Tomorrow is the last day of EIR. 

All my reflections on EIR are put in words, written in this blog. Read the entries to find out more about EIR and what I feel about this module. 

Bye EIR! Bye Ms Faridah! Bye my fellow classmates!

This is the last EIR reflection. 15 days of EIR is going to end soon. Time really pass very fast. EIR is really useful. I have learnt a lot in this module which I can apply in my future studies.

The most important lesson is the evaluation of internet resources. Internet research is something I do very frequent and intense. In product design, research is extremely important. You have to be updated on the current products and trends. Especially when you are working on a project, before you can start designing, you must have a certain level of knowledge on the product that you are going to design. 

Internet is the most reachable tools. Nowadays I don't go to the library to do research anymore as I can easily get the necessary information online. However the bad point about internet is that there is no control. People can upload whatever they want. There isn't anyone or anything to correct the information online if they are wrong. Hence we have to lesson to evaluate the internet resources in order to filter out the unwanted information.

EIR teaches me how to evaluate the internet resources in a very easy and quick way. Always keep a few things in mind when you are reading internet resources. Ask yourself: What is the purpose of the source? Is the web reliable? Is the web relevant to what you are looking for? Are the information correct? Are the information updated?  

Research process is to find out the problems of the existing product which enables me to work on them and design a product which can improve people's lives. It also allows me to take a look at other designers' work and study the trend so I can ensure my design is able to sell and people will accept and recognise my design.

If the research I compiled are not reliable and have errors, it will affect my design process or even the final product. This is a very serious problem. Hence evaluating the sources is important.

Today our task is to evaluate internet resources. We opened up practical 8&9 and use the template inside as a guide for evaluation. 

Criteria to evaluate internet resources are:

authority

Base on all these criteria, it enables you to make judgement on the web. You can evaluate whether the source is effective, reliable, useful, relevant and etc. 

Evaluation of internet resource is very important as there are so many web pages available. However, there is not standardisation for the upload of information. Certain facts written may be wrong or biased. Useless and trash web pages are abundance online. Hence we have to evaluate the sources when we are doing research, ensuring that the useless or irrelevant information are filtered. 

If you don't evaluate the internet resources you use, most probably the information you get will have errors or not updated. This will result in bad quality research results.

Do you want information that is updated and real? 

Are you afraid of your research being doubted or questioned by your lecturer or boss?

EVALUATE the internet resources you use!

Recently I browsed through some design web and I came across some architecture blogs which captivated me. I was very impressed by the Japanese architecture. They made the impossibles possible.

I have been to Japan but I have never noticed the architectures. Perhaps I was too engross in my shopping. Haha. After looking at all these architecture, it makes me feel like going to Japan again. However this time round, my objective is to explore the different architectures in Japan.

I visited Lonely Planet website to do some research for my holiday trip. 

Question: Why did I choose Lonely Planet?

Answer: Because it is a reliable source...

Lonely Planet is an organisation web. The purpose of this web is to provide information for travelers. Information on the contact is available which gives me a sense of security. I can always call up or email if anything goes wrong. You can also choose the language of web interface which ensures that it caters to people from different countries.

Lonely planet's coverage is wide and effective. In terms of the information uploaded on lonely planet, they are accurate and up to date. Besides the traveling information, there is also a forum which allows people to question or share their experiences. You can also book air ticket and accommodation through lonely planet. 

This is really wonderful. It is like a full package. You can read up information on different countries. Once you have decided, you can checkout for the air ticket and accommodation. Everything can be done and settled just in one web. It is really efficient.

Today we visited talkingcock.com. This is a local web which discusses issues on Singapore in a mocking way. It is extremely hilarious.

We are supposed to evaluate this internet resource. Some of the criteria I chose are purpose and currency of the web. Purpose of web is important as it gives you an idea of the reliability of the source. For example if the purpose of an internet resource is to entertain you, the information stated in the web may not be true. It can be something made up just to make you laugh.

I chose currency as well because if the source is uploaded onto the internet for decades it may not be relevant anymore. Can you imagine you are researching on the treatment for SARS and you are viewing a source that is published in 2003? Back then, there might not be any cure for SARS but it doesn't mean after 5 years there isn't any new discovery. Now there might be a cure for SARS. So you have to ensure that the source you are reading is updated.

Talkingcock is very updated, the issues mentioned are always just freshly baked out of the oven. However it is a personal blog, certain comments made can be exaggerated as a person can never be neutral and rational at all times. Hence it will be saver if you corss reference it with other sources before you tap any information for the site.

One of the activity is the role playing. I thought it was really interesting to stand in a different perspective to view this blog. I was the foreigner and I realised that foreigner may not understand this blog as it is written in singlish. If I wasn't told to play a different role, I wouldn't have realised that. This is extremely useful in evaluating an internet source as it makes you think in from different point of view.

This is a wonderful experience.

Today we are introduced to invisible web (database). It is also named deep web as the data in the invisible web are not be found by search engines. Most invisible web requires an account which has to pay to get access to the full context. An example of an invisible web is Temasek Polytechnic research gateway which you can access through TP digital library. 

Basically the data in the invisible web are facts. They are retrieved from articles, journals, books and etc. This are sources that are very specific. Hence comparing with other internet search facilities, I felt that google is still the best after all as the results generated are more all rounded which cover different aspect of a particular subject. Sometimes you simply choose one of the results to view and the web which you go to may have other information of that subject as well. You don't even have to look at other results. Isn't that great? But an invisible web doesn't do so. 

Nevertheless invisible web has its advantage too. It provides detailed information on the author, publication, date, citation and etc. which are easily accessible by the reader. If the reader is interested in reading further, he can always check out the citation to get the link of the references.

Usually when I am doing research for my diploma projects I will go to the library to look out for books. Learning about the invisible web made me realise the advantage of it. I can actually make use of TP ebooks web to view the books through internet instead of having to go down to school library physically. It saves my time on traveling and searching for the book among the sea of shelves. Hence I believe I will be using invisible web for research in my diploma in the future.

Today is Deepavali so there is no class. But we have to login into blackboard and participate in forum discussion to complete the e-learning assignment. The discussion is fun as I get to read how others feel and think about the topic discussed. On the other hand, I can also share my personal view. I like the interaction. 

Today I explored another types of internet search facilities- Meta-search Engine and Subject Directory.

Unlike usual search engine, meta-search engine conduct search on other search engines and generate results based on result found in other search engines. It consolidates the search results from different search engines and generate results that are more effective and focused. An example of meta-search engine is metacrawler.

Subject directory the terms itself tells us that the search facility offers subject categorisation. You can either conduct a normal search which will generate results with classified subject stated or search under a particular subject which is more focused. The difference about meta-search engine and subject directory is the first operates by crawler whereas a subject directory is categorised by human. Hence, subject directory is expected to be more accurate in terms of categorisation. An example of subject directory is yahoo! directory.

I am a very insecure person. I like to browse through as many sources as possible, fearing that I will miss out any useful source. Hence subject directory doesn't work for me. Meta-search engine is definitely more effective as it provides me with results from different search engines. This allows me to evaluate the results base on the origin of the results. For example if one result is found in a few search engines, it shows that it is highly relevant to the topic I am researching on. Hence I don't need to click every single results without having to fear that I will miss out any important sources.

However to a certain extent subject directory is also useful. It benefits me when I want to search something very specific (e.g. stories of HIV/AIDS carrier). By selecting the personal experience under the category of HIV/AIDS, it filters all the results that are not relevant, leaving behind only stories on HIV/AIDS.

The second activity of the day is the usage of site feed in blog. I tried putting site feed on my blog but I don't really understand the purpose of site feed. The only thing about site feed is that it standardises the layout of the webpage and makes it easier for reading without all the distractions. Personally I still prefer linking to other web pages instead of using site feed. Nevertheless I learnt something new.

Lesson 3: Internet Search Facilities 

We are to supposed to conduct a search using these two search engines and compare them. The search engines that we tried out are google and google scholar. 

I never knew the importance of create search strategy. Usually I just search randomly. Today I learnt to pick out keywords and put them together with the usage of boolean operators (e.g. OR, AND, * and etc.) to customise the results I want. I love the boolean operators, they are very useful. If the results generated are not enough, you can add 'OR' to expand the results; if there are too many results generated, you can add 'AND' to narrow the results. 

I was totally stunned by google's features when I was exploring google. It allows you to choose the language written, translate web page and search across language. This is so smart. I always have troubles when I visit foreign sites and I can't read them. With this feature, it removes the language barrier. On top of that, there is also a key 'I'm feeling lucky' which direct you to the first web page returned for you query. This quick search feature takes you less time searching for web pages and gives you more time looking at it. Isn't this great if you only know the basic knowledge of the subject you are researching on (eg. if you don't understand the meaning of HIV, it will direct you to wikipedia which give you enough knowledge about it)?

Basically google scholar is a subset of google search engine. Google scholar does a more specific search which gives article-based results, whereas google does a general search. The other shortcoming of google scholar is that you only get to see an abstraction of the article. Sometimes in order to view the full context , you have to pay. If you are doing a generic search (eg. research on AIDS) I will advise you to use google. Google scholar is definitely a 'no' to me unless I need to get sources which are articles or journal based. Like my case, I am searching on the effect of HIV/AIDS on youth which is a topic that people discuss and write about. Google scholar will come in use in finding those articles.

Everytime you refer to a source, you have to cite it to acknowledge the author of the source. Otherwise it might be considered as plagiarism. Keeping a bibliography of the citations help you to archive all the references you had. So at any point of time if you need to refer  to the source again, you can track it from your list. 

The other activity of the day is participating in the discussion forum. It is something totally new to me. At first I went to healingwell forum and posted a question on the effects of HIV/AIDS on youth. I thought it was quite easy. But when I revisit the site to check for reply, I saw a message from the admin and I realised that this is a forum for those who are living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. So I had budge into a 'prohibited' area. One words to summarise my first forum participation experience- 'sweat'. It is so scary.

After this incident, I learnt the importance of reading the sticky note in the forum before posting or replying threads. Then I start my forum participation again at healthboards. This time round, I made sure I read through the sticky note thoroughly before I start posting. 

This commercial is a collaboration with the celebrities to raise the awareness of AIDS through their popularity. This time the focus is on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Featuring in this commercial is David Beckham and Robbie Williams, the UNICEF Ambassadors. 

Lets see their charm!

(click on the image to find out more about UNICEF)

Today we were introduced to the different categories and purposes of internet resources. As we were expected to have read the lecture notes, Ms Faridah only has to go through it briefly and see if we have any questions about it. I like this teaching style, as it can give us more time to do our work in class and Ms Faridah is available for us to consult if we have problems at any point of time. This is really effective learning.

Some of the general categories of internet resources are online forums, blogs, databases and electronic news/magazine/journal. We are supposed to explore the different categories of internet resources by researching on our topic chosen yesterday and identify the purpose of each resource. The different purposes of internet resources are information, advocacy, news, business/marketing and entertainment.  

The other activity of the day is e-shopping spree which is my previous entry. The objective of this activity is to explore the sites which are set up for the purpose of business or marketing. I like it as it made the lesson more engaging. 

Knowing about the categories and purposes of internet resources is definitely useful as it enables us to evaluate the sources and judge whether they are credible. On top of that, if i do research according to the different categories, it ensures that the compiled research comprises sources from different perspective and hence it will be more all rounded.

Today is the first lesson of EIR. Our lecturer is Ms Noor Faridah from IT school, a nice and soft spoken lady. Something special to note about this internet research module is that it is no longer UIR. The structure of the module has changed and it is called Effective Internet Research. Hence what we will be learning is going to be different from the students who take UIR in the past.

The lesson started off with the briefing on the overview of EIR. Then we were divided into groups for future group project. Seated in our groups, we had an ice breaking game which allowed us to interact with each other. 

We are supposed to choose a topic for our upcoming assignments, and my topic is "The effects of HIV/AIDS on youth". I chose this topic as I thought it is a common yet unfamiliar issue to discuss so I want to find out more about it. People have been addressing issues on HIV/AIDS (eg. how to educate youth so as to prevent aids) but I seldom find people discussing about the effects of HIV/AIDS on youth and how they are coping with it. 

All the lecture notes, practical worksheets and tutorials are uploaded on blackboard learning system which is easily accessible. We are expected to read up the lecture notes on our own. In other words, this module is about discipline. As we also have to pace and keep track ourself in blogging reflections and doing the practical worksheets. 

That's all for the day. Basically today is more of an introduction to the module. I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Without any experience in blogging, this is definitely the first challenge of EIR. Setting up this blog pushed me to explore the other part of the internet resources that I have never touched. Figuring out how to deal with html codes freaks me out. Nevertheless, the experience is great. Overall it is a good start and I am enjoying it.

Curious about my upcoming learning journey?

Keep a look out on my blog.