The Journey

Figure 1: Social Media Sites. Adapted from "Social Media & E-Marketing Certificate," by Dennis Flynn, February 20, 2012, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Retrieved April 13, 2012, from http://www.busi.mun.ca/gardinercentre/02programs/13_emarketing_certificate/index.html.
. Copyright 2008 by Gardiner Centre

Time truly does fly. I remember not too long ago, I was still confused about what ALES 204 was all about and was hesitant about the class. I didn't quite understand how this course was relevant to my program and why I should be taking it. On this last day of class, I realized how much this course has done to me in the past semester. I feel that this course was only a teaser and that there is still so much more to learn about communication and the various social media networks out there. I recommend this class not just to ALES students but to students in all faculties as the information taught in this class can be applied in all fields.

We’ve covered social media networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, and Audioboo. We also looked at the various communication methods such as academic posters, emails, interviews, resumes, CV’s, Wikipedia, Pecha Kucha, etc. This class wasn't just about joining all these social media networks and putting information out there. Whether we like it or not, these tools are already out there, and it is important for us to be informed about it and to use these tools to our advantage.
I could relate to this. I remember being hesitant when I was told that I needed to make a Twitter account to tweet during class for participation marks. I didn't want to jump on the Twitter band wagon because I didn't think anyone would be interested in what I was doing every second of my life, but because I wanted to do well in this class I made a Twitter account, like asked to. I remember a couple weeks after I made my account, I was at a club social event and the District Governor started talking about the importance of communication between clubs and how he wanted to make use of social media in the upcoming year. At that point, I was proud to say, I had a Twitter account. After that incident, I began to accept Twitter and have gotten into the habit of sharing my learning experiences on Twitter.

This class not only taught me how to use Twitter and other social media networking sites, it has also taught me how to become a more effective communicator. It has taught me to think before I speak or post, taught me how to get my messages across in a clear and concise way and to be critical with the information that I take in. As Danielle points out in her blog, communication is important regardless of what field we work in. This class has prepared us with the skills we need in real life situations.

In this journey, I've found 5 other students that have blogged their experiences in ALES 204. Below are the links to my comments on the posts that caught my attention:

Deanna's Introduction post
Loana's post on Facebook pages
Clara's post on Wikipedia
Susan's post on Mother-Daughter Relationships.
Danielle's Reflection post