Gaming

This week we learned about how gaming can be used to both teach and learn. I personally am not big on games other than board games, but the idea makes good sense to me. We talked a lot about Second Life and how people have used gaming to connect the the community. Many people totally rebuild their image and lifestyles over the computer with games like this. This can even help some people learn better.

Gaming can be helpful in the field of Advertising because it is a field that is very free and fun. Many people who already work in ad agencies say that the best work and creativity comes when they are playing around with games and having fun. This helps them teach each other better, relate better and most importantly, learn better.

HERE is an artical from RollingStone about Second Life and how people really get involved in it. I posted it because it tells a lot about how gaming is at an all time high.

Distance/Virtual Education

This week we dicussed distance education and all of the involved issues. This type of education can include online, virtual, blended, etc. which could have both negative and positive attributes. The good thing about this type of education is the fact that it could be on your own time. By this I mean you can have a very flexible schedule and work wthin your own comfortable space. However, the negatives include the fact that it is very hard to be self motivating and it can be costly. Many colleges including UF have online courses that students can take. I have taken some online courses during my three years here so far. However, I enjoy live lectures a lot more because it is hard for me to force myself to keep up with class assignments when they are not right in front of me.

Online education is more beneficial to my major more so than the field as a whole. In advertising there is lots of work that needs to be done online, therefore taking classes like this can help me get better at using the computer all the time with my job.

HERE is a Web site that lists some pros and cons of distance education. I posted it just in case some people are considering taking classes online but want to do a little more research.

Professional Web Presence

This week we have been discussing the importance of professional web presence. With a project coming up we have been learning how to utilize google sites. This made building a Web page very easy and fun. We learned how to make our sites as professional as possible because future employers may have to use them to see our resumes, personal lifestyles and so forth. Anyone can use google sites to make Web sites for anything they want. It is very self explanatory. You can make it as personalized as you like by changing your theme, background colors, fonts, and by adding all types of images and videos.

This can be very useful in the field of Advertising because clients want to be able to research an agency before they hire them to take on the responsibility of creating their company's ads. By looking at a Web site clients are able to see your previous works and other things that are appealing to them.

HERE is a Web site that discusses the importance of having a personal site. I posted it because it shows the benefits and how it helps assist in employment.

Open Source Software

This week we learned about open source software. Open source software are programs that can be found online for use and download for free. There are many sites that offer open software. These type of sites allow for many programs that usually have to be purchased such as Photoshop to have something similar and less expensive for people to use. This concept is a good way for smaller companies to get their products out on the market because people are most interested in what is least expensive.

Open source software is great for Advertising because it allows for members and workers to go home and use some of the same programs that the use at work, therefore they can finish or get a head start on some of the assigments that have to be created for a client by a certain deadline.

HERE is an artical from the New York Times that features the idea of open source software. I thought it would be very useful to read about how it is rapidly picking up in pace.

Critical Thinking

This week in class we learned about the importance of concept maps, and how to create them. I had not made a concept map online prior to the one in my previous post entry; however, I have done them on paper for many of my english classes. Doing this on paper took a lot of time but at Bubbl.us this concept was a lot easier to create.

This tool can be very useful in the field of Advertising because this field is very strict of brainstorming. There is no way that you can start a project for a client without fully planning it first. This tool can allow you to get out all of the ideas that you have in order to create the best project possible. It can also be useful when trying to show your client some of the ideas you have come up with in order to see if they have any other ideas of their own.

HERE is a Web site that discusses concept mapping in a little more detail and I posted a link to it because it also discusses how you can benefit from them.

Mind Mapping/Concept Map: Homework

Here is a concept map of all the ways I can use different social tools within my field.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE