Critical Reflection draft 2

ES1102 is not your usual boring English class as my tutor Brad livens the class with different methods of teaching such as peer review, blogging, group presentations and grammar exercises.

I find peer review beneficial. Besides being exposed to ideas and viewpoints of others, I made extra effort to examine my peers’ work to make sure that my feedback was constructive and helpful. In the process, it reinforced my grasp of the English language.

However, I am more comfortable and found it more constructive to receive feedback from my tutor, Brad as I think that peer feedback could sometimes be misleading.

In addition, I am particularly appreciative of the grammar exercises that we undertook in class. As we identified the types of grammatical errors in some passages and corrected them with Brad, I felt that these revisions reinforced my understanding of the rules of the English language. Many a time, I used expressions and certain phrases unconsciously out of habit. As a result, I became more conscientious about using proper grammar when writing.

All in all, after a few weeks of class, I am more mindful of the grammatical errors that previously plagued my writings. Also I make extra effort to organize my writing in a systematic and fluent manner by following the structure which Brad taught us in class. Undoubtedly, the learning methods adopted by Brad has tremendously improved the overall presentation of my writings.

With the lessons, I feel more confident about writing in English. With further practice, writing in plain, concise and grammatically correct English is a skill that can be picked up and trained over time. The skills which I have picked up in class can definitely be applied to the written reports for my other modules. Undoubtedly, these skills will also benefit me as I enter the workforce in the future.

Presentation Reflection

I did a presentation of my problem solution eassay to the class. I aimed to convey the issue in my essay, to communicate the current exisiting solution and give a better solution in my opinion.

As my topic is about how the STOMP platform is abused by contributors that cause an infringement of personal privacy and harrassment, it would have been more effective to convey my ideas to the class if I could have prepared visual aids and presented my evidence in Powerpoint slides.  Since no cue cards were allowed, the Powerpoint slides would come in very handy as a reference to the pointers that I would like to share as well. Also, under pressure, I may not remember all my points.

No matter how familiar I am with the points in my presentation, it definitely made me feel nervous the moment I started presenting in front of the class as all eyes were on me and I instantly became the certain of the attention in class. I also face the pressure to make my presentation as engaging as possible so that my audiences would not lose interest in my topic half way through the presentation.

I tried to be as confident as possible, first be adopting a confident standing position and I tried to give eye contact to every of my audiences. Although I started the presentation feeling quite nervous, I tried not to rush through my pointers and made a conscious effort to pace myself as a conversational pace.

The feedbacks I received from the class were encouraging. However, I may have to further sustantiate my argument with reasoning and more examples and work on my conclusion to make it more impactful.

All in all, I am thankful for this opportunity to present to the class and receive feedbacks. It is a good way to build confidence and presentation skills.

Critical Reflection Draft 1

ES1102 is not your usual boring English class as my tutor Brad livens the class with different methods of teaching such as peer review, blogging, group presentations and grammar exercises.

I find peer review beneficial. Not only have I exposed to ideas and view points rather than my own, I made extra effort to examine my peers’ work to make sure that my feedbacks were constructive and helpful to them. In the process, it reinforced my own grasp of the language.

On the other hand, I am more comfortable and find it more constructive to receive feedbacks from my tutor, Brad as I think that peer feedbacks can sometimes be misleading.

All in all, after a few weeks of class, I am more mindful of the grammar errors that I tend to make subconsciously in my writing. Also I make extra effort to  organization of my reports as it affects the overall presentation. The skills that I have picked up in class are definitely transferable to written reports for my other modules. Undoubtedly, these skills will also benefit me in the workforce in the future.

Inevitably, mastering a good English writing skill a gradual process, consistent and continuous efforts such as regular reading and practice are required to fine tune my writing skills even after the class has come to an end.

Problem Solution Essay draft 3

Social media has engaged users in many aspects of their lives, from online marketing and shopping to networking and to the dissemination of news and information. As more people embrace social media, many online platforms proliferate. One such example in Singapore is the STOMP platform that was created and is maintained by the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), which aims to engage netizens in the sharing of first-hand information. The STOMP official website allows netizens to contribute articles and information via uploads of photos and videos, as well as news articles on a real-time basis. However, it appears that some netizens have been misusing it for online shaming which sometimes tantamounts to harassment and the invasion of personal privacy. In some instances, netizens resort to posting fabricated photos just to gain the attention of fellow users. While STOMP involves netizens in the information sharing of first-hand news, SPH should set guidelines to make sure photos and information put up online are accurate, do not infringe privacy of others or constitute harassment before they are approved to be disseminated.

A photograph of an elderly person standing in front of an NS man in uniform seated in a train was posted on STOMP on 24 Mar 2014 by one of the netizens. The netizen sparked a public outcry by complaining about the NS man’s perceived lack of graciousness conduct for not giving up his seat to the elderly. (Elderly woman stands, 2014) However, in actual fact, there was a reserved seat meant for elderly citizens just a few seats away. The elderly probably chose to stand. This post inevitably portrayed an inaccurate perception of the NS man who by virtue of the uniform he was donning represents the Singapore Armed Force. There was also a recent photo of a man who dozed off in a train. The man inadvertently revealed his private parts as his legs were spread wide apart while seated. (Be careful, guys, 2015) The photograph was shared on STOMP on 28 Jan 2015 before going viral online. This had likely put the man to shame and embarrassment. Some feel that SPH allows insensitive articles that had not been rectified for their accuracy to be uploaded on STOMP at the expense of other citizens. While SPH owns the site, it states in its terms and conditions that it holds no responsibility and control over the content contributed by the third-party users.

There was an online petition created by retail executive Robin Li in April 2014 via an international campaigning site change.org for the closing down of STOMP website as he felt that “STOMP had failed to rectify and set simple sensible guidelines before any irresponsible netizen contributes a fabricated story without getting the right facts.” To date, the petition has gathered more than 24,000 signatures. It was unsuccessful in bringing STOMP down, but garnered a response from the Singapore media regulator, the Media Development Authority (MDA) to say that “it will not influence the editorial slant of websites but will take firm action if there is a breach of public interest or the promotion of racial and religious hatred or intolerance.”(MDA responds to, 2014) While this message from MDA serves as a warning to citizen contributors, articles such as the one depicting a man’s private may not be deemed to fall within the category of breaching public interest or promoting hatred and intolerance. In fact, the photograph was published on STOMP after MDA’s response.

Notwithstanding the concerns with the Stomp Platform, a complete closure of STOMP may be extreme as STOMP can still be an interactive platform supporting citizen-journalism, which encourages interaction and sharing of first-hand information amongst netizens almost on a real-time basis. SPH could perhaps step in to regulate the content of reports submitted by contributors by filtering articles containing elements of harassment or infringement of personal privacy prior to being published online. When there is a video or photo uploaded that speaks ill of a particular type of behaviour, SPH may need to make sure that the faces of the featured citizens are blurred to prevent identification. While this requires input from SPH in terms of resources and will invariably delay the publication of articles submitted by contributors, such vetting could be important in fostering a healthy online environment. Being the owner of the platform, besides drawing to the attention of contributors that they are responsible for the contents posted subject to the terms and conditions imposed by SPH, SPH could perhaps include a checklist of the standards expected of the contributors before they can post their articles. This is likely to promote responsible online behaviour amongst them.

With the proliferation of such social media platforms allowing freedom of contributors to post and share information, social responsibility from contributors become paramount. If SPH steps in to moderate content posted on STOMP, it can help to promote good social habit of contributors and create a healthy online environment. (823 words)

References

Elderly woman stands right in front of him on MRT, but NSman simply acts blur. (2014, March 24). STOMP official website.

Retrieved from: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/hey-goondus/elderly-woman-stands-right-in-front-of-him-on-mrt-but-nsman-simply-acts-blur

Be careful, guys! Don't let it slip while you sleep. (2015, January 28). STOMP official website.

Retrieved from: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/this-urban-jungle/be-careful-guys-dont-let-it-slip-when-you-sleep

STOMP official website. (n.d.). Terms and Conditions.

Retrieved from: http://www.stomp.com.sg/tnc.html

Li. R. (2014, April).  Close down STOMP.com.sg. Change.org.

Retrieved from: https://www.change.org/p/sph-stomp-com-sg-close-down-stomp-com-sg

MDA responds to anti-Stomp petition. (2014, April 19). The Straits Times. Retrieved from: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/mda-responds-anti-stomp-petition-0#sthash.vfvJ6DvB.dpuf