Ah, the end of term, when a young student's thoughts turn to evaluation.
I think that overall this has been a fairly successful course. I've really enjoyed the blogging aspect of it-- not only maintaining my own snazzy blog, but also getting the chance to read everyone else's. This was my first distance education course ever, and, surprisingly, I found that I really missed the class discussion. I'm not Chatty McTalksALot, but I think that having an opportunity to hear how your classmates interpreted the various readings is pretty valuable. If we hadn't had the blogs to keep track of each other, this would have been a much, much different course. I have missed lectures a little (I know-- shocking). One of the great advantages of this program has been the that we have practicing librarians teaching us-- and I've missed that aspect of in-class courses.
... and now, the rundown of technologies:
What I Will Keep Using: del.icio.us facebook, wikis
I really like del.icio.us, which (for me, personally) seems to have a role very different from that of my favorites. I tend to use del.icio.us for interesting articles, rather than interesting sites. The social/public nature of it does make me a little uncomfortable, so I think anything particularly scandelous will still go in my favorites. I also really like that all I have to go is hit the little button my tool bar.
I still don't like Facebook. I still think that if you're the type of person to maintain meaningful connections, you'll maintain them with or without this kind of network. It makes me uncomfortable to find pictures of myself on my friend's pages, tagged off of pages of people I haven't spoken to in six years. It makes me feel sad and hurt if my friends' connections have erased me from our shared history (if they became “friends” through Facebook before I joined, even though they have absolutely nothing in common except me). But, uh, sadly, I will keep Facebook, because everyone has it. What? Is that a cliff ahead of me? Woo hoo!
I don't have a lot to say about wikis-- I think they're useful. I've half-built one for work. I'm glad I got to learn about them!
What I am on the Fence About: my blog
I have become quite fond of my little blog, and I am reluctant to abandon it. However, I don't know if I have the audience or focus needed to continue it. Most of the blogs which I read have a specific audience and are hooked into an online community of sorts (ie, blogs about books, blogs about politics). My book-reading, cheese-eating, nomadic ways are only interesting to a small number of people-- (hi Mom!)
What I Will Most Likely Not Use After This Course: RSS, Secondlife
RSS does not appeal to me, even though I can see the logic and convienence in it. And, if I'm not a gamer by now, I am unlikely to become one. Secondlife is pretty interesting, but it's just not for me.
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3 comments:
Hi Leah,
I know what you mean about maintaining your blog. I enjoyed writing blogs for this class, but I just don't know what I would continue to blog about once the course is complete. I think that you are right about needing a focus and an audience, neither of which I have!
Hey Leah,
As much as I liked the convenience of a distance course, I agree that I missed the lectures. We must both be auditory learners :)
Well, I will read your blog if you keep it up. :) I think an audience can take a while to build up - especially an active audience that actually comments! - but one does acquire one eventually. At least, I seem to have, in the couple of years I've been on LiveJournal - of course, LJ is more inherently community-oriented than Blogger, so I think it makes connecting with people easier. Other bloggily inclined people, no less, which tends to mean they comment on other people's posts as well as writing their own, because it's the kind of thing they enjoy doing.
*giggles gleefully at Transformers quote* :D
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