Reflective Post: A Reflection on Communication Theory and Practice

As known, the purpose of communication is to convey information, so being a better communicator means conveying it more clearly, and something that comes with reflective practice[1].

Leah Dizon,Communication!!! [2008.08.20].
Step Into My World (PV). Retrieved from:
http://desertheart.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/
communication_cd.jpg

ALES 204 is a university course covering the principles of professional communication, including written, oral, and electronic components. It helps students to apply strategies towards developing effective online and offline written work and oral speaking, improve her or his own communication style or skills and demonstrate a through knowledge of and competency in professional communications. Overall, this course is designed to make you be a better communicator no matter online or offline [1].

Except normal lectures, ALES 204 is also offering a Community Service-Learning (CSL) component, which makes learning come alive by connecting coursework with experiences in local non-profit organizations. Students bring their time and talents to community organizations as part of their studies, challenging them to engage with their learning in fresh new ways and to explore relationships between theory and practice [2]. In this winter term, I take part in one of CSL placements, Campus Food Bank (CFB) with Brenda Le. The Campus Food Bank is a registered non-profit organization that distributes food items and toiletries to all members of the university community –students, staff, alumni and their children. As such, the CFB is governed by a Board of Directors those represents the members of the University Community [3]. The main works for Brenda and I are designing newsletters, doing class presentations and managing CFB Twitter.

Brenda L. & Nian L.(me)
taken in CFB office on Apr. 04. 2012
(Personal Collection, 2012)

Now I am going to tell you more about my experience with Campus Food Bank. Firstly, every Thursday, Brenda and I go to CFB office (1-81 SUB) to have a short meeting with our supervisors, Ashley and Jennifer. During the meeting, we evaluate the past-week works and disscuss the next-week projects, which do improve my English speaking and communication skills.  Secondly, every mouth, we should accomplish four class presentations to tell students more about CFB and the upcoming events. The experience of class presentations makes me less nervous to have public speaking in front of a ton of people. Finally, we applied the knowlege of making poster and Twitter learned from ALES 204 lectures to our CFB newsletter and weekly Twitter. Joining in the CFB gives me a chance to connect lectures with experiences, guides me to explore relationships between theory and practice, improves my communication skills and making friends with Brenda. :)

Epic Food Bank

Retrieved from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gApWXaCTifs

(This is an interesting video to know more about campus food bank, 

we are asked to show the video when we do class presentation, 

but we just showed twice by the limiting time.)

 The Cloud Tag for this blog 'Reflective post' created by Wordle(2012)

In my future, I am going to apply all the communication knowledge learnt from ALES 204 and CSL program to my real professional or non-professional life, like sending professional email to professors or prospective employers, creating business page on Facebook, searching scientific article by google scholar, finding a picture from Flickr, obtaining key words by cloud tag and so on.

If you truly want to be a better communicator, you will be, because you will make the effort to read over and improve what you write or tweet or blog and think carefully before you speak or present [1].


Links to the five blogs I commented on:

1. Brenda Le, by Brenda L
2. LinaMarisH, by Lina H
3. Welcome, by Lina A
4. Green Field, by Yunke X
5. Adventures of an Aspiring Vet, by Jennifer W

References:

[1] Laccetti, J.ALES 204: Communication Theory & Practise:: Winter 2012. Retrieved from: http://ales204-2012.blogspot.ca/

[2] Community Service- Learning, Faculty of ARTS, University of Alberta. Retrieved from: http://www.csl.ualberta.ca/

[3] About Us. Campus Food Bank. Retrieved from: http://campusfoodbank.com/about-us/

Communication...?

JasonSWrench,(2009) Transactional Model of Communication.

Retrieved March 23,2012 from:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/

Transactional_comm_model.jpg/320px-Transactional_comm_model.jpg

Communication is defined as the activity of conveying information. There are three parts, which are senders, sources(messages) and recivers. Senders send messages to recivers, and then recivers give the feedback, in other words, somehow, recivers also can be senders. 


Creature can’t live without communication, and it has many types, like face-to-face talk, online chat, and so on. When I was a kid, I just considered communication as simple face-to-face talk. In my opinion, communication is simply talking to someone. There should be at less two people to do this activity. People who are involved in communication say what they want to share with others, and obtain what they like. During this process, everyone outputs messages and inputs information at the same time. For the content, they can talk about what the next season business project is, or how to manage their garden, or even what their pet eat for this moring. People can talk about whatever they like.

Devidy Pet Warehouse
Retrieved March 23,2012 from:
http://www.devidypetwarehouse.com/v/vspfiles/
assets/images/dog%20cat%20bowl.jpg

However, communication should not be as simple as face-to-face talk, but it can be online chat (long distance talk) or other forms of exchanging information. In our generation, everyone is capable of searching internet, we prefer chat with others by Facebook, MSN, or Twitter instead of in person. We can talk with someone we know, or someone who is completely strange to us. Twitter is a good example. On the one hand, people tweet about their ideas, opinions, or what they are doing, on the other hand, they also gain new information they interested from reading tweets. By searching with # hashtag, I can know how a restaurant is, where to buy a cheap fancy shirt and the result of a dodgeball game and so on. My friend Brenda is sharing her experience about Twitter in her blog named "Confession of a Twitter Skeptic", if you are willing to read, you can go and enjoy.

In addition, reading and writing also can be considered as a type of communication. An author writing an article is a way of showing his opinions or feelings about something, while a reader reading this article is to obtain the author's opinions or feelings. Based on what he gains, the reader may have their own idea about this certain thing and he may make feedback to the author. In a sentence, communication should have the exchange of information.

Now, I am a CSL student and volunteering with University of Alberta Campus Food Bank(CFB), I  should do four class presentations per month to let more students know about our CFB. I think class presentation is another way of communication, since students know more about our services and how to get involved after we presenting.

All in all, communication is sending and receiving information, it has many forms, and we can't live without it!


Watch out ! You are reading my blog, so you and I are having communication NOW !

Sephora.(2009) Funny Hello
Retrieved March 23,2012 from:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9hZgtwqwUio/TndEmHHfFeI/AAAAAAAAAIY/
v8zDLKapiSE/s1600/hello.png

Facebook Resume !

Generally, Facebook and a lot of other social media are considered to be strictly for communicating with friends and family. However, with the development of Internet and the advantage of so many social media, more and more businesses are becoming to focus on online services and work. It is very common to see that many companies use email, Twitter and Facebook to provide updates to prospective clients. For instance, girls may receive emails about new items or discount from Victoria’s Secret weekly or even daily; clients of a nutrition consulting company may get the latest news about nutrition technology from this company’s official Twitter or website.

Nowadays, we have the ability and access to many resources by Internet, and we can use our advantage to find a job or different opportunities in our field of study. In order to give other’s attention, you should “show off “ yourself at first, and Facebook gives us a stage to make our unique show. Recently, I made a business page on Facebook for ALES 204 class! In the blank named “Biograph”, I have my academic history (for introducing the process of my education), volunteer experience, skills (for showing my advantage) and contact information. By writing this information on Facebook, it’s easier for people who look for employees to evaluate the potentials, and very convenient for me to get more career chances in my field of study.  In plus, I also wrote something about my interests, and added my links to Twitter and Blog on my professional profile, so that my prospective boss may know me more about my life, character and working abilities. Employers may decide whether I am suitable for the job or not, depending on the information supported on my page. 

It is not very hard to make a business page; you just log in to your Facebook account, click “ Create a page” on the bottom of your homepage and edit your information (fill in blanks like doing a survey). 

It is ALES 204 that changes my idea on Facebook. I find that it is not only a simple chat tool, but also a space for us to gain more career opportunities. I want to learn something more about social media and communicating skills in this amazing course. Now, I am looking forward someone will have access to view my online resume, and I think my ALES classmate Brenda also wants her professional profile to be viewed. Let's go check out! ! ! ! 

Nian Liu Facebook page, Screen Shot.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nian-Liu/310391189013075?sk=info