Reflective Post

Fig. 1. Czapski, Christy. (2012) Important components of ALES204. Retrieved April 13, 2012 from Wordle.net.

Fig. 2. Sima.Picture of wheat and money. Retrieved April 13, 2012 from http://www.featurepics.com/online/Wheat-Money-930589.aspx

I must admit, I was very apprehensive and hesitant about the course when ALES 204 started this semester. I was resistant to Twitter and other social media sites, didn’t think I would learn anything from a 200 level class as a fourth year student, and had no idea how blogs worked. Yet, while I still have many suggestions for improvement, I picked up some very useful skills from the lectures and labs. Although it pained me greatly at the time to start using Twitter, I have come to enjoy it. While I never feel the need to tweet anything except in response to our classes, I do appreciate reading others tweets. Currently, I follow the Western Producer, Canola Watch, Western Canada Wheat Growers Association, and Alberta Barley. These groups tweet the most up to date information on market prices, predictions, and opportunities. As a producer, this allows you to make quick and educated decisions about when to sell your grains and oilseeds, in order to get the best price for your product. I will definitely continue to utilize this resource. In addition, I plan to follow different conferences and special agriculture events that I am interested in, so that I can learn and experience them even if I cannot be present. Fellow classmate Rosie Templeton's introductory blog explains how she was inspired to attend a conference after hearing about it on Twitter. In my future career, I wouldn’t hesitate to suggest creating a twitter account for whatever company I work for, which I would feel comfortable using to advertise, share information, and connect with other industry members. ALES student Daniel Schwenk also explains how businesses can use Twitter to their advantage. Agriculture companies should develop their social media access, in order to appeal to consumers, young farmers, and international markets.

My PowerPoint and presentation skills have developed throughout of this class. Although some of the advice and information seemed straight forward, it proved to be critical. For example, guidelines about keeping PowerPoints simple, only using very contrasting colors such as white on black, and utilizing lots of pictures with small amounts of text, is invaluable to students and someone about to enter the workforce. These ideas were re-enforced by the guest lecturers and TA’s, who either did an excellent job on their slides, or demonstrated how too much creativity can interfere with the audiences ability to read your slides. As I enter the agriculture workforce, I know I will be able to present clear, visually appealing, and engaging presentations to my supervisors and peers. I am also more comfortable with Pecha Kucha’s now, and feel I could model my own professional presentations after them in the future. The Pecha Kucha concepts of being brief and to the point are invaluable in the business world. It was also great to learn how many words I speak per minute, hear myself answering questions on audioboo, and learn about common mistakes made during job applications. Another thing I learned inadvertently from ALES, is to practice your presentation before and ensure it is an appropriate length. Dragging through details in the first half of your slides, then skipping through the next 20 in order to finish on time is unprofessional. Fellow student Kelsie Gilks noticed some of these mistakes in her other courses too. ALES204 has definitely influenced the way I prepared for in class presentations.

Fig. 3. Jester Arts. Orange Guy. Retrieved April 13, 2012 from http://www.imageenvision.com/cliparts/magnifying-glasses

One skill I learned in ALES 204, that wasn’t emphasized on the syllabus, was to be a critical reader. While students use websites such as Wikipedia everyday when they start research, writing articles ourselves demonstrated how unreliable the information can be. My classmate Becky Bohlender does a great job of explaining this in her Wikipedia blog. I was surprised to learn, however, that scientific articles can be unreliable too! Pamela’s lecture about the peer review process was enlightening, and many of the statistics were frightening. Throughout this semester, I have definitely learned to independently analyze everything I read, including published articles, to be sure the science behind them is correct and unbiased. I think this is an important skill for any professional, especially in today's society where we are overwhelmed with information at our fingertips. I realized that when seeking information from any source, the reader should question whether the material is opinion, or factual. For example, scientific blogs are not peer reviewed or acceptable to cite in a paper, and should only be used for inspiration and personal entertainment.

Fig. 4. Facebook (2012) Facebook connections jpg. Retrieved April 13, 2012 from http://www.webpronews.com/murders-organized-using-facebook-2010-08

Although aspects of this class have been frustrating, the skills I learned as a result are valuable. Most importantly, I learned not be be afraid of social media and new technology. Rather than resisting it, a successful professional utilizes it, to educate themselves, connect with industry, and advertise to the public. I feel excited to continue using Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for personal and professional functions. In addition, I’ve become more interested in some of the other sites we didn’t learn about, such as Pinterest. ALES student Brittany Stewart explains how this site works, and inspired me to check it out. Although I might not have time to continue writing my own blog, I am now much more interested in reading other blogs. One of my favorites is called Veterinarians Behaving Badly- hilarious and sarcastic posts written about real life experiences of vets and their clients. Now that I am graduating, I'm particularly thankful for social media websites. Not only will they help me find a career, but they will allow me to stay in touch with my friends and peers whom I might otherwise never get to see again. The way that the internet connects people is astonishing, and I'm looking forward to reading my friends status updates, hearing about new research ideas at conferences on Twitter, and interacting with potential employers on LinkedIn. Thanks to ALES204, I have been convinced to embrace new technology, rather than avoiding it.

Other blogs I have commented on:
Rosie Templeton
Daniel Schwenk
Kelsie Gilks
Becky Bohlender
Brittany Stewart