I was a little weary going into this class about having the blog every week. I was worried that I would not be able to find anything to say and putting my opinions and beliefs out there is something that has always been difficult for me. I am a pretty private person, especially when it comes to the internet and this class forced me to go outside of my comfort zone a bit. I really ended up enjoying this class. I enjoyed the feedback that I got from other students. I personally, did not have any negative experiences with the other students in this class and am glad that I was able to interact with those that I did. It was nice to be able to relate to people and sort of get to know them more than you might in other classes. I really enjoyed all of the participation. I was worried about other students seeing all of my work at first but ended up being very comfortable with it by the end. It was different from many other classes in the way that most of the time you just hand your work into the teacher and they are the only ones to evaluate it. While the teacher was the only one actually grading the work, it was nice to be able to hear from everyone how they felt about what I was writing. I don’t think that there is anything that I would change about this course. I am not just saying that to “suck up” or anything like that either. I really seriously enjoyed this class and am glad that I ended up taking it. When I started college six years ago now, I was really into the communications classes. This class reminded me of how much I enjoy the subject. If I was not just 17 credits shy of graduating I might just change my major (again) to communications. I really enjoyed the blogging assignments and how they forced us to really think about things and forced us to interact with the other students. I believe that I am taking a lot away from this course. I view the internet differently and even blogging differently. I used to really think that blogging was stupid and that your life should be kept off the internet. But, now I am thinking that maybe I will start doing a blog on my own. It really helped me in some ways to get some thoughts out. I worry only though that the rest of the internet and people who may come across a blog will not be as accepting as the people in this class. I hope that everyone else had a good term and good luck with the rest of your finals!
Tying this all into Postman this week. As mentioned, these assignments shaped how I view the internet. Postman this week talking about how we should as students being educated be aware of the relationships between the technological and our physical worlds. For me, these assignments really brought the different “worlds” all together.
March 18, 2009 at 5:13 am
I am pleased to hear that you enjoyed the class, even though you were weary at first. I must admit, that I too was a bit skeptical about posting my thoughts and opinions on the internet because, as you mentioned the entire class is able to view your work, not just the professor. Yet, I too have enjoyed this course and believe that in reading other classmates work I have gained even more knowledge from the reading and the world in general. I too am more open to allowing others to view my work because if there is one thing I have learned, many of us share the same ideas and attach similar emotions to our opinions of textbook readings and the importance of technology. Therefore, to put your mind at ease, I do not feel that if you continued to partake in the blogging exercise that others would not accept you because I bet you have more in common with them than you think (and you don’t even know those potential people you will communicate with). By you and me deciding to enroll in this course we partook in Postman’s idea of cultural criticism. Given the course is online, the internet provides a cultural ground where we and the rest of our classmates can meet and respond by agreeing or questioning the entries of our classmates (181). Hence, we were able to open ourselves and our work up to being critiqued and can learn from the opinions of others, despite whether we agree with their analysis.
March 19, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I enjoyed your comments on this class. I especially liked that you mentioned one of the differences between this class and others is that we all read each other’s work. That’s true and I hadn’t even thought of it. Well, of course I thought of it, but I didn’t think of it as you had, as something special and unique that you may not find in regular classrooms.
I too had a positive experience in this class and I’m glad others did as well. I’ll definitely be thinking more about the internet and computers as I continue on in my life and academic career.
March 20, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Kimberly,
That’s a pretty amazing transformation that you wouldn’t have considered creating writing your thoughts in such a public domain before this class, and now you want to create your own personal blog! It’s pretty cool moving out of your comfort zone worked out for you. I agree it is intimidating to create an essay that not only is the professor going to read but your classmates, and potentially anybody on the internet (but realistically how many of us had people outside the class come and comment on our blogs?) but it also made me step up my game in a lot of ways in my writing. Good blogging!
-Casey