University Lecturers and Students

Hi and welcome to my blog... In term 2, 2014 at CQU I am learning two courses that require me to have a blog. So for this purpose I have kept my blog very simple and separated it into two sections.

Above you will see two tabs. One for my Media Writing course and one for my Working with Social Media course.

So, if you are either Kate Ames or a fellow 'Media Writing' student, please select the 'Media Writing' tab. Alternatively, if you are Brendan Murphy or a fellow 'Working with Social Media' student please select the 'Working with Social Media' Course tab.

If you want to come back to this page simply click on the Blog Name 'Victoria's Place in the World'.

As the weeks progress you will notice that the menu selection will become longer, that is because each week will have its own tab so that it is easily located.

I decided to keep this blog all about University Stuff Writing so if this bores you, feel free to visit my blogger account - WARNING: Its not very exciting either.

Technical

Technical: There is no new quiz this week.
Ensure that you have completed all the quizzes and have achieved 100% in each.
Reflect on your experience with the quizzes this term. Which, of all the areas covered, did you find the most challenging, and which were the easiest? Do you think, overall, you are a better writer
technically than you were when you started the course?
If so, how? If not, why not? Record your responses on your blog. 

I learned a lot by doing the quizzes.  I thought they would be easy, so the first few weeks I kind of breezed through them which resulted in a lot of mistakes.   Half way through though, I started to really get the hang of things and my results also reflected this.  The last two quizzes were all but 100% (Ames, 2014).

Am I a better writer now?  Well, I hope so.  The one thing I can say for sure is, now, when I write, I really think about the words I use and the way I use them.  Thank you for a very informative and interesting term.


References:

Ames, K., 2014. Study Guide Lessons 1-12  Course notes, COMM11007 Media Writing: CQUniversity e-courses, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/.

Hicks, W., 2013. English for journalists. 4th ed. New York: Routledge.

Whitaker, W. R., Ramsey, J. E. & Smith, R. D., 2012. Meda Writing, print broadcast and public relations. 4th ed. New York: Routledge.

Practical

Practical:
Review your blog. To do this you should:
1) Compile a checklist of blog requirements and ensuring that you have responded to all weekly requirements; and
2) Review your blog against the ‘Blog Writing Checklist’ linked to the Week 12 Support Materials/Links. 

 WEEK 12 BLOG CHECKLIST
□ Weekly activities are clearly tagged or categorised so teaching staff can access posts
easily. 

All posts are clearly labeled on the left hand side of the blog.  Each week is labeled and with it is a number in brackets.  This number indicates how many posts there are for that week.

□ All references to ‘i’ as an individual word (and its relational words i’m, i’ld) have been 
capitalised.

□ If you have used ‘it’s’, it’s because you are referring to ‘it and is’ as a conjunction.
This is the ONLY time an apostrophe is used in ‘it’s’.

□ All sentences have a full-stop at the end of a sentence.

□ If you have made reference to an external website or reading, you have referenced
the original source or created a direct link to the original website.

□ All references are consistent, and correctly punctuated for the referencing style you
are using.

□ If you have used a figure, it is in keeping with the rule: spell out numbers under 10,
use figures over 10 unless the number starts the sentence. 

□ All proper nouns are capitalised. 

□ You have correctly used apostrophes as plural or possessive. Every time you have
used an apostrophe, ask yourself if it is possessive or plural, and depending on the
answer, then ask yourself if it is being used correctly. 

□ Check that you have used the correct words in your posts – common errors include
quite/quiet, for example. You should pick these up if you read your work aloud.

□ If you have used the word ‘however’ in the middle of a sentence to indicate a shift in
sentence direction, consider whether it needs a semi-colon before the word (eg. The
dog was black; however, it was easy to spot at night because it was very shiny.)

□ Review subject/verb agreement. (eg. If the subject is singular, the verb should also
be singular – ‘The dog is shiny’; not ‘The dog are shiny’.)

□ Revise the length of your sentences. If your sentence is more than a couple of lines
in your blog, it needs to be shortened. Shorter sentences have greater impact and
are more active generally. 

□ Read your work aloud. Every sentence, every post. If the sentence sounds awkward,
rephrase it. 

I have read my blog over and over, and to be honest, I don't think it will be perfect, even if I had a year to review it ha ha.  Perhaps I am my own worst critic?  The way I feel about the written word after doing this course is, no matter how something is written there will always be a different way to write it.   

Inquiry

Inquiry:
This is your final week. On your blog, reflect on your learning journey and respond to the following
questions:
What did you find most beneficial about the course?
What was most challenging?
Has the course changed the way you practice or think about media writing, and in what ways or why not?

This course has made me look more closely at news reports, both written and broadcast.  It has helped me to refine my own writing (Ames, 2014).

I found the quizzes to be the most beneficial and at the same time, the most challenging.  Then, incorporating what I have learned into my writing, was the biggest challenge of all.

The course has changed the way I look at media reports.  Instead of looking at what the writer or speaker is taking about, I now look at how they write or talk about it.  Some of the things I now look at are:

• How they introduce the topic,  
• When they bring in certain points,
• Whether there are any descriptive words that influence the audience, 
• Whether there is there a tone to the writing and 
• Whether it is persuasive text, cleverly masked (Ames, 2014). 

Instead of  being one of the mindless majority just consuming the spoken words, I am now one who will challenge news reports and ask more questions;  No longer just blindly accepting.    



References:

Ames, K., 2014. Study Guide Lessons 1-12  Course notes, COMM11007 Media Writing: CQUniversity e-courses, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/.

Hicks, W., 2013. English for journalists. 4th ed. New York: Routledge.

Whitaker, W. R., Ramsey, J. E. & Smith, R. D., 2012. Meda Writing, print broadcast and public relations. 4th ed. New York: Routledge.

Technical

Technical: Complete Quiz 11 – Words
a. Read Chapter 9 of Hicks, English for Journalists (Punctuation) to prepare for this quiz.
b. Complete the quiz so that you get 100% correct (you will be able to make numerous attempts).
c. Reflect on this briefly on your blog

Did you find the questions difficult? Did you have any problems in specific areas? 

Short answer: No.  I found it all very simple, but perhaps this is due to the extensive work I have put into learning this term.  There are some words that, while they are classed as redundant, I will most likely continue to use, because to me, they help the sentence to flow.  Here is one such example:

(Ames, 2014)

 
While technically, (a) is correct, to me it just doesn't flow.  Perhaps this is my age or the types of readings I gravitate to?  Regardless, it is very beneficial that I  knowing the correct way to write and then make making the conscious choice to break convention (or use redundant words).  

References:

Ames, K. 2014. Quiz 11: Words, Course Notes, COMM 11007 Media Writing: CQUniversity e-courses, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/.

Hicks, W., 2013. English for journalists. 4th ed. New York: Routledge pp 108-134.