EIR Tutorial Worksheet 3&4 Reflection

a. How has Twitter (micro-blogging) enhanced your learning of EIR?



It allows me to share my reflection of some lessons with the rest of my classmates.


I would also be able to communicate with my teacher if I am absent(with a valid reason).


In addition, Twitter can be used for sharing class notes, discussion points amongst students as posted by MS Faridah at Twitter.



b. Compare this with your blogging experience using Blogspot.


Unlike blogging at Blogspot, Twitter has character limitations of 140 characters. I learn how to be focused and straight forward in asking questions and reflecting on the things I had learned.


I receive instant replies or comments if I use Twitter. At Blogspot, my blogs are not read by others occasionally because users online usually like to scan through information that is short and concise.


To follow my classmates through Twitter is just a few clicks away but I have to amend the ‘Template’ section of Blogspot which is a complicated process if some important characters were not included in the computer programming.



c. How can you use Twitter and Blogspot for research purposes?


For Twitter, I can ask my classmates for recommended research resources. I can then share my thoughts about the findings.


This way, my other classmates can also gain from the suggested research resource post by that particular classmate.



For Blogspot, I can use Google Reader found at the dashboard to find results that are based on my topic.


I can simply add blogs that concerns the issue of my topic to get some views from different angles and mindsets.


It is easy to follow these blogs which is nothing like adding classmates’ or other blogs not recommended by Google Reader.


Once I add or follow a resource blog,  Blogspot automatically updates the posts of the blog as shown at my dashboard.

"Dream Holiday" at Barbados Island, Caribbean Sea

I chose this Dream Holiday destination because the villa caters to 20 people! I wish to bring    my family of six, my cousins and my grandmothers along for the exhilarating experience.

A week at the island would be ideal! Below is a possible family activities that I plan to accomplish within the given week.

Breakfast:

What a wonderful sight! Breathe the morning Caribbean Sea breeze while eating breakfast with my loved ones!

Morning Activity:

After a good breakfast, we’ll sail on a boat out together in the morning sun!

Lunch:

                                  
                              Then, we’ll have our lunch relaxing on the luxurious sofas!

Evening Activity

My sporty cousins and I will work out in the gym after two hours of heavy lunch! The others can relax and enjoy the other facilities the villa can offer.

Dinner

After using up a lot of energy on exercising, we’ll have dinner outside as shown above!

Night Activity

After a long exciting fun day, we’ll all gather at the 20-seat MOVIE THEATER and enjoy the company of each other. 

 View this site for more details:

                           http://www.finest-holidays.com/en/barbados_villa-vacation_VillaEmilie.html 

"Dream Holiday" (Multimedia Website Evaluation)

I search for my “Dream Holiday” using Google search engine and came across this amazing website: http://www.finest-holidays.com/en/start.html


I desire to have my get-away at a luxurious villa of Barbados Island located at the Caribbean Sea with my family.


To access the multimedia website of this “Dream Holiday” activity, I applied the evaluation criteria of:


1) Authority


2) Presentation and Arrangement


3) Accessibility



Authority


The webpage is published by a separate “Webmaster” named PJone EXCLUSVE WEB SOLUTIONS that in charge of the design and marketing of the website.


The publisher does not list his/her qualifications but they do provide their contact information. If anything happens, the visitors of the website can report to the respective authorities by giving the hotlines, fax number and e-mail address.


Clicking on the “Imprint” hypertext, a page proving the website’s Copyright, Trademarks and Logos are presented.


It mentions that “All content on this website is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved.”


Therefore, this site is an authoritative source.




Presentation and Arrangement


The site demonstrates and organizes the information and images of the villa in an interesting and focused manner.


The information is clearly, constantly and sensibly displayed and arranged with three columns on the webpage.


The left part list out the hypertexts of the ‘Home’, ‘Contacts’, ‘User Terms’ and other important details of the website.


The centre portion focuses on presenting the villa information and images.


The right component displays the hypertexts of the countries, cities and islands.



Accessibility


The hypertexts available make the site user-friendly.


It does not require registration and log-ins.


The details available are for free.




Most Important Evaluation Criteria


Authority will be the top of my list of criteria to analyse a website.


Reason being a webpage can be made by syndicates who market a whole different thing on the website but have illegal operations if we were to give our particulars to the hotlines, fax or e-mail.


With an authoritative source, I feel secure to go further and make reservations and so on.


As I am dealing with a foreign website, it is advisable for me to contact the local travelling agency for the reliability of this website before trusting the website fully.

Practical 7 Reflections

a. (i) Which criteria did you use to evaluate Stomp.com?


I used three criteria which are

1) Accuracy

2) Purpose

3) Coverage



STOMP simply means Straits Times Online Mobile Print

1) Accuracy

STOMP provides e-mail, contact address and phone number. Furthermore, Straits Times is the most popular traditional media source here in Singapore which makes it more trustworthy even if the information is posted online.


In addition, STOMP is “Asia's leading citizen-journalism website with user-generated material fuelling its success”.


However, the videos posted on STOMP are not by qualified reporters which questions viewers the maturity of the information the respective authors are trying to convey.



2) Purpose


In the ‘About Us page, STOMP mentions “STOMP connects, engages and interacts with Singaporeans in a style and approach that is different from conventional news websites.”


It also declares that STOMP “have unparalleled reach into the hearts of Singaporeans and the resources to tailor-make approaches to maximise your brand.”


From the two points stated above, I can clearly understand the objectivity of STOMP. The advertisements included at STOMP home page also caters to users easily which supplements its purpose of creating stomp.com.


Yet, many have misinterpreted STOMP’s objective and thus abuse the power of reporting information unnecessarily. Then again, the videos posts at STOMP must go through verifications by the organization first.


The fact that some posts are just trivial issues reflects STOMP’s “don’t care” attitude as most that are featured I the videos are unaware that they are being filmed.


Hence, the gap between right and wrong will only gets bigger if well-respected sources like Straits Times are encouraging violation of privacy.



3) Coverage


STOMP does include relevant and reliable links at the bottom of the Home page. Examples are ‘National Library Board’ and ‘Speak Good English Movement’.


The home page layout are filled with images and advertisements for users to click at the sections they wish to view.


There are a few interesting discussion pages like “Singapore Seen”, “Talkback” and “Star Blog”.


The information to be viewed is free and there is no need for any other special software to be involved in STOMP.


Which means that anyone can post and comment without any standard English being used and good maturity level.




a. (ii) Why did you choose these criteria? What lessons have you learnt from this activity?


I chose the three criteria as they are the fundamentals of evaluating a website. I have to at least understand these three criterion before I proceed on to other criteria for a more convincing usage.


I learn that we have to be careful and aware of the accuracy and purpose of the website by judging its coverage.


With this in mind, we will not be vulnerable to believe the information posted and will be questioning its validity for an effective internet research.

Practical 6 Reflections

a. Do you think it is more effective to search the invisible web (databases) than using search engines, meta-search or subject directories? Why?

I cannot fully judge the effectiveness of the search sites as I have not entirely explore each of them in depth.

In general, I can rely on invisible web (like http://spark.tp.edu.sg/ ) the most because it provides the authors, publication dates, subjects and databases of where the resources come from on the result summaries which the other three means fail to produce.

Nonetheless, some databases only serve to find specific sources like ITPRO which focuses on IT-related topics.



b. Will you use the invisible web (databases) for research in your own respective Diplomas? Why?

Definitely yes! My project findings should come from a variety of search sites and not forgetting other traditional sources like library books, articles, journals etc.

From the experience of researching via the different ways, I will have the opportunity to really evaluate on the real effectiveness of each search site.




c. What have you learnt from your wiki experience during this practical?

On 25th June 2010 (which is the first EIR lesson for this term), I got to know that one of my EIR classmate is also doing the same topic as me.

Ivan introduced himself on wiki and contributed a picture of a little girl being traumatized by the argument of her parents.

The topic Ivan and I are doing for our Portfolio Part 2 is “Discuss the effects of early childhood traumas on people’s behaviours”.

Today, I have just added 3 more pictures of kids in distressing state. I will add more details and findings as I progress on building my Portfolio Part 2 assignment.

So far, my research and references I contributed on wiki are beneficial for the base of my Portfolio. I am certainly anxious what Ivan will throw in on our wiki discussion page.

Do visit the wiki on our topic at
http://eir-rawkz.wetpaint.com/page/Research+29+-+Effects+of+Childhood+traumas+on+People%E2%80%99s+behaviours

Sharing my research findings at EIR class wiki (www.eir-rawkz.wetpaint.com)

On 7th June 2010, I virtually shared my research findings at our EIR subject wiki at www.eir-rawkz.wetpaint.com.

I was and still is excited to discover the joy of sharing, collaborating and “Wiki-ing” by collaborating with other students in my EIR cohort who are doing similar research topic as me.

Unfortunately for me, the April Semester 2010 EIR cohort is quite small with one class of students to share. Because there is no one else who is discussing the page with me, I suspect that there is no one in my class who shares the same topic as me. I was the only one who completed the wiki page on my research topic.

Still and all, the trill of sharing my research finding virtually gives me the taste of satisfaction of contributing the knowledge I gain from various online sources with the rest of the world(assuming they will be brought to the wetpaint page of my topic upon typing the keywords to be search).

With a small number of classmates, I hope they will help me out on my topic by giving feedbacks and suggestions. Feel free to view my research findings at

http://eir-rawkz.wetpaint.com/page/Research+29+-+Effects+of+Childhood+traumas+on+People%E2%80%99s+behaviours .

Practical 3 Reflections

Were you impressed by google’s search functions/features? Why?

I was more impressed with Google Scholar than Google because the former has more strength as compared with the latter. Even with half of the keywords in summaries of results(versus two third of Google results), relevance to the issue produced by Google Scholar is more focused.


How do you feel about participation in discussion forum? Is it helpful for your research? Do you feel anxious about talking to others you do not know?


I feel more involved in the issue or topic I chose because I can share my opinions and also understand further the people experiencing or had experienced childhood traumas. I had captured the print snapshot of the discussion. As long as I know that the people in the discussion forum are contributing substantial views, I don’t think I have to worry what they might comment on my views.


Why must you do citation and bibliography?

Most importantly, the two processes avoid plagiarism. Stealing someone else’s work is a serious crime and some of us are still ignorant about the seriousness of this issue.

In addition, they are an important feature in any research work.

Besides, acknowledging the source of information is simply the right thing to do.