Task 1b: Professional Communication Technologies... 1. Participation

IT has never been my strong point in life. To be perfectly honest I always loved hand writing. I'm a very creative being and in school we used to take hand writing lessons and I always took great pride in my presentation of work so in primary school where the use of typing homework was optional I always hand wrote... because I liked it but also because my mum isn't have a laptop or a computer so it wasn't practical for me for my home work. It was only when I went into Senior school that I really adapted to the use of the internet and how it affected me in my learning but also how it can contribute towards future forms of employment by learning key skills on microsoft for word and exel but also programs such as Sibellius which I used to use to "type" up my musicals compositions onto a computer to print prior to attending my lessons at music school on a weekend. 

Then growing up through senior school the social networking sites became awfully popular in terms of communication with friends out of school hours such as MSN, Bebo and Myspace which has then progressed onto the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in today's society. So despite completely and blissfully unaware of Web 2.0 it has been a very bit part of my life for the past 13 years and is very much so today. When i graduated sixth form a lot of my school friends, like myself, left home for pastures new at university or college and for us the likes of these forms o social networking sites have been vital for our use of communicating with each other on our day to day lives but also in terms of helping each other through work in our own territories. 

One of my best friends during university had to create a presentation to her tutor and deliver a lesson through the use of music. She was studying primary education for Special Needs, so not only is the content of the lesson plans vital to educate her students but also the way it is done. As soon as Music became a part of the lesson plan she was panicked and that night we had a conversation on Skype she could visually see me in order to help her with her situation. Considering she lives a seven hour drive away and through the use of one program we can visually share a cup of tea and enjoy a catch up as if she were sat right next to me really is incredible. I digress from my point....

As we are chatting away I come up with a melody for her song on my piano in my room and we discuss the topic of choice which was colours to create a song together that she was comfortable singing but also making sure it included all vital information needed. Once the song was written I then typed up the manuscript onto my computer and also recorded the song and backing track onto my garage band application I have on my Mac Book all in one evening and e-mailed it over to her so she had a master copy track to listen to; a copy to practice with and also she sheet music if she had anyone to accompany her if the use of a CD were not available in her classroom. Without the ability of Skype and also the use of Email and programs such as garage band which all seem so easily accessible in today's society none of that would of been possible in order to help my friend. So you ask is does Web 2.0 encourage participation in communication with each other... 100%. We today are very lucky to be have so many programmes and social networking sites in order to aid our day to day lives and I for one definitely do take them for granted, and even though at the moment I do use them primarily for ways of commuting with friends around the world, I believe doing this blog is opening my eyes to being able to use my capabilities of Web 2.0 to benefit my career and development in Professional Practice in Performing Arts.