This week, I completed my trends report on social networks. I'm seeing that transcribing the interviews helped me learn much more about social networks and the business world before compiling materials for this project. While it is a bit ironic that I decided to deactivate my personal Facebook page just before starting this project, a lot of what I learned did reflect what I'd seen over the course of my Facebook use the past eight years.
While I managed to set and keep my own deadlines, communication can be a challenge in a virtual internship. I suppose it may be due in part to the way this particular internship is structured, but it can be easy to forget or misunderstand. Our contacts with each other and our site supervisor are generally brief and to the point. We get directly to what needs to be said and then move on. As we work independently, there is no real 'need' for communication except to update our supervisor on our progress and to notify her of any concerns or questions we have. As distance learners in an online program, working independently is not necessarily a problem as we do this a lot for other classes, but communicating can be a challenge. Learning to work in a team over long distances continues to be a challenge just because we become so used to setting our own dates and working on our own terms and with our own expectations that we sometimes forget that in a team or with a supervisor, their expectations can be different than our own.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Intern Who Wasn't
I had dinner with one of my friends earlier this week who is doing an in-person internship (in a different field). Having been an intern before, I've found that every site and site supervisor operates differently. Talking with my friend over dinner, I found that her experience was very different and yet very similar to my own experiences.
It would be worth noting that she is working in a lab at a fairly reputable academic institution who work with a lot of interns. They seem to have a fairly well established bureaucratic hierarchy that allows them to delegate tasks and manage their interns in a way that is quite different and yet somewhat similar to the way our virtual internship is managed.
After our intern group meeting this week, I began thinking more about the differences and similarities between her experience and mine.
Both our schools require a class to support our intern experiences. She didn't say much about her class so I suppose that when compared to the actual internship it's somewhat unremarkable.
Her internship site is very different from mine. In addition to the obvious factors like her site being a science lab and mine having nothing to do with science and the simple fact that she goes in in-person and I am a virtual worker, she works with a large organization whereas I work with a small one. While both our site supervisors offer support and guidance, her site appears to take on more of a teaching role in that they assign mentors to their interns who act as task masters, supervisors, and career counselors.
One thing that stood out to me from our meeting this week was the notion of being alone on the internet, especially with a virtual internship. Our blogs and class meetings sometimes feel like a one-way conversation. You put your piece out there and people read and observe. Sometimes comments are made or questions are asked but you never really know how to respond and sometimes questions go unanswered. (I've always resisted posting simple 'I concur' comments. It feels like sending a text message with a smiley or a 'lol' and nothing else, but I understand that the silence can be a little scary and discouraging.) My friend's internship site, with its large pool of interns, faculty, grad students, PhD candidates, etc, hosts weekly non-work-related meetings for all its student workers to network and mingle (and drink beer). While I don't think this is necessarily the most practical for virtual interns, the internet does offer a host of other opportunities for people to gather and talk.
In taking on this internship, I've learned a lot about virtual worlds and I think that there is a lot of potential there. Based on my own personal experience, I would say it's a great place for people to meet, gather and chat, but based on what I've learned so far, there are a lot of limitations to making them an accessible gathering place (in addition to the fact that 'virtual worlds' are expanding and redefining themselves in light of changes to social media).
Overall, I think that a virtual internship has a lot of opportunity to function just like an in-person internship but the new, virtual world seems to have created a disconnect in the way we communicate with each other, thus limiting the ways we think about working together when we're not physically together.
I've set my goal of completing my report by Monday (tomorrow) and the deadline approaches, but first... a midterm.
Until next time....
It would be worth noting that she is working in a lab at a fairly reputable academic institution who work with a lot of interns. They seem to have a fairly well established bureaucratic hierarchy that allows them to delegate tasks and manage their interns in a way that is quite different and yet somewhat similar to the way our virtual internship is managed.
After our intern group meeting this week, I began thinking more about the differences and similarities between her experience and mine.
Both our schools require a class to support our intern experiences. She didn't say much about her class so I suppose that when compared to the actual internship it's somewhat unremarkable.
Her internship site is very different from mine. In addition to the obvious factors like her site being a science lab and mine having nothing to do with science and the simple fact that she goes in in-person and I am a virtual worker, she works with a large organization whereas I work with a small one. While both our site supervisors offer support and guidance, her site appears to take on more of a teaching role in that they assign mentors to their interns who act as task masters, supervisors, and career counselors.
One thing that stood out to me from our meeting this week was the notion of being alone on the internet, especially with a virtual internship. Our blogs and class meetings sometimes feel like a one-way conversation. You put your piece out there and people read and observe. Sometimes comments are made or questions are asked but you never really know how to respond and sometimes questions go unanswered. (I've always resisted posting simple 'I concur' comments. It feels like sending a text message with a smiley or a 'lol' and nothing else, but I understand that the silence can be a little scary and discouraging.) My friend's internship site, with its large pool of interns, faculty, grad students, PhD candidates, etc, hosts weekly non-work-related meetings for all its student workers to network and mingle (and drink beer). While I don't think this is necessarily the most practical for virtual interns, the internet does offer a host of other opportunities for people to gather and talk.
In taking on this internship, I've learned a lot about virtual worlds and I think that there is a lot of potential there. Based on my own personal experience, I would say it's a great place for people to meet, gather and chat, but based on what I've learned so far, there are a lot of limitations to making them an accessible gathering place (in addition to the fact that 'virtual worlds' are expanding and redefining themselves in light of changes to social media).
Overall, I think that a virtual internship has a lot of opportunity to function just like an in-person internship but the new, virtual world seems to have created a disconnect in the way we communicate with each other, thus limiting the ways we think about working together when we're not physically together.
I've set my goal of completing my report by Monday (tomorrow) and the deadline approaches, but first... a midterm.
Until next time....
Sunday, March 4, 2012
One-Third Point
Midterms are coming which marks the one-third or mid-way point (it's been five to six weeks already) of the semester.
This week's internship challenge: accomplishing my assigned task. After my last post, I received details about my next assignment: a report on trends in social networking with an estimated completion date of 'two to four weeks'. Two weeks have already gone by. I've done the necessary preliminary reading but have yet to actually write anything. As a result, I am determined to set goals for myself so that I don't drag it out to the entirety of the four weeks.
This week's life challenge: Being ill, but still healthy enough to go to work. I never have a fever but I'm always fatigued and semi-permanently attached to a box of tissue.
As a result, I am aiming to have a draft completed by Tuesday morning before work (fingers crossed that my work schedule doesn't change again). If all goes well, I will be ready to submit my final draft by Friday or Saturday.
I suppose it's not safe to admit your faults in a professional environment but I do find this internship a challenge with a lack of designated due dates. At work, I perform better when my supervisor gives me tasks to be completed before I leave for the day or before a certain time. For the remainder of the internship I will work to improve on setting my own deadlines in order to have my projects completed before the maximum time allotted.
This week's internship challenge: accomplishing my assigned task. After my last post, I received details about my next assignment: a report on trends in social networking with an estimated completion date of 'two to four weeks'. Two weeks have already gone by. I've done the necessary preliminary reading but have yet to actually write anything. As a result, I am determined to set goals for myself so that I don't drag it out to the entirety of the four weeks.
This week's life challenge: Being ill, but still healthy enough to go to work. I never have a fever but I'm always fatigued and semi-permanently attached to a box of tissue.
As a result, I am aiming to have a draft completed by Tuesday morning before work (fingers crossed that my work schedule doesn't change again). If all goes well, I will be ready to submit my final draft by Friday or Saturday.
I suppose it's not safe to admit your faults in a professional environment but I do find this internship a challenge with a lack of designated due dates. At work, I perform better when my supervisor gives me tasks to be completed before I leave for the day or before a certain time. For the remainder of the internship I will work to improve on setting my own deadlines in order to have my projects completed before the maximum time allotted.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Stage 2
I believe I have come to the end of my time transcribing interviews for the Association of Virtual Worlds. I have learned a lot from what I have heard in five-word segments. There is a lot going on right now and I'm not sure how much I can discuss here out of consideration for the book that they are putting together but I can say for a fact that I did have to take some breaks from transcribing to go and look up some of the things that were discussed in the interviews. I learned a lot about marketing in the new virtual environment these last few weeks and it seems that there are several common themes that interviewees (if they can be called such) described independently of each other. While all this new social media in the virtual web environment (or however you choose to call it) can be daunting, with the right tools, knowledge and assistance, any company (even a fairly wealthy individual) can market a product or a brand. While there was no specific talk (in the interviews I'd transcribed) about product placement, the subtle ways in which companies now advertise their products to us and manage to keep their names at the 'front' of our minds is amazing.
In regards to the actual work, I have realized the value of Elluminate/Blackboard Collaborate's one-person-talking-at-a-time function. In the end, transcription times generally stayed a consistent 1.5 hours per 15 minutes of interview though naturally times seemed to elevate for places in the interview when the people were talking faster or excitedly interjecting over each other with comments.
This week's challenge was a surprise deadline. While I had set myself a deadline for Friday, my supervisor wanted the interviews done by this morning so I fit a whole interview transcription into my schedule. Though this was not ideal, knowing how long it would take me to finish the interview helped me plan out my time to better arrange meals and breaks and sleep.
Perhaps it would be better to have mutually-agreed-upon dates (specific dates, not general time frames) for our deliverables.
Awaiting further instructions from our supervisor as to specifics on our next project.
In regards to the actual work, I have realized the value of Elluminate/Blackboard Collaborate's one-person-talking-at-a-time function. In the end, transcription times generally stayed a consistent 1.5 hours per 15 minutes of interview though naturally times seemed to elevate for places in the interview when the people were talking faster or excitedly interjecting over each other with comments.
This week's challenge was a surprise deadline. While I had set myself a deadline for Friday, my supervisor wanted the interviews done by this morning so I fit a whole interview transcription into my schedule. Though this was not ideal, knowing how long it would take me to finish the interview helped me plan out my time to better arrange meals and breaks and sleep.
Perhaps it would be better to have mutually-agreed-upon dates (specific dates, not general time frames) for our deliverables.
Awaiting further instructions from our supervisor as to specifics on our next project.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Working and the Internship
This week, the challenge has been to juggle changes in my work schedule with making time for my internship. While online classes are more forgiving in terms of due dates and deadlines, an internship is essentially a job and has people on the other end waiting for results. With a coworker out on sick leave and another on vacation, the work load at work has increased significantly. Also, with midterms looming I'm struggling to fit everything in and there are no days off. This was more or less what I'd expected so I fit in study and internship project time where I can so my timesheet reflects the odd hours and sometimes full days dedicated to completing tasks for my internship.
Nothing else to report this week. Although, I wish I could work on my transcriptions during my commute but that's just not practical since I'm convinced it would take too much concentration and the bus would be too loud and I would surely have all my technology stolen. Sometimes I really value all the technology we have and sometimes I wish people would value it less.
On a slightly unrelated note, I watched a program on Braille typewriters. They remind me of those stenographers' machines. It seems like a useful skill to have to be able to type in shorthand like that.
Nothing else to report this week. Although, I wish I could work on my transcriptions during my commute but that's just not practical since I'm convinced it would take too much concentration and the bus would be too loud and I would surely have all my technology stolen. Sometimes I really value all the technology we have and sometimes I wish people would value it less.
On a slightly unrelated note, I watched a program on Braille typewriters. They remind me of those stenographers' machines. It seems like a useful skill to have to be able to type in shorthand like that.
Friday, February 10, 2012
A Technological Aside (And Some Personal Statistics)
As I wrap up this set of transcriptions, I've encountered a new challenge: making the technology work. I've been closely monitoring my time spent on each interview and noting where the delays occur. My poor computer, while up to standard for SLIS/MLIS, seems to be having some difficulty with these longer interviews. While I work, I have two windows open: MS Word (where the transcription happens) and iTunes (where the interview gets played back). What I found was that there was significant lag between hitting pause in iTunes and then switching to MS Word to type in the three to five words.
In order to alleviate this, I conducted part of the transcriptions snuggled down on the cough (in a very unprofessional and yet very comfortable position) with my iPod balanced on my chest and my netbook on my lap (my mother would have been ashamed of my posture). While typing in a less than upright position can be tricky while balancing a computer on your knees, there was significantly less time spent on waiting for my computer to catch up, no matter how little time was actually spent.
Also, taking breaks have become essential, not just for me but also for my computer. A few hours after switching back to my computer for both listening and typing (the constant pause/play required to successfully transcribe significantly reduces the battery life of your MP3 player) my computer seemed to have had enough. I would hit pause on iTunes and nothing would happen. The people would keep talking and I would have to hit pause several times before the player stopped leaving me to scroll back to where I'd originally intended to stop. I found that letting the computer restart seemed to alleviate this problem.
Some small recommendations (mostly for myself, but also for anyone who happens across this and is transcribing things):
- Beware the forward/backward/fast-forward/rewind buttons on your MP3 player. I had to click VERY carefully to get my MP3 player to move back a few seconds in the recording. There were a lot of times where I'd accidentally not hold the button down long enough and end up at the previous track or the next track. Returning to your spot, especially mid-track of an hour-long interview can be tedious on a small device where you have to hold the fast-forward button until you get to where you want to go.
- My USB-to-wall charger for my cellphone (HTC) also works for my iPod. It may no be recommended, but hey, Apple doesn't give you the little brick any more and to save money, you improvise. (Plugging in to the computer just ends up with it locking you out and trying to sync.)
- Unlike other homework, this isn't something that you (me) can do at Starbucks. It's just near impossible with my set-up to hear what's being said. People tend to speak quickly and sometimes their words run together or they speak over each other (interviews are conversations after all) and then your recorded interview voices run together with those two girls sitting at the next table gossiping about their friend and you lose too many important words.
Time Totals:
In order to alleviate this, I conducted part of the transcriptions snuggled down on the cough (in a very unprofessional and yet very comfortable position) with my iPod balanced on my chest and my netbook on my lap (my mother would have been ashamed of my posture). While typing in a less than upright position can be tricky while balancing a computer on your knees, there was significantly less time spent on waiting for my computer to catch up, no matter how little time was actually spent.
Also, taking breaks have become essential, not just for me but also for my computer. A few hours after switching back to my computer for both listening and typing (the constant pause/play required to successfully transcribe significantly reduces the battery life of your MP3 player) my computer seemed to have had enough. I would hit pause on iTunes and nothing would happen. The people would keep talking and I would have to hit pause several times before the player stopped leaving me to scroll back to where I'd originally intended to stop. I found that letting the computer restart seemed to alleviate this problem.
Some small recommendations (mostly for myself, but also for anyone who happens across this and is transcribing things):
- Beware the forward/backward/fast-forward/rewind buttons on your MP3 player. I had to click VERY carefully to get my MP3 player to move back a few seconds in the recording. There were a lot of times where I'd accidentally not hold the button down long enough and end up at the previous track or the next track. Returning to your spot, especially mid-track of an hour-long interview can be tedious on a small device where you have to hold the fast-forward button until you get to where you want to go.
- My USB-to-wall charger for my cellphone (HTC) also works for my iPod. It may no be recommended, but hey, Apple doesn't give you the little brick any more and to save money, you improvise. (Plugging in to the computer just ends up with it locking you out and trying to sync.)
- Unlike other homework, this isn't something that you (me) can do at Starbucks. It's just near impossible with my set-up to hear what's being said. People tend to speak quickly and sometimes their words run together or they speak over each other (interviews are conversations after all) and then your recorded interview voices run together with those two girls sitting at the next table gossiping about their friend and you lose too many important words.
Time Totals:
- Interview 1:
- Recorded time: 16 mins.
- Transcription time: 2h 40m
- Interview 2:
- Recorded time: 1 hour.
- Transcription time: 7 hours.
- Interview 3:
- Recorded time: 50 mins.
- Transcription time: 4h 40m
I found the significant variations in transcribing Interviews 2 and 3 were based on the speech patterns of the people being interviewed. While the subject in Interview 3 spoke slowly (most of the time) with minimal 'you know's and 'um's and other speech tics, the subject in Interview 2 spoke quickly, sometimes running words together and there was significantly more talking over each other between interviewer and interviewee. There were also many more words said in the second interview which left me going back and forth a lot trying to pick up first what one person said then the other.
Internship Time
In the third week I've discovered a challenge that isn't necessarily unique to the virtual internship but has become something of a challenge in light of the tasks assigned for this particular virtual internship: finding quiet time in a shared house to work on my transcriptions. Having been tasked with transcribing two hour-long interviews, I'm finding that there are a lot of interruptions from family members walking by and wanting to talk or ask questions. While in the past, I've been able to get study time in at night when everyone else is sleeping or on the bus to and from work, the level of concentration needed to accurately transcribe what has been said feels a lot higher than, say, studying for exams or writing a paper as much of that information has either been seen before in a lecture or reading, or is already written down.
To address this challenge (late night transcribing, while effective, is exhausting), I will have to speak to my family members about giving me a quiet hour every evening I am home to work on my transcriptions. They were capable and understanding of my need for quiet space during National Novel Writing Month so I'm certain they will be capable of this as well.
The transcription I am working on in interesting but I don't know if all of this information is relevant to the interview or the research. People to talk over each other a lot in conversations and there is a great deal of stuttering and 'you know'ing. Translating from the conversational tone to a 'proper' sentence is also tricky. While I know to drop the 'um's and the repeated words, I am never quite sure whether to change a 'gonna' to a 'going to'.
My rate of transcription remains at a constant 1.5 hours per 15 minutes of interview. For the next set of interviews, I resolve to spend an hour a day rather than trying to do 'half the interview' in one sitting. I budget my study/school time based on CA labor laws (that sounds terrible, but it's effective). For every three hours worked, I give myself a ten minute break. For every five or more hours worked, I give myself half an hour. I have yet to hit the five hour mark in one day but should I get there, I know how to handle it.
To address this challenge (late night transcribing, while effective, is exhausting), I will have to speak to my family members about giving me a quiet hour every evening I am home to work on my transcriptions. They were capable and understanding of my need for quiet space during National Novel Writing Month so I'm certain they will be capable of this as well.
The transcription I am working on in interesting but I don't know if all of this information is relevant to the interview or the research. People to talk over each other a lot in conversations and there is a great deal of stuttering and 'you know'ing. Translating from the conversational tone to a 'proper' sentence is also tricky. While I know to drop the 'um's and the repeated words, I am never quite sure whether to change a 'gonna' to a 'going to'.
My rate of transcription remains at a constant 1.5 hours per 15 minutes of interview. For the next set of interviews, I resolve to spend an hour a day rather than trying to do 'half the interview' in one sitting. I budget my study/school time based on CA labor laws (that sounds terrible, but it's effective). For every three hours worked, I give myself a ten minute break. For every five or more hours worked, I give myself half an hour. I have yet to hit the five hour mark in one day but should I get there, I know how to handle it.
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