For this week Rachel Wilson began by talking to us about collaboration. It is something that employers highlighted as a quality they look for in university graduates who wish to work for them and understand the skills of working in a team, problem solving etc. That being said said that knowing teamwork is not an innate skill and can be learned and built upon. This was a very big relief as I am realising more and more how few careers or jobs in the media that do not require collaboration. In terms of the workplace and our media one course:
-Working collaboratively is a baseline skill set for all media and comm workers.
-It can develop the skills for your professional life; this is great for your resume.
-It can also enable you to learn more effectively and better your work.
We broke up into groups and from experience, brainstormed what good and bad things we have noticed result from Group work. These were some of the things that we noted.
Good things about it:
-In a group you can bounce ideas off of each other
-You can work more effectively
-There is more creativity for the project
-It is easier to include feedback (be it through the Debono hats)
-You can spread the workload more
-You can teach each other things
-You can tackle bigger projects
-You have support on your decisions and the project
Bad things:
-You are depending on people and this may not be a great dynamic if something goes wrong
-Everyone has different standards
-There might be creative differences
-There might be different skill sets
-Dominant personalities
-Distraction or Different work ethics
-The work load may be unfair
Collaboration is good for:
-Establishing peer relationships
-Gaining experience in negotiation
-Developing Leadership
-You have fun
Characteristics of Positive Collaborations include:
-Clear objectives: that you all know what your goal/ objective is, and you are all focused and committed to achieving that
-Clarity: goals are clearly established and everyone is aware of what goals there are
-Motivating Value: The group believes in the idea and the project itself
-Attainability: It feels achievable and attainable for you and the group
-Future Potential: There is room to alter things, to change them and see where they change naturally
Rachel noted that it is important to have some space within your idea, in case it moves in another direction. As far as identifying goals this can include if someone would like to achieve a high distinction, if they wish to get to know those in their group etc. Having good communication is again a must. To be able to listen to people, asses and critique. Even use the Debono thinking hats, because they can cover all factors of your project.
Other qualities of a good collaborative group include:
Consistency: people can trust what you are going to do and know how/ if you will respond.
Respect: That if you are running late- you text and let people know what is going on- you don’t treat people like mushrooms (in the dark and in the poo).
Support: That someone will help you if you start to flounder- an environment that will support with tasks or challenges.
Responsibility: Knowing what your role is in the group, keeping up your end of the bargain.
Equitable: To share the workload and ensuring that one person is not doing everything. It is a collaboration. In Summary…
- Honesty
- Openness
- Consistency
- Respect
- To build trust the you need an idea that was brought up was to schedule in some good/ fun experiences. Make sure you go and see a movie or a weekly coffee/ lunch meeting or visit a gallery.
- Creative a schedule, see the group as special and a priority.
- Team rules: people management, creative process management.
- Conduct Good meetings that have a clear plan and goal in mind.
To conclude: Collaboration can be hard at times & it requires maintenance and thoughtfulness…
But it can be fun and life affirming and when it works you can achieve so much more than you realise.
Brian started the 2nd half of the lecture speaking about the 4th Project brief.
We have to come up with some ideas about the theme of attention. We will be given the chance to look at someone thing interests you eg Harry Potter and attention, or youtube and attention. Naturally there are a set of deadlines that will need to be met. He talked about the importance ofIt is important that you attend as many lectures and tutorials as possible and that there will be a bibliography exercise that will be due in the workshops and will be a part of what we hand in for the Week 13 submission. Another exciting point was that the rough cut is slightly more important for this brief as external media professionals will be brought in to hear them and give feedback. This sounded great as having people who expect a higher level of work due to being surrounded by it in their jobs felt like a good challenge for this assessment.
Another part of this assessment was the research component and how we will be learning research and writing skills for it. Brian spoke about how research is not just an “academic skill”. Talking to people is good but needs to be complemented by reading & researching about them. In short, it counts for your future career. Generally thinking about journals, or other pieces of writing that are produced by academics (some of which we will be looking at as a resource) it must be noted that Academics have the advantage of time. To research and work and rework their subject matter and writing, because they are given the boundaries to do this. Journalists are not always given a reasonable amount of time to create their work, but often thrive on writing or commenting on things “in the moment”. He noted to make sure that when finding resources, you don’t disregard the thesis that was written in 2014 as out of date, as it might be useful to you in the evolution of what you are looking at. Also how the library is a great resource with subject guides on the library website (RMIT University Youtube Channel). Google scholar- it is good, but make sure to go through the RMIT library website and it will give you materials that the uni has paid for.
Reading academic work assumptions:
Academic work isn’t a novel or a feature article so don’t expect to be able to read it in quite the same way. Look for arguments, evidence and structure. Academic work can be a challenge but it is important to look at it as a structure that you have to understand the dynamics of.
Some Practical Steps Included:
-Download (and print) the article
-Look at abstracts: they are like the trailer/ summary of the piece.
-Reading academic writing requires a different strategy to other types of writing. Look at the structure
-Skimming can be very important if you spot information that is useful.
Goals in terms of successful readings
-A brief Summary
-An evaluation of the text
Overall I found the lecture to be really helpful in the practical side of our next project. Teamwork and collaboration is such a big part of what we do as media makers and it is one of those things that can really make or break a project. Its also something that I think when you are just starting out, you don’t realise that there is a skillset you can develop and certain policies you can put in place to ensure that whatever you are working on goes smoothly and positively.
The reading for this week looked at the element of Media literacy and finding the appropriate and most reliable sources to conduct your study or research on a topic, for this is a basic principle of media making. The article “Did Media Literacy backfire” By Danah Boyd, talks in detail about how younger generations are turning to social media and internet news outlets to answer their questions and validate the information they choose to find. Certain examples include web M.D, certain news publisher such as the New York Times, The Boston Global or a simple google search. Whilst some information is correct and usually trustworthy, not everything can be accurate or politically diplomatic. Certain newspapers are right or left wing, some news sites often feed into conspiracy theories and political melodrama writing the implications on the everyday Australian or American etc. This is where the need for media literacy comes in. Boyd asks for a stronger influx of it within society. Media literacy invites one to ask questions of their source. To analyse its validity, to re-evaluate how we see make sense of the information we receive as well as to be open minded. Which it feels as though the author was trying to highlight as an issue for our society. That we are generally wary of the information we receive, however there are so many of us divided on which resources to trust and which not to that some of us are becoming to comfortable in our own mindset’s, even if they are slightly biased or incorrect. I feel like Boyd makes a great point here and in terms of being a media student and creator this is something that I have to be aware of both in study and the general consumption of information around me. Perhaps the most important thing is to find the balance of resources and a constant analytical look and questioning of how information shapes my understanding of the topics I have chosen to research and how it has been shaped by its creators. What the intent is….