Lecture 9: Death by PowerPoint and Hurrah for Pecha Kucha!

Before we get to the real meat (get it Aggie students?!) of today's lecture, I would like to remind you about your participation in this class. Participating, sending tweets, adding blog comments, discussing in class and in labs is all to help you learn and engage with the course content. Re-writing what someone has  already tweeted is not demonstrating your engagement with the ideas, you are simply quoting or paraphrasing or even summarising.

So, this is why I ask you to be critically literate and to critically think about your contributions.

Image from Harold Jarche.

Besides the tips and examples I will show in the lecture, have a read of these notes from Copy Blogger who succinctly summarises some key aspects of critical literacy:

Little Details MatterPay attention to words like ‘may’, ‘can’, and ‘will’. There’s a huge difference between something thatwill [insert marvelous benefit here] and something that might do the same. Never accept anything at face value.
Question the AuthoritiesIf a piece of content quotes an expert to help support the argument or conclusion, ask questions. What qualifies the individual to give advice? What credentials does the person have to make claims? Why is he or she an authority on the subject?
Sweeping Away StatementsOver-generalization usually discredits an argument’s validity from the get-go. Knock down sentences that use words like ‘all’ and ‘everyone’. Not all people do, and not everyone knows. More careful wording such as ‘most’ and ‘some’ pass muster more easily.
Scarecrows and Straw MenWatch out for fallacies. Fallacies are the tricky smoke and mirrors that divert attention from true critical thinking. There are a ton of fallacies, all built to deflect, detract, divert and discredit arguments without really doing so.
Let Down Your GuardOne of the biggest obstacles to creative thinking is bias, also the enemy of critical thinking. Your values, emotions, desires and experiences influence your beliefs and your ability to have an open mind. Set them aside and take the time to ponder information you receive wholeheartedly.
A last note: Be prepared to accept that someone’s arguments are true. Debating validity can be fun; it doesn’t always mean that you’re right.

You can also follow these suggestions:

Image from DocStock presentation found here.

Ales204 Lecture 9 :: Public Speaking & Pecha Kucha

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Lecture 8: Twitter, Facebook & Citizen Science

Lecture 8 Facebook, Twitter and Citizen Science

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For Nutrition Students

If you are in nutrition or hoping to become a dietician, you really should know about this very useful website.

Students can even join the community to help build your network, keep you up to date on changes/developments and perhaps even give you suggestions of who to follow on Twitter.

Here is a bit about the association:

Dietitians of Canada (DC) is the national professional association for dietitians, representing almost 6000 members at the local, provincial and national levels. DC is one of the largest organizations of dietetic professionals in the world.
Mission, Vision, Values
As the voice of the profession, we strive for excellence in advancing health through food and nutrition.
Learn more What we do
Dietitians of Canada and our members advance the health of Canadians in several important ways.
Learn more Become a member
If you are a Registered Dietitian or studying to become one, we invite you to join DC. Work with us to build your profile, expand your knowledge and open up new opportunities in your professional career.
Learn more

Calling Human Ecology Students :: Practise your Professional Communication and Win a Prize

You can read more over at the SHEA blog.

Technology Narratives

I thought this image is related to what we've been discussing in class (and online!). I'm wondering though, how would you change the wording for each platform so that it it would fit with your field or speciality?

Lecture 7: Facebook, Science & Business

For our homework activity:

•With a partner or in small groups, please respond to the following. Be sure to add your comment (and group members’ names) to the WALL of our ALES204 Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ALES-204-Dr-Laccetti/311657842204554?sk=wall
•RE: David Carr's article, "Why Twitter Will Endure” write a brief synopsis of the article.
•Note:
•something NEW that you learnt from the article
•something that you ALREADY knew.

Lecture 7: Facebook Page Assignment

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A reminder that the Facebook Page is part of your e-portfolio so please be sure to include all those elements as listed in the assignment which can be found here.

Module 3: Facebook!

We can't wait to see all of your wonderful facebook pages.

Please post your links below

Don't forget to include:
Your Name
TA
Lab Section
Facebook Image Attribution

Module 3: Facebook for Business

Students, as a comment to this post, leave a link to your blog with your flickr photo of your professional Facebook PAGE (not a profile!).

DUE: 17:00 on Friday, 27th of Jan. 2012

In the words of a previous ALES204 student, this is what the assignment requires:

1. "Create a page" on my existing Facebook profile that is like an e-Resume 
2.  Take a 'print screen' picture of the page with the basic information wall showing
3. Save this photo in Flickr and post it on my blog
4. Write 2-4 paragraphs on my blog pertaining to my facebook page
5. Post a link on the class blog that connects you to my blog post with the flickr photo

Remember, this assignment forms PART of the e-portfolio and as such, needs to follow those guidelines:

At the end of the term, you will have written at least five blog posts.  In each blog post (EXCEPT the first Introductory post) you must:

1. Include at least one image (properly cited)
2. Include at least one external link (somewhere out in the WWW)
3. Include at least one reference to a fellow student’s blog post (you must link to the post, i.e. internal link)
4. Be on topic (i.e. related to our class work).
5. Each blog post should be at least two paragraphs but no more than four.

Additionally, here is a rubric for the profile itself:

Lecture 6: Twitter & Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences

Image from the article below via Government Technology

Have a read of this article by Lauren Katims, pertinent to today's lecture:

"There’s so much misinformation out there about farming and what farmers do. A lot of people have lost track of where their food comes from,” said Dino Giacomazzi, a fourth-generation dairy farmer in central California who travels around the country training farmers on social media use. He also has a popular blog, Facebook page and Twitter account (@dairydino) with thousands of farmer followers.
“We invite people onto our farms through the Internet,” he said. “We let people see exactly what it is that we do.”

[...]

A recent conference on farmers and social media hosted by the University of California, Davis, brought 80 attendees, including www.agchat.org president Jeff Fowle, who currently has more than 25,000 Twitter followers.
Earlier this year, he and a group of farmers created the AgChat Foundation, a nonprofit designed to empower more farmers to leverage social media as a tool. The group hosts weekly discussions on Twitter about various topics and how they affect the agriculture industry.
The foundation hopes to start giving technology scholarships to needy farmers by the time they get back in the fields this spring, donating smartphones, aircards, flipcams, laptops, iPads and in some cases high-speed Internet.
The goal, the foundation said in an e-mail, “is to encourage more people to interact with farmers and get their questions answered about farming directly from the source.”


Giacomazzi added, “It’s about selling the industry; it’s about saving the lifestyle of these farmers. And we’ll do that at whatever cost to us.”

Today's Outline

•Review of Twitter
•Twitter Search
•Twitter Analytics
•Twitter & its Role in Science
•Activity
•Further Reading: Twitter Guidebook

•Homework



Hashtag Activity:

•With a partner:
•Search #AgChat on Twitter
•Peruse the 10-20 most recent tweets
•Discuss: What do you notice?
–Who is tweeting
–Are there any re-occurring topics?
–Are there citations/links to other sources?
–Do many tweets include (links to) images or videos?

Activity :: Following Meaningful Content

•Find a scientist/farmer/someone in your field on Twitter
•A useful place to start is TweepML and search for “scientists”: http://tweepml.org/search?query=scientists&x=0&y=0
•Or try wefollow: http://wefollow.com/twitter/scientist
•Tell @JessL WHY you chose to follow a particular scientist & HOW their tweets will be meaningful to your studies

Homework:

•Tweet two short reflections on what you learnt today. Think specifically about case studies of how people in science/ag use Twitter.
•Remember to mark all class tweets @JessL and use our #ALES204 hashtag
•Read “Why Twitter Will Endure” - David Carr, NY Times, 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekinreview/03carr.html



Of interest for further reading:

Understanding how Twitter is used to spread scientific messages

Letierce, Julie and Passant, Alexandre and Breslin, John and Decker, Stefan (2010) Understanding how Twitter is used to spread scientific messages. In: Proceedings of the WebSci10: Extending the Frontiers of Society On-Line, April 26-27th, 2010, Raleigh, NC: US.

	PDF (preprint) - Repository staff only - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf orAdobe Acrobat Reader 340Kb
	PDF (Final Version) - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader 1814Kb

Abstract

According to a survey we recently conducted, Twitter was ranked in the top three services used by Semantic Web researchers to spread information. In order to understand how Twitter is practically used for spreading scientific messages, we captured tweets containing the official hashtags of three conferences and studied (1) the type of content that researchers are more likely to tweet, (2) how they do it, and finally (3) if their tweets can reach other communities — in addition to their own. In addition, we also conducted some interviews to complete our understanding of researchers’ motivation to use Twitter during conferences.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Twitter, Scientific Communication, Semantic Web Community, Tagging, Science Dissemination
Subjects:	Web Science Events > Web Science 2010
ID Code:	314
Deposited By:	W S T Administrator
Deposited On:	15 Mar 2010 10:09
Last Modified:	25 Oct 2011 16:57

Lecture 6 2012 twitter & science

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Module 2: Science Journalism & Online Class

The Social Media Survey that you need to fill in for Friday's Class:

NOTE: There have been some questions about the LinkedIn profile - IF you already have an account with LinkedIn, please feel free to add it. If you don't, please don't worry - we will cover this topic later in the term. This is just a survey to see how many students have already joined before ALES204.

Also, there is a question asking for the link to your blog, this is the link to your e-portfolio which you will have started by the end of Friday's online class.

Remember too, you are free to use an alias in any of your online participation/assignments JUST be sure you let us (the TAs and I) know AND fill in the Twitter Alias form here.







Don't forget to leave a link to your new ALES204 blog in the comments section, and remember to include your Lab Section in the comment. Feel free to tweet it too!

A Few Reminders

Image from Quality Solicitors.

Have a read of these reminders - they will help you be successful in ALES204:

1. Please remember to complete the Twitter Alias form so that the TAs and I can track aspects of your online participation. The form can be found here. 
2. The form can also be found and completed via the Lecture 3 Blog Post: http://ales204-2012.blogspot.com/2012/01/lecture-3-blogging-twitter-and-science.html
3. Please note that ALL marks for your assignments will be available via e-class. They will not be distributed in class or in labs, so PLEASE remember to check in on e-class. 
4. E-Class is where all your class e-mails will go. E-mails might be about an assignment change or lecture cancellation and these will all be sent via e-class.
5. Although you may already use Twitter and Facebook (and other social media platforms) we are using them in an academic sense. That means we strive to remain professional, cordial and academic. There should be no inappropriate images, language or context in any of our work (online and offline) for this class.
6. This ALES204 class is focussed on the digital generation and how these communication tools will help you to clearly communicate your research and your career objectives. The theory we talk about (and watch, read, discuss, and otherwise interact with) may, at first, seem different from the theory you studied in physics or bio or nutrition, but it is important to remember that this content is academic and is about sharing with you all the ways your future employer (and grad. schools!) will expect you to communicate.
7. A main objective in this class is not just about how to use Twitter or manage a blog (as for your e-portfolio) but it's about using these tools to effectively communicate and engaging with what other people in our fields are researching and discussing.

As an aside, if you decide to use blogger (which I recommend) for your e-portfolio, I highly suggest you use a gmail (or other) address and NOT your U of Alberta account which does not have full functionality. For example, the U of Alberta e-mail does not allow easy uploading of images to one's blog (and this is necessary for the e-portfolio).

As always, please let me know if you have any questions: laccettiATualberta.ca

Stop SOPA

In the lecture this morning, we will address SOPA and what it might mean for us as internet users and content creators.

STOP SOPA Code Turns Any Site Dark to Protest Stop Online Piracy Act

1 day ago by Zachary Sniderman

Sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit are going “dark” this Wednesday, Jan. 18, to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) which, critics contend, would compromise the ability of any site that includes outside links to carry on current operations.

Feeling left out? A simple piece of code is helping the entire web (from major sites to even the humblest of Tumblrs) go dark in solidarity. The code, called STOP SOPA, replaces any site’s landing page with a black screen. Using your mouse a flashlight uncovers a message explaining the need to kill SOPA and a link to anti-SOPA site AmericanCensorship.org.

SEE ALSO: On the Street: Do You Understand SOPA? [VIDEO]

The idea of “Going Dark” is a worst-case scenario protest against SOPA, essentially warning that link-heavy sites such as Reddit and Wikipedia might get shut down, or go dark, if SOPA becomes law.

The STOP SOPA code was created by Zachary Johnson, a developer and Internet enthusiast, out of anger:

I’ve been calling my representatives in Congress, but this gave me another outlet for my frustration with this legislation. I place this code in the public domain. I require no attribution.

You can find the code here and get a sense of what sites will look like before and after application. Make sure you don’t add it until Jan. 18, otherwise your site will prematurely go dark.

Via The Guardian:

Stop Sopa or the web really will go dark

The corporations lobbying for Sopa know exactly what they want: control of online information for profit. This is a crossroads

• See the Guardian's explainer: understanding Sopa

• •  reddit this
• Comments (176)

• 
• • Dan Gillmor
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 January 2012 21.11 GMT
  • Article history

Jimmy Wales announced that Wikipedia will be switched off on 18 January in protest against Sopa and other legislative efforts to control and censor the internet. Photograph: PR handout

As thousands of websites, including the English version of Wikipedia, prepare to "go dark" Wednesday in protest against internet censorship, a new explanation is emerging for the would-be censors' acts: they simply don't understand how the internet works. The evidence suggests otherwise.

Search on the these terms – "don't understand" Sopa Congress – and you'll find a lots of blogposts and news stories making this point. Sopa, of course, stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act, which may or may not be stalled at the moment.

Change "don't" to "doesn't' and "Congress" to "Rupert Murdoch" in that search and you'll find a bunch of new ones stemming from Murdoch's spate of Tweets over the weekend, in which he denounced Sopa opponents and took special aim at his longstanding object of loathing, Google. Two of the resulting "he doesn't understand" pieces came from people whose work I greatly respect: see this post at the Guardian by Jeff Jarvis, and this one by Mathew Ingram at the GigaOm technology blog.

Read the entire article here.