COM 125 - Entry #10: Citizen jounalism

Citizen Journalism is the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information" ("Citizen Journalism", 2006). Everyone can be a citizen journalist; it is not just exclusive to certain members of the public. Citizen Journalism represents the voices of the public sphere which sometimes fails to catch the attention of the media.

STOMP stands for ‘Straits Times Online Mobile Print’ and it integrates content and activities in the three platforms of print, online and mobile. One the one hand, it delivers content which helps develop new communities of local Singaporean that bond together with similar interests. It is a great way to offer the community better and deeper coverage than is possible with a lone professional reporter. It creates vigilance among the public and also acts as a social interaction tool, as news is captured and compiled on a website where various members of the public are able to view. One point to note: As Singapore’s culture differs differently from the western cultures where Singaporeans tend to be more old fashioned and conservative, Citizen journalism in Singapore just might be classified an invasion of privacy. However, is this form of a new breed of journalism the ideal form of journalism or would it even be effective in bringing news to the public?

A car crash, illegal parking, couples fighting in the open, public displays of affections (PDA) or ugly Singaporean behaviour; these make good fodder for gossip and are more often than not, the selling point of STOMP. In my opinion, these are not to be considered as "news stories". They are merely gossip articles that should be thrown in the same category as tabloids and other skanky news. I mean, who really wants to know what couples do in public? Or view Singaporeans going at it again (in the true essence of what Singaporeans are known for)? It's a waste of time to even bother reporting these pieces of "news" and they should not even be considered as "news-worthy". Let's just leave proper news reporting to the professionals okay?

News reporting would only go hay-wire if news content could be left to individuals (many of whom do not now the least about writing and journalism) to decide what is news-worthy, or what goes into the content and what makes up the scope of the online paper. Citizen journalism should be simply left as just that - articles which citizens post online simply for the sake of airing their views or venting their frustrations and incidents which left them bitter. And the proper news writing should be left to teh professionals, the gate-keepers who decide the agenda of the news content.

COM 125 - Entry #9: Multimedia & Marketing

Multimedia is defined as "a computer-based interactive communications process that incorporates text, graphics, sound, animation, and video." It usually comprises of a highly interactive interface to allow the user to fully himself/herself in the experience of visiting the site. This means that the site one visits is structured based on a non-linear user interface. It is one which is more dynamic and can lead to many window pop-ups and "routes" to take; kind of like on a scenic journey which i think contributes to the dynamic and interactive nature of the multimedia function.

From the marketing standpoint, it would be extremely difficult to create a website which is highly interactive and user-friendly at the same time; however, formt he user's perspective, a site like that would be a hit with many users as this feature is what keeps sites interesting and gives an organization its edge over others in a similar industry competing for the same market segment.

Taking "Nokia" as an example, it has made use of the many tabs on its top tool bar to indicate the various areas a user might be interested to further explore. It is also split into different regions in which nokia is based around the world. Nokia has many unique advertisements which seemingly tell a story with each new product they advertise and seek to promote. The latest advertisement incorporates a story-telling element in promoting the new phone, which is really creative in my opinion.

Apart from companies employing multimedia to engage the audience, there are also many other up-and-rising organizations which act as agents for other companies to help promote the brand name, provide business solutions, and use social media tools to aid these companies achieve their goals whatever they may be.

Marketing has reached a new level and is progressing really quickly. Cmpanies have to keep up with their developments of risk losing out on valuable profits.

COM 125 - Entry #8: Internet Politics

The internet is a pervasive form of media that is now used extensively in the arena of politics. Presidential candidates such as Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton have both engaged the social media via social networking sites. Past candidates have also been known to engage the social media to promote themselves and their party in the recent years.

Research and studies done on this topic has generated a few key findings. Basically, the internet and the social media is only a tool to aid presidential candidates in terms of increasing their visibility on the web with the aim of garnering more votes. It has also been found that voters who are more highly educated, tend to seek out more political information on the internet, and thus, are more well-informed when it comes to making a sound vote. Moreover, the number of votes have been increasing ever since the advent of the internet, and the increasing popularity of the social media that has contributed towards tis phenonmenon.

However, engaging the social media and its applications may also pose as a threat to these presidential candidates. For one, a constant lookout is required 24/7 where blogs are concerned. Content posted online must be constantly monitored; feedback must also be promptly attended to and problems must be rectified ASAP. This is to ensure that a uniformed and positive image is projected all throughout, which is essential in maintaining a "clean, positive image" to portray to all.

Hi hi, I'm back after having been busy with all our other research papers and projects and presentations! =) Gonna catch up on my blogs now... catch it live on Danza Fiesta! wahahaha.

COM 125 - Entry #6: Protection & Prevention Methods

The following are some ways of protecting your computer in the following areas:
1) Email
The computer viruses that have historically caused the most damage (such as Melissa and LoveLetter) are those that spread via e-mail. A basic plain text e-mail message is unable to transmit a virus. It is attachments to e-mail messages that potentially contain the hazard. Unexpected attachments or those from unknown senders should be deleted. Attachments sent from known and trusted sources may also contain viruses -- it's a good practice to contact the sender to confirm that the attachment is legitimate before opening.
Tips to help avoid contracting and spreading e-mail viruses: Do not open or run unknown attachments!
If you are unsure about what an attachment is or what it does, leave it alone. If you have determined that an attachment is a virus, delete the email and the attachment. Documents and spreadsheets can contain viruses!

Microsoft Word documents (.doc files) and Excel spreadsheets (.xls files) can potentially contain a type of virus known as a macro virus. Do not open these types of attachments unless you have enabled macro protection in Word and Excel. For detailed instructions on how to enable macro protection see Word-Enable Macro Protection and/or Excel-Enable Macro Protection. With macro protection enabled, Word or Excel will give you the option to enable/disable a macro for each document/spreadsheet you open. In general, you should open documents with macros disabled unless you know specifically what the macro does.
Pay particular attention to executable attachments!
Common extensions for executable files are:
.exe (executable files)
.vbs (Visual Basic scripting files)
.js (Javascript files)
.com (command files)
.bat (batch files)
.reg (registry files)
The only file types that are definitely safe are those that end with:
.txt (text files)
.rtf (Rich Text Format files)
Look for unexpected or multiple file extensions
If the subject line or the body of an e-mail states that the attachment is a certain type of file or if the file icon implies a certain type of file and the file extension does not match, delete the file. Also delete the file if it has multiple extensions such as picture.gif.exe. This is not really a picture file but an executable program that could potentially be a virus. If you trust the sender, contact that person to determine what you were supposed to have received.

2) Sharing Network Drives
Any time that you share a directory or a hard drive so that others on your local network can access them, you are opening yourself up to the risk of infection or malicious tampering. For this reason, we recommend that you do not share any of your files or folders over the network without the approval of your local network administrator. If you do choose to share your resources over the network, here are some precautions to take.
Share as little and as safely as possible.

1. Do not share your entire hard drive.
2. Do not share your root (C:\) directory or any of your Windows directories.
3. Don't give "Write" access! Set the access permissions to your shared folders to "Read." With "Read" access, others can still copy and see files in your shared directory but they cannot make changes to your files or delete them and if they can't, then neither can a virus.
4. Password protect your shared folders! Protecting your shared directories with passwords will limit access to only those individuals with whom you have entrusted the password.

Antivirus programs can be configured to regularly check your computer or even your incoming e-mail attachments for viruses. Because viruses are being constantly created or changed, it is important to use a program that provides regular updates. University Affiliates can obtain Symantec Antivirus free of charge by visiting DoIT's Security Site .Apple users should note that there are currently no wild viruses for MacOS 10, and thus at present Antivirus clients for MacOS 10 are unnecessary burdens.
a. Update your antivirus program regularly:
New or modified viruses are regularly unleashed on the Internet. Updating your antivirus software so that it contains the latest virus definitions will decrease the likelihood that you are affected by a new type of virus. Here are links to the virus updates for the most popular anti-virus programs.
1) Norton Anti-virus for both Mac and PC
2) McAfee Anti-virus for both Mac and PC

b. Check for security updates for your system:
Microsoft and Apple both regularly release security updates that fix security holes in the Windows and in the Macintosh operating systems. These holes make your system more susceptible to viruses and allow them to be spread more easily.

COM 125 - Entry #6: Cybercrime news reported in Singapore

Cybercrime is by far, one of the most difficult crimes to prove and give concrete evidence due to the widespread nature of the Internet. Of the few reports that cybercrimes were actually reported, and the criminal dealt with, many others go unreported and are simply termed as "unfounded claims" for lack of enough concrete evidence or the inability to trace the souce and track down the culprits. For example, the report "Washington State Man Pleads Guilty To Charges Of Transmitting Internet Virus" - 15 Feb 2007, is only one of the success stories. Of the 7 cybercrimes reported in 2007, i'm sure many others go unreported. This is one of the downsides of the prevalence of the Internet, despite its many uses and advantages.

One of the ways this criminal used to spread his malware was to send messages to IRC users that invited users to click on a link to a website. Once a user clicked on that link, they were connected to another computer and the malware was downloaded to that user's computer, creating a backdoor access to the computer of which the user was unaware. Users of the DarkMyst system were infected by clicking on a link disguised as a link to a movie. When they clicked on that link, other malware was downloaded. Once the backdoor was discovered, users had to spend time, money and resources to remove the unwanted code.

Not only does this take up valuable time and money to remove the malware, it is also destructive and malicious. Losing valuable information, documents and resources in the process can be very frustrating and leads to the employment of more resources to 'clean' it up.

COM 125: Cont'd Entry #4 - Elearning

A few years back, many projected that eLearning will become the major
medium of adult learning, replacing conventional methods of classroom lectures. However, recent studies indicate that although eLearning has registered a substantial growth, its penetration among the organizations is far below the projected level. Many reasons are attributed for this resistance to adapt eLearning. Among them, the three important ones are:
1. Huge initial cost of implementation
2. Long lead-time for development of courseware
3. Skepticism about the effectiveness of eLearning
The first two reasons can be attributed to the problem of perception from the industry’s point of view. Although eLearning requires huge initial investment, organizations generally overlook the benefit of the long-term return on investment. Similarly, organizations do not seem to consider the huge time saving on a long run, although the
initial lead time for courseware creation may be high. These reasons make up the 3rd factor of skepticism.

A.The following are some of the reasons that might demotivate learners from using elearning technology:
· Unattractive presentation
· Boring style of writing
· Undefined / ambiguous learning objectives
· Irrelevant content
· Too simple or too complex content
· Too much to grasp in one go

B.Other elements that can create learning blocks:
1) Inappropriate use of media:
Use of irrelevant graphics, excessive animations, flashy banners and logos, inappropriate audio effects will distract the learners’ attention and even irritate them creating a block for
proceeding further.
2) Unexplained terms and concepts:
In a smooth flowing content, sudden occurrence of a new term or a concept, if not explained properly at its first occurrence may cause a block. It may be a good idea, to give hyperlinked
pop-up boxes to explain them briefly, in case the learners require assistance.
3) Content flow disconnect / unstructured content:
As discussed earlier, the logical flow of chunks of information is very important for making the content effective. If the learners do not see a structure or if they have to go back and forth to put some pieces of information to make some sense, it will discourage them to proceed further.
4) De-motivating feedback:
While it is a good idea to test the learners’ progress in between the course by using formative assessments, the feedback should always be positive. Prolonged negative feedback will demotivate the learners and reduce their confidence level, creating a major learning block.
I do not really agree with this fourth "learning block", it doesn't make sense to simply heap constant praises on students' progress simply for the sake of retaining the students' interest and attention to continue using the program or online course. This is unrealistic and would not serve in the student's best interest.

C.Ways to improve effectiveness of eLearning content:
1) Know you target audience and their learning preferences:
The better, one knows the target audience and their learning preferences, the more effective, he/she will be able to develop the content. It is very important to review and re-review the content at the development stage with an eye on the end users and make sure that it will work for them.
2) Define clear learning objectives and work the content around them:
You need to be very clear about the objectives and outcome of the learning content, and more significantly, you should be able to clearly communicate to your learners up front, before they take a plunge.
3) Use of Keller’s ARCS model and Gagne’s events of instruction:
John Keller (1987) created the ARCS model describing the factors for learners’ motivation. Keller’s synthesis recommends that the four important factors for keeping the learners motivated are:
· Attention
· Relevance
· Confidence
· Satisfaction
The content should create attention of the learner, be relevant to his requirements, give the learner confidence during the process of learning and finally offer a satisfactory learning experience. It is always better to remember ARCS while developing the content.
Gagne’s nine learning events are the most popular and effective model for creating eLearning contents. Gagne proposed that the content should have nine distinct instructional events to be effective. They are:
(1) Gaining attention (reception)
(2) Informing learners of the objective (expectancy)
(3) Stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)
(4) Presenting the stimulus (selective perception)
(5) Providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)
(6) Eliciting performance (responding)
(7) Providing feedback (reinforcement)
(8) Assessing performance (retrieval)
(9) Enhancing retention and transfer (generalization).
These events should serve as the basis for designing instruction and selecting
appropriate media (Gagne, Briggs & Wager, 1992).
4) Use of interactivity / Games / Simulations:
Using interactivity in eLearning contents has many benefits. It keeps the learners involved, breaks the monotony of a single way communication, enhances the learning experience by participation and facilitates active experimentation (a component of Colb’s Learning cycle). Many theories indicate that learning by doing improves the retention of knowledge. "Creative presentations afford the opportunity for students to reach their social,
artistic and emotional goals. But more importantly, in these contexts learning becomes more enjoyable. Learners exercise choice and creativity, and there is a minimum amount of negative pressure."– says Dan Yaman, President of LearningWare, Inc.
5) Use of real life scenarios:
Cognitive Theories say that any new information is compared to existing cognitive structures called ‘schema’. Meaningful information is easier to learn and remember. If a learner links relatively meaningless information with prior schema it will be easier to retain. (Wittrock, Marks, & Doctorow, 1975, in Good and Brophy,
1990). Hence, use of real life scenarios and examples helps the learner to relate the new information with already familiar situations, improving the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and retention.
6) Facilitated learning:
One of the draw backs of eLearning is that the learners are left to learn on their own. In case the learners need assistance, there is no one to guide them. But with the present technology, self-paced eLearning can be supplemented with facilitators, by way of Webminars, simple chat, voice chat, video conferencing, asynchronous and on-line tutoring and so on.
7) Setting up of ’Communities of Practice’:
It is a proven fact that the learners learn more effectively from peers than trainers. In order to encourage peer learning, some of the facilities, such as discussion board, blogs and groups can be used effectively.
8) Podcasting/ mobile audio contents as supplements:
With new media, such as i-pod, podcasting, blogs and wikis picking up, the content supplements in these media may be used for reinforcing knowledge.