Week 3

Week three came and we were discussing collaborative information generation. We were exploring how effective user generated  content by offering advantages and disadvantages. We also looked at how to develop content collaboratively. Also there was a recommended reading by Val Swisher. It was Val herself that tested the pros and cons of user generated content and she raised some very interesting points of view. I found this reading very interesting.

This week we were also made develop a 'magic 8 ball' app. This task was particularly gripping for me because in the future, I aspire to be an app developer. Here is a screengrab of the app :

Week 2

 This week we were introduced to the idea of social computing. We were presented with different forms of communication, traditional (face to face, telephone, letter), semi-traditional (email, online chat, mobile phone) and social media (integrated online means, web conferencing).  We were told about gatekeepers, who are the people who control the information that we as users are exposed to. I also learned of the importance of source credibility. I t is down to the author to provide the user with true information. Information can also retain value. For example the number of retweets on a tweet.

This week we were also challenged to go one whole day without the use of  social media and report on our findings. I woke up the morning of the challenge and I had to refrain from doing what I do every morning, scan through my Facebook and Instagram  before getting out of bed. I had overcome my first obstacle and the obstacles seemed to be never ending as the day progressed. Several times I took my phone out of my pocket but was then brought back down to earth once I remembered.. Towards the end of the day, I had almost made it without the assistance of social media. I was playing football with my friends that night and I was distracted by a few of the lads watching a video on the sideline. All of them were erupting with laughter. Obviously I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I rushed towards them and before I knew it I was involved in the laughter. It was Madonna falling over at the Golden Globes.. I had failed the challenge, at the last hurdle.. It's incredible how much our generation is reliant on technology. 

I also completed the task of creating 'HelloPurr' . I found this process to be quite enjoyable and it's useful to have those tools in my toolbox now. I had a screenshot of the completed stage but it was somehow deleted and I wasn't sure how to retrieve it. 

Week 1 

For our first few lectures I was under the impression that I was taking this module next semester, and so I was absent for a number of the lectures. I did however visit and inspect the information available to us on blackboard. The readings were extremely useful to me as a result of this absence. The main topics of discussion this week were web 1.0 ,  web 2.0, and web 3.0 , which I personally found very informative and interesting. My knowledge of web 1.0 and web 2.0 was already quite good. I was curious as to what web 3.0 was, and I found the article 'How web 3.0 will work' to be very beneficial to me. The development and progress made is astounding. Coming from web 1.0 , with no interaction between the user and the site, or with other users, the evolution in web 3.0 will see users infinitely connected, with excellent access to the information they desire. I watched one of the videos available, demonstrating this very evolution and thought it to be very interesting.

I also enjoyed watching this clip which was created by American students regarding social media.