will be the ‘officially’ planned events. However, because this is near the end of #etmooc, we’d love to see participant-led Google Hangouts (or other events) organized or streamed. For instance, it would be great to see a participate-led panel organized that focuses on questions such as, “What does it mean to be a citizen today?” and “How do we foster such citizens in our educational institutions?”. Is there anyone willing to take this on? Send out a tweet, get a few people organized, choose a time, and let us know (tweet @courosa). I’ll add any such events to the #etmooc Calendar.
It would also be nice to have a bit of a closing event for the #etmooc experience. We’d absolutely LOVE your thoughts on this. If you have ideas, please tweet them with #etmooc.
ASSIGNMENTS:
We have a few suggested assignments for this topic.
#etmooc Summary of Learning – Create a final ‘summary of learning’ artefact reflecting on what you have learned during your time in #etmooc. Choose an appropriate digital tool or mode (a blog post, screencast, video, image, etc), and reflect on your learning. When you’re done, tweet the link to your work using the #etmetc hashtag (note: it’s one we haven’t used before) and/or post it in the Google Community. We’d like to eventually collect all of the artefacts here. If you are looking for inspiration, take a look at these student ‘Summaries of Learning‘ collected from undergrad and graduate level courses (scroll down). These links go back several years so there are many examples to view.
If you are not sure where to start with this assignment, here are some prompt questions.
Six Word Stories: Prior to the March 27th #etmchat, we’d like all participants to think about and create a 6-word-story related to the following question, “What does it mean to be an educator and digital citizen? What is our special role?”
During the chat we will start by asking people to share their 6-word-stories. We hope that this will inspire insight to deepen our discussion. For the remainder of the chat, we will focus on questions such as “What themes do we see?”, “What inspires us?”, and “How do we move forward?”. As a final #etmchat, we hope that we not only share insight into the topic, but thoughts on how we can move forward together, as a community of practice.
#etmooc Supports A Cause: As mentioned in the very first #etmooc session, a possibly great outcome of developing this community would be to utilize our collective networks/power to identify and support a common cause or charity. If there are people with thoughts on how we could make this happen, let’s start this conversation and quickly move to action. This could be really wonderful, but we’ll need a lot of help on this one.
RESOURCES:
As always, we’d love you to share your resources with us in our #etmooc Diigo Group. We’ve also shared a few below that may be of interest.
We’re really looking forward to the next two weeks!
~your #etmooc co-conspirators
Nutrition is about eating a healthy and balanced diet so your body gets the nutrients that it needs. Nutrients are substances in foods that our bodies need so they can function and grow. They include carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. Learn more about nucentix keto x3 benefits.
Good nutrition is important, no matter what your age. It gives you energy and can help you control your weight. It may also help prevent some diseases, such as osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.
But as you age, your body and life change, and so does what you need to stay healthy. For example, you may need fewer calories, but you still need to get enough nutrients. Some older adults need more protein. Check these Exipure reviews.
Some changes that can happen as you age can make it harder for you to eat healthy. These include changes in your:
To stay healthy as you age, you should:
Sometimes health issues or other problems can make it hard to eat healthy. Here are some tips that might help:
cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by courosa
Over the last two weeks, we’ve been heavily immersed in digital storytelling. In the initiating post, suggestions were provided for developing and thinking about digital stories, and we’ve been so happy with the ensuing conversation. Now, we’re going to dive into another topic that will require you to think deeply about how we attain knowledge and about our relationships with/in the digital world.
There have been numerous studies which examine the nuances among differing definitions of so-called new literacies (Pinto, Cordon, & Gomez Diaz, 2010). Since the first use of the term “information literacy” in 1974 (Pinto et al., 2010), varying terminology has been used to define the ability to find, analyze and use information in a changing knowledge landscape (Pinto et al., 2010). In recent years, many academics have added a social and cultural layer to the definition of these literacies.
Terminology used for these literacies include “information literacy”, “digital literacy”, “technological literacy”, “computer literacy”, “media literacy”, “communication literacy”, “internet literacy” and other ambiguous terms.
As Doug Belshaw points out in his doctoral thesis (2011), these terms “do not have the necessary explanatory power, or they become stuck in a potentially-endless cycle of umbrella terms and micro literacies,” (p. 200). Belshaw makes an impressive case for ditching the semantic argument and focusing on the improvement of educational practice. He also suggests that the term “literacy” is too binary and that in the context of digital or web skills the plural “literacies” should be used to show that in these realms there are no ‘literate’ or ‘illiterate’, but rather degrees of literacy (Belshaw, 2011). Perhaps those who experienced our last topic on Digital Storytelling may agree.
So over the next two weeks, we will be exploring what it means to be digitally literate. We’ve invited some amazing thinkers including Doug Belshaw, Howard Rheingold, Will Richardson, and Audrey Watters to lead us through certain aspects of this topic (see the Calendar for specific dates and times). And, as always, we’re hoping that the #etmooc community will participate through writing and commenting in our collective blog spaces, using the #etmooc hashtag on Twitter, in our Google Plus Community, and in other spaces of choice.
Here are some questions to get you started. Feel free to respond in any format you like (blogpost, tweet conversation, Google+ Community thread, digital story, video blog, etc.)
Take up any of these questions, or find and explore others. Let’s take this opportunity to go deep over the next two weeks. We look forward to the conversation!
References
Belshaw, D. (2011). What is “digital literacy”? Durham University. Retrieved from http://neverendingthesis.com/doug-belshaw-edd-thesis-final.pdf
Pinto, M., Cordon, J. A., & Gomez Diaz, R. (2010). Thirty years of information literacy (1977–2007): A terminological, conceptual and statistical analysis. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 42(1), 3–19.
Topic 2: Digital Storytelling
Dates: February 3-16, 2013
Hashtag: #etmooc
For the next two weeks, we’ll be creating stories. Digital stories. We’ve created a number of tasks for every level of learner. If you’ve never composed a story, get started with a Six Word Story and try some Virtual Presenter Services. If you want to play around with video, try creating a web native film. If you want to try telling a visual story, consider making an animated gif. Create stories using the method you want to explore — a variety of tasks are built into this week at a variety of levels of experience.
Because copyright is a concern for many people, but also a topic that spans throughout digital work, we wanted to point you to some information on Creative Commons, Fair Use (US, other) and Fair Dealing (Commonwealth).
There are sites that only search copyleft licensed materials. Copyright is a complicated issue, but basically, give credit where credit is due, don’t try to sell the stuff you make through unauthorized uses, and be aware when you are using someone else’s work in your stories. During Topic 4 (Mar 3-16), we’ll be spending more, supportive time chewing over the implications of copyright.
“The truth about stories is, that’s all we are.” ~Thomas King
Storytelling is something that human beings have been doing for hundreds of thousands of years. It is a natural way for us to communicate. Nowadays, we keep hearing the term “digital storytelling”, which can sound confusing. But the important part of the term is “storytelling”—the digital piece really mostly means that the story is either created or accessible via digital technologies because of a content production agency. Because of that, digital stories can be easily commented upon, shared, and remixed using the participatory strategies you’ve been practicing already in #etmooc. If you feel like you’ve a great story to tell, try consulting Screenplay Coverage Services.
Digital Storytelling often involves video, but it can involve other media too. A more text-based example is the game Twitter vs. Zombies (#TvsZ), developed and facilitated in November 2012 by Jesse Stommel and Pete Rorabaugh to teach Twitter literacy. You can scan the rules here. #TvsZ demonstrates how a game can create a framework for emergent storytelling by the participants. #TvsZ was designed to “teach” particular “skills” (social media networking, collaboration, use of hashtags, blog promotion, etc.), but it ended up creating a connected narrative that the players made up as they went (examples on the #TvsZ Scoop.It). Breaking information: Twitter vs. Zombies 2.0, built and led by university students in Atlanta, Georgia, and Syracuse, NY, will unfold on Twitter between Wed, Feb 6, 8pmEST, and Fri, Feb. 8, 8pmEST. All ETMOOC participants are invited to play. Click here to register.
Have a quick look at the Wikipedia article on Digital Storytelling and pay special attention to the nuances in the definition of this term. Critically examine the definitions. For example “’Digital storytelling’ is a relatively new term which describes the new practice of ordinary people who use digital tools to tell their ‘story’.” Is that a good definition? Or how about “One can think of digital storytelling as the modern extension of the ancient art of storytelling, now interwoven with digitized still and moving images and sound.” Is this more accurate?
Definitions are a minefield because they can be constraining; the Wikipedia one is very video focused. We like the perspective in “Digital Storytelling: How to Tell a Story That Stands out in the Digital Age” (museum of the future blog) – especially their example of the campaign to save Troy Library (AL):
To address the most important issue first: there is no such thing as digital storytelling. There’s only storytelling in the digital age, and frankly speaking this isn’t much different from storytelling in the age of hunters, gatherers, dinosaurs and ICQ…. Digital is not the difficult part in digital storytelling. Storytelling is.
Below, you’ll find eight tasks for this topic. We don’t even think it’s possible for you to create that many digital stories in just a couple of weeks (feel free to prove us wrong). Perform the tasks that are interesting to you, look at the work of your peers and start exploring Digital Storytelling through creation. Share your stories with the #etmooc tag, blog about your experience, interact through the Google+ Community, and just have fun!
A good place to start looking at digital storytelling is through definition and example. Blog a reflective post about this introduction to storytelling; you could also reflect on the Wikipedia page on Digital Storytelling mentioned above. Find an example of a digital story and attach it to your post. Engage with the posts of others, or let your reflection tie several of them together. As always, submit the links to your posts in the Google+ community! and on Twitter. If you’re new to ETMOOC, click here to learn how to tie your blog to the ETMOOC Blog Hub
There are many different software applications that you can use to create an animated GIF. This tutorial uses GIMP, a free and open source software program that is similar to Photoshop, but you can use any image editing software you’re comfortable with.
More resources can be found in this ds106 Handbook http://ds106.us/handbook
Jim Groom and company will be discussing the creation of animated gifs during their session on February 5 at 7pm EST. You can start early or wait until then. Remember: Jim Groom’s session will NOT take place in Blackboard/Elluminate. Instead, tune into DTLT Today for the live show!
Write a story, and then tell that same story digitally using any number of digital tools and freely available media! For inspiration and story creation guidance, see Alan Levine’s 50+ Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story.
Alan Levine will be discussing this topic during his session on February 11 at 7pm EST. You can start early or wait until then.
Use Twitter, Google+ or another social platform to publish a six word story. Your story can be about anything. Check out the six word stories site (or the twitter stream) for inspiration! You can experiment with Storify to tie other’s tweets together and make a collaborative story (see the collaborative poems that Janine DeBaise‘s students made ast week as an example).
Alan Levine will be discussing six word stories during his session on February 11 at 7pm EST. You can start early or wait until then.
Based on the Five Card Nancy card game by Scott McLeod, Five Card Flickr is en exercise in visual storytelling where you are dealt five random images from a Flickr tag (in our case, the tag is 5cardetmooc), and you pick one to be in your story. In the next four rounds you again choose from 5 new random photos with the idea of building a coherent storyline from your five photos. For this week, we set up a special pool of photos in flickr just for #etmooc. We need your help to create this pool — see the set of photo prompts and see what kind of stories we can make of them — or just try it now.
How can you change a story that already exists and make it your own? Create a PopUp video that changes the context of a story by adding content to it. For a more interactive experience than YouTube comments can offer (and an easier to use interface) try Popcorn Maker. Here’s a “how to” use popup comments to change the context of a video. Share your links via Twitter and G+, comment on your peers’ posts.
For inspiration see these great videos.
Draw an object on a piece of paper and then upload it to Flickr, Instagram, your blog — where ever. Then ask a peer to draw a related object. Pass your peer’s drawing on to another peer and have them draw a related object. Keep doing this until you have 5 drawings (including your original object).
Create a story that links the original object with the last object drawn. What is the connection between the first object and the last object? Write a brief story, then try to create multiple pathways that a user could go through the story. Use a mind-mapping tool like MindMeister or a host of others.
This is a loose framework, so feel free to adapt it or try something related. Be sure to share your stories, maps, hierarchies, and story architecture on your blog, but also to Twitter and the Google+ Community if you use those sites. Comment on other people’s plans. Be social!
Play Twitter vs. Zombies 2.0 with scores of others on the web from Wednesday, February 6 at 8pmEST, to Friday, Feb. 8 at 8pmEST. Students from Pete Rorabaugh’s #TechApoc class and Janine DeBaise’s #Nifkin class will moderate the game for the ETMOOC community. The game will begin immediately following the ETMOOC Twitter chat on Feb. 6. Click here to register. Watch your hashtags, and sleep with one eye open.
One final note on tasks . . . you can’t break them or complete them incorrectly. They are simply prompts to get you to explore storytelling in shareable, remixable, collaborative platforms. It may not be that important whether a story you create falls under one category or another; if you’ve shared it and you’re interacting with the stories of others, and learning new narrative frameworks, that’s our goal.
Based on a course offered first at the University of Mary Washington (UMW), ds106 is an open course like no other. In fact, it is not a single course; there are sections offered to registered UWM students, students taking similar courses elsewhere (currently Kansas State University, University of Michigan, York College/CUNY), and a cloud of people who participate on their own interest. The core of ds106 is powered by the syndication bus, a networked architecture built of participants’ own blogs to which our web site subscribes, aggregates, and shares back content published by individuals (same tech as we used in etmooc blog hub). As much community as course, ds106 includes an open assignment bank that participants populate, a daily creative challenge, and even its own internet-based radio station. You can tune in to the show at any time.
Next examine the idea of Web Native Filmmaking. Take some time to watch these six episodes about Web Native Filmmaking (created for a program called Popcorn Story Camp, but they explain many aspects of Digital Storytelling that will help you think creatively about your own stories). Each film is about 3 minutes long.
There are a gazillion different articles, resources and tools for storytelling. If you haven’t had enough of an intro, here’s a metric ton of stuff to explore: http://www.scoop.it/t/etmooc-topic-2
TOPIC 2: DIGITAL STORYTELLING PLANNING TEAM:
If you have questions about this topic, feel free to contact any members of the Topic 2 team directly (our names are below), or for a quicker response, either send a message on Twitter with the #etmooc hashtag or ask a question in the #etmooc Google+ Community under the Topic 2 Category!
Laura Hilliger
Pete Rorabaugh
Verena Roberts
Alan Levine
Robin Bartoletti
Well #etmooc, we’ve reached the end of our first topic, Connected Learning. This has been an amazing experience for me, as a facilitator and learner, as I’ve read through so many excellent posts and ideas from our participants. It’s wonderful to see the extent of sharing and support that has resulted through the development of this community. Thank you all!
And, I’m very excited to share our #etmooc crowdsourced #lipdub project! Thanks to a community vote, a Google Doc, and our tireless editor @stumpteacher, we’ve created something that I feel is so very memorable and representative of this experience. Take a look – I hope you enjoy it.
Of course, what we’ve learned about Connected Learning will continue to guide us through #etmooc – it is core to its structure (or nonstructure). So, I hope that we will continue to contemplate, co-create, study, and live as connected learners.
Our next topic is Digital Storytelling, and an outline of the next two weeks will be shared tomorrow. If you haven’t been able to participate as you had originally intended, do not worry. Tomorrow is a new topic, with the possibility of a fresh start.
Join in, invite a friend or colleague, and let’s spend the next two weeks discussing, sharing, and creating digital stories.
Connect with you soon.
Alec
We’ve had a really active week with #etmooc so I just wanted to drop a quick note regarding what happened last week, and what’s coming up.
If people are looking for ideas to write about, I’d like to take this opportunity to once again share the blog prompts that were mentioned in the Introduction to Connected Learning presentation. These included:
I hope that these are useful. Thanks to everyone who has already responded to these and similar questions, and has helped to move our community forward.
Finally, I wanted to share what’s coming up. This week we have Dave Cormier discussing Rhizomatic Learning, George Couros facilitating a Networked Leadership presentation, and Sue Waters running a session on Blogging with Students. And of course, we have our regularly scheduled Twitter chat mid-week. Check the #etmooc Calendar for details.
Got ideas for sessions, presenters, activities, or formats? Let us know – we’re always looking for new ways to engage participants.
Enjoy the week ahead!
Alec
There’s never been a better time to lose weight, get active and eat better, so you can improve your chances against COVID (and other diseases), do more of the things you want to do, and most importantly, be there for your loved ones in the future. Check out the latest exipure reviews.
Put simply, losing weight is about adopting healthy eating habits that last for life. Our article about What’s in a healthy diet might help you think about the types of food you should be eating and what to avoid. There are also NHS reviewed diets in the references section.
But we don’t want to prescribe a particular regime. Not even the experts agree on that. The NHS recommended low calorie diet may seem sensible, but some believe it’s not as simple as that, as there can be “good” and “bad” calories. Equally there’s debate about how much we should restrict fat, carbs and sugar, with many arguing it’s sugar, not fat that is causing the current obesity epidemic. We’re also all genetically unique and respond to foods differently. A DNA test could tell you more about how you process food types. Visit Observer.com.
So rather than focus what you eat, we’ve put together these tips about how to eat, that might help kick start your weight loss journey whatever approach you choose.
When starting new habits it’s best to set targets so you have something to aim for. In fact a Harvard business school study showed people who set goals are 10 x more likely to succeed. Start with the goal of losing 2% of your bodyweight in 2-4 weeks. Then when you get there, set a new goal. While that may not seem much, those wins will help shift the dial. For example, if you’re 5 foot 8 inches and 12 stone, losing 2 percent of your overall weight could move you from an overweight to healthy BMI range.
Having an “eating window” allows your body to have a break from digesting and focus on a housekeeping process called “autophagy” where old and worn out cells are broken down and eliminated from the body. This form of intermittent fasting has been shown to have many health benefits including a positive impact on blood sugar and weight loss. It’s simple to apply no matter what your schedule: For example, if you finish your evening meal by 8pm you would start breakfast the next day no earlier than 8am. If you’re on shift work, your window might be 8pm to 8am. A more advanced form of this is eating your daily food intake within 8 hours with 16 hours fasting but this is not suitable for everyone, for example if you’re under 18. If in doubt seek advice from your GP first.
It may be helpful to finish eating 3 hours before bed and only drink water afterwards. As well as helping to eliminate those (usually unhealthy) post dinner snacks, it might even help you to sleep better.
In the UK we tend to eat the majority of our calories in the second half of the day and many of us skip breakfast, but there is evidence to suggest that some humans use calories more efficiently in the morning. For example, an Israeli study on overweight and obese women gave two different groups the same amount of calories, but at different times of the day. While both groups lost weight, the morning focused group had lost an average of twice as much.
It’s important to remember that everyone is different and one size doesn’t fit all. It won’t do you any harm to try adding a protein rich breakfast to your routine and see if it changes things. Adding protein to your breakfast has been shown to help keep you feeling fuller for longer. Protein rich breakfast ideas include eggs, adding nuts and seeds to cereals, making porridge with milk not water, dairy products or even the leftovers from last night’s meal.
You’re cruising down the highway listening to the latest Casefile podcast when your car’s “check engine” light blinks on. When you take your vehicle into an automotive shop, the mechanic tells you that the problem is a catalytic converter in need of replacing. And oh, while he was poking around he also noticed the car’s air filter ought to be changed and you’re due for a steering flush as well.
Are these operations really necessary, or is the mechanic trying to needlessly upsell you? You’re not sure, but figure it’s better to be safe than sorry, and you sign off on all the repairs. When you pick up your car and pull out of the parking lot, you’re just getting over the sticker shock of the huge bill when…the check engine light comes on again.
How does one find a trustworthy automotive professional? Well we have drilled down on a few tips to help you answer that question. Check out the latest Effuel reviews.
Know your cars Anatomy.
The typical scenario is, for most people, you go to a mechanic, and they tell you some system needs flushing, or a belt needs replacing, or something looks worn, and you usually just kind of nod along like you understand what they’re talking about. Inevitably, most don’t! You don’t want to come off as an automotive ignoramus, so you just act like you know the parts and the repairs needed.
So before finding a new mechanic, it pays to head over to google and there will be endless information for the make and model of majority of cars. Even a quick search for “how a car works” (for dummies or kids, with photos.. even better!) this will be more suitable then a large manual but it will give you some basic knowledge. Knowing how your vehicle operates allows you to make informed decisions when shopping around for a mechanic.
Ensure your Mechanic has a Motor Vehicle Repair licence.
A motor vehicle repair business licence is required if you are an owner of a motor vehicle repair business, a self-employed motor vehicle repairer or operate a mobile repair business.
Your mechanic must be a certified repairer or employ a certified repairer to supervise repairs for each class of repair work your business carries out to receive a licence. They are also one indication of how seriously a shop takes its professionalism and training. If the shop is certified, it tells you that another organisation has done some vetting for you, and gives its stamp of approval.
Get Recommendations.
Okay so this is a no brainer, but that fancy Facebook feature where you ask for “recommendations” is going to come in handy, if you want to be super fancy, add a location eg. Thornton! Your neighbour, your cousins husbands mother and probably your mailman will all have an opinion on where to go, This is a good start! We have a sneaky feeling you have been recommended to Titan Auto at Thornton from a local recommendation so you’re on the right track to finding a good mechanic! 5 stars to you!
Test the waters – start with something small
Before you commit to a hefty bill with a large repair or similar, book in for a routine job such as a general service (which we do for just $129 including a Pink Slip, talk about bang for your buck!).
From here, you can see how they work, and assess the whole experience. Start building a relationship so when you need to come in for an emergency repair or large service, you are confident you are going to be looked after for a fair price!
Good Communication lines with you and your prospective mechanic.
Your mechanic should be approachable and be able to explain to you in terms that you will understand whether it is from an oil change to something more complex.
At Titan Auto in most cases our Lead mechanic will contact you directly if there are any questions or concerns he may have when undertaking a service or repair with you. You can also discuss options and quotes prior to booking so you can be better prepared. Think of your mechanic just like your hairdresser or barber. Don’t forget about assessing and reception desk staff you may deal with as well, a positive relationship with them is also super important!
Properly maintaining your car is key to keeping it in top condition. It can also help ensure your safety, the safety of your passengers and your fellow drivers. Here are some ways to help keep your car running smoothly.
When you drive with quality coverage, you drive with peace of mind. Allstate auto insurance can help you stay protected for wherever the road takes you.
Get a quote
Consider adding these items to your vehicle maintenance “to do” list:
Knowing how to maintain your car’s tire pressure can help reduce wear on the tires and helps ensure you’re getting good gas mileage. Checking your tire pressure includes finding the recommended pressure, checking the PSI and inflating or deflating your tires accordingly.
A flat tire is a hazard that can be dangerous to you and your car. There are several preventative steps you can take to help avoid a blowout, including rotating your tires every 5,000 to 10,000 miles and watching for tire recalls.
Routinely checking and changing your car’s oil is essential to keeping its engine in running condition. Check your oil each month and change it as directed in the car’s owner’s manual.
You can change your oil yourself or take it to a service center. If you choose to do it yourself, learn the necessary steps to drain the fluid, set the correct oil level and dispose of old oil. Improve your engine lifespan with effuel.
You should also know which type of motor oil is best for your car, regardless of whether you change the oil yourself or take it to a service center. This generally means considering three things — the oil viscosity, whether to use synthetic versus non-synthetic oil and your car’s mileage.
There are several fluids that should be kept at the appropriate levels to help keep your car running properly. According to Popular Mechanics, you or your mechanic should check:
A leak with any of these fluids can affect the way your car drives. If you spot a leak, you may be able to identify the fluid by its color. This can help you and your mechanic determine where the leak is coming from. It can also help speed up the repair process.
A broken or burnt-out bulb is a safety hazard and might get you a ticket. Learn how to thoroughly inspect each bulb on your car. If a bulb is out, take your car to an expert to determine whether it’s the bulb or the fuse that needs replacing.
Headlights are key safety lights on your car. Consider taking a few extra steps to help keep them shining bright, such as cleaning the lenses and replacing bulbs as they start to dim.
If your wipers aren’t working like they used to, don’t let the problem linger. Damaged or worn out blades can reduce visibility during a heavy rain or a snowstorm. Knowing how to inspect your wiper blades regularly and replace them when necessary is one way to help keep your car safe.
A dirty engine air filter can allow dirt and other particulates into your car’s engine and reduce its efficiency. Inspect your car’s air filter once a year and replace it as needed.
Some routine car care tasks can be done at home, but others require trained technicians. Take your car to a technician if the check engine light comes on. Trained technicians can diagnose the problem through the car’s on-board diagnostics (OBD-II) port.
A qualified repair shop will also be able to inspect and replace other core components like the alternator and the wheel bearings. Scheduling regular tune-ups will help ensure that your car gets other maintenance items repaired as well.
Your car’s brake pads also require regular inspection. While driving, listen for any brake noise and pay attention to shuddering or vibrating from the brake pedal. If any concerns arise, consult a service center as soon as possible