Prior to this class, I have never written a blog before. I thought it was a very small group of people that wrote blogs. With the rapid explosion of blogging and social media in the past couple of years, you're finding more and more quality blogs with more and more subjects being covered. Blogs are rapidly becoming a persons voice on the Internet. In my experiences with social networking in the past, I find that I get hooked for a couple days, using the services for several hours a day. Then, i stop using them for days or even weeks. So I'm not very consistent with my use, whereas I think most blogging should be done on a regular basis. If I were to continue blogging, I think I would probably lower my post count to every other week, and make them more quality posts.
I didn't know what to expect from this class. I definitely never thought I would be writing a blog. I have a pretty big interest in technology and my major is communication, so I figured this would be a pretty interesting class. I think the blog actually worked pretty well for getting the students viewpoints out there, and for allowing everyone to see it. Normally in a classroom setting everyone would turn in a paper or homework assignment to the teacher and you would never be able to compare with other students. Being able to see other students train of thought and the connections they make I think is a great learning tool.
As far as the topics for blog posts, I thought they were all pretty good. They covered a wide range of topics that made it fun and interesting to write about. The style of each one is different, and I'm glad I don't find myself repeating things from previous blogs. One thing I found happening on a couple blogs was I ran out of things to talk about. Perhaps adding some more primer questions to the blog to expand the scope a bit more. Another thing I thought about is maybe adding a secondary choice of blog entry for each week. When we all write about the same topic, I find it hard to respond to a blog with any sort of new ideas. Granted, some people may have some unique train of thought which you can comment on. I kept trying to come up with some new angle or creative response to some blogs, and I found myself saying the same things from my blog or another response. I think a second option for each week would vary it up a bit and allow some more diverse thoughts to emerge.
One thing I would like to see is the decrease in reliance on the books. I have to read 4-5 thick textbooks a term, and after a few years of college, I'm tired of reading. I would change it to one book and just base the blogs off that. As one of the other students said, I found myself just reading the book of the week about 66% of the time.
Overall I was happy with what this class covered and the way it was done so. I think its important that universities and teachers embrace new ways of teaching to students, and this class fits the bill well.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Wild Card
Over my years of being on the computer, typing papers, IM'ing friends, and being an avid texter, I've acquired quite a knack for communicating things quickly and efficiently. What I mean by this is being able to shorten message lengths to the point where its acronyms and hardly recognizable shortened words. Emoticons are a huge part of online communication, and I think they need to be focused on even more. With today's messaging systems, speed is what it's all about. Have you ever had a dedicated texting conversation? Where both of you aren't doing anything else, but sitting on a couch texting from different locations? It's crazy how fast a conversation happens, it might as well be replicating real life conditions. The Internet has created shortened versions of typical situational language, making rapid and efficient communication possible.
With a shortened vocabulary, sometimes things can be miscommunicated or misinterpreted. I used to have those slipup's where I'd say some little "dig" or joke at the person in a joking manner and it has been taken seriously, and thus, gets me in trouble. I've learned though! Now I attach a number of emoticons according to how severe the dig is. You can't take a message seriously if it's laced with :D :) :P. Like I said, I've gotten pretty good at shorthand communicating so I really don't have too many accidents or slipups these days. Maybe it happened more when I began college, back before I knew anything.
When you are having a conversation with someone in physical proximity, you subconsciously are reading the person's body language when they speak. Obviously, if your best friend says with a huge grin "I hate you", it won't be interpreted as truly hateful. However if some ex you broke up with screams "I hate you" at the top of their lungs, you can probably be sure they hate you. I don't think most people realize how much they non verbally read people when they are with them. Language becomes extremely powerful in a physical presence setting because words have much more impact when they cause physical reactions to emerge.
So essentially, I haven't had any recent communication mishaps for the past 6 months that I can remember or that are worth mentioning. I would assume that is because of my constant use of various short messaging systems. It's interesting because nothing of real moral consequence is ever transmitted across these mediums. It's always trivial things that have no real importance. I was daydreaming a few weeks ago and thinking about the central and peripheral routes, and I made the connection that texting/twittering are like my peripheral route, I devote 20% of my time responding with a quick message, and my main train of thought is never really lost in the process. I've really been making a lot of connections lately with the central and peripheral routes, applying to memories and current happenings, it's an interesting construct that I think should be taught at a much lower learning level, because I think it's that important.
With a shortened vocabulary, sometimes things can be miscommunicated or misinterpreted. I used to have those slipup's where I'd say some little "dig" or joke at the person in a joking manner and it has been taken seriously, and thus, gets me in trouble. I've learned though! Now I attach a number of emoticons according to how severe the dig is. You can't take a message seriously if it's laced with :D :) :P. Like I said, I've gotten pretty good at shorthand communicating so I really don't have too many accidents or slipups these days. Maybe it happened more when I began college, back before I knew anything.
When you are having a conversation with someone in physical proximity, you subconsciously are reading the person's body language when they speak. Obviously, if your best friend says with a huge grin "I hate you", it won't be interpreted as truly hateful. However if some ex you broke up with screams "I hate you" at the top of their lungs, you can probably be sure they hate you. I don't think most people realize how much they non verbally read people when they are with them. Language becomes extremely powerful in a physical presence setting because words have much more impact when they cause physical reactions to emerge.
So essentially, I haven't had any recent communication mishaps for the past 6 months that I can remember or that are worth mentioning. I would assume that is because of my constant use of various short messaging systems. It's interesting because nothing of real moral consequence is ever transmitted across these mediums. It's always trivial things that have no real importance. I was daydreaming a few weeks ago and thinking about the central and peripheral routes, and I made the connection that texting/twittering are like my peripheral route, I devote 20% of my time responding with a quick message, and my main train of thought is never really lost in the process. I've really been making a lot of connections lately with the central and peripheral routes, applying to memories and current happenings, it's an interesting construct that I think should be taught at a much lower learning level, because I think it's that important.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Interviews
Sorry it's late, my Internet wasn't working.
18-35:
I interviewed my roommate Eric and his girlfriend Chelsy about their Internet usage. After talking with them a little while they said when they were younger, the Internet was all about AOL Instant Messenger, and that really nothing else mattered. Since coming to college, they both have started using email heavily, the first thing they do every morning is check their respective email accounts. Chelsy said now that she is in college, she primarily uses the Internet for email, blackboard, shopping, and light surfing. Eric said he likes to watch movies on Hulu.com, email, blackboard, news websites, sport scores, and casual surfing. What I find interesting is how my perception of other people and their Internet use is a bit skewed. I have always had a knack for computers and technology, and I tend to use the Internet for a lot of things, one of my biggest time sinks is that I like to learn about random things, a lot. I would say I'm a heavy web surfer and I'm constantly searching out articles in order to learn about new things. A buddy of mine (who I met online playing video games) said the Internet is a huge part of his life in his career, and in his personal life at home. He also said he doesn't mind being so attached to the web, he feels it is a resource to be exploited.
36-60
I talked to my older brother Jason, who is very computer illiterate. He's the type of user that doesn't know how to set up or install things, but can use the programs pretty well to get done what needs to be done. He said other than online banking, email, and the occasional bit of light surfing, he doesn't really use the Internet. He said it's just not a part of his life. My brother is a very hands on kind of guy, he's a General Contractor and takes part in every process of creating a home. I don't think he is really all that comfortable with communicating on the Internet, I didn't specifically ask him that question, it was more of just a general discussion, and from what I've gathered that seems to be a fair assessment. Wood and Smith talk about diffusion of innovation as "communication about new ideas through certain channels over time among members of a social system." I think it's an interesting concept that can apply to many different topics. I think that because my brother doesn't use the Internet as much as I do, he is being limited in the type of information and ideas he is exposed to. Like I said I surf pretty heavily, but I've read countless articles about quantum mechanics, black holes, nanotechnologies, and a ton of other subjects. Sure I may not be an expert on those subjects, but the ability to even be able to think about those subjects is such a great resource.
61+
I am still awaiting the reply from my Grandfather, I will repost when I receive his response.
18-35:
I interviewed my roommate Eric and his girlfriend Chelsy about their Internet usage. After talking with them a little while they said when they were younger, the Internet was all about AOL Instant Messenger, and that really nothing else mattered. Since coming to college, they both have started using email heavily, the first thing they do every morning is check their respective email accounts. Chelsy said now that she is in college, she primarily uses the Internet for email, blackboard, shopping, and light surfing. Eric said he likes to watch movies on Hulu.com, email, blackboard, news websites, sport scores, and casual surfing. What I find interesting is how my perception of other people and their Internet use is a bit skewed. I have always had a knack for computers and technology, and I tend to use the Internet for a lot of things, one of my biggest time sinks is that I like to learn about random things, a lot. I would say I'm a heavy web surfer and I'm constantly searching out articles in order to learn about new things. A buddy of mine (who I met online playing video games) said the Internet is a huge part of his life in his career, and in his personal life at home. He also said he doesn't mind being so attached to the web, he feels it is a resource to be exploited.
36-60
I talked to my older brother Jason, who is very computer illiterate. He's the type of user that doesn't know how to set up or install things, but can use the programs pretty well to get done what needs to be done. He said other than online banking, email, and the occasional bit of light surfing, he doesn't really use the Internet. He said it's just not a part of his life. My brother is a very hands on kind of guy, he's a General Contractor and takes part in every process of creating a home. I don't think he is really all that comfortable with communicating on the Internet, I didn't specifically ask him that question, it was more of just a general discussion, and from what I've gathered that seems to be a fair assessment. Wood and Smith talk about diffusion of innovation as "communication about new ideas through certain channels over time among members of a social system." I think it's an interesting concept that can apply to many different topics. I think that because my brother doesn't use the Internet as much as I do, he is being limited in the type of information and ideas he is exposed to. Like I said I surf pretty heavily, but I've read countless articles about quantum mechanics, black holes, nanotechnologies, and a ton of other subjects. Sure I may not be an expert on those subjects, but the ability to even be able to think about those subjects is such a great resource.
61+
I am still awaiting the reply from my Grandfather, I will repost when I receive his response.
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