final blog

1. Compared to writing traditional essays as you have in other classes, were the expectations of the blog assignment easier, harder or just different? In other words, was it clear to you what the format of a blog was and how to produce one?

In my opinion blogging as an assignment as opposed to a traditional essay is a really interesting and innovative way to aid in the learning process. The blog is not necessarily harder or easier than an essay however, it seems to me to be a bit more interactive and take a bit more involvement from the writer. One interesting aspect of blogging is that the things you write are going to be seen by an unknown number of people so in that sense it makes you want to write something maybe more professional, maybe more accurate or well researched. It’s one thing to write a paper for one person to see and have it be semi-private (you don’t necessarily worry about embarrassing mistakes) it’s a whole other thing to write a paper to the world. Overall I enjoyed the blogging assignments. It’s a creative way to get students involved in their work and to keep students honest.

2. Did the blog assignments, and the requirement to create a blog, relate to the class topics and course objectives? Why or why not?

This assignment completely relates to the course objective of helping the student to “understand, evaluate and use modern technology.” It’s especially important for students, and all people really, to experience the joy of the world wide web and realize its potential. The internet holds many tools. While it is a database full of what could be interpreted as useless information it definitely holds so much useful information that is literally at one’s fingertips. Blogging gives the student a little taste of the power of the internet and allows one to explore the possibilities of the use of public space and information.

3. Did the non-text elements of the blog program contribute to your learning in this class? Did they get in the way? Or did they have no affect at all?

To be completely honest I did not use the blogging program to its fullest. I used only the text element rather than adding any extras. I personally don’t like the idea of having a blog because I don’t want the world to see my musings—they aren’t that interesting. I find personal blogs to be a little silly in the way of people somehow showing off their little lives in full detail. It seems to me it would be a great thing to have a blog that provides useful information to the public but then at the same time having it on the internet it could be lost in the mix, muddled in the eternal abyss of information that is ever penetrating our soft, fatty grey matter.