Task 3C Sources of Information

This task shall aim to identify my personal five main sources of information, alongside a critical reflection with regards to their importance to me and my practice. This blog post shall also include a reference to other student’s blogs identifying why and how they are useful to me.

Two sources of information for me and my professional practice is networking and web 2.0. 

Networking allows individuals to inform each other of information related to their chosen practice, which is important for me because it allows opinions and advice in a less formal format. However, networking too can be formal. For example, through the use of web 2.0, such a Linked in, or a word press site, and in comparison to this, it can also be much more informal, such as social media sites like Instagram and Facebook. Networking to me allows individuals to be personal and expressive. Web 2.0 allows great communication and has the ability to let someone market themselves in the way that they feel is best suited. In terms of copyright, I feel that social media sites are much more lenient sources of information, in comparison to theorists and literature.

The third piece of information which is important to me and my practice is research. Research is such a broad topic and allows one to read and understand so many points of view, which in turn can elaborate ones understanding and give them a critical skill when analysing texts. It also can broaden an understanding and change current opinions through reason, comparison and written argument. Research can also help identify the opinions of others and why, and can be put into graphs, charts or can be found out through a questionnaire which is something I previously completed under the blog post, “Part 2 (Module 1) Skype session, reflection, and Research”, where I conducted a survey on 10 individuals, asking them what type of learner they considered themselves to be, and formatted my findings into a graph.  I found that it was important to gain this research because it broadened my understanding of other people’s point of view, which in turn made my knowledge stronger.

With regards to the fourth type of information that I find useful, is journal articles. Journal articles are often published in periodicals and allow recent information regarding a certain topic to be found which is great when studying or wanting to know information quickly, as a search engine with a key word opens many journal articles in relation to the subject. However in terms of copyright, if one was to take information from an article, it is plagiarism, as that piece of writing was created by someone else, however completing research with reference to a particular journal article is different, as it can be stated that information was gained from another person’s work.

Lastly, I find that case studies are a great method of retrieving information, as they are real life and allow comparison between case studies. It is extremely beneficial if a person wants pure fact and truth. However, to complete a case study, psychologically, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration, such as ethical matters. If people are used in a case study, they are the main source and it is important to take into consideration their well being. For example, for privacy matters, instead of using their name, use a false name, or a number. Case studies monitor developments and processes over time. They are used to notice the difficulties of real life situations.

In conclusion, I find that my main five most important sources of information are networking, web 2.0, research, journal articles and cases studies. When looking through other individual’s posts regarding the same task, I learnt that web 2.0 is a common method of finding information, and I think that this is primary down to the fact that it is so popular within society and plays a huge part in people’s life. It is also relatively quick (depending on the strength of wifi), and easily accessible.