Highlights of ALES 204

Undoubtedly, ALES 204 was a unique course.  I remember flipping through the syllabus on the first day and getting excited because there were so many interesting topics.  The most valuable thing I gained from ALES 204 was an appreciation for Twitter.  On top of Twitter's greatness mentioned in my previous blog post, I learned another aspect of hashtags has gotten me quite fanatical about them.  Other than their ability to group related tweets for easier searching, hashtags also generate an intriguing, yet subtle, effect.  My classmate Chelsea has an interesting use of hashtags.  Let us dissect one of her tweets:

Le, B. (2012). Chelsea's Tweet [Screenshot]. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/#!/raydeeoh_

One style she uses is to establish sort of a mystery, and then adding hashtags to provide context.  She also uses sentence-long hashtags, which can have a comical effect because it seems to reverse the role of the hashtag and the content.  Here, the hashtags comprise the bulk of the tweet.  In addition, there are some notes of irony involved, because it's highly unlikely that anyone else will use the same super-long hashtag, therefore defeating the purpose of the hashtag.  I'm starting to catch on, but I'm still a #hashtagnoob.  Anyway, enough with this English nerd digression, and onto more ALES 204 excitement.

I also enjoyed using Blogger - it was fun to make my own blog and visit other students' blogs.  Blogging was a great way to strengthen my written communication skills, which science students don't have many chances to do other than writing lab reports.  It also gave me practice using APA citations and Creative Commons licensing.  I have seen CC licensing before, but I didn't know how easy it was to license my own work until ALES 204 showed me how.

Malone, T. (2011). Creative Commons [Logo].
Retrieved from: http://thomasmalone.blogspot.ca
/2011/11/creative-commons.h

CC is a great tool that allows for better sharing of ideas by allowing creators to decide on the extent to which they would like to share their work.  I had a great time blogging, and I hope to continue this blog during my summer break!

ALES 204 also introduced me to a plethora of lesser known social media platforms, so I will mention the most memorable ones.  LinkedIn.  This is a professional social network.  You can find jobs or hire folks through this site, and I think this tool will be an asset in my future career.  Audioboo.  Although I'm not a fan of hearing my electronic voice, I found this website very interesting.  It's like a social network of sounds, which is a great way to practice for interviews or convey messages that are not as effectively expressed in written words.  Delicious.  This is a great way to organize your bookmarks and add tags and descriptions to them, or even share them publicly.  I find it really innovative because it allows you to post ideas without creating any new content, but through sharing good links you've read.  And finally, Prezi.  I was introduced to Prezi in our lab, and it is a magnificent tool.  It has an endless canvas and lots of cool gadgets to help organize ideas.  Prezi is a really neat way to share ideas creatively.  I tried it out by creating a mind map about our CSL project with the Campus Food Bank.

I must conclude, however, with mention of a few drawbacks to ALES 204.  While I enjoyed the class, I do believe there are ways to improve it.  In my opinion, the course was a bit too heavily focused on social media.  Although I agree that social media will be an influential factor in the future of work and academia, I couldn't help but question the relevance of Delicious, Audioboo, and Flickr in my future career.  I would have preferred slightly more emphasis on more practical aspects of professionalism, such as resume building, interviews and presentations.  Overall, it was wonderful being an ALES 204 student and I had a marvelous time learning about such interesting tools.

Here are the five blog posts I commented on:

• Lina H: The Accessibility of Sustainability
• Danielle: My Pecha Kucha Experience
• Lina A: My CSL Placement
• Mark: CSL Placement
• Steph: "Hold on, I'll Wikipedia that!"