The Beginning Of An End

Hello again my blog followers!
   For those of you who have attended post secondary school, know exactly what this time of year is about, STRESS. With assignments, papers, and final exams deadlines all creeping up way to fast my stress level seems to be slowly rising with every hour that passes. Although April tends to be a time full of stress and school work, it is also a great time to recollect on the semester that has passed. Having a full course load, I feel I have learnt an abundant amount of information pertaining to agriculture, economics, plant science, and social media. With these topics in mind, I would like to focus more on the social media aspect of the present semester.

Social Media Landscape. Google Images (April 2012)

  Enrolling in ALES 204 at the beginning of the semester, I had no idea of what was to come of the class. Having a facebook page prior ALES 204, that was used for socialization and entertainment, I felt as if I knew all there was to know about social media. HA, was I wrong! This past semester of ALES 204 lectures has taught me numerous skills that can be put to work when socializing with fellow peers, presenting information in a professional, efficient manner. Key things that I have learnt in ALES 204 that I will continue to carry with me throughout my University career include: public speaking, poster presentations, along with the usage of Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter and Wordle.
  Having a better understanding of these tools will benefit me personally not only as I finish my University degree, but also as I become involved in the work force. Having gained such knowledge by participating in ALES 204 assignments and labs, I can continue to use the tools I learnt, when portraying information to clients with my summer job as an assistant sales representative with DuPont. With this position I will be conveying information to consumers and distributor about products, application process and trial data. With the knowledge I have gained, about presenting information efficiently, through the use of posters and proper oral communication, I can easily transfer ideas along industry networks while at work this summer. While I will be my ALES 204 knowledge to use at my summer job, check out what Lina learned in ALES 204.

Farmers reading information presented in
 a poster format. (Becky Shapka 2012)

In conclusion, here are my five blog post comments One, Two, Three, Four and Five! Thanks for the great semester Dr. Jessica Laccetti and my lab TA Pamela!!

Becoming Informed

Hello once again!
  With the upcoming spring provincial election, on April 23, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to create a blogpost in order to remind fellow Albertans about the importance of an educated and informed vote. There are currently numerous forums, debates and readings that are taking place in order to educate the public about the upcoming election and the candidates running.

Alberta Election 660 News (April 20120)

  Being an eligible voter myself, I took advantage of a forum in my constituency this last weekend in order to inform myself of the political parties and their positions on topics that are important to me. While I highly suggest that every eligible voter  takes advantage of their right to vote on April 23, it is of the upmost importance that, rather than just voting for a party based on traditional personal preference or because your friends support a candidate, Albertans educate themselves regarding the parties' platforms on issues and the strength of their candidates. I choose to take part in a forum to become educated, but as I have learnt in ALES 204, the rise in usage and power of social media is also a great way to become informed. In order to keep up to date on the situation of the upcoming election, I chose to follow the political candidates on twitter. This grants me access to information not only about the political candidate, but also about upcoming forums and political events taking place within my consistency.
   Are you feeling confused about the upcoming election? Check the Elections Alberta twitter page or website in order to learn more!
   To learn more information on the use of social media as a source for information and education verse entertainment visit Jenn's blog post on professional pages for professional people.

Becoming A Wikipedia Author!

Hello again my fellow blog followers!
  
   Well, at the time of enrolling in ALES 204 or even at the start of it all, enrolling in an Agriculture degree at the University, I did not expect to be educating my blog followers about editing a Wikipedia article!  Editing a Wikipedia article was a recent assignment which would contribute to our ALES 204 personal ePortfolio at the end of the semester. 

  Knowing little information about the website Wikipedia and its useful purposes, I found that becoming a Wikipedia editor an experience full of learning. To start of the assignment I, as an editor, had to choose a Wikipedia "stub" to edit. A stub being an article located within the Wikipedia website that is deemed to short to provide encyclopaedic coverage of the subject. Being raised on a cow/calf operation I have accumulated a great interest in the cattle industry. With an adequate background in the cow/calf area of the industry I wanted to use this assignment in order to gather more knowledge about the rest of the industry.

Cannulated Cow 

    To start off my search, I took a look at a list of stubs my lab TA in ALES 204 provided. As I searched through the list  I came across  a term I recalled from an introductory animal science class I previously enrolled in at the university. This term being cannulated cow. With only a vague memory of the term, I did what I normally do when I am looking for information about a certain topic. I googled it. After a quick google search I realized that a cannulated cow is a cow that has been surgically fitted with a cannula. This cannula allows access to the cows rumen and can assist in a better understanding of a cows digestive system and processing of nutrients. Having decided on editing the stub on cannulated cows, I now had to navigate my way around the Wikipedia site, learning the shortcuts and abbreviations used to edit such stubs. Now, to be honest, I would be lying if I said learning the ropes of editing on a site such as Wikipedia was easy. But, I eventually got it figured out and gave it my best shot, so for more information feel free to check out the article I edited on Wikipedia here.

Screen Capture Of My WIkipedia Page

    The idea of becoming a editor of the Wikipedia stub on cannulated cows is a great opportunity for me as a ALES 204 student to venture my studies to an area of the cattle industry I am not familiar with.  It was also a great way for me as a student to educate myself on where information provided in Wikipedia articles originate from. I highly suggest that other student take part in such an exercise. If I can become a Wikipedia article editor, so can you! Feel free to check out this list of Wikipedia stubs that you can edit yourself.


   Jessica, my ALES 204 teacher designed this assignment for students to easily see how information on WIkipedia can be edited by anyone. Here is Jessica's response to the question "As a teacher, do you recommend the students at the University Of Alberta to use Wikipedia as a resource with the varying reliability of information."

Dr. Jessica Laccetti's response to my tweet

 Thanks for tuning into my blog this week, and feel free to check out some fellow ALES 204 students blogs such as Rosie's blog post on a gelbvieh cattle breed that is relatively new to North America or Jami's blog post on her experience of becoming a Wikipedia editor of a article on blackleg, a disease that effects mostly cattle and sheep.

Creating A Facebook Page

   Thanks  to ALES 204, a class I am currently enrolled in at the University of Alberta I have been abled to experience social media at its best. At first, I created a twitter account and began to "tweet". After mastering the art of twitter and gaining knowledge about the use of hashtags I created this blog. Between blogging and tweeting I feel that I have learnt so much about social media. The use of twitter and blogging allows for a easy flow of information between internet users around the world. Along with twitter and blogging, facebook also allows for a easy flow of ideas and information between internet users.

My Facebook Page (Becky Shapka-ALES 204)

 To demonstrate the endless possibilities of social media I created a facebook page this week. My facebook page if filled with useful information about me. Unlike my personal facebook page, this page is filled with information about me in a professional manner. This includes: references, contact information, job history and skills I have. This facebook page is a place where future possible employers can find information about me pertaining to me as a future employee. It displays personal information about me that a possible employer would be looking for. By creating this facebook page, it ensures that my personal information is displayed professionaly and only useful information is accessible by possible future employers.

 Facebook is not only a great way to display information about yourself in a professional matter but it is also a great way to advertise. Check out this photography business that created a facebook page in order to advertise and share photos with fellow facbook users. The possibilities with social media from twitter to facebook to blogging is endless. Stay tuned for my next blog post to learn more about the endless uses for social media in society today.

Introductory Blog - Getting to know ME!

Home Sweet Home!

  Communication is mandatory in today's world. The advancements within technology and communication has allowed for instant access to countless answers to any possible question you may have. While at one point in time, before mail, internet, and telephones in order to answer a question people would have to communicate one another. Yes as in TALK with each other. They couldn't tweet, google, youtube, or wikipedia an answer to their question. I know what your thinking.... how did they survive????
   While updating a facebook status or tweeting allows instant communication between you and your friend list blogging also allows for instant access to endless amounts of educational information on varying topics. For example, if one day you feel like wasting spending numerous hours looking at neat do it your self or "diy" projects and crafts check out this stay at home mom's blog called crafty chic mommy. This blog is filled with countless cool ideas from organizing, decor, to crafts. Blogs such as crafty chic mommy allow for fellow craft enthusiasts to easily exchange ideas, projects and tips.

Working in the corrals!

  While crafty chic mommy allows for me to access ideas about craft projects. Blogs such as David's Farm Blog allows for me to easily locate information about agriculture and farming practises in different areas around the world. Blogs such as these play an important role within the current and future agriculture industry, including my farm, as they act as a passageway for a easy flow of information that allow for innovation on farms around the world.
  A fellow ALES 204 student also started blogging for the first time, check out their blog here.