Reader response draft 4

In the article "Where social media isn't ubiquitous," Levi (2012) brings up two reasons for the lack of prevalence of social media in some areas. The first reason is the lack of support for the native language which alienates users. However, the author goes on to state that) there are areas where the 2nd language is supported, allowing users to gain access. The other reason is that politics in the area may restrict social mediaaccess or the languages supported by social network sites.

Levi (2012) suggests that politics play a big role in deciding the prevalence of social media in a country. I agree with his view that political disputes in a country affect the prevalence of social media by preventing the access to internet and causing in a lack of support for the language used on social networks for fear of angering the larger political party. However, he fails to mention that political censorship which restricts the use of social media plays an equally important role in deciding the prevalence of social media.  

Levi (2012) suggests that “Facebook’s policy is not to add support to a language which is used by a national group in a contested territory – especially if recognition is likely to annoy a powerful and large party with a vested interest,” thus affecting the prevalence of social media. This may explain why Facebook uses 'Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)' as a language option rather than recognizing 'Taiwanese' as a language. Because China and Taiwan are in a dispute regarding Taiwan's sovereignty, if Facebook recognizes 'Taiwanese' as a language, it would seem as though Facebook is taking a political stand. Therefore, social networking sites tend to be selective in supporting languages, for fear of the political implications of their actions. Although the above example seems to suggest that social media is not prevalent in such countries, Levi (2012) implies that in countries where a language is not recognized, users are still able to use social sites by using the languages that are similar to their native language. In the case of Taiwan, they would then be able to use 'Traditional Chinese (Taiwan).   

Sometimes the political situation in the nation does not allow for social network sites to take root due to the lack of internet access the country. Because political disputes often take up much of a country's resources, it results in a lack of supportive infrastructure. In the article, Levi cites Myanmar as one of the countries that lacks internet access due to the political disputes in the country. Myanmar is one of the world’s “least connected countries” (Greene, 2013) and this is due to the "massive coverage gaps, glacial connection speeds, and exorbitantly high service costs, putting the Internet beyond reach of 98% of Myanmar’s citizens" (Greene, 2013). Therefore it can be said that,  because Myanmar has been war torn for a very long time, much of their resources have been lost to the war, making it highly impossible for social media to be prevalent in the country.  

There are times where the government  tries to prevent social media from being ubiquitous through censorship, but it is not always successful. Censorship is often put in place to prevent politically sensitive contents from spreading both internally and externally. In a way, it is a government’s way of maintaining political stability. This is evident when Egypt temporarily blocked social media Web sites such as Twitter during its protests in early 2011 (Bamman, O'Connor, Smith, 2012). Censorship in China through the “Great Firewall of China” (GFW) prevents Chinese residents from accessing foreign Web sites such as Google and Facebook (Bamman, O'Connor, Smith, 2012). In this case, the Chinese government set  up the firewall to prevent the Chinese citizens from accessing foreign social network sites. However, such attempts to restrict social media has failed as the Chinese came up with social network platforms such as "Weibo" and "Qzone" which functions like Twitter and Facebook. Despite the internal social media sites that the Chinese have created, there is still censorship on these sites that serve to protect the Chinese government from being criticised on the internet.

In conclusion, the level of accessibility to the Internet is dependent on the politics in the country as a whole. Political disputes as well as censorship play equally important roles in restricting access to social media, be it successfully or unsuccessfully.  

Reference

Bamman, D., O'Connor, B., & Smith, N. (2012). Censorship and deletion practices in Chinese social media. First Monday, 17(3). doi:10.5210/fm.v17i3.3943 )

Greene, W. (2013, May 11). Myanmar’s promising experiment with Internet freedom [Web log post].Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/techonomy/2013/11/05/myanmars-promising-experiment-with-internet-freedom/

Levi, D. (2012, July 24). Where isn't social media ubiquitous? [Web log post].Retrieved from http://www.etondigital.com/where-isnt-social-media-ubiquitous/

Essay draft 4

Charmaine Pang

Social media has become a widely used platform for communication among youths. The proliferation of social media sites makes it convenient for youths to share personal information and communicate with their peers. It is because of the availability of social media sites that there has been an increase in cyber bullying cases among primary and secondary school students in Singapore. Cyber bullying an important issue because the consequences of this form of bullying is worse than physical bullying. As such, educators, parents and non-profit organisations should help to alleviate the situation by educating youths on the appropriate behaviour on social media.

The ease of access to technology may be a reason for the prevalence of cyber bullying among teens, because the almost immediate access to social media through their smartphones and computers makes cyber bullying more attractive to them. Despite being a small country, Singapore has the second-highest rate of cyber bullying among children and youth between the age of 8 and 17 in Asia (Family and Life, 2014). ‘Based on a survey of 3,000 secondary school students and 1,900 primary school students, one in five primary school children and one in three secondary school children s reportedly said that that they have been victims of cyber bullying, and one in four secondary school students admitted to cyber bullying their peers’ (Tai, 2014). The large number of students that have fallen prey to cyberbullying is a cause for concern because it seems like not enough is being done to minimise the growing issue. 

Cyber bullying is also made more prevalent because cyber bullies feel bolder and more powerful with the cloak of anonymity that the Internet provides (Baig, 2014). Due to the anonymity and accessibility of technology, cyber bullying can be more persistent and relentless, even in the safety of one's home (Yang, 2014). Gwee (2008) gave an example of a primary 3 girl who was repeatedly called ‘ugly’ and ‘irritating’ by her peers, the girl endured it when these comments made their way onto online blogs although she wished she could die. This example highlights that, with social networking sites, taunting can go viral, and the humiliation of victims can be immediate. This is a cause for concern because there is a wider potential audience and the consequences on the victim can be more intense than face-to-face bullying (Tai, 2014).

The first solution to alleviate the rise of cyber bullying cases comes from the Ministry of Education (MOE). MOE has been encouraging schools to incorporate cyber wellness lessons into the curriculum (Yang, 2014). In 2014, MOE set aside curriculum time for topics such as Internet etiquette. The cyber wellness module comes under the Citizenship and Character Education framework, in which students are taught ways to protect themselves and to be responsible for their cyber well-being in cyberspace (MOE, 2014). This is a step in the right direction, as students spend a large amount of time in school and it is where they learn most of their moral values. Through education, students are made aware of the consequences of cyber bullying and thus they are more likely to take responsibility for their online behaviour and stand up for the victims to prevent further acts of cyber bullying. The only limitation in this solution is that students may not take such lessons seriously and may feel that they have ample knowledge on cyber safety. 

The other solution would be to involve non-profit social organisations. One such organisation would be Touch Cyber Wellness that started the programme, ‘Crush.’  'Crush' cleverly uses social media as a tool to engage students and educate them about Internet safety, through the creation of an application for phones. In this application, students can watch videos on Internet etiquette and safety. In his article, Chow (2012) states through workshops, this initiative teaches parents how to use social media safely and alert them on the dangers of the Internet. This approach is highly successful as it has reached out to almost 300 teenagers since it started (Chow, 2012).  What makes this a highly successful solution is the inclusion of parents. Educating parents on Internet safety makes them more aware of their teenager's behaviour on the Internet so that they will be able to tell if their child is being bullied online or taking part in cyber bullying behaviour. This innovative way of using social media to educate youths makes their materials more relatable and thus, more well received by youths. 

Another avenue that may make this even more successful would be the expansion of 'PlanetCrush' cyber wellness centres from two schools to more. In her article, Tai (2012) reports that the cyber wellness centre not only promotes responsible computer usage through cyber wellness programmes but it also offers advice to parents on their child’s Internet habits. However, according to Chow, in 2012, there are only two of such cyber wellness centres. If the number of cyber wellness centres increases, social organisation can reach out to a larger crowd, and tackle the problem at a faster rate. With schools, parents and social organisations working hand in hand, it would be easier to alleviate the problem of cyber bullying among teens. 

In conclusion, social media have helped to bring the world as people are more connected through social media. However, social media have also resulted in a host of problems because youths today misuse them. Therefore, the problem of cyberbullying can only be solved with the help of parents, educators and the relevant organizations to guide youths and make social media platforms free from cyber bullies.  

References

Ministry of Education. (2014). 2014 Syllabus Cyber Wellness Secondary.  Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/syllabuses/character-citizenship-education/files/2014-cyber-wellness.pdf

Baig, N. (2014, August 15). 1 In 3 Students In Singapore Have Been Victims Of Cyberbullying. Yahoo.com Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/1-3-students-singapore-victims-070013753.html

Chow, J. (2012, July 30). Parents join kids to learn how to stay safe online. The Straits Times, p. B5.

Gwee, S. (2008, March 11). Caught in web of menace. The Straits Times.

Phneah, J. (2013, November 23). Holistic measures necessary in fight against cyberbullying. Today. Retrieved from http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-newspaper/search?utf8=✓&q=http://www.todayonline.com/voices/holistic-measures-necessary-fight-against-cyberbullying&commit=Search Newspapers 

Singapore is the Second Highest Nation of Cyberbullies. (2014, March 1). Retrieved from http://familyandlife.sg/Nurture/2014/03/Singapore_Second_Highest_Nation_Cyberbullies

Tai, J. (2012, January 21). Cyber wellness centre to open in Hougang sec. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.touch.org.sg/files/newsarticles/news_articles_tcs_st_2012_1_21.jpg

Tai, J. (2014, July 14). 1 in 4 Singaporean high school students admit to cyber bullying. Retrieved from http://www.asianewsnet.net/1-in-4-Singaporean-high-school-students-admit-to-c-62319.html

TOUCH Cyber Wellness. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.touch.org.sg/touch_cyber_wellness

Yang, C. (2014, September 20). Students in Singapore alerted to cyber bullying in revised cyber wellness curriculum. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/education/story/students-singapore-alerted-cyber-bullying-revised-cyber-wellness-curr

Critical reflection

When I had my first lesson in ES1102, I was expecting it to be a conventional English lesson using paper and pen to do multiple grammar exercises to improve my English. However, Brad surprised me by saying that we would be keeping an online portfolio in the form of a blog and that would be the main platform for us to ‘hand in’ our work. This was very different from the other modules that I have taken, and how I learnt English. Nevertheless, I found this style of learning to be interesting because it is very interactive.

The first assignment that I posted on my blog was a reflection on my English language learning journey. That was the first time I had to comment on someone’s blogpost and correct their use of English. I found the experience to be very new and I did not know what to do because I was afraid I was unable to spot the mistakes accurately. At the same time, I did not want to offend someone I barely knew by criticising their work, so in my first comment on my peers’ work, I only praised them for their work and did not pick out their problems. I now know that it was unnecessary to feel worried or uncomfortable because everyone is learning and they can only learn though constructive feedback. 

On the flip side, the first time I got comments on my blogpost, I was surprised at the amount of mistakes that I had made. I knew that my English wasn't perfect, but I was not expecting to have made so many mistakes in such a short blogpost. The feedback that I got from my peers were positive, however, it was only when Brad commented, then did my mistakes get pointed out. I guess everyone was feeling uncomfortable about criticising someone they barely knew. 

Looking back the subsequent assignments, I think everyone got more comfortable with each other and we all realised that we needed to give constructive feedback that would actually help our friends, so the critiques got slightly harsher, but at the same time, it really helped us to improve on our writing. So, I feel that, the peer reviews were not useful at the beginning but they got more useful as the lessons went by and I feel that both my peers and Brad’s feedback were important towards to improvement of my writing. 

Amidst the blogposts and assignments, there was a lesson on text editing. During the exercise,  we had to pick out grammatical errors in a text and justify it. This allowed us to better understand verb-tense or subject-verb agreement. I found that particular lesson enjoyable, because we did it in pairs and we could help each other out. 

I feel that I have learnt a lot in ES1102 and what I have learnt would really benefit me for the years to come. I found peer evaluation to be very useful because it is difficult to spot my own mistakes. In future, I would ask a friend to read my essays for me before I submit them to minimise the mistakes I may make. I also found writing multiple drafts to be useful, because the drafts can only get better. I will do 2 or more drafts if possible before I hand in any work. I have also become more conscious about the use of English in the essays for my other modules, and I will continue to proof-read my work before I submit them.

Presentation Reflection

On Monday, during class, I gave a presentation on the topic of cyber bullying. After the presentation, Brad went through my presentation with the class, listening to the comments that my fellow course mates gave, I felt like I had a lot more room for improvement.

Looking back, I felt like having slides would have helped my presentation, because half way into my presentation, a few of my points slipped my mind, and the lack of a script led to me having to cut my presentation short because I panicked and moved past the point. Brad also pointed out that I was shifting around while I was giving my presentation, this was interesting, because during the presentation, I did not know that I was moving around so much. I would now be more conscious of my actions when I'm giving a presentation. Another point that really struck me was that almost 75% of the class could not remember what I talked about. Although I was surprised, because it was barely five minutes after the presentation but they have already forgotten my presentation, I understood that slides would have helped them remember what I said better, because they would be able to visualize the ideas that I was presenting.

Overall, I felt that if I had practiced a few more time before the actual presentation, I could have done a better job, and having slides with visuals would definitely have helped me during my presentation. I have learnt a lot about my presentation style after the comments I've received and I would definitely work towards giving better presentations in future.

Thank you.

Critical reflection outline

What happened:

English language journey

The very first post on our blog on our English language journey was the first time we received feedback for our work through comments from our peers, the ones given by our peers were very brief and generic. Brad also gave feedback through comments on the blog, his comments were more detailed and he pinpointed the exact problems

Reader response

The first serious piece of work published on our blog was our reader response. Brad gave us a template as to how we should structure our comments for our peers when we comment on their blogposts. He also had us send him our responses where he gave us very detailed feedback on how we could improve and he also pointed out every little error that we made,so that we would be aware of them.

  

Essay

The last piece of work that we posted was our problem solution essay. We were also given a template to follow, in that template, there were certain things that we had to look out for to help our peers improve. 

How did it feel when you receive the feedback or when you give the feedback?

The first time I gave feedback, I felt like I didn't know what I was doing because I couldn't spot the errors, however, subsequently, with more practice and the templates, it got easier and more natural.

Once you've gone through it a few times, how did you feel about it?

I find it quite useful because I get feedback from different people and they have different opinions , so I can see things from different perspectives.

What will you do after this experience??

I would proof read my essays and if possible get my friends to read my essay so that we can help each other to pick out mistakes.