The End....



Deena (2011). Twitter-bird-001[Photograph]. Retrieved on April 10, 2012 from http://blogs.geotrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Twitter-bird-logo-001.jpg

This school year has come to an end. Fortunately, I can say my ales204 class has taught me a lot. For example, after being a skeptical about the importance of Twitter and Facebook; this class has opened my eyes to the fact that social networking may be used for something other than socialization. For example, Facebook may be used as a professional page for prospective employers. Furthermore, Twitter may be used as a means to reach out to other people in one’s domain. Another interesting thing ales204 has taught me is LinkedIn. I must admit before this class I had not even heard of it. I have learned that LinkedIn is a website that allows employers, employees, friends and colleagues to connect. Also, I have learned about Audioboo. This website is very helpful, especially when trying to record a short interview to upload and make it available on the web. As for applying this knowledge in my future jobs, I believe LinkedIn will be very useful. It will keep me in touch with other people in my domain and will allow me to connect with them whenever I need to. I do not think I will use Facebook for work. I would rather keep it private for family and friends. Twitter may be helpful to see what is trending in my domain for my own interest rather than my actual career. As for Audioboo, I believe it will only be useful if I am conducting short interviews since it will not record more than three minutes.

Another very useful and helpful skill I learned is how to write business emails and follow business etiquette. The most important thing that I learned is to keep emails formal, short and concise and stay respectful to the person being emailed. I believe these skills are very important, especially for future jobs and positions I hold. It portrays a respectful image of myself, rather than a sloppy unprofessional one.

            I am also proud that by the end of this term, I was able to build my critical literacy skills, as well as proper blogging and communication skills. Looking back at my first two blog posts, they were inconsistent, short, not very detailed and contained many grammatical mistakes. As I move along towards the newer posts, I have notices that they are detailed and structured better. Also, I found it was very hard to write posts at the beginning, but as the term progressed it became easier to express my thoughts about certain topics and relate them back to class.

I have read and commented on five blogs : Jenna, Stephanie, Stace, Courtney, and  Brenda. Each one of these ladies communicated new information and I was able to learn something new about them.



Critical Literacy and Nutritional Advice

         In my Ales204 class, we have talked a lot about being critically literate and thinking about the information presented to us. In this blog post I decided to write about nutritional advice and how important it is to be critically literate when reading.

      

        If a person is struggling with weight loss, a simple Google search will open a sea of possibilities and advice one could follow. Unfortunately, most of the advice given is to follow some fad diet, which sometimes can be harmful to one’s health. For example, one of the main advices that can be found is to cut carbohydrates. Although this may be effective, it is not a healthy way to achieve weight loss goals. A lot of people do not the importance of carbohydrates. Carbs are the main source of energy for our bodies. In fact, the only source of energy that can be used by the brain is carbs. Without carbohydrates, our brain power will decrease, muscle tissues will breakdown and the weight loss that will happen will be mainly lean tissue and water. Cutting carbs is just one of the possibilities. There are also many pills that can be taken to suppress ones appetite or increase ones metabolism. These pills have many side-effects that are also harmful to one’s health. For example, these pills may block the absorption of vitamins or increasing ones heart rate.

      This is where the importance of critical literacy plays in. Before believing everything we come across; we should consider the credibility of the source. Also, it is important to consider if the solution given seems “too good to be true” then it’s probably not the best. The best way to lose weight effectively would be through a balanced diet and exercise.

    I found a blog post by a fellow classmate, Yuhan Jiang, that is very interesting and informative. Yuhan talked about the importance of milk and the vitamins and minerals it provides for our bodies.

Graela. (2009). Only Fish Had Scales [Photograph]. Retrieved on April 9, 2012 from  http://www.flickr.com/photos/alaig/3594705493/sizes/m/in/photostream/

References:

Watson, S.  (2005). "Diet Pills: What You Need to Know"  .  HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved on April 9, 2012
                               from http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/medication/diet-pill3.htm 


Admin. (2011). Learning how to lose weight fast. How to Lose Weight Fast. Retrieved from April 9, 2012
                              from http://www.howtoloseweightfaster.org/