April is finally here and with it comes warmer weather,
summer plans, final projects and exams. During this busy time it is important
to look back and reflect upon the semester. The majority of my semester was
spent on projects and assignments, as opposed to exams. I really enjoy this method
of assessment because it allows me to demonstrate my capabilities and what I
truly know. In particular, ALES 204 has its assignments set up to reflect what
we learned in class. An example of this is the poster project. In class we
learned techniques to create a scientific poster then later in lab we had to
create one. The poster assignment let me immediately apply what I learned in
class to real life, which will help ensure that I remember this skill.
This semester I have come to realize how many social media
sites there are. These sites are on the Internet to help people connect
socially and professionally. Our class focused on the professional side of
social media. We used sites like Facebook and Twitter to teach us how to
maintain professionalism on our personal pages. I thought this would be easy
for me to learn because I do not post inappropriate photos or comments online.
What I quickly learned is that I need to watch my grammar and how I address
people online. At the time these lessons were easy to implement, and I hope to
continue to use them in my future online activity. My classmate Nicole discusses the importance of professionalism in blogging, a different form of social media our class used.
WEB3MANTRA (2010). Ultimate set of facebook & twitter icons vector material. Retrieved on: April 11, 2012 (http://www.web3mantra.com/2010/10/04/ultimate-set-of-facebook-twitter-icons-vector-material/)
Another site that our class used was Flickr. This site
allows people to upload pictures and share them. We used Flickr on several
occasions but its main purpose in our class was to teach us about copyright.
Being in University I am consistently being reminded about referencing my work.
It was nice to take a step back and learn about where copyright laws come from
and ways that the Internet has gotten around them. Flickr uses Creative Commons,
which helps people share their work and stay within the rules of copyright. I
appreciated being exposed to this site because I feel it is one I will use
after ALES 204 is done.
Throughout the semester I have gotten the chance to connect
with my classmates through their blogs. Here are some of the comments I left on
their posts:
ALES 204 has taught me the lessons listed above and many
more. I hope to take these lessons and apply them in my professional life.
