I logged into Elluminate tonight and joined the practice session, I have not used this system before and wanted to have a poke around for confidence building purposes. I have to admit being taken aback slightly when I realised my initial thoughts that this would involve me and a ‘bot’ moderator were wrong. Fortunately I had been very polite to the moderator who appears to have been real.
It was quite good fun to practice in a safe environment where there was no rush to be able to complete the activity and I was able to ‘play’ with the set-up.
I enjoyed putting smiley faces and pictures on the whiteboard and had a very enjoyable text chat about what the system did and did not do. We explored saving and sending files, the whiteboard and saving chat/whiteboard. We were unable to complete the voice try out as there were technical issues at the other end (maybe the moderator really was a bot as I initially suspected) but apart from that I hope everything was covered.
The only issue I found, was that when I went to upload a file I was only able to browse file names and not icons. I think that if I knew I needed to transfer pictures/documents I would make sure they were easy to locate and well named, but with that knowledge I feel prepared for that eventuality.
I now feel ready to go into a live room and lurk, knowing that once I gain the courage to join in I will know how.
For anyone who has said they may skip it, please don’t, it was not only educational but enjoyable.
Monday, 19 April 2010
Monday, 12 April 2010
My Podcast-Dr Who based
I have produced a reflective podcast on my experiences of researching podcasting for my H807 course. I have also uploaded onto the podbean site a transcript of the podcast for any users who struggle to listen due to audio disability.
My Podcast
My Podcast
Social Cues-Brief Background
Before embarking on the Guided reading task I wanted to share some initial thoughts after reading the brief background.
• “All communications media attenuate to at least some degree the social context cues available in face-to-face conversation. The telephone reduces dynamic and static cues by eliminating visual information about the communicators.”
My initial thoughts here were ‘thank goodness’ I have made many a formal or important phone call while sitting in my PJ’s with no make-up on and un-brushed hair. Calls or even emails sent at these times, are as professional as if I was suited up for the face to face occasion, however on a face to face basis I would certainly be taken far less seriously in my PJ’s.
• “the use of emoticons can improve collaborative working”
I’m not sure about other people, but I find myself incorporating smiley faces, winks, sad faces and confused faces in many an email these days, often to draw attention to the fact I’m using humour that I wouldn’t want to be misinterpreted as serious and also to highlight particular emotions. I would certainly think about comments far more if I couldn’t add the emoticons to my writing.
• “even when virtual groups have only just met, they could often be more social than a comparable face-to-face situation.”
I find myself that when I meet new people nerves can overtake me and I become reluctant to participate in case people openly mock me. In a virtual environment I feel safer in the knowledge that people can’t see me. I also find that the virtual environment allows more time to respond to things allowing me to think about an answer rather than blurting out something that just seems obscure. I think this view ties in with:
• “the group seems more homogenous”
And also with the view that:
• “the reduced cues of internet communication allow people to be intimate without the loss of “privacy.”
These were my first thoughts, before any of the further reading and are probably subject to change.
Sarah
• “All communications media attenuate to at least some degree the social context cues available in face-to-face conversation. The telephone reduces dynamic and static cues by eliminating visual information about the communicators.”
My initial thoughts here were ‘thank goodness’ I have made many a formal or important phone call while sitting in my PJ’s with no make-up on and un-brushed hair. Calls or even emails sent at these times, are as professional as if I was suited up for the face to face occasion, however on a face to face basis I would certainly be taken far less seriously in my PJ’s.
• “the use of emoticons can improve collaborative working”
I’m not sure about other people, but I find myself incorporating smiley faces, winks, sad faces and confused faces in many an email these days, often to draw attention to the fact I’m using humour that I wouldn’t want to be misinterpreted as serious and also to highlight particular emotions. I would certainly think about comments far more if I couldn’t add the emoticons to my writing.
• “even when virtual groups have only just met, they could often be more social than a comparable face-to-face situation.”
I find myself that when I meet new people nerves can overtake me and I become reluctant to participate in case people openly mock me. In a virtual environment I feel safer in the knowledge that people can’t see me. I also find that the virtual environment allows more time to respond to things allowing me to think about an answer rather than blurting out something that just seems obscure. I think this view ties in with:
• “the group seems more homogenous”
And also with the view that:
• “the reduced cues of internet communication allow people to be intimate without the loss of “privacy.”
These were my first thoughts, before any of the further reading and are probably subject to change.
Sarah
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