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