Category: Week 04

Surviving is all about being prepared; if one is prepared, then one will survive. Surviving as a development communicator requires some items. Here are some of it:

Mobile Phone – It is an essential tool for a development communicator in today’s context where almost everything can be done through mobile phones. It is a camera, audio recorder, video recorder, notepad, source of information, communication device, and so much more. It is basically the holy grail for development communicators.

Pen and Paper – Having a mobile phone is very handy, but bringing a good ol’ pen and paper should be practiced. Development communicators should always prepare this before going out to the field or even just classes.

Foldable Umbrella – Compact, lightweight umbrella is a must for development communicators on the field. Unexpected changes in the weather could prevent us from doing our field work, thus making little to no progress on our assignments. Inside the campus, this is really a must, especially if classes are located on different buildings on both rainy and sunny days.

Laptop – This is an essential tool for any professing communicator. We can write using pen or mobile phones, but being able to write in your laptop provides efficiency. Not only can we write here, but we can also do so many more things like editing, any forms of editing such as video editing.

Water Bottle – Being on the field is a tiresome assignment, so a development communicator must stay hydrated. We are not robots who can keep writing without drinking, one must be conscious of his health as well.

Beyond physical items, a development communicator must always bring his heart and passion. If one does not bring his heart and passion, then it means what he is doing is not what’s for him. We, development communicators, must not only rely on these physical items to survive. We must have passion for what we do and a heart that is ready to serve.

• 

As a development communicators-in-training,   there are certain tools that we should be needing in order to address the horrors that the marginalized communities endure in their present state nowadays. 
These tools will serve as our valuable assets for us to be able to produce outputs that will highlight our factual and appropriate solutions intended to combat disparity. 

Here are my top 5 tools that I usually use nowadays as a development communicator-in-training: 

Pen and Paper

Despite of technological advancements that gave us gadgets that are deemed essential to our daily lives, especially as development communicator-in-training, nothing beats the conventional pen and paper. People in all walks of life utilized pen and paper in centuries!  It is the most basic tool that any writer might have for him/her to jot down the important messages that a professor or an interviewee might say. 
Also, in my perspective, when I wrote down things on paper, there is a higher chance that I can remember it in the future. 
Come to think of this, isn’t it gives the person a sense of satisfaction and organization when he/she writes something such as important notes and agendas on paper? 

Mobile Phone with Earphones

It is indeed the most useful and handy gadget that a development communicator-in-training might have due to its compact nature and functionality. Not only it can be utilized as a medium for communication with your friends, family members and networks, but it can be used in several situations.
It can be used as a tool for documentation by taking photos, videos, and audios, small editing projects, and lastly for planning purposes. Let us not forget the role of earphones which can be used a tool to listen to audio and video recordings whether we need to encode or edit things out. 

Laptop

The third item on my list that a development communicator-in-training must have is a laptop. I am not saying that a person should have one but it is advised to have one due to laptops are designed to emulate personal computers by carrying multiple heavy tasks in one, nonetheless indeed more compact, which is indeed very helpful to its users. 
Productivity tools can be used in this gadget such as working on documents, spreadsheets, and presentation for our academic requirements; and can be also used in major editing jobs such as creating creative publication materials and videos. 

Storage Devices (flash drives, hard drives)

Storage devices are include in my list because they are useful whenever there are times that you will be passing a file or a document from your gadget to another. They are also helpful when you will print documents to printing shops. 

Umbrella and water

Of course, as a development communicator-in-training, we are frequently outdoors to look for relevant information that we need in orde to address the problems of the marginalized. So with that in mind, we should also consider our health by bringing umbrella and water because in Los Baños, temperature can spike up to dangerous levels that can cause disorders. 
How can we fulfill our duties to help the martinalized if we don’t look after our health, right? 

• 

Media writers are always on the move when it comes to tasks that involved writing and oral activities. Hence, he must be always prepared and equipped with the best tools to execute the task to the best of his abilities.

Accordingly, here are the top five most useful tools to include in your hack bag:

Basic references. Media writers are often exposed to fieldwork activities that takes so much of their time, thus, leaving them limited time to create the content effectively and clearly to their intended audience. As such, basic reference tools like stylebook, dictionary, and thesaurus are a helpful tool in organizing and writing the content of your chosen topic. Herewith, a media writer will be able to easily and quickly finish the task with utmost determination and competency.

File storage devices. As a media writer, being prepared takes account of not only the mental and the physical preparedness but also the readiness to bring storage devices, in which they can save their files. It is important to have these devices in your bag because life is unpredictable, one can never guess when will these devices be used, especially for media writers who are often delegated with tasks which requires space for keeping the data gathered. As such, it is better safe to have these than be sorry that you were not able to record information that is crucial to your subject matter.

Mobile Phone. Advancement in technologies has changed our way of living, especially in searching for data that are relevant to your chosen topic. Therefore, it is always essential to have with you your mobile phone because it is convenient and useful due to its small size and variety of functions that will aid you in quickly and effectively accomplishing your assignment.

Laptop. A laptop is a great tool to have in your hack bag due to its in-depth and complex functions that will help you create the desired content of your preferred topic, especially if it involves editing and designing. Through this device, you can create your work efficiently.

Powerbank and Charger. Digital life power has its limits as its life source is electricity, therefore, it does not function for a long time. A media writer must always keep these tools in his or her hack bag to avoid unnecessary problems from affecting their performance, particularly in doing the fieldwork.

These tools are just a starting pack to guide you in your initial ventures because a media writer is flexible, he or she can easily adapt to the surrounding environment and know the tools that are necessary for such activities. Eventually, you will be able to know what you will need and what will work best for you in the field.

Image sources:

Pinterest. (n.d.). Laptop computer cartoon clip art | Technology Vector Illustrations in 2019 | Laptop, Laptop computers, Clip art. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/46161964916308714/?autologin=true

Clipart. (n.d.). Clipart Phone Charger. Retrieved from https://www.clipart.email/clipart/clipart-phone-charger-97170.html

Clipart. (n.d.). Free Usb Cliparts, Download Free Clip Art, Free Clip Art on Clipart Library. Retrieved from http://clipart-library.com/usb-cliparts.html

Clipart. (n.d.). Cellphone clipart 3 » Clipart Portal. Retrieved from http://clipartportal.com/cellphone-clipart-3/

Clipart. (n.d.). Dictionnaire clipart 5 » Clipart Station. Retrieved from https://clipartstation.com/dictionnaire-clipart-5/

• 

Aug 5, 2019, the day when my unexpected encounter with Oble came to pass. As I walked through the college of development communication, a sudden poof! came out and I asked myself... is my pen and paper enough?. One week passed in my college life and yes! through enough as I expected, it is not the only thing that I needed. So I listed 5 things that should be always by my side.

 Pen and paper

Being a student in general, not only in Devcom, requires to have a pen and paper since it is usually used for taking down notes during lectures and interviews. Also, any person can use it, since there are no complicated instructions to operate this tool. Pen and paper is also the cheapest tool you can get amongst all the tool and the easiest you can get since you can find it anywhere, anytime. Having this as a reason, the pen and paper is the most convenient tool a development communicator must-have. Since when all technological advancement fails, the pen and paper is always there, ready to be used.

Storage Devices

As a Devcom student, this is one of the most important things you have in your life. Having different interviews, data and many more this is an essential must-have unless you want your laptop to slow down. Aside from that, these storage devices are used to transfer large files like videos because here in Devcom, gathering data in an interview form is vital. Lastly, it also helps to have many copies of the file in many storage devices for emergency purposes.

Cellphone

Powerful, this tool is essential for every student in general for it has a lot of capacities in which it combines almost all the tools needed as a devcom student. It can be used for recording, jotting down notes, a storage device and many more. Whenever a digital camera is not present, the cellphone is there to the rescue since it is handy and has many functions. 

Earphones

As I’ve said earlier, conducting interviews is a vital thing as a devcom student with this, transcription of it is a thing since most of the time the exact words of the interviewee is needed, because of that, earphones is one of the must-haves in order to hear the interviewee’s clearly. Aside from that, this is also utilized to get a clear recording since its microphone accumulates less noise than a usual recording. Also, it helps to get a quality recording since it only gets the nearest sound it can get.

Laptop 

Files, recordings and many more, devcom has a lot of this stuff. Having this as a reason, one of the important things one must have is a laptop. This is used to compile all the things gathered as well as organize the files that are needed. It also helps to do the job of a development communicator since it has softwares that can make the work easier like Microsoft applications, Adobe and many more.

As I identified my 5 must-haves I realized that thanks to technology! My work as a development communication student has been made easier and faster.

• 

In reality, it is our basic necessities that are keeping us to get through life. Same thing goes in the world of Development Communication. Listed below are the little things that’ll get me through the woods of Devcom.

MOBILE PHONE

• 

As inhabitant of the modernized world, we never forget to bring our phones in our pockets or in our bags. A phone is not only crucial for our daily communication but for our academic purposes as well. Don’t we all keep everything that we need in our phone? From PDFs and Apps to Videos and Selfies? Phones nowadays have enhanced features making it so helpful in almost everything. It is also very handy and easy access with internet connection anytime you need it.

LAPTOP [+EARPHONES]

• 

Sometimes, I call it a notebook since it is a personal computer that is small enough to fit in my lap. This is important for a devcom student for designing things using communication tools/ devices like Photoshop, In- design, ect. Also, with a laptop we can take notes in class, work with projetcs, and type up assignments. One more thing is that is a must have when editing an audio recordings and videos. This is where earphones take place, because we don’t want to disturb anyone while editing in a library or in a public place.

POWERBANK

• 

When you have a phone, a power bank must come with it. It’s not like everywhere there’s an electric plug or an electricity so, a devcom student has to be prepared for emergencies. We use our phones a lot resulting to battery draining and that is why power banks are really handy when it comes to field works or to data research.

PEN AND PAPER

• 

Though there are a lot of audio recorders in the market and our phones also have one, I must say that jotting down notes never goes out of style. A pen and a paper is enough to survive a DEVC lecture class that has a surprise quiz after. When a student is taking notes while listening, there’s a higher possibility that the lessons can be retained in his/ her memory after, making his/her remember the answers to the questions in the quiz.

WATER BOTTLE

• 

It is hard to think when you are dehydrated. Water can keep you moving throughout am exhausting day. As a devcom student, I always put my health first to be able to do other things right. A water bottle is an essential to be thrifty.

Image References:

•