Week 9- Communications

LECTURE
Technology has impacted every aspect of our lives, a main component being the way in which we communicate. There are four ways in which we can communicate over the Internet, this is; at the same place and same time (i.e chat room), the same time but different place (i.e msn), different time, same place (ie bulletin) and different time and different place (IE- email). This can be further broken down into two categories 'Synchronous' which is engaging in communication at the same time- e.g phone call, msn etc
and 'Asynchronous' which is replying in their own time, IE email or letter.
We then discussed email etiquette and how emails should be set out and written. Information and communication technology (ICT) have many uses these are:
- Mobile phones.
- Video and tele conferencing.
- I pods, mp3, laptops.
- Email
- Multi-media communication.

TUTORIAL
This weeks tutorial required us to look at pod casts. We completed a four part activity that required us to search on a topic of our search. Below are my answers.

1. My topic choice for this workshop was 'gymnastics' and in looking in Google groups I found that this forum was opinionated and sometimes bias. A number of group results came up including 'Gymnastics; More girls than Boys?', 'Artistic Gymnastics' even 'Names of people who have died as a result of gymnastics'. There was a wide variety of blogs covering a large scope about gymnastics. However, some were not technically related to gymnastics as such, which meant they had no significance to my search. I found this interesting from a personal perspective but not from an 'academics' as it is only based on peoples opinions, rather than facts.

2. When browsing through the groups I found alot of variety and coverage of Gymnastics. The groups tab is basically a way in which people can converse together about a topic that interests them. Topics are typically opinionated and sometimes bias. Nevertheless i found it very interesting to read other peoples opinions on a topic that interests me just as much as them.

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4. The benefits of using pod casts are that they are easy to use and a way in which a learner can understand the information more effectively because it can be replayed. Pod casts are an effective way to learn as they are suited to most 'learning styles'. They are also an overall effective way of interactive learning.

READINGS
1. Guide to Using Emails
Email etiquette is about writing an email in the right manor and tone so that it is polite and sincere. Below are some factors that will help to structure a professional email.

-Think of an appropriate subject.
-Address the recipients properly. (Dear, Kind Regards)
-Use appropriate tone.
-Avoid sarcasm and irony- this appears rude.
-Avoid emotion as emails can not convey how someone is feeling very successfully ( this is better face to face or on the phone)
-Edit your message.
-Ask before sending attachments.

2. The Problems with Spam
This web page looks at SPAM and its problems it poses to the public as it is such a difficult problem to manage. Some of the main problems about SPAM is

-Your usage of electronic mailbox is denied.
-It is not like any other form of advertising.
-It doesn't cost the sender anything.
-Destroys the purpose of an email.
-It cost the recipient money.
-Stifles other communications.

Week 8- Presentation Strategies

LECTURE
This weeks lecture began by the students making a list of useful tips for presentations, this included: being specific, using colour schemes, knowing who we are presenting to, modulating our voice, engaging the audience, making eye-contact and using correct spelling. Statistics show that most people remember things by being interactively involved, so humanizing things and making an 'emotional' connection is an important part to an interesting and memorable presentation. We then discussed the main components to a speech being the Introduction, Main Body and Conclusion. Each component having critical parts that should be included in a presentation. If we are presenting with PowerPoint we should not solely rely on the PowerPoint as our means of delivery, it should be simple and only aid us in delivering our ideas. Finally, having a prepared and structured presentation is the key to a successful presentation.

TUTORIAL
This weeks tutorial was about successful (and non successful) ways in which to present an oral presentation. We were also taught about successfully using visual effects to enhance our presentation.

WORKSHOP
1. My top 5 stratergies in making a good presentation are;
- Research the topic so that there is no hesinaties when you are talking about the topic, there is nothing worse than someone talking about something they know nothing about!
- A talk should be prepared and organised around a 'central theme' meaning the topic should be clear. The audience should not be going " what are they talking about?"
- A slide show should be simple. This means avoid using tables as they are too detailed for someone to remember during an oral presentation.
- Always use quotes, specific examples, case studies etc as they help you in expressing a point, they also are a way to legitamize an idea. It makes your speach more believable and it means your not going off with the fairies with an idea with no backing.
- The audience should be entertained- constantly. This means having eye contact, being CONFIDENT! Audience interaction and so on..
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Readings

This weeks resource was a website aimed to teach students about creating a short, concise and informative Powerpoint Presentation. This site provides a detailed step by step guide about editing and presenting a powerpoint presentation.

Week 7- EndNote Libraries

LECTURE NOTES
Today's lecture taught us how to use 'endnote'. End Note is a flat-file database system designed to help students reference correctly and more easily. Endnote can easily be downloaded via the ecu homepage and tutorials are available to help students use endnote. Endnote is important as it helps stop plaigarism, which is a big problem within the university environment, correctly referencing anothers work acknowledges their work and means a student can not be penalised for not referencing someone elses ideas and efforts. Finally, end note can be integrated with Microsoft Word and is an easier way to reference with a multitude of different styles, designed for all types of referencing.

TUTORIAL
This weeks tutorial task was to learn the fundamentals and 'how too's' of endnote and the advantage of this when referencing.
We then opened up endnote and completed a set of tasks on how to enter information, weather it is a newspaper, handout, book or a web page. This program works by having an already formulated page based on the type of reference and style. From there we can simply enter the information ( i.e author ) and the reference will be laid out in the correct format so that it can be copied and pasted into a reference list.

TUTORIAL ACTIVITY
This workshops activity was to use the correct template to show we can successfully use endnote and cite references, which can then be saved to Microsoft Word.

The screen shots below show the completed task:

Readings
Reading 1- ECU End Note Guide
This week’s first reading was to read the ECU 'End Note' Guide. This guide provides helpful pointers about utilising the functions of End Note. Basically, it is a step by step guide to creating correct references at a University level. This guide aims for the student to successfully use End Note.

Reading 2- Technical Support and Services
The Second reading was to look at the End Note Technical Support & Services site. This page has frequently asked questions and answers for End Note. It also contains links to download End Note so that as a student we can be regularly up to date with the progressing software of End Note.

Week 6- Evaluation and Authentification

LECTURE NOTES
This weeks lecture was designed to help us, as students, evaluate what is authentic on the Internet. The Internet is a useful tool but can sometimes be unreliable and untrustworthy, this is because anyone can publish their opinions without having it reviewed, meaning some sites are bias, inaccurate and false. This is why we need to critically evaluate what is legit from what isn't. This means checking the currency, authorship, objective, accuracy and coverage of the website prior to using it. Evaluating the authenticity of a website can also be checked by its domain, (i.e- .com, .edu, .au), the credibility of the author, the references and links.

TUTORIAL
This weeks tutorial was about evaluating the authenticity of information on the Internet and enforcing what we have learnt in our lecture into our practical work. Using our knowledge in evaluating what is legit to what isn't we were to look at two sites and evaluate them on the criteria of; authorship, purpose, accuracy, detail and design and overall worth.

Task 1- Each website looks at the evaluation of a website, the websites follow the same criteria to authenticating what is real from what is fake. The six main points below explain what a student should look for when they are evaluating a website.

Accuracy - Is the information reliable?
- Are the facts well covered and documented?

Authorship - Is there information about the author/ producer accessible on the page?
- What qualifications does the author hold?
- Are they affiliated with an organisation?

Objectivity - What is the purpose of this website?
- Is the site bias?
- What is the authors point of view?
- Targeted audience?

Currency - Is the page regularly updated?
- Is there ongoing maintenance?
- When was the site originally published?

Coverage - Is the information peer reviewed and trustworthy?
- Does the site well balanced ? Covers all angles of the topic?
- Is the information presented correctly, in an easy to understand way?

Value - Is the site well organised?
- Is it informal or beneficial in any way ?
- Would you re-visit it again?

Minor points to look for are things such as - copy write, citations, connectivity, censorship, critical thinking and comparability. These are six of the ten 'C's' which were developed to help authenticate a websites value.

Evaluation of two sites
1.
The Sixties Project
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/

Authority- Although there is an email address, there is no information about the author and no qualifications that are mentioned.
Accuracy- This site is not very accurate. The information seems to be unrealistic and the website does not have much originality.
Purpose- The objective of this website is to tell people about the sixties. However, it isn't informative, it is simply a bundle of meaningless information.
Currency- This website was last updated in 1999, nine years ago. Seeing as it is about history i don't see how alot of the information could be much different but it has not been maintained and this is a give away to an unreliable website.
Coverage- Yes, this website covers a wide scope of information related to the sixties. However, it has no real depth and seems to merely cover the fundamentals of the sixties, rather than explain why.
Overall worth and Detail- This site is poorly organised and i struggled to find any interesting information from it. It might be an 'ok' site to peruse but it is in no form a source for academics. I would not re- visit this site as i found it confusing and abit of a mess.

In conclusion it is prudent that this website is not reliable and not a good source of information about the sixties.

2.
American History 102
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture27.html

Authority- This website provides the authors names directly under the title. The two authors qualifications are also listed. However, I didn't find much information about the two authors when i looked them up on Google, so I'm not completely convinced this site is legit.
Accuracy- The facts posted were true and this site did not aim to persuade. Facts are well covered and not hollow.
Purpose- The purpose of this website is to inform people about President Johnson's ideologies and how he influenced American culture (specifically the black movement).
Currency- The last time this website was updated was in 1999. There is no evidence of on going maintenance, so i ponder as to the reliability of the information presented.
Coverage- As mentioned before, the coverage of the topic is quite in depth. The information does not say that it is 'peer reviewed' but it does come from the University of Wisconsin, which is a reliable source.
Overall worth and Detail- This site was informative and easy to navigate around. The pictures were referenced and the attention to detail is very refined

Overall, the information presented seems reliable. It is not bias and positions the reader with solid information as to what President Johnson's philosophies were. Although there are some downfalls in the website I do believe that it would be a reliable source to later review.

Readings
The readings this week were aimed to act as a guide for evaluating websites. By using a criteria of: Authority, Accuracy, Purpose, Currency, Coverage and Over All worth students are able to immediately detect if a website is authentic or not. This component is essential in university life as every academic should know what source is reliable and what ones are not.