Tuesday 2 November 2010

10 things I have learn during this weeks doing my blog

1 - Because of my inexperience in this field, I learned to use a blog for the first time, how it is born and grows.


2 - I have seen the importance of the tags if you want your blog more easily identifiable on the web.


3 - On the other hand, I've realized the value given by the links within each post. With them you can sum up things that would cost you more space to explain and directly links the reader to a page that will explain in detail what you do not have time or space to specify.


4 - Links to other pages that we put next to the post are effective because when you link, the others see that you have linked and then they know you easier.


5 - I've noticed that a good title is important in this world of blogs and web. A striking headline draws the reader's attention and web sites like Google that can put us in a good situation. and also make tags. 


6 - In the wake of this last practice I learned what a podcast and videoblog that while it is true that the names sounded me, I never figure out what they really were.


7 - I have noticed that a blog is a great tool of expression. At other times, there were not this possibility and could only express their ideas big companies and institutions. Today, thanks to the Internet and blogs, thousands of people around the world can express ideas that would otherwise never have been able. This makes each person, however small, has a voice in many cases,important. This is the great importance that provides a blog.

8 - I found that people, being saturated with so much information, quickly find a good title and few lyrics, especially videos and pictures that can summarize what you think write with words. For this I discovered that the image and video are very important and, realizing this, I had to learn to upload them to the blog. Really helpful.

9 - On the other hand, a blog with a few unreliable sources becomes a blog that has no credibility, and this for someone who is dedicated to communication is fateful. I found this following to look for credible sources and put them under each post, because you should not put things that others have said without mentioning. Is mutual respect between sources.

10 - In conclusion, it should be clear that it is very important to link to other blogs that are commensurate with our theme. Among all contribute to the better education of the reader who looks this information from us.

Analysis of Podcasts and Videoblogs

Researching podcasts about  international students on the web I have found: 


First of all universia has different podcasts in relation to international issues, there I founded: "Podcast: Australia y Nueva Zelanda abren sus puertas a estudiantes chilenos". In this podcast are given clues as Chilean students can exchange with countries like Australia and New Zealand. There is talk that they had previously given advice on how to do these studies in the USA. Then remember that thanks to the performance of the Chilean government has made agreements with these two countries can realize their studies. It is a podcast aimed at the Chilean people and tells them the possibility to go abroad to continue their studies. It is an informative podcast.


Secondly, I investigated a podcast from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, "KU Leuven podcast for new international students." It includes different podcasts aimed at new college students. Offer more information about this, information about the city and what to do when you get there: where you stay, what to do when you get to the airport and this kind of useful things when you get to a foreign city.




Referring to have found an interesting video blog video gallery Macquarie University in Sydney, in this page we can see a video in particular is a videoblog. This is a guy named James Craig who introduces us to the university, giving it the characteristics of both night and day, their culture, ceremonies, etc. and he tells us a little bit how is his life there.






The second video blog that I found was of the University of NavarraThis video blog was not of one particular person, but it was a video in which different students from different countries, why they had decided to come to this university. They also talk about their experiences here and how is the campus and life at this university.

My personal contribution for the groupal blog: Mónica Escobar

Here are the posts linked that I've been doing these past weeks for the groupal blog:


1.Introducing yourself and your theme:  Diary of a new experience..


2. Sources:  Related blogs


3. Using hypertext:  About Costa Rica


4. Podcasts and Videoblogs: Podcasts and videoblogs



5. Interview: Interview to an international student: Paula


6.10 things I've learned: 10 things I've learned doing my blog

10 things I've learned doing my blog

I'm going to make a list about the most important things that I've learned doing the groupal blog. These were among many other things the following:

1. I've learned how to create a blog as well as personalize it and at the same time working with other people creating new ideas and developing our creativity.

2. I've also learned how to search correctly on the internet, how to link my posts,and how to upload photos videos, texts and other multimedia resources.

3. I've found doing the blog lots of new useful pages on the internet that can help to do the work of the blog.

4. How to write correctly in a blog as well as the main skills to do a blog because I had to be aware that everything can´t be posted in a blog as it is a public source of information.

5. I've also learned to tag posts, do blogrolls and link other interesting blogs related to ours.

6. Whst is hypertext, and other many blogger words and vocabulary.

7. The parts a blog is structured in and the different kind of blogs that exist nowadays on the net.

8. I've learned that a blog must be renewed frequently so as to follow the rythm internet goes.

9. How to select information among lots of webpages as well as doing research in the street and asking people to gather material for the blog.

10. What is interactivity and how to use it in order to make our blog interactive as it is involved in a huge community of users that are connected constantly between each other.

Compilation of my post:

Here you can see all my work in this blog during the practice classes:

1. Introducing yourself and your theme: My first post.


3. Using hypertext: Natalia Salas - Costa Rica.

4. Podcasts and Videoblogs: Analysis of podcasts and videoblogs.

5. Interview: Francisco Hinojosa. 

6. 10 things I've learned: 10 things I have learn during this week doing my blog.

Francisco Hinojosa.

Francisco Hinojosa is a Mexican student in Pamplona. He is 20 years old and he was studying international relations at Mexico's DF top university ITAM.




We were talking the other day about his experience and why he decided to study in UNAV. He knew this university by former UNAV teacher Jose Carreño.

He told me that in march he had decided to study journalism and  leave his career. He had some countries in mind as a possibility to study like England, Australia and Spain specifically Navarra.
He had been in Spain a lot of times in different cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Cadiz, Sevilla...
In his University he was the sports editor, so when  he decided to leave his studies he choose telling his parentes writting a columm in the university magazine.
His parents were surprised, so he started to take care of the things he needed to go to Navarra to study journalism. He looked on the review of university entrance. He prepared selectividad with the help of his best friend aunt, who specializes on preparing admission exams.

Actually in Pamplona he lives in "Belagua" Torre II,  he actually did his Belagua interview through Skype.


Before coming he said goodbye to his family and his friends, it was very emotional because until Christmas he will not see them.
When he arrived to Pamplona the 26 of August he didn't know anyone so he visited the campus and he went to see his new house, but everything was closed.





Paco wants to engage in corporate communication when he finishes the degree. He also wants to do a master's degree in corporate communication and politics in Pamplona or London. He would like to be the press director of the NFL (National Football Leage)
He loves Miami Dolphins.
 He is a very sportsman he sais " Give a ball and I'm happy".




The Pumas, team of Mexico City, invited him to join them, but he couldn't because he had to leave school and he had problems with one knee, so he decided leave soccer for a while.






Compilation of my posts

 Here is my work in this blog during these few weeks...


1.Introducing yourself and your theme: About Estefanía...

2. Sources: Blogs about international students

4. Podcasts and Videoblogs: Related podcasts and videoblogs



10 things I've learned while doing this blog

First of all, I must say that I'd thought many times of doing a blog but this was a good opportunity to do it.


The 10 things I've learned while doing this blog are:


1.- How to difference a blog from other kind of sites on the internet.

2.- What is the right way to write a blog.

3.- How to sctructure a blog.

4.- What are the different kinds of blogs (for example: videoblogs, photologs, metablogs, etc)

5.- How to upload pictures and videos to the posts.

6.- What is hypertext.

7.- How to add links to your blog.

8.- That we have to be very careful with what you publish. We should know that this can be read by everyone who has access to the internet.

9.- How to add tags to our posts.

10.- A blog is like a "conversation" so we have to try to publish regularly and keep our blogs up to date.


This was not my first contact with blogs as I regularly read some fashion blogs but this was my first experience doing myself a blog. I think this has changed my way to see blog publishers, everyone can post but if you don't write in a proper way, you don't publish regularly, etc... your blog won't be successful. Anyway, as José Luis Orihuela writes in his book "La revolución de los blogs" the main reasons to write a blog are: a way to express yourself with freedom, to share knowledge, as a personal diary, a mean of entertainment or to meet people. So, it is nonsense to write a blog about something you are not interesting in. And the last and most important thing I've learned: blogs are really addictive!

Monday 1 November 2010

Interview to an international student : Paula

Since this blog is active, we have been talking mainly about the foreign students that come to our university to develope their degrees, but it is also important to keep in mind that not only these kind of students are international but also the students of our university that go abroad to many different places to get a new experience and to study. This is the case of Paula a student from the University of Navarra, she is from Vigo, Spain,she is studying a degree in business management ande program er third year. Nowadays she takes part of an exchange program so she is now in Oslo (Norway) for 5 months.





1. Why did you decide to study abroad as a part of your university degree??
My degree already implies studying abroad for two semesters but I've always wanted to do it anyway. I think it is a really good experience for everyone because it is a way of proving to yourself how well you can adapt to an environment different than your own.
2. Why did you choose oslo??
I do not have a special reason for why I chose Oslo. I guess that I was curious about Norwegian culture and what the country had to offer. I was impressed by the amount of natural scenarios that can be visited and the challenges that a country like Norway presented. I was also concerned about how it would affect my studies.
3. What were your feelings when you finally arrived to Oslo?
I'm really enjoying my semester here but I have to admit that it was a little hard at first. i came a couple of months ago to a country I did not know anything about and with nobody there for me so I just had to find the way to do everything by myself. In the beginning, the cultural shock was huge but now, I think I can understand better how local people think and react to specific situations which is still a lot different than the way Spanish people do it.
4. What was the thing that surprised you the most about the country?
Maybe one of the things that surprised me the most is the freedom teachers give students inside and outside the classroom. In Norway, it is normal for a student to stand up to his professor's arguments and try to discuss them if he thinks they are not correct. It also "shocked" me a little bit how students are able to eat inside the classroom while the professor is speaking or leave while in the middle of a lecture; that attitude in Spain would be consider rude. Here, students are in charge of their own education; it is their own responsibility to attend the lectures and do their homework. I think this "freedom" makes them more competent and competitive.
5. Which places do you recommend to visit there??
I have to say that the whole country is worth the visit because each one of the different areas has something special and it is surrounded by a beautiful environment. In spite of this, in my opinion, the places I encourage people to visit would be: Oslo, as the biggest city is Norway; Stavanger; Bergen and Tromsø, situated in the north of the country where if you are lucky enough might have the chance to see the overwhelming Northern Lights.
6. What do you think about exchange programs?
I think it is a good thing to encourage people to discover another countries and cultures and, at the same time, give them the opportunity to discover themselves as individuals and as students. Nowadays, the world is becoming more and more interconnected and developing the ability of relating to other people is important if you want to succeed.
7.What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an international student or the most difficult thing you have had to face up to?
The advantages are both: academic, in the sense that you adapt yourself to a new system and you also have the opportunity to see things from a different perspective; and personal, you become more and more independent and you develop a greater sense of responsibility. On the other hand, there are also disadvantages like the fact that it takes time for you adapt to your life abroad and if you are there for a semester, just like I am, when you are getting used to it it is almost time to go home. The language can also be a disadvantage.
8. Tell us about  your balance of the exchange. would you recommend people this kind of programs??
My balance so far is great; I am having a really good time here. These past few months seemed to me like weeks instead: I've been traveling, meeting new people, experiencing Norwegian life, studying and I've even been working as an assistant to the professor in Spanish classes. I do not think my experience could have been better. Personally, I would recommend everyone to get involved in any kind of exchange program. It not only helps you academically, but it gives you the opportunity to explore and experience new ways of thinking and doing and to visit the most wonderful places, those you never thought they existed.







Sunday 31 October 2010

Interview: Dino Dacanay, from Philippines

This weekend I'v interviewed  Dino Dacanay, from Philippines who is studying first year of advertising at UNAV. His full name is Alan Adrian A. Dacanay Jr and he is 20, but everyone calls him Dino. I thought it would be interesting to know the experiences of a student that came from so far away and know his first impression of studying abroad.


1.Why did you chose to come to UNAV?

-Ever since high school, I have always dreamed of studying abroad. When I found out that UNAV offered one of the best courses in communications, I had no hesitations in studying here. So next year, I will be transferring from my university in the Philippines to UNAV.


2.And how did you find out unav?

-I studied in an Opus Dei private school in the Philippines. My school entertained a representative from UNAV and they talked about UNAV to us.


3.What are your first impressions in these 2 months at unav?

-My first impressions would be that I was amazed with the diversity of people who study here and the fact that it is similar in some ways to my university in the Philippines.


4.Have you had any shock with the difference between philippines and pamplona? Is there anything you don't like?
 
-There was not much shock because I took my first 2 years of college in the Philippines so transition from High School to College was not that bad. At the same time culture wise, there was not much shock since I have been to UNAV more than 8 times in the past 3 years to visit my brother. So I am accustomed to the way of life here already.








5.What do you like the most about university? And about Pamplona?

-It's bigger compared to my university in the Philippines and there are a lot of people who come from different social and cultural backgrounds. what I love about pamplona is how everything is in walking distance.


6.What do you miss the most? (if you miss anything)

- I miss home cooked food by my mom. She makes the meanest Adobo (shredded fried pork). No one can ever make them as good as my mom makes them. I also miss my family as well as all my friends back home.


7.Would you recommend this experience to other students?

-Definitely. It's a chance for everyone to meet people from different countries as well as a chance for them to become more open minded about different things such as religion, cultural differences, etc.

Podcasts and videoblogs

Today our blog is going to be focused on the searching of podcasts and videoblogs made by international students as it is a way of sharing with other people and  other students their experiences at a foreign university in a closer way.


The NUFS Podcast is the international ESL podcast made by English students in Japan, for English students everywhere.On this site you will be able to hear student interviews and opinions on interesting topics and issues. It is also interesting that  the NUFS Podcast is written, performed and produced by students of the Department of British and American Studies at NUFS, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, in Central Japan anan d that is what makes it more valuable as well as you are totally free to hear any podcast without paying any money.



Another page I've found is the official site of Stockholm University where there is a space dedicated to the  foreign students that are studying there. So in order to get to know a little bit more their exchange students,they decided to make this podcast called "Special audio podcast: meet our exchange students,Spring 2010 " which is free to listen to.




The first videoblog I've found is one made by Jaremie, an american student who started a 11-month foreign exchange journey to Japan. He tells people through the videos he have made how is his life in that country, how is his daily routine and he also tries to show everyone the thing that have surprised him the most about a very different culture and country like Japan.




The second videoblog is about a man called Tyler Swain who is in his first year at Wofford College and through his videoblog "Wofford First Year Experience" he tells his experiences at university based on the videos he upload as well as an explanation of these videos. He explains his own experience about his new life on the campus, and his trips to different places and also the different activities of the university and he tries to show the atmosphere of university life.

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Related podcasts and videoblogs

How can we best know about an international student experience in a foreing country? The search I've done today is to find some podcasts and videoblogs made by international students.


The first podcast I've found is SIELI international student podcast. SIELI stands for: Summer Intensive English Language Institute, it is an eight-week intensive English language program. This summer language institute is located at Columbia College in Chicago. The description of this podcast in the itunes web is: "This podcast is produced by the international students at Columbia College Chicago's Summer Intensive English Language Institute (SIELI), where they share their experiences from their home countries as well as their impressions of life in Chicago". We can listen to the podcasts just clicking "play" and it is free. There is also a link to the podcast website.


Another interesting podcast is in the CNN website: CNN Student News. CNN Student News is a ten-minute daily news program produced by the journalists and educators at CNN, it is an award-winning program. You can see the show as a streamed video on CNN Student News website (CNNStudentNews.com), or download it as a free podcast. The program is free and accessible to anyone who wants to watch; there are no subscription charges or contracts to complete.


This is not a videoblog (Unruly Media) about international students but I think it is an interesting videoblog for students who are interested in marketing or advertising. Unruly Media is the world's leading exponent of viral video marketing. Every day, Unruly Media helps global agencies promote viral videos, movie trailers, web shows, cool TV ads, and other forms of branded entertainment on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, influential blogs, cult websites, and social media applications. It helps agencies and marketers distribute branded content on the social web. Unruly Media has bought, earned, and audited over a billion user-intended views across more than six hundred video campaigns since 2006. In each post, Unruly Media uploads a video with different adversiting campaings. 


First Year Experience is a blog where five first-year students at Woffor College (in the USA) share their different experiences. We have Tayler Swain's videoblog, where he shares his experinces at university, for example, he talks about baseball at university in a video. As he was in France during Wofford's January Interim, there are also videos from his trip to France. 

Tuesday 5 October 2010

about Costa Rica

Costa Rica is situated between Nicaragua to the north and Panamá to the south in the American continent, it has a population of about 4.516.220 inhabitants , their coin is “colón” and their flag includes red, blue and white and also the national shield.











Costa Rica is a very beautiful country which every place is surrounded by lots of vegetation and fantastic beaches, that's why it is known as a very touristic place as well as because of the nice weaher. There aren´t seasons, instead of that it rains for six months and it is sunny for another six months but it's always the same temperature. San José is the capital city of the country, where Natalia lives and works, she says that it is a city with a very good atmosphere due to the fact that there is the university so it is full of young people.


If you go to Costa Rica you can't come back without had seen Arenal volcano which is one of the most active volcanos in the country, as well as visit the well-known paradisical beaches in the coast of Costa Rica.



It's also interesting for those who like nature to visit some of the huge variety of natural parks as the Tortuguero National park or Cabo Blanco National park. There it can be possible to see a lot of different species of animals and exotic vegetation.







The most typical dish of Costa Rica is called Pollo Casado and it has nothing special, in fact, it is quite plain, it contains as main ingredients rice, beans, fried plaintains and some meat it can be chicken, fish or beef seasoned with lemon and pepper. Most Costa Rican cuisine is like this, good and cheap as the Gallo pinto that contains “frijoles” akind of beans, and rice.









Natalia Salas - Costa Rica

Natalia Salas is an student of advertising at the University of Navarra, she is 21 years old. Six years ago she hear about a program for international students to study advertising in UNAV.
Her parents told her to study in her country, so she decided to began studing social science focused with policies and international relations in the URC ( Universidad de Costa Rica). At the same time she began studying photography at the Universidad creativa de Costa Rica. It was three years.
Two years after starting to studing she leave the career of social sciences and she devoted exclusively to photography.

Before ending the three year of photography, she aply to the UNAV to fulfill her dream, to study advertising here. This last august she finished photography so she was so happy because she knew that she would go to Navarra.






She speaks five languages, English and Spanish because is the language of Costa Rica; Italian because she had been living  there for six months and then she has continued studying it in her country; she also speaks German, because she studied in Costa Rica for four years; to finish the last language she speaks is the Portuguese, she spent six months there and when she returned to Costa Rica, in the consulate of Brazil she did an exam to remove the title “conocimiento de la lengua Portuguesa”

On holidays she loved working in a school for little children with an education calling “montesori” and she worked there with autistic children and with the ausperger syndrome.

While she was studying photography came up with the possibility of working as a model for some friends. As a result of this work she was offered for a job in the shop “day a day” as publicist. She worked too with a Costa Rica designer, Ana Gutierrez.

Monday 4 October 2010

Natalia: present photographer, future publicist

In this week's post we are going to talk about Natalia Salas Aragón, from Costa Rica, who is studying advertising at the UNAV. I'm going to write about her career as a photographer, which I think is a very interesting aspect of her life.


Natalia studied photography in Costa Rica at the Universidad Creativa de Costa Rica (here you have an UCreativa ad), from 2008 and she finished in 2010 (just before coming to Navarra). The main reason why she studied photography is that it is very related to advertising. She dreamed for 6 years (since she knew about the University) of coming to the UNAV to study advertising.



Image rights: Natalia Salas Aragón
This is a picture taken by Natalia for her subject at university: advertising photography



However, despite de fact that she wanted to study advertising in Navarra, she enjoyed her studies in photography. What she liked the most about photography was her subject "advertising photography" because she did things related to the world of advertising. Natalia worked for the shop Dayaday in Costa Rica. This work appeared because Natalia had a subject at university called "product photography" in which she had to take three photos to create and ad for a brand. The fact is that she chose a handbag from Dayaday. She designed the ad and selected two girls to act as models for her. When she had the final photos, she thought that they weren't perfect, the models didn't represent the idea of what Natalia wanted to show in the photos. So, Natalia took herself a picture with the handbag. Her teacher thought it was perfect and told Natalia that she should take the picture to Dayaday. The brand loved the photo and they bought it. The photo spread all over the country. Since that moment a lot of work opportunities came out, for example, the opportunity to work with Ana Gutiérrez's jewellery. Ana Gutiérrez is a famous jewellery designer from Costa Rica who designed the jewels which were given in the Oscar Awards.




Image rights: Natalia Salas Aragón
This is one of the photos rejected for the Dayaday campaign




Image rights: Natalia Salas Aragón
This is the photo Natalia sold to Dayaday





Image rights: Natalia Salas Aragón
Jewels from Ana Gutiérrez




Natalia also worked as a model for her photography partners at university. These photos were published in her university's web.





Image rights: Natalia Salas Aragón.
This is one of the photos Natalia's partners took her


Image rights: Natalia Salas Aragón



After 6 years, Natalia is fulfilling her dream. She is here, in Navarra, studying what she always wanted to study . But, of course, her photography studies will be very useful for her. After all, as we can see, she has never wasted her time.