Week 4- Communications

Lecture
Week 4 lecture was on communications and different components we have now then 20 years ago. The role of ICT (information and communication technology) can be individual, with or without an organisation, within a business or all of the above. Communications takes place within networks which can be chain networks, circle networks,wheel network and all channel network. The main group point that we gathered was the four types of communications. 'Place' dependent synchronous where you are somewhere at the same time and place with someone e.g. chat room. 'Place' dependent asynchronous which is different time but same place e.g. bulletin board. 'Place' independent synchronous which is same time, different place e.g. msn messenger. Finally 'place' independent asynchronous which is different time and place e.g. email.
We looked at examples of ICT e.g. emails, instant msg and blogs. Also how to use these tools for personal and study reasons.

Workshop
In this weeks workshop we taught on the use of our communication skills. The aim of this class was to gather a variety of tools to communicate with group members (e.g. face to face meetings, emails and bulletins). The first task was to create 4 different folders in our email account with the headings UPC0001, UPC 0002 and so on.

We also were told to look up on Google under the icon 'group' a topic that interests us. I looked up swimming and then choose a group with the title 'burning calories with swimming'. The icon 'groups' on Google allows you to write a question that you are struggling with in a area of a topic and someone experience in that area replies back and answers your question. It seemed a very smart tool to answer tough questions you don't know about a topic.

The final area we looked into was podcast and the advantages for it being available for all university lectures. I think it would be great have podcast, because if you miss a lecture because of work, sickness you can go through the notes but also catch up by listening to the pod casts and listening into extra notes. Also alot of the notes uni students write down are notes that are said by the lecturer and not whats already on blackboard. It would be a great tool for uni students.

Google 'Group' topic page -

Podcast Webpage -

Readings-
Guide to using Email - Reading 1 part 1 is all about the do's and dont's of emailing and ways to make your message more efficient and effective. One main point was to make sure that email is the right communication tool for the job. Also getting to the point early in the email and if asking a question to actually ask the question. Be careful with grammar and always ask if you need a response or not. Finally when receiving a email, don't make any assumptions about the sender's emotional state. Part 2 of reading 1 was about helping avoid common pitfalls when composing your messages. One big fall in writing a email is to select a appropriate tone to your email, that will suit and relate to the topic or discussion. The final thought on part 2 was depending on the topic of email avoid Irony and Sarcasm.




Chat Room Primer- IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a way of communication over Internet to real people all over the world. EFnet is an example which has over 12,000 different channels (topics). This gives the viewers options to where and which channel they would like to pick.

The Problem with SPAM - This reading is all about the title name. Spam is a problem that is getting out of hand. With it being free for senders to send and problem is has with viruses. The reading tells you ways to prevent spam and help stop it. This could be helpful reading for all Internet and email users.

Week 3- Presentation Strategies

Lecture
The lecture was mainly focused on how to present your work verbally in oral presentation. We focused on three types of presentations: Self-contained presentations, written presentations and oral presentations. The main point that was gathered was that a visual message is not a enough on its own. The audience will remember 10% of what they see, 25% of what see and hear, 40% of what they see, hear and write down and 60% of what they experience interactively.
There were four steps that in the lecture the lecturer wanted to cover. They were that we would structure our presentation correctly, preparation for a presentation, use audio/visual tools in your presentation, and audience involvement.
The three main areas in a structured presentation is a introduction, body and conclusion. With the introduction you really would want to engage the audience early and with a joke or statement to introduce your topic or thesis. The body covers the main areas of the topic and the connective devices to want your saying. Final with the conclusion you want to re-assert/reinforce the thesis and review the main points. Then concluding with a effective closing.

If your going to use visual/audio effects in your presentation make them professional and useful to your thesis. Test all your video and audio effects to see if they work (before your presentation). The most and common presentation program is MS PowerPoint, which is a really easy but effective tool for any oral presentation.





Workshop -
We began to design a six slide presentation on a topic or on ourselves. The presentation was done on MS PowerPoint and would need a introduction, body and conclusion. We also needed to come up with 5 strategies to help layout a well presented oral.

Here are my 5 strategies:

Plan: Plan and find your topic, gather information and articles on your topic start writing notes. Structure: Structure out your presentation using the three main areas in a presentation which are the introduction, body, and conclusion.
Practise: Once you have structured and designed your presentation begin to run through the presentation and practise it by yourself or in front of friends and family.
Use visual aids: Visual aids is a huge tool to equipping you the attention of the class and engaging on something visual and not just your voice.
Conclude: Summarise your statement or debate. Revise the main points again and conclude firmly.

Workshop MS PowerPoint presentation task :















Readings:
Oral Presentation Advice- The reading gave you an overview of what to think about when writing and presenting a oral. Thinking about the audience and rhetorical goals were a few of the areas that was covered. The Reading showed 3 different outlines of a structured presentation. The first on was a generic conference talk which is a great outline for a talk with a well planned out structure. The talk is based around the PowerPoint and each PowerPoint goes for about 2 mins, so there is about a dozen for a 2o min talk. The next stlye of talk is the academic interview talk which is alot different to a conference talk. The goal of a interview talk is too get a job, where a conference talk is getting people interested in your paper or work. The last group is other talks, which is for any other talk but using the same structure as the other groups. It also had a area on how to give a bad talk. Very interesting information that could help any level and form of talk.

Week 2- Office Applications

Lecture
In this weeks lecture we spoke on the common PC tasks that as a uni student we should equip and understand. There are 7 main areas in common PC tasks (with main applications for each area).

• File handling - window explorers
• Word processing - Microsoft Word
• Spreadsheet - Microsoft Excel
• Presentations - Microsoft PowerPoint
• Internet Access - Internet Explorer
• Emails - Outlook Express
• View PDF's - Adode Acrobat Reader

We also learnt that for this course will we need and will acquire:

• Word Processing and Presentation skills to develop well presented assignments.
• e-mail skills to communicate effectively with your lecturer, tutorial leader and other students.
• Internet/browser skills

Workshop
In class today we assigned to finish two exercises regarding using and working with Microsoft word and excel.

We were giving instructions on how to complete the tasks.

Microsoft Word Exercise 1-

I found the first exercise on Microsoft word rather straight forward with following the instructions. Here are two screenshots of Exercise 1:

Microsoft Excel Exercise 2 -

I struggled a slight bit with the excel exercise and the layout of it all. Here is two screenshots of Exercise 2 -

These were very useful exercise and teaches you new applications but also refreshes you on some older materials that i was rusty with.

Readings -

Using MS Word for APA Tasks-

This reading was a step by step text that helped you use Microsoft word to its fullest. This guide uses tools that an everyday uni student will need and use to be up to university standards. Line spacing, alphabetize reference list and page headers were a few of the sections in this reading.

Graphic File Formats-

The reading was about the different types of formatted pictures and where to use what. The list of formats are as followed:

• bitmap (.bmp)
• Compserve (.gif)
• Jpeg (.jpg)
• The tagged (.tiff)
• Photoshop document (.psd)