Final Course Reflection Assignment
- 2. What did I learn? White space is beneficial in that it make material easier to read Computer fonts are proportional fonts, unlike typewriter fonts which are fixed There are serif fonts, like Times New Roman and Courier, and sans serif fonts, such as Arial and Geneva Keep slide backgrounds consistent Web pages should be engaging, but easy to navigate with a minimal amount of links to make navigation easier
- 3. How did I learn this? The assignment linked to the content of this module that helped me to understand was Analysis Assignment 3, in which we were to analyze a badly designed website. Seeing examples of poorly designed websites helped me to understand why the module pointed out certain attributes of bad websites. I couldn’t navigate them or figure out what they were even promoting.
- 4. Why In a time where technology is becoming such a major part of our lives, it is important to be able to recognize the positives and negatives of websites, presentation slides, and other uses of technology. How is this important? will I use this in future? Over the next year and a half, I am positive that I will have many more presentations and papers to write. Knowing the best way to design them will ensure that I get my information across in an effective way and hopefully receive a good grade.
- 5. What did I learn? When working with readers’ expectations, write informative, feasibility, or justification reports Informative reports do not result in action or recommendation Feasibility reports explore alternatives and recommend one of them Justification reports recommend some kind of investment or change in policy There are four basic strategies for organizing information Reports should follow the same style as other documents but should be much more formal
- 6. How did I learn this? The assignment linked to the content of this module was Writing Assignment 3, the short recommendations report. We were to write a short report recommending at least three books to be considered for the One Book, One Campus program here at FGCU. After having my draft reviewed by one of my peers, I realized that my report wasn’t quite structured correctly and so I had to go back to the module and review some of the basic elements of a short report to make sure that mine was effective and correctly organized.
- 7. Why It is important to know the difference between different types of reports. Each type of report has a different purpose with a different result. In order to make report as effective as possible, its vital that we know which format to use. How is this important? will I use this in future? I think that recommendation reports are the kind of report that people will use working in all kinds of fields, even when it’s something as simple as recommending books for a program. So it’s important that we know how to correctly write one and make it effective.
- 8. What did I learn? When beginning a search, include as many keywords and synonyms as possible In an interview/survey, it is important to use words that can be understood by both the interviewer and interviewee in order to receive the best responses A judgment sample is a group of people whose views seem useful Causation is when one thing causes another, whereas correlation is when two things happens at the same time (easily confused)
- 9. How did I learn this? I think that Writing Assignment 3 was somewhat linked to this module in the sense that I had to research all kinds of books and other school’s programs to gather information for which books would be best to recommend. This required using specific key words and looking for reliable sources. I also had an assignment for another class in which we had to interview a subject, and this module worked with that perfectly. The interview gave me a better understanding of the content, and the content also helped me to frame much better interview questions.
- 10. Why Internet research is becoming so important in our lives and knowing how to effectively search using keywords and synonyms can save time and make for a more effective search. Furthermore, going through college it is extremely important to be able to identify reliable sources and be able to cite them properly. How is this important? will I use this in future? I do a lot of internet research so knowing exactly what words to use and how to look for good sources will be a great skill to have.
- 11. What did I learn? Use a direct request pattern when you expect no resistance from the audience, and use a problem-solving pattern when you expect the audience to object to your request Building credibility and appealing to emotions are simple ways to make a message more persuasive There are 3 types of collection letters – early, middle, and late In a letter of recommendation, saying “call me if you need more information” at the end usually implies something negative about the subject
- 12. How did I learn this? I think that the short recommendations report we wrote for the One Book, One Campus committee could have been considered a persuasive message. It was a recommendation report but we also needed to organize our information in a way that persuaded the reader to use the books we recommended. This message required an appropriate tone paired with strong enough language and structure to be convincing.
- 13. Why We create and use persuasive messages all the time without even knowing it. It is important to know how to organize them and what kind of language to use if we want them to be successful. How is this important? will I use this in future? In the near future, I will be asking for letters of recommendation and applying for jobs after college. Hopefully having this knowledge of what is ideal in each of these things will help me to be successful in those areas.
- 14. What did I learn? Information reports collect data, analytical reports interpret data, and recommendation reports recommend action or a solution Identify the problem and then create a purpose statement before doing research An RFP stands for Request for Proposal and is used by government agencies and companies When asking for a budget, never ask for too little
- 15. How did I learn this? The assignment linked to this module was Analysis Assignment 4, in which we had to evaluate a social media disaster and provide a solution to how it could have been avoided or made less disastrous. Before learning about this module, I would’ve just dived straight in and suggested how to fix the problem without going through the proper steps for the proposal. So, learning this information really helped with that assignment, and the assignment also served as good practice to proposing a solution to a problem.
- 16. Why is this important? It is important in many areas of our professional lives to have a plan of action. Jumping right into a project or plan without laying it all out in a proposal first can be risky and get confusing. Proposals help to identify the problem at hand and have a clear plan of action in how the problem is going to be solved. How will I use this in future? I had to write my first serious proposal for a class project this semester and luckily my professor gave us a detailed outline of what was required but having this information now will definitely help me when I don’t have a specific outline to follow.
- 17. What did I learn? Facebook has more page views that Google 66% of the global population visit social network sites The fastest growing demographic for social networking sites is people over the age of 35 Businesses are now starting to make use of the internet and social networking as a platform to increase awareness and popularity The old communication model was a monologue; the new communication model is dialogue, which is very consumer driven
- 18. How did I learn this? Analysis Assignment 4 and Writing Assignment 4 were both linked heavily to the content of this section of the unit. For WA4 I talked about the backlash that Youtube was facing for making changes to the commenting system on the website. The fact there was such an uproar over this issue provides a perfect example of the power and influence and social media has on our society today.
- 19. Why is this important? Social media is used by so many people today and everyone can see what is being posted and talked about. It is important to know the impact that your words and actions posted on the internet can have and that we must be cautious about what we are posting. How will I use this in future? I use social media every single day, so I will probably be using this information every day for almost the rest of my life. Knowing how my social networking posts can have an affect on others and on myself will help me be more aware of what I am posting on the sites I use.