Task 3.C

                                                      Sources of information


I think we are incredibly fortunate in this day and age. we have all sorts of information at our finger tips. We can practically find out the answer to anything we wish from rocket science to how to make scones. I am not saying that this makes us all rocket scientists but the information and research is there for us to look at at the click of a button whether you understand the information is is all relative to you, your capabilities and interests. Not that long ago, we all had to rely on textbooks and going to the library. Technology has come on so much and so quickly, it is hard to keep up to date with all the advances. I feel lucky to have all this around me it opens up so many different ways of learning rather than just reading a book. Even if I go and read an article for example on the prisoners dilemma but come to find that article isn't helping me, I can find many other articles which may have been put in a different way which I understand better or even going on youtube  and finding a video. It really helps to cater for all the different types of learners that are in our society.  With the internet we have an abundance of information which can help us all reach our potential. I did a brain storm of my resources.

My top 5 are.

 Google

I actually do not know how I would cope without google. I am forever asking it questions, looking things up, using google maps to find things. I have the google app on my phone and it is just so accessible. My phone goes everywhere with me so I always have that source of information in my pocket in which I can rely on. Google is so vast you can just find out anything you need. I use google for professional reasons and personal reasons whether it be to do some research for work or to find a recipe for tea. Being at sea at the moment I don't have my regular access to google and all my other resources which makes me feel very detached from the world. My information source is currently limited.

Youtube

Youtube is a great visual source. I use it for all sorts whether it be prepping my self for an audition, getting choreography ideas, or even a demonstration of how to do your hair in a specific style. I find youtube very helpful, I respond better to watching and learning rather than reading. Watching a video tends to hold my attention more than me trying to read an article.
I have been roped into teaching line dancing at the moment on the ship and although I am a professional dancer I have done little line dancing and I am trying to learn the routines from reading it on paper which is proving rather difficult because the terminology they use is somewhat different to what I have been taught. For example - chasse, to them that is a step ball-change, ( they really don't like it when I call it a step ball-change) to me a chasse is a slide along the floor, they say a toe strut????? that happens to be a toe heel, but this is a constant battle throughout the routines in which I am facing. I have no one who can teach me and because I am at sea what would have been my trusty source of information that is 'youtube' is not easily accessible which is making my job 10 times harder than it could be if I had those resources.  Maybe we rely on this too much, but if it makes life easier why not?

Phone

I have so many apps on my phone which give me information. I can access pretty much anything, I make notes on my phone and I use the screen shot feature a lot. If somebody sends me a message with and address on for example, I will screen shot it because then it is stored in my pictures and I find it easier to locate it there rather than searching back through messages or emails  to recall the relevant information. I screen shot anything from audition details to a picture I like, a recipe, makeup. Sometimes i screenshot things for my friends for example if I see a promo job in their area or an audition that would suit them, I screen shot it and message them the picture, it is so quick and easy rather than having to type out all the information. My phone has all my contacts and a direct link to Facebook where I have even more contacts. Without my phone I would actually be lost. I rely on it far too much and I think do many others too.


People

My mum and dad have much more life experience than me, if I am unsure of what to do in a situation, I always go to them for advice. They have years of knowledge and wisdom that can be passed on. They have pretty much been there and done it and with their life experiences it can help us to avoid making similar mistakes. Sometimes we do need to make our own mistakes, that way we take the lesson more seriously. I don't just learn from my parents, I learn from my friends, teachers, work colleagues. You can learn something from anyone. Everyone has their own life experiences and areas of specialist knowledge, picking their brains is a great source of information.


Blogs

At this current time fellow student blogs are a great source of information for me. I am reading them where I can and trying to take as much in as possible. It is great to see how people interpret things differently, it opens your mind and helps you to see things from a different angle in which you may have never thought about before. I find this a great source of information especially at the moment  whilst study is a very predominant aspect of my life due to working towards the degree. Like I have mentioned previously though, I feel like I am at a great disadvantage at the moment. I feel isolated form my resources and networks due to being at sea, so I am unable to really utilise my favourite sources of information and use them to their full potential which can be frustrating.


 Organising and gathering information.


I think that I am good at gathering information. I gather lots of information, some relevant and some not so relevant but I like to keep it just in case. I am forever using the screen shot feature on my phone and iPad like I mentioned earlier,you never know when it may come in useful, My only downfall is the organisation side of things, I have an abundance of info I have collected however it is all over then place, this is something I need to work on massively because there is no point having all that information and not being able to locate it. We have so many tools these days to help keep us organised, I just need to utilise them better.
Being at sea my information gathering is on hold slightly. We have BBC news where I can source some information from and also my network of people on here, but we are all isolated almost trapped in a time capsule. When we all go home we are still dancing to the old music and have no idea what the latest top 40 is, we are cut off and in someways it can be nice, however it is not always good. We are living in a bubble where days don't even exists, Sunday Monday Tuesday is replaced with sea day 1, sea day 2 then Bermuda and so on. Being at sea is a bit like going back in time. I can't use my trusty old phone because it is far too expensive, I can't google and youtube to my hearts content. I tried to gather as much information as possible before I came away and if we find Wifi in a port all the crew are gathered there too all trying to make the most of the limited web 2.0. then this makes the connection very slow and pretty much impossible to load youtube videos or skype home.
Going back to the first point I made though I think we are all lucky to have the technology that we have today. I can't imagine how hard this study would be if I had to rifle through encyclopaedias and read tonnes of books to get the appropriate information. Google is a miracle.