reflection

Surprisingly, I actually liked the blog assignment. Once I got the hang of meeting the requirements while still saying what I wanted to say, it became a great place to work through my thoughts. Much of the assignments in my classes this last year of school have been structured this way. They have in the form of "think pieces" or daily response papers that require the student to reflect on class material, working through it using critical thinking and personal experience. This has been a great way to learn. Rather than taking in huge amounts of material and then regurgitating it back on test days, you actually get a chance to analyze and reflect on the information, formulating and establishing thoughts that are your own. In a sense, you get to evolve as a person with regard to ways of thinking, rather than just getting good at "shipping and receiving" information. I think this type of learning gets us closer to the type of education that Postman talks about in his final chapter--putting together an understanding of something that is your own without regard for "marketable skills."

Also, I have enjoyed expressing myself to others. Rather than simply handing in a paper and waiting for a grade from my professor, I have been able to write something designed to be read by several other people. From this, I get responses from different people from different perspectives and backgrounds. To me, this process is a crucial part of self-development and education.

The main thing this course has contributed to my self-development is awareness--cyber-awareness so to speak. I have been able to take an "outside looking in" perspective on CMC and my place within it. I have also been able to evaluate how people communicate differently in cyberspace than in face to face communication. And of course, I have become aware of the significant advantages and disadvantages of CMC. In fact, this awareness led me to cancel my facebook account last week. I realized many things about facebook recently. Obviously, facebook takes up too much of people's time. Some people spend every waking hour on it. For most, it is just a pacifier or a go-to place during down time. More importantly though, I think the convenience of facebook has taken certain experiences away from us. Facebook seems to combine the family reunion, the high school reunion, interactions between "friends" and makes them less meaningful by saturating the experience. Facebook makes being a friend or family member too easy. I have more reasoning behind my abandonment of the facebook ship but I'll leave it at that for now. What does everyone else think of facebook now?

One thing I did not like about this course was the structure of the discussion (or rather, the need for such structure). What I mean to say is, I wish we could have been a bit more involved and legitimate in our participation. Responses seemed not only basic but last minute. I'm guilty as well.

One thing I would certainly change is the requirement of the Wood and Smith text. It's outdated. As I sit here thinking about its contents, I can't think of anything substantial that I got from that book. Whatever information was actually necessary was not presented well enough. The book seems to simply mention all that was considered pertinent to online communication at the time of its writing. Technopoly however, is a keeper. Even though Postman goes a little over the top in getting his point across, he provokes some purposeful thought about technology and society as a whole.

Thank you everyone for responding to my posts and helping me learn. I hope you do well in your summer classes and still have some time left for yourselves this summer. I know I'm hurting for a break (this is my tenth term in a row without one).

take this job and shove it!

I had some trouble coming up with an experience on the internet that was of any significance. I don't really communicate via the internet very often (compared to most people, that is). I take an online class occasionally, which requires a ton of online correspondence, but haven't had any notable issues. I make a smartass comment on facebook now and then, which receives mixed responses--nothing too serious. Other than that, I communicate mostly by phone or in person.

This got me thinking though. In the past few weeks I've been getting restless about not working and started job hunting a bit prematurely. I say it's premature because I still have four more classes to take before I graduate. Most of the jobs I have been applying for though don't necessarily require a degree; it's preferred but not required. This job hunt is relevant because the entire application process is done online. Resumes and cover letters are sent to human resources or to an individual via email. Follow-up correspondence is usually done only by email. And larger companies often have an online application system in addition to the usual resume and cover letter. Long story short, I have applied for several jobs and have spoken to no one, either in person or on the phone. And I am still jobless of course. Not to worry though. As I said, it's really too soon for a job, but if the right one came along I would certainly take it.

This experience of everything to do with my potential employment being handled online and impersonally is quite strange to me. And, in an attempt to tie this to the assignment, has been detrimental to potentially being hired. As I've mentioned before, I have been in construction since I was sixteen and almost every job I've gotten by introducing myself to the boss, giving him a brief summary of my qualifications, and asking for a job. When I began working for myself I did the same thing when asking builders for the opportunity to bid work. I ALWAYS had work. Recently, I haven't even gotten the chance to interview. Now, I realize that the economy is awful, especially in Central Oregon, and the positions I have applied for lately have been inundated with applicants. But really, not even an interview? One company--a large one with an online application system--didn't even look at my application personally before rejecting it. The computer system analyzed it for key words and qualifications and rejected it within the hour.

So what's the problem? Why do my qualifications not have the same effect when presented in text that they do when presented in person? Or, is it that I am really not qualified? I think it is probably both. I have come from a field which values applied skills that cannot be evaluated on paper, but rather, in the actual work itself. In other words, one must prove themselves through actual product of skill rather than a textual claim of such skills. I think this has caused me to place too little importance on, or maybe too little understanding of, how I look on paper, thus hindering my chances of success in this new textual world I am attempting to enter. Also, most of my experience IS in the construction field and NOT in the field I am applying for. Part of what I am fighting though, is the autonomous management techniques that Postman talks about in the latter half of chapter eight. On page 140, he writes: "Grading provides an "objective measure of human performance and creates the unshakable illusion that accurate calculations can be made of worthiness. The human being becomes, to use Michel Foucault's phrase, 'a calculable person.'" In this online and impersonal system of applying for a job, I feel like I am being calculated or graded not on my abilities or potential, but rather, on a piece of paper designed to summarize or give someone an idea of those qualities. And, in the larger companies, the person "grading" my paper is not even the person for whom I would work for. They might even be in a human resources department in another state or not even a person at all. My paper worth might be calculated by a software system. I think my experience is evidence to back up what Postman is concerned with--that systems, or techniques, of management often control and determine what happens. Everything in our society has either gotten too big or too efficient to allow for personal interaction and evaluation.

Now, I realize I am being a bit dramatic about the whole thing and am probably reacting to a blow to my ego, but this experience has opened my eyes to the systems in place in our society and has also prompted me to consider which type of world I want to participate in. It doesn't really matter though how I choose to live or what I choose to value. Every position that I applied for will be filled by someone via whatever technique is implemented. The system will go on without me. If I don't conform, will I have to work for myself forever? Maybe I should just focus on actually graduating first and then worry about it.