Final Reflections Before Finals

Upon enrolling in ALES204, I had very little idea of what to expect. I had absolutely no idea that such a course was dedicated to "Communications Theory and Practice." Thinking about it again now though, the course makes perfect sense. Being born in 1990, I grew up just as the internet was starting to really expand. As a child it was primarily meant as a form of entertainment and communication with long distance relatives. My first introduction to social media was Facebook back in high school. All I really understood from that minor usage was that it was a method of interaction amongst friends and I quickly lost interest in it shortly after graduating. To me, all I understood of Wikipedia was that it was simply a quick resource one could quickly refer to if they needed generalized information. I didn't even know what Twitter was until I enrolled in this course.

Image: Doral Chamber of Commerce (July 21, 2011). SocialMediaIcons. Retrieved on April 13, 2012 from: http://www.prlog.org/11593579-socialmediaicons.png

Looking back now as I write my last post about my e-portfolio instead of posting on it, I realize that this course has taught me numerous things about all of these subjects. We were taught how to write a Curriculum Viatae, a useful alternative to a resume especially for current students or recent graduates. In lab I learned that Facebook could be used to advertise yourself to potential employers, simply by uploading one's CV or resume and posting it online. Though using Facebook as a form of personal advertisement came with the catch that there may possibly be discriminatory material on Facebook that you may not want your employers to see. Regardless, with proper monitoring and professionalism, it is definitely a useful tool to put one's skills out on the market and having employers look for you. We learned how to edit and update Wikipedia pages and contribute to a website which many, if not all of us, access and use on a regular basis. This blog was a useful place to post about these accomplishments, I wouldn't use it for anything else but these sorts of personal, professional developments in order to keep things consistent and professional. I personally agree with fellow ALES 204 student Hilary Baker, in regards to looking back now I wish I had taken this class earlier.

All of these subjects previously mentioned, were completed with supplementary practice of critical thinking and literacy, regularly performed via Tweets and Twitter. Our Professor Dr. Jessica Laccetti taught us a number of useful topics that we could apply to our everyday lives here at the University of Alberta, and constructing a critically literate Tweet on Twitter is one that has been emphasized throughout the semester. These critically literate Tweets are more than just an update of one's status, location or hollow comment, they contribute in some way to the discussion at hand. By the end of the term, typing critically literate Tweets comes almost naturally, and I feel as if I'm applying the same element of critical literacy whenever I comment on any other sort of public forum. Pecha Kucha, a power point presentation format that integrates 20 slides that are on screen for 20 seconds each. Considering that before this semester, presenting a power point presentation in a format that did not bore people to death, while at the same time was descriptive and concise, this is by far one of the most useful things that I have taken from this course. A format to give one's presentation in a concise manner while delivering at a rapid pace.

Overall, I find that what I have learned from this course can easily be applied across any course here at the University of Alberta simply because communications and social media are concepts that are unavoidable in the field of research and study. From being able to perform outstanding public presentation, to advertising your skills online, to analyzing scientific articles from numerous fields of study, to critically contributing to a conversation with a limit of 140 characters; All of these are skills that I will use again in my academic career.

As requirement, here are the links to the posts of fellow ALES 204 students of which I have commented;
Becky Bohlender
Cassandra H
Lauren Bradshaw
Nian Liu
Karen Leung

From SOPA to CISPA

In our ALES 204 class we have already discussed SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and the potential harm that it could inflict upon free speech and innovation throughout the internet. This bill has been halted mid-January as a result of mass online protests including the blackout of many high traffic sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit. A new bill has been introduced though, CISPA (Cyber Interlligence Sharing and Protection Act) that has taken the place of SOPA on the political field.

Washington Post (2012) Retrieved April 11, 2012, from: URL http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/01/18/Style/Images/sospmix.jpg

CISPA is very similar to SOPA, as it is said to combat online piracy and protect and enforce copyright and patents. It is too similar although, as like its predecessor, due to the broad terms it uses in regards to a "cyber threat," as it describes in pages 10-11 of the Congress discussion draft. As taken from this draft;

"-it protects a system or network from-
(A) efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy such system or network; or
(B) theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information."

Due to the broad range of interpretation that this definition presents, this bill could easily stifle free speech. The world has already seen the power of free speech on the internet through the Arab Spring and more recently the SOPA blackout. It is what allows us to post and update whatever findings we come across on the web like databases such as on fellow ALES204 student Becky Bohlender's blog; Pro MED-Mail. Free speech is the power that people have and use in a democratic country, and stifling it in any way does not seem like a very democratic-friendly thing to do.