Week 4

Task 4: How often do you read the paper or watch the news on TV? How important is it for you to keep up with current events?

Watch the news on TV

Reading Newspaper 

Reading newspaper or watch the news on television for me is a must for everyone, but now days most people either teenagers or adult are likely go online and read news from the internet. From my point of view there are pro and cons on both mediums. Internet gives more information rather than news on television or newspaper. I would say both mediums are important, reading newspaper or watch the news is about the same, just that one is in printed media and another one is visual media. Both of them have their own extent of coverage of news and importance given to particular news stories, like Newspaper the focus is more on detailing of the news but news on television they just gave the overall fresh news of the stories. It’s like a summary of the story. News on television is faster than newspaper, so you do not have to wait for updating news. From what I can see in this era, I rarely watch news on television or read prined newspaper but still uses the concept of reading newspaper and watching television through the internet/online. In modern technology especially, I can easily find news everywhere especially with the availability of Wi-Fi or internet free access. While eating in the restaurant, I can still get myself updated with the current news or events. It is important for me to access fast and accurate news in order to keep abreast with current events. I would definitely would not want to be left out or to be the last person in knowing certain important issues or announcements. Honestly, for myself I rarely watch news on television and read newspaper; but have been accessing internet to read or watch news around the world by surfing the internet. My favourite website is www.oddee.com. In this website I can find latest information, news, and also ideas This website keep updating certain topics around the world.

Week 3

Task 3: What is theatre? How do you think theatre, as a media form, communicates messages to its audience?

According to a oxforddictionaries.com, theatre is a building or outdoor area in which plays and other dramatic performances are given, in other words theatre also the activity or profession of acting in, producing, directing, or writing plays. Theatre is an art that takes place in the present. Every theatre would have a title and its messages to the audiences. In my opinion, theatre communicates messages to the audiences either through spoken or silent. In spoken theatre sometimes movements like dance and actions are incorporated, while silent theatre in communicating messages will use a lot of gestures and movements. Actors and the actress play important roles in conveying the messages be it spoken or silent. The latter is more challenging of which failing to act, unable to give the correct gestures will result in audiences to give different interpretation, in other words audiences will not get the message that the actors and actresses are trying to relate or convey. From my point of view, theatre is something like radio or TV station, there are messages to be communicated, there are stories to be shared, but the difference is that in theatre the message is communicated by acting live compare to other media form. In theatre the actors and actresses will interact live, will receive feedback both ways. Theatre also provides public event, attract attention to people and issues hence theatre also provide emotional release.

Week 2 (B)

Task 2: Identify at least four social/cultural groups and what media you think they use

The diversification of society has made differences by gender, generation, ethnicity, religious affiliation and other social groups increasingly relevant.Social identity groups are neither fixed nor firm. They and their relevance changed based on the context and situations in which people interact whereas Cultural group are people of the same race or nationality who share a distinctive culture.

Disabled people as a distinct social group with a distinct identity is an example of a social group. They generate art, music, literature, and other expressions of their lives and culture, infused from their experience of disability. Disabled people use social media in the way the media are meant to be used. Some examples:Blind man will use Facebook to find old friends and making new friends, keeping in touch with people while severely hard of hearing (hearing aid user) will use Facebook to keep updated. The social aspects of visual or hearing impairments do not matter, as what they have learnt on Facebook can be use when later meet people face to face, and made it much easier for them to follow and understand the context of conversations. 

                                                   Blindman accessing internet

Another example of social group is geologist. The social media they can use is flikr, facebook, twitter, linkedin. They can share geological photos in flikr, discuss and exchange information, ideas and opportunities in linkedin. They can tweet for important discoveries etc.

                                               Geologist sharing photos in flickr

For students skype is the most common and cheap social media to discuss on projects and asignmnets. Bloggings is another way to share and exchange knowledge, and receive comments and ideas on certain issues or subjects. Comments are an important part of both the readers and blogger’s learning process.

The Ashanti people is an etnic culture group, they are native to the country of Ghana, where they remain a major ethnic group within the country today. The Ashanti People established the Ashanti Confederacy, which flourished for several centuries. This ethnic group probably keep in touch with each other nowadays through printed media such as newspaper and magazines, and maybe through radio and telivision. It is the most reachable media as compared to the electronic media like the internet as only 2% of the population can accsess internet.

                                                                   Ashanti people

Week 2 (A)

Task 2: Types if Media Form :-

Printed Media

http://www.hiddenroadinitiative.com/media-and-press.html

Non-Printed Media

http://bermangraphics.com/digital-jury-resources/photographing-art.htm

Television 

http://blogs.babble.com/toddler-times/2011/10/19/turn-off-the-television-toddlers-should-avoid-screens-altogether-says-aap/

Radio

http://notetoamy.nl/2012/01/radio-radio-radio/

Telephone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1896_telephone.jpg

Web / Internet

http://bigdrawmarketing.com/web-development/web-design/

Film

http://invadenola.com/2012/04/new-orleans-film-society-upcoming-films/

Wire Service 

http://www.ranchohomeinspections.com/services.html

Audio Visual Media

http://serasiritma.blogspot.com/2011/06/sre4-pengenalanteknologi-audio-visual.html

Week 1

Task 1 

1. Cross Disciplinary - linking two or more fields of study; interdisciplinary

2. Inter Disciplinary - the quality or state of involving more than one discipline

3. Trans Disciplinary - transcendent of the curriculum content and focuses on authentic learning,

                                      new perspectives, current issues within the context of multiple

                                      disciplines.

4. Qualitative - Qualitative research gathers information that is not in numerical form

5. Ethnographic - the branch of anthropology that deals with the scientific description of

                             individual human societies

Sources:

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cross-disciplinary

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/interdisciplinarity

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ethnographically

http://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html

http://www.greenwichschools.org/page.cfm?p=6697

The following are the meanings of below terms:

Cross-disciplinary.

Cross-disciplinary Involving two or more academic disciplines

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cross-disciplinary#useinasentence) (31 October 2012)

Interdisciplinary

1. combining or involving two or more academic disciplines or fields of study

2. combining or involving two or more professions, technologies,departments, or the like, as in business or industry.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/interdisciplinary) (31 October 2012)

Transdisciplinary

Transdisciplinary can be thought of as the union of all interdisciplinary efforts.

Collaboration in which exchanging information, altering discipline-specific approaches, sharing resources and integrating disciplines achieves a common scientific goal

Qualitative

Qualitative Associated with the subjective quality of a thing or phenomenon, such as feel, taste, expertise, image, leadership, reputation.

Qualitative aspects are abstract; they either do not require measurement or cannot be measured because the reality they represent can only be approximated. Knowledge of these aspects is gained through observation combined with interpretative understanding of the underlying thing or phenomenon.

(http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/qualitative.html) (31 October 2012)

Ethnographic

The branch of anthropology that deals with the scientific description of specific human cultures.