...group discussion and presentation on the question 'Do web based
technologies enhance professional practice?'
This is a huge topic which, from what I gathered from our discussion
and watching other peoples presentations, has no right or wrong answer!
We first began to dig deeper into the term 'web based technology' and
explore which were most frequently used amongst our group. As we began
to do so I realised how much I used the web during my professional
development without realising it. Whether it is You Tube, Spotlight,
IMDB, emailing or facebook. I think that more and more we are
'encouraged' to use the web as part of our everyday life.
technologies enhance professional practice?'
This is a huge topic which, from what I gathered from our discussion
and watching other peoples presentations, has no right or wrong answer!
We first began to dig deeper into the term 'web based technology' and
explore which were most frequently used amongst our group. As we began
to do so I realised how much I used the web during my professional
development without realising it. Whether it is You Tube, Spotlight,
IMDB, emailing or facebook. I think that more and more we are
'encouraged' to use the web as part of our everyday life.
There is a huge list of advantages and disadvantages to this
technology and it seemed that each point we discussed had an upside
and a down side. For example 'using the web to create, shape and
maintain your reputation'...
We can use this to our advantage by creating our own personal websites
for casting directors/producers to look at, shaping how we would like
to present ourselves. We can upload our show reel to You Tube, have our
CV and a portfolio of photographs on spotlight and make intelligent
comments about other people’s work to show that we are well rounded people
thus creating a positive reputation.
However we felt that the downside would be that on social networking
sites such as facebook you become somewhat vulnerable to other people
shaping your ‘online personality’. This could be comments written on your wall, a photo you are tagged in or simply personal comments being available
to the general public. Dependant on who your friends are and what they
are writing about you, this could shape your reputation in a negative
way...which we may have little or no control over.
Somebody suggested that with social networks like facebook, it may be
an idea to create a professional and personal profile, keeping them
separate. I strongly agree with that idea.
Another point raised was that we can actually be connected to a world
of professionals at the touch of a button. We can comment, discuss
and develop our ideas through other people’s opinions and experiences.
The downside to this being that there are people who will comment,
that don't have the same knowledge and experience as a professional.
I.e. general public commenting on/reviewing a theatre production on
You Tube verses a professional critic with years of experience.
I could write pages about the pros and cons but I think the one aspects
that stuck out to me from today's discussions and presentations is
that you have to use a certain level of discernment about what you
access from the web and as much as possible try to weigh things up and
form your own opinions from what you read not to being too easily
influenced. I also concluded that you should be able to use each web tool for its positive aspects... For example; using blogging and others comments to develop your CV and personal profile then editing it on Spotlight for other professionals to access.
Today has been extremely thought provoking and definitely helped me to
explore how I have used web technologies in the past and how I can
further develop my usage to enhance my practice as a professional.
technology and it seemed that each point we discussed had an upside
and a down side. For example 'using the web to create, shape and
maintain your reputation'...
We can use this to our advantage by creating our own personal websites
for casting directors/producers to look at, shaping how we would like
to present ourselves. We can upload our show reel to You Tube, have our
CV and a portfolio of photographs on spotlight and make intelligent
comments about other people’s work to show that we are well rounded people
thus creating a positive reputation.
However we felt that the downside would be that on social networking
sites such as facebook you become somewhat vulnerable to other people
shaping your ‘online personality’. This could be comments written on your wall, a photo you are tagged in or simply personal comments being available
to the general public. Dependant on who your friends are and what they
are writing about you, this could shape your reputation in a negative
way...which we may have little or no control over.
Somebody suggested that with social networks like facebook, it may be
an idea to create a professional and personal profile, keeping them
separate. I strongly agree with that idea.
Another point raised was that we can actually be connected to a world
of professionals at the touch of a button. We can comment, discuss
and develop our ideas through other people’s opinions and experiences.
The downside to this being that there are people who will comment,
that don't have the same knowledge and experience as a professional.
I.e. general public commenting on/reviewing a theatre production on
You Tube verses a professional critic with years of experience.
I could write pages about the pros and cons but I think the one aspects
that stuck out to me from today's discussions and presentations is
that you have to use a certain level of discernment about what you
access from the web and as much as possible try to weigh things up and
form your own opinions from what you read not to being too easily
influenced. I also concluded that you should be able to use each web tool for its positive aspects... For example; using blogging and others comments to develop your CV and personal profile then editing it on Spotlight for other professionals to access.
Today has been extremely thought provoking and definitely helped me to
explore how I have used web technologies in the past and how I can
further develop my usage to enhance my practice as a professional.
Joanna, i also commented on my Blog about how Web 2.0 could have a negative effect in some ways. I think it's something we don't necessarily think of at first. For instance on Facebook, like you mentioned, we rely on our friends and who we have chose to be our contacts but what happen if someone published something we don't want them to,whether it's a comment or a photo or something that will have a negative effect on us.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great idea to have a professional profile and a personal one as some picture's just aren't meant for a prospective employer to see!!! =)
I think i will put more thought into this in the future especially since Mark got a job directly through Facebook...
Hi Joanna,
ReplyDeleteI do to an extent agree with what you have written and have also made comments on my own blog about the pros and cons of Web 2.0 platforms. The only thing I disagree with is your comment on non professionals commenting on your work. As an actor isn't the unprofessional audience your largest audience? So shouldn't their comments on your work be as important as fellow practitioners? Yes their comments might not be as eloquent and they might not use the correct terminologies but still productions are not only viewed by other professionals. If the general public don't watch the production it won't be a success. Obviously you don't want people slating your work for the sake of it and this is one of the downsides to using this technology but there are measures that can be taken to block users if they are being negative and rude to you for no good reason. It is something we all have to be vigilant of and I hope it doesn't happen to any of us.
Yes i agree!
ReplyDeleteI highly value the opinions of non professionals (general public), afterall as you said these are the people who support our careers by watching the shows or buying our music! That was a point that was raised in our discussion. I think that we can develop skills to filter out the information we don't need and take on board a variety of opinions to help us to become better at what we do.
I think you're right Joanna when you say we need to filter the information. I think the general public's opinions are extremely valid and I also think experienced professional's opinions are valid. They do however give us different insights so it's important for us to know what we are looking for before we start so that we can choose the relevant information. I know we mentioned last Friday how the general public can lead you towards what is commercially popular which is extremely important if that is what you are looking for, but we also made the point that a more elite group of professionals can give you insight in to something that is more challenging and artistically interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark, Stephie and Joanna, this is very interesting. If we are searching for 'validity' of opinion or view, we might need to think about what makes something 'valid'rather than focus on who holds the view?
ReplyDeleteI suggest perhaps just two ways of thinking about validity:
1. Valid views are those supported by evidence. This suggests that a view becomes valid if evidence is deployed to support the view.
2. Valid views are those that emerge from coherent arguments. This suggests that the quality of an argument itself could self-validate the argument.
We could think of examples of both? Interestingly, neither of these are necessarily about 'expertise' or 'status' within a professional field although clearly the expert should be able to support their views in one or both ways?
Perhaps we should think less about 'who' positions a view, as to 'how' the view is supported (by argument; by evidence)?