Alys May-James BA Professional Practice Blog

Last week the module 3 students had a zoom discussion group. Some of the students took it in turns to present where they are in their research. This was really interesting to listen to as everyone is researching different topics surrounding their professional practice. Something we discussed as a whole was our use of terminology and how important it is to express ourselves using the correct terms. I have broken down some of the key terms below. Methodology- the approach we are taking for our research. e.g. non positivist, positivist, qualitative, quantitative Method- the ways in which we collect our information. e.g. interviews, surveys, secondary research, literature, questionnaires, focus groups, experiments Ethical Considerations- thinking about any issues that may arise due to your research taking place.  Ethical Protocols- the procedures put in place to ensure minimal or no harm is done due to the research taking place.    B ibliography Top 10 Research Quotes...

Recently I watched The Social Dilemma. It is a documentary and drama about social media and the impact it has on us as a society. It explores how some of the people who were involved in developing and creating various social media platforms, have decided to leave their jobs, the industry or speak out about the ethical issues they felt arose whilst working for these companies. ‘Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse’  Sophocles The people that were interviewed spoke of how they didn’t realise or think about the consequences that social media would have. When they started out, it was very focused on the good and positive that these platforms created- i.e. being able to contact relatives who lived miles away. It seems that less thought was given to the negative impacts and implications. So, without looking at the ethical considerations, they were not fully prepared for the future. I found the actual content of the documentary quite worrying. Algorithms have been...

Earlier on in the week I joined my second module one focused skype. It was nice to have some stability and familiarity with the uncertainty of the world right now. We discussed 3 main topics- Diagrams, Ethics and Literature. Diagrams We spoke about how some of us were struggling to come to terms with the idea of what a diagram actually was. It’s not clear cut, like an essay that we could have had plenty of practice doing from time at school. At first, I was really confused about it, but actually its ambiguity is what I’ve really enjoyed. I have been able to create what I want that reflects me. It’s personal to me and my own practice. It’s very rare to have opportunities like that.  We also spoke about how it’s visual. We already have our essay where we use words and theories to explain and explore our practice. The diagram is a visual representation that goes along side our essay. The two should work together. Something that one person mentioned that I hadn’t thought about...

‘Art has the power to upset, to disturb, to make us question our assumptions, to change us.’  (Berys Gaut, 2007) Working in the arts there are a lot of ethical considerations that need to be taken into account. We are creating things for an audience, whether it be a dance, a song, a play, a painting… With this comes responsibility. By creating this ‘art’ we are having an impact on people around us. But is this a good thing? Upset Art can and undoubtedly will upset some people. People can be triggered by many different things that can lead to sadness. An example for me, is Damien Hirst and his use of animals as ‘art’. Personally, I don’t believe work like, ‘Mother and Child (Divided)’ are ethical. He has used real animals, in this instance a cow and a calf, and used them for his art. Sometimes he keeps them whole and sometimes he bisects them. He then puts them in glass cabinets with formaldehyde (Biography, 2014). Consequently, many innocent animals lost their lives...

Web 2.0 is a very important feature of this course. The fact we can even do this distance learning course is down to Web 2.0. Before reading the handbooks I had never herd of it before. I had no idea what it was or that it was even a thing. To me the internet was just the internet and I didn’t think much further into it. Having researched it, I am amazed I hadn’t come across the term before seeing as I use it so often. So what is Web 2.0? ‘The second stage of development of the Internet, characterized especially by the change from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated content and the growth of social media.’ Oxford Dictionaries What does this mean? Tim O’Reilly has spoken a lot about Web 2.0. Online we are now able to communicate with each other. Someone can put a piece of information on the internet and people can interact with the information. The creator and the people reading and interacting to it are in conversation. They can discuss, debate and exp...