ALES204 The Finale

Hi ALES204. In my final blog for the class, I have composed a reflection of the course in its entirety.
          I had a misconception of the course before it started, that it was going to be strictly on verbal presentations and communication. Thus I was very surprised during the first class that the course's focus had changed into an in-depth exploration of communication in a vast array of manners, mainly focusing on web based communications. I was somewhat apprehensive of the idea that future communication was going to take place mainly online, however I was open to exploring online communication and how it could enhance my professionalism. The term started off with Twitter and its many daily applications and impacts on the world around us, with constant streams of information from anyone around the world. Coinciding with the introduction to Twitter, we were introduced to Blogger and how to blog in a professional manner. ALES204 become a journey through the infinitely expanding internet by exploring the powers of Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, Google Docs,  Flickr, Wordle, Delicious, Refworks, LinkedIn, and Audio Boo.

          The course proceeded with public speaking, presentations, and Pecha Kuchas (20x20). Public speaking is an important component of many jobs, so speaking load, clear, and at a fluent pace is important in order to be effective and memorable. Another important component of disseminating information is making sure you are excited and relatable during your presentation. Knowing your information and what you want to get across is important, especially if you are presenting in a Pecha Kucha format, so research is critical even if it starts with Wikipedia. However as we have learned Wikipedia is not the most reliable resources just as Layla LeDahl points out in her blog pertaining to Wikipedia stubs. Dr. Jessica Laccetti has taught us that critically analyze peer-reviewed articles are the best source of information. Wordle, which makes tag clouds, can be used in order to relinquishment the main words in a paper or the desired criteria in an employment ad. For example, I used Wordle to point out the key words in my entire ALES204 blog, so my readers can see what my blog is focused on (Figure 1.). Tag Clouds can be used as a type of folksonomy, which is a form of managing and categorizing content through tagging, like hashtags in tweets. While delicious is a site which people can use to save and share their favorite links or tags. However if bills such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) were passed then enforcement of copyright laws would make disseminating and sharing knowledge harder. Conversely Creative Commons is working with other sites in order to allow the legal sharing of knowledge and creativity around the world through the creation of six different copyright licences. While Refworks is a site based around creating proper citations and references for research paper and other materials that are not common knowledge and need to be cited. As you can see the topics in this class flowed together and became an integrated mixture of online and offline resources for us to use in the future.

Figure 1. Wordle tag cloud about my blog available on Flickr. 

          The most beneficial segments of the class that directly related to acquiring a job were: creating resumes and curriculum vitae (CV); starting a LinkedIn account; writing professional emails; and practicing interviewing. I felt these components of the class prepared us for applying for future employment or graduate studies. Resumes were really the only form of documentation that I knew was used for presenting one's brief backgrounds and qualifications. However I have learned CV's are a more complete representation of a person's education and professional history. This class has allowed us to move our future professions and carries forward with the help of LinkedIn and Professional Facebook pages, which allow us to post our CVs and resumes online, in order to attain careers and make connections. Also having a personal template in which to email an employer is a comforting resource for the future. In addition proper interviewing skills were review, however many of the public speaking techniques learned can be extrapolated and used for interviewing. Since I am going into my final year of undergrad being able to start putting these resources together and making online connections now is especially important to me. 

          I think ultimately the point of the class was to get us to access all potential aspects of communication, preferably online. In addition, this class taught us how to communication more professionally to a larger demographic. As stated in class, internet based communications are great resources however one has to remember what goes online is permanent and always out there for everyone to see. In closing the allowance of a broader dissemination of knowledge allows people to critically analyze, learn, and interpret information for themselves, just like I did on five of my classmates blogs: Erika Brown's ALES204 Introduction blog; Kendra Hilsenteger's Facebook blog; Christy Czapski's Wikipedia blog;  Jenn Wheeler's Choice blog: EHS; and Chelsea Livingstone's Choice blog: Public Speaking. Finally, I feel all the applications which we explored during ALES204 are applicable in a professional setting however these applications have to be used correctly, which means being professional in all capacities.

Figure 2. The empty ALES204 classroom says, farewell students
 for another semester. This personal image is available on Flickr. 

References 

Fig 1. ALES204-Wordle. (2012) bbohlender, [digital image]. Retrieved April 5, 2012. From Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/75305779@N06/7052328653/in/photostream

Fig 2. Farewell ALES204. (2012) bbohlender, [digital image]. Retrieved April 10, 2012. From Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75305779@N06/6919679494/in/photostream

Choice Blog: ProMED-mail

Hi ALES204. Here is a blog about my topic of choice, ProMED-mail.

Figure 1. An image of ProMED-mail's logo. 

          ProMED-mail is a website based reporting system dedicated to monitoring emerging or re-emerging diseases. ProMED-mail is a part of the International Society For Infectious Diseases (ISID), which is an association that is committed to: the improvement of disease care; the training of clinicians and researchers; and the control of infectious disease. The site is devoted to the dissemination of information, pertaining to infectious disease outbreaks and toxin exposures, via different forms of social media. Site subscribers are the main manner in which reports and information on outbreaks are collected and directed to ProMED-mail for the good of public health. There are currently over 60,000 subscribers in about 185 countries that help bring information together via Twitter at @ProMED_mail, Facebook at ProMED-mail, or email. Subscribers are encouraged to discuss concerns, relinquish their knowledge, and collaborate about particular infectious diseases through these three forms of communication.

           The site is constantly updated with reliable news about human, animal, and plant health issues worldwide. In order to provide reliable and accurate information, a group of disease experts reviews and investigates reports and notifications made about disease outbreaks. Since updates are constantly monitored, ProMED-mail encourages people that are exterior to health and biomedical professions to send in reports as well. This site allows for constant updates by subscribers similar to Wikipedia, however it removes the aspects of unreliability by having the site and reports monitored by professionals. As we have learned Wikipedia is an informative location in which to start research however it is not reliable in all cases, so viewers has to check their facts. ProMED-mail does the checking for its subscribers so they can rely on the information on the site in order to start proactive dissemination of knowledge and action plans. The site could potentially us LinkedIn as a resource to do background checks on their subscribers, who have LinkedIn accounts. LinkedIn could allow ProMED-mail to see if their subscribers are knowledgeable in the area in which they are providing information based on their current or previous employment.

           However there is one issue I see with this site, which is such public access could allow for potential misinterpretations of posted reports. For example, the ProMED-mail allows for a stream of reliable disease reports to be made, which could cause undue fear to occur if people were to interpret these disease outbreaks as occurring at pandemic proportions or as new pathogenic strains. In order to prevent this ProMED-mail has to be professional about the way in which they present the facts about diseases in order to dampen the potential for unnecessary fear. Professional writing means providing clear and concise facts on a topic which is accessible to a diverse array of people. Also not using jargon, but words that will not create ambiguity when read by the public is important. I think that after reading some of ProMED-mail's reports they are very professional and allow for readers to understand exactly where the outbreaks are occurring and the specific circumstance regarding that report.

          ProMED-mail is a great example of how social communication mediums can be used to spread and expand knowledge on particular topics for the benefit of the world. Especially in situations where there are pandemic diseases that are spreading globally. The site allows researchers and epidemiologists the ability to finds out everything they can about the pathogen as quickly as possible. Social media allows for quick coagulation of knowledge from all over the world and ProMED-mail is taking advantage of this collection of knowledge. There are many other websites that are also trying to take advantage of these forms of communication. Jenn Wheeler has another great example on her blog about how the Edmonton Human Society (EHS) is using Twitter and Facebook to distribute knowledge about issues related to animal health and pet topics, specifically the pit bull dog breed. As the world moves forward into an era of online directed communication, businesses and associations will have to become connected with services such as Twitter, Blogger, and Facebook in order to reach their target demographic.

References

Fig. 1. ProMED-mail, the Program for Monitoring Emerging Disease. (2010). ProMED-mail, Facebook. [digital image]. Retrieved April 3, 2012. From Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=424486114728&set=a.101 50103826699729.282255.67404479728&type=3&theater