I can't say that there is one particular area in which I am developing an expertise. I think that would be a bit of an overstatement and an embellishment. One area in which I would say I'm learning and improving almost daily on is the art form of writing within certain mediums. For instance within communication through emails or handouts and the proper language that is used for each document. The tone and diction of each document is very dependent on the audience you are addressing and the message the writer is trying to convey.
The challenge with writing is the dramatic shift in our most common used methods for writing. As we have discussed, at nausea, the shift toward social media today and going away from hard-copy paper trail writing. As an example, when was the last time you actually put a pen or pencil to paper and wrote out an essay? Mine was over 3 years ago when I was doing an in class essay for a final. As I'm writing this blog now it isn't done on paper, it is constructed on a computer screen through a word document.
For athletic departments the tone in which you convey your message is highly sensitive. Never do you want to seem condescending when addressing a donor. So how a person writes on behalf of the athletic department or themselves is super important. And as we all know especially through text or email, the emotion or tone of voice can be misconstrued in interpretation.
To wrap it up, I am learning the proper methods of how to write emails, publications, announcements, tweets, etc. when addressing sensitive and wide spread audiences.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Data Driven Decisions Class Review
Since I've confirmed my love for coaching I thought the information we learned in this class would be irrelevant to my passion. Through our project and the access to academic information I was able to gain more insight into the academic side of athletics. It was very interesting to look into APR rates of various colleges and how easily that can be affected and the difference between that and graduation rates.
Doing the APR calculations for various teams was a change of pace exercise. It was different than most the other assignments we’ve had up until this point. It was a good task in the sense that now I can say I’ve calculated a team’s APR before, one more thing to add to the skill list from my IAL education.
Learning more about the capabilities of Catalyst was interesting. I think it was beneficial to learn how to administer online surveys. Though the creation of survey was a good lesson learned, getting the actual results with accurate data seemed near impossible. I understand that wasn't exactly the point of the exercise but for a person who likes to ask "why," it is difficult to complete something "just because" it was the assignment. But regardless of the outcome of the results from the survey, learning Catalyst was helpful.
Comparing Catalyst to Blackboard was interesting as I've (and most others in our class) had experience with Blackboard in college. Blackboard is more suitable for undergraduates I think based on the capabilities and easier navigation of the site, but maybe Catalyst provides more opportunities for graduate students?
I enjoyed discussing the project topics with my classmates and seeing the examples from last year. I think that was the most interesting part of the class, more so even than researching our own topics.
Doing the APR calculations for various teams was a change of pace exercise. It was different than most the other assignments we’ve had up until this point. It was a good task in the sense that now I can say I’ve calculated a team’s APR before, one more thing to add to the skill list from my IAL education.
Learning more about the capabilities of Catalyst was interesting. I think it was beneficial to learn how to administer online surveys. Though the creation of survey was a good lesson learned, getting the actual results with accurate data seemed near impossible. I understand that wasn't exactly the point of the exercise but for a person who likes to ask "why," it is difficult to complete something "just because" it was the assignment. But regardless of the outcome of the results from the survey, learning Catalyst was helpful.
Comparing Catalyst to Blackboard was interesting as I've (and most others in our class) had experience with Blackboard in college. Blackboard is more suitable for undergraduates I think based on the capabilities and easier navigation of the site, but maybe Catalyst provides more opportunities for graduate students?
I enjoyed discussing the project topics with my classmates and seeing the examples from last year. I think that was the most interesting part of the class, more so even than researching our own topics.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Winter : Isports Review
Well as the quarter wraps up, with one final group project to finish, I can't say that I am going to miss this class. Though I have obtained a more in depth knowledge of operating systems at UW, and thought about ways to improve for improvement with techniques, technology and exploring software is not my passion. But as the saying goes, "sometimes you have to do what you don't like to find out what you do," or something along those lines.
In my opinion this class would be more beneficial if Professor Eisenberg was able to have a full week for this class during our summer intensive. Given the culture of the students in our class, and our specific passions, shifting the focus of the class a bit and having a live professor may help the students (overall) enjoy the technology class more.
The project in which we compared websites I enjoyed in certain ways. It was beneficial to see where various athletic departments were lacking and how others excelled. A stark difference that became apparent to me was a university's capabilities based (often but not always) on their institutional standing - DI, DII, DIII etc. Often I was surprised at the the lack of many athletic departments websites and their need for improvements. This will be a great tool or experience for me when I move on to a new school and am given the opportunity to assess a school's website for improvements.
After this project, I was made even more aware how vital the functionality of an athletic department’s website is to their success overall. A bad website, especially given today’s online preference, can severely influence a user’s experience with the school based on their online adventure.
Though our final project is not finished it has been very interesting hearing everyone’s ideas on new software for athletics operations and the improvements we desire. Some ideas are outlandish but lined with good intentions, others are simplistic but definitely improvements that are needed. For the sake of secrecy I cannot reveal what our group is doing. Isports, I’m out!
In my opinion this class would be more beneficial if Professor Eisenberg was able to have a full week for this class during our summer intensive. Given the culture of the students in our class, and our specific passions, shifting the focus of the class a bit and having a live professor may help the students (overall) enjoy the technology class more.
The project in which we compared websites I enjoyed in certain ways. It was beneficial to see where various athletic departments were lacking and how others excelled. A stark difference that became apparent to me was a university's capabilities based (often but not always) on their institutional standing - DI, DII, DIII etc. Often I was surprised at the the lack of many athletic departments websites and their need for improvements. This will be a great tool or experience for me when I move on to a new school and am given the opportunity to assess a school's website for improvements.
After this project, I was made even more aware how vital the functionality of an athletic department’s website is to their success overall. A bad website, especially given today’s online preference, can severely influence a user’s experience with the school based on their online adventure.
Though our final project is not finished it has been very interesting hearing everyone’s ideas on new software for athletics operations and the improvements we desire. Some ideas are outlandish but lined with good intentions, others are simplistic but definitely improvements that are needed. For the sake of secrecy I cannot reveal what our group is doing. Isports, I’m out!
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