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).