Continuation of EIR Lesson 2

In  addition to last week's post, I would like to add in what I have learnt from the practical that I did in class during the second EIR lesson.  From the second practical activity, I am able to diffentiate the difference between organisational website, blog, Electronic journal/ magazine and dicussion forums.  The difference between an organisational webisite and a blog would be that organisational website provides the specific scientific knowledge of a topic, for example diabetes.  It would give the definition of the illness, who it may affect and how do we prevent it or get a cure.  It would normally be written by a professional in that area.  However, a blog tends to give more personal views about diabetes.  It would include daily "journals" of a diabetes patient's life and would most probably give examples of food that they try not to eat, such as sweet food and drinks likes swiss rolls etc.  The difference between an E-journal/ magazine and a discussion forum is that an e-journal is a  "formal" piece of writing and may be the electronic version of a printed publication.  It is similar to materials published periodically, such as newspapers and magazines.  It does not allows for communication.  On the other hand, a discussion forum tends to allow users to post queries that they have onto the Internet and usually other members would respond with answers.  So a discussion forum is just like a platform whereby we can ask anything that we are unsure of, from advice on getting a mobile phone to queries about schoolwork.  There would be communication between users, as many different users would start to post whatever knowledge they know on that particular subject or topic.

For the tutorial homework that requires us to shop online, I personally felt that it was created to allow us to find out the objectives of shopping online.  I felt that it allows me to explore the wide variety of unique goods and services offered.  It was also very convenient to purchase them from eBay and Yahoo auction etc, as we do not have to be physically present to buy them.  Just a click and we will receive them right at our doorstep. (That is if we opt for delivery, which some websites offers it for free)  Moreover, they tend to be much cheaper than shops selling in shopping malls, as shops in shopping malls have to pay for rental, which they have to add the additional cost onto the goods or services that they sell.  Another boon to shopping online would be that it allows shoppers to compare the different prices sold on website, such as comparing prices between eBay and yahoo auction.  However, there are also banes to shopping online.  This is because some scheming people will take the opportunity to scam innocent victims.  Also, it is very difficult to buy clothes such as dresses or shorts online, as these items often requires us to try the sizes that fits us best.  In conclusion, online shopping serves as a platform that helps busy individuals to save the time and effort to go down to shops physically just to buy the items that they need.