Unit 1 Communications and Employability

Unit 1 Communications and Employability

Specialist Communication

Web Pages.

Web Pages can play an important part in an organization. They are much more than a contact page. Depending on the type of business, the web site might be a sole source of advertisement, so it needs to stand out from the rest. It might be the only sales outlet (no actual store – just online business) so it needs to be simple to use so it doesn’t put people off. It might just be the first point of contact, so first impression is everything. It might also be a world wide business so will need to be compatible to as many different sites as possible. (bear I mind that there are lots of browsers Internet Explorer is probably one of the most common, but Firefox is catching up, there are others ….go and find some others..

Task 1.

Individually, list as many Internet Browsers as you can find…

As the internet is so widely used, if everyone just did there own thing then the chances are that not many people would be able to see other peoples sites. For this reason, sets of standards started to arise to help everyone conform to the same formats etc. One of these is W3Schools. W3Schools helps by teaching people (free) how to standardise all web documents.

Task 2

Find 3 other sites that look at Internet standards.

Bad site design…

Whats wrong with this site? This is a simple case of very bad design…Its not the worst on the web by a long shot but a few simple errors…But how do people know what design rules to fiollow?

Task 3.

Look for rules of Internet design, make a note of all that you find but list the three that you think are most important.

Class discussion,

What did you find?

Why do you think the design rules are important?

Why would companies follow them?

Blogs

A blog is basically a 1 person forum! It is a way of documenting something, in much the same way as one would in a diary. Initially blogs were used as online diaries, able to restrict or allow access as you wanted. They have grown and are commonly used by professionals to record progress on important tasks, or Journalists, as another form of getting their writing in print so to speak. These can be useful in business as it is a handy way of keeping track of development within the company, might be a way of vetting employees moral, but more than likely, it’s a way of putting a view on the internet in probably a slightly less formal manner.

Task 4.

Have a look at this link..

Choose a blog that looks like it might interest you and spend a few minutes reading it. Choose a few blogs at random and read a few of the entries, do they seem to match the companies’ profiles? What do you notice about the tone they are written in?

VLogs

Vlogs are very similar to Blogs, but just use video as the media for recording the blog. Many have been made, lots are on Youtube so unable to display within the college.

The possibilities of VLogs are endless; companies can use them to showcase their products or services, find a multitude of ways to show off. Making them comical or interesting makes other viewers pass on the link and the product or service is being advertised again. The down side to this though is that it then becomes open playing field, with people being just as vocal and animated if ythey are not happy about a product or service. (to test this, when you are at home, try typing in ‘Microsoft Vlog’

How many good ones will you find? And how many ‘not so polite’ rants?

Hmmmm.

Task 5.

Spend a few minutes trying to find a Vlog on the internet that is not hosted by

You tube.

Podcasts

Podcasts are streamlined media files that can be downloaded to be watched on a pc or hand held device like an mp4 player or ipod. Similar to VLogs, but can contain other media types other than just video. Podcasts are mostly used at present for people to watch programs that they have missed or radio shows etc.

According to the Oxford dictionary, Podcast was the word of the year in 2005.

The appeal of podcasts is that a company can have a new product, a new advert, company news, or even the latest Vlog, and it can have it sent to your mobile phone, email it to you or open it up for download. It takes the media aspect just one step further.

Video Conferencing.

Meetings between business partners, or customers and salesmen can be extremely beneficial, but imagine that the business partners live in New York and London. A meeting would be very costly, and if several meetings were needed then it all adds up. On a one to one basis, then a phone call might suffice, but when there are lots of people on both sides that need to be in a discussion then video conferencing becomes very useful. Video conferencing allows the interaction between parties, like a phone call but with multi users in on the conversation, but also with the video so that visual contact can be made as well. There are lots of different companies and software for video conferencing, and lots of different types, group to group, you can have panning ability of the people you are talking to, and you can have multi groups, not just two. Ultimately, the quality will often depend on the distance and the internet quality between the parties.

Task 6.

For each of the following, state a good use for it, why it would be beneficial over the others and also highlight any possible dangers of its use or drawbacks that you can see.

• Web-pages
• Blogs
• Vlogs
• Podcasts
• Video-conferencing

Discuss your findings with the group.

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