Sunday, 2 October 2011

Task 1b - Professional Communication Technologies

After reading 'Reader 1' numerous times I am impressed with what I have learnt so far and the learning continues each time I read.


I am surprised, like Michelle said of how much I already know about Web 2.0 without realising it.  It sounded scary at first the term Web 2.0 - as I didn't think myself to be much of a 'whiz' with technology.  I will now look at what Web 2.0 tools I already use and those which I intend to use after discovering them.


Like most people I know - I am addicted to Facebook.  It's crazy to think that one website can have so many people hooked?  After speaking with Paula and having discussed Facebook and whether or not I have two accounts: one for social and one for professional use?  My answer was just one....and having read Jessica Hays post I realised how wrong this is - oops...but to be honest when I used to use it for professional use it was only to look for jobs, I was not linked with any potential Employers.  I have a 'group' for a class I run which I believe is better than using my personal account as it is solely for the class and so I guess that it is like having a separate account for professional use?  Facebook has many pros and cons like most things.  Pros being a place to connect with friends and meet friends - (only through 'mutual friends') - which is how I met my fiancé! Cons being somewhere to plan violence as stated in Alicia's blog.   


YouTube - what a great creation, I use this tool a lot.  I use it for my own personal use - to get ideas for choreography and songs I can use, I also use it to post videos of dances I am currently teaching to help my students over half terms as a quick and easy source for practising (hopefully!).  I used to use YouTube to send potential employers clips of me dancing - which I actually got offered a job from, so it just shows how successful the website can be!  In the Web 2.0 Guide it says about having tutorials on YouTube of how to do certain things such as creating a GMail account.  I haven't needed to use any yet but what a great thing to know that this is available?! 


I have got to say Google is amazing - I always use Google Chrome, which I love, but why did I never know about Google docs?  I hadn't even looked at Google docs but having read about it in the Web 2.0 Guide and reading about it in Jessica Hays blog I was very impressed, and knew it would benefit me a lot.  My computer is so full and has hardly any space and I was thinking of purchasing a memory stick but it seems I don't have to if I use Google docs, I can't wait to explore more! 


BitTorrent? I would never have listed that as a Web 2.0 tool but in looking at it - it really couldn't be anything but a Web 2.0.  This really has opened my eyes and I can't believe how much I already know but did not know I knew?   


After reading Alicia Becks post on Web 2.0 it was clear that a delicious page would benefit me.  I have never heard of delicious before starting on the BAPP course.  I have Google Chrome which allows favourite bookmarks at an easy click and other bookmarks stored in a folder.  


Wikipedia is not something I need to use regularly, although I have used it before.  I wouldn't have thought that Wikipedia was a Web 2.0 tool, meaning it is not purely factual and therefore not the reliable source I have thought it was in the past.  I would still use Wikipedia if I needed to, as I am unaware of anything else like it, but I will be wary of what I read on there after finding out it is a Web 2.0 tool.


Blogging - something that is very new to me and something which I was wary of at first.  I was surprised to learn blogging would be a major part of the communication and posting of work for the course.  Now my views have changed, I like the idea of sharing my work, ideas, views and believe it is helping improve my professional development and also my critical analysis on my own work and others (something which would not normally come naturally to me).   


Flickr is new to me too - I probably have heard the name before but not taken much interest. I have signed up and actually used the link as a gadget on my profile.  I am not sure that I would normally use it but it was a great way to add photos to my blog.  I will look into it more as I know sometimes people add their photos to websites to store them rather than on the space of the computer, this would benefit me as I think that a lot of the space used on my computer are photos - and the memory is nearly full!  


Web 2.0 - something I knew of and used, but something I did not fully understand or know about until now!



2 comments:

  1. Hi Sina, but what about the drawbacks of Web2.0? I agree with much of what you say, but perhaps it would be good to present the other side ... the dangers, things that are lost by using technology if any, and then where does that leave you (and us). What do others on the network think?

    Remember this comment is not 'you have got it wrong' rather 'where can you go from here' .

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  2. Hi Sina!

    I thought this blog showed a very clear opinion of how you use each of the web 2.0 tools. I enjoyed reading about what use each one can be on a personal yet professional level too. It never occured to me to have 2 seperate accounts on Facebook, but like you, I rarely used it to contact specific people I did not know, rather just searched for auditions on the different pages.

    I also think, maybe summarising your over all opinion of web 2.0 at the end of the piece would round thinks off nicely. Expressing opinions first of all like Alan has suggested before doing so. Then we get a real understanding of your opinion on the matter.

    Hope your well :-)

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