Week 6: Using EndNote

Acknowledge the sources we have used. EndNote is a Reference Manger - scaling and searching, and a Bibliography Maker - outputs referencing formats. EndNote can be use by itself - for a research project, or in Words - for individual research paper. EndNote keeps track of our references and displays recognisable styles of referencing.

Downloaded and installed the EndNote program to my computer.
Opened Microsoft Words and clicked on the EndNote icon to open program.
Read Workshop Supplemental EndNote References Exercises.
Put all references in EndNote put them in APA 5th style.
Screenshot the references and uploaded it in blogger.

Week 5: Information Management

How to manage our information so it will be quick and easy to access.
Most of us use computers to manage our information.
Atom-based are hard copies of information. eg books, papers and reports. Pros - we can hold it, easy to protect and difficult to change and copy. Cons - size maybe a problem, costly and difficult to edit and distribute.
Bit-based are data information. They have an electronic content. Pros - file type can be changed easily to suite any format, it’s cheap, easy to edit, mass produce and broadcast. Cons - can easily be copied, SPAM, easy to steal, fake and changed.
The changed goods and services - internet banking, emails and mp3 players.
Changing goods and services - TV and shopping.

Newspapers, magazines and books are atoms which most of our information are received. Nicholas Negroponte told us a story which happened when he was visiting the headquarters of a circuit manufacturer in America and explained that his laptop (atom) was not worth much but the bits in his laptop was almost priceless. He told us another story where he visited a senior retreat where he presented samples of unreleased products (atoms) to the seniors to enhance their knowledge in communication technology. Soon after the samples were shipped back to the company but was checked in customs. On the same day he was sending data (bits) back and forth in cyberspace. His bits were not held up in customs unlike the atoms. In the internet weightless bits travels fast as the speed of light from one place to another to send and receive data. In the digital world advertisements and services of products is essential for any company who wants to enhance their company in the sales industry. But the products (atoms) will have to be move from one place to another place physically to transport the products to the consumers. A book is light weighted, easy to read through and not very expensive. But getting the book requires shipping and sometime books can go out of print then it will be impossible to buy one. Digital information can never go out of print, they are updated when new information is available, mostly free to view and they are always there.

Read a tutorial on how to use bookmarks and favourites in the inette website.
I created 3 favourites folders (Anime, Gamez and Silkroad Online) with 2 websites in them each.
I took a screenshot of the favourite folders I did to upload in my blog.
Read Nicholas Negroponte’s ‘Being Digital’ ‘The DNA of Information.’
Then we wrote a 250 words review on ‘atoms’ and ‘bits.’

Week 4: Communications

Communications has changed so much over the past 20 years because of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
There are networks for communications.
There are 4 types of communications. eg chat rooms, forums, MSN messenger and email.
Synchronous - Communicating at the same time. eg phone calls. (Same Time)
Asynchronous - Takes turns in communicating. eg emails. (Different Time)
“Place” Dependent - Have to be in same place to communicate. eg LAN games. (Same Place)
“Place” Independent - Can be anywhere to communicate. eg MSN messenger. (Different Place)
Some ICT’s are mobiles, videos, webcams, ipods, mp3 players, lap-tops, PDAs and emails.
Emails aren’t used for confrontation and complaining.
Emails are 1D and they can be forwarded to anyone to read.
Electronic journals and newsletters have a wide range of topics and subjects from academic journals to magazines, it’s updated frequently and is free most of the time.
Podcasts can be subscribed which allows new podcasts deliveries when they’re available, an abundant of broadcasters and topics to select from and they’re portable.
Forums are where people meet to discuss views and ideas, to inform them of news and announcements and to help each other with problems.
ICT’s are an invaluable source of information.

In Google in GROUPS, I entered ‘Naruto Shippuuden’ (anime). The groups it came up was in Arts and Entertainment, Computers - Games, Other and Recreation. The forums talked about the episodes that anime series was on, they discussed the characters in the anime and had links to sites related to the anime.
In http://podcasts.yahoo.com/ I entered ‘Naruto’ (anime) and listened to 2 podcasts. Then I looked around in http://podcast.osx.ecu.edu.au/index.html.
The potential benefits for university students from podcasting are being able to gain access to educational material at anytime and place that will help the student the most. It’s free most of the time and can be in a range of formats and it can be stored in mobile devices which could be used anywhere. Examples of some podcasts that helps students are recordings of lectures, tutorials, research, interviews and speeches.

Logged into ECU emails and created folders for each unit.
We sent an ECU email to a friend that was in the class.
We looked at forums in Google GROUPS.
We looked at podcasts in 2 podcasting websites.
Recorded what we did while we were in the forums and podcasts.

Week 3: Presentation Strategies

Presentations can be a website, CDs, video, essays, papers and an oral presentation.
Audiences only remember 10% of seeing something, 25% of seeing and hearing, 40% of seeing, hearing and writing and 60% if they’re experiencing it interactively.
In a speech there is an introduction, body and conclusion.
There are 6 effective components to an introduction and 3 of them are ‘attention getters,’ thesis statement and preview.
The body should have the main ideas and references to research.
The conclusion should re-assert the thesis, revise the main ideas and close effectively.
Always keep a backup of your work.
Rehearse your speech.
For PowerPoint - KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.
Only add things that will make the presentation better.
Ask the audience questions that will make the audience think.
Have good eye contact and speak clearly.

Read “How to give a bad talk” by David Patterson.
Read the notes we took from the lecture.
We created a PowerPoint presentation on how to make a good presentation.
I made 6 slides - title, introduction, 3 main bodies and a summary with an animation effect to enhance the presentation.
Screenshot all 6 slide to upload to my blog.

Week 2: Application Skills

The most common applications we use computers for are Windows Explorer, Words, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet and Adobe.
How to use Windows Explorer, Microsoft Words, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Web Browsing and Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Listening, watching, viewing and editing media uses programs such as Windows Media Player, Winamp, RealPlayer, PhotoEditor, Paint and PhotoShop.

Opened the ‘Word Exercises’ document and read through it.
We used ‘Using Microsoft Word for APA Tasks’ to help us complete the ‘Word Exercises.’
We screenshot the document and edited it with Paint then uploaded it into our blogs.
Opened the ‘Excel Exercises’ file and followed the instructions to complete the task.
We screenshot the document and edited it with Paint then uploaded it into our blogs.

Week 1: Introduction to Personal Computing

Introduced us to the unit and explaining we should familiarise ourselves with the ECU website and areas of the campus. eg unit materials, getting information on the website, student central, library, megalabs, contact details of lecturers and tutors and where to hang out and eat.
When we have completed this unit we’ll be able to access any material on the ECU website, produce documents at a university level and improve our teamwork skills in IT.
There will be 6 modules and 3 assignments for this unit.
We should attend all lectures and tutorials, complete all modules and assignments and check blackboard regularly.
The lecturers and tutors are Justine Freeman, Gary Chan and Alexa Krone.
Need thumb-drive

Logged into the ECU network and opened up to the ECU website.
Logged into ‘My ECU’ and accessed the unit resources and viewed Assignment 1.
We created an account in http://www.blogger.com/.
We created an account in http://www.imageshack.com/.
We screenshot and edited the screenshot in Paint or Photo Editor and saved it as a JPG.