Finished Class

So the class is done! It's been a pretty odd semester, and overall I wasn't entirely happy with my performance level. I mentioned that before and it holds true now. I'm not sure what was different about this semester, I think honestly it was because I didn't have as much to do. Free time makes one lazy, it would seem. But anyway, though we've all gone over all of these several times in the past few weeks, here is my take on the class:

The Books
Smart Mobs
Smart Mobs was undoubtedly the least popular book of the class. It did have several interesting points about technological culture in other countries; however, I found most of that information I could find quickly (and with more interest) on technological newssites. I would suggest removing Smart Mobs, but having the students browse the internet for new communication methods and write about them.

Snow Crash
Much more my style, as I'm a huge fiction nut. I think most of my classmates really enjoyed this one as well, and it really made us think about the implications of having a "meta-verse". I thought it was great when I heard about Second Life -- I only wish that it would work well on my computer (it's excessively slow and takes me a very long time to do anything). It was a nice introduction to that sort of life.

A Whole New Mind
This was another one of my favorites as it gave me hope that my majors (English and Professional Writing) weren't as useless as my friends and family would believe. I would keep this book if only for that comfort it offers us PWR majors.

Play Money
Very interesting, and one I could really connect with. Demonstrates how one can learn to untraditionally adapt to this new technological world. I really enjoyed it.

The Podcasts
A lot of people have suggested it before, but I'll reiterate it now. I actually really enjoyed the podcasts; however, I feel like many of the ones I listened to were either chapter summaries or spoken essays. Also, I know that many people didn't even listen to anyone else's podcasts, which I feel like they were missing out. I thought several were really interesting and a new way to discover their thoughts. Perhaps having an assignment where people comment on the podcasts (and also the personal blogs) would be helpful.

Neo-Vox Articles
I really enjoyed these, but unfortunately I didn't feel like I put my best effort into them. Also, the peer-editing process was pretty loose and rather unhelpful for me, as I hardly got any comments which would help me develop my paper more.

Course Blog
Really great, I loved checking it every day to see what people would say. I feel like this was even better than an in-class discussion because rather than a couple people dominating and other people feeling too shy, this allowed the shy people to break out of their comfort zone and be in the spotlight. It was really helpful to get everyone's opinions as well, and I really enjoyed sharing links and new finds with everyone.

Personal Blog
This was really fun, I enjoyed this very much. I already have a LiveJournal but I never really thought I could do one for a class. It was very convenient and I loved the personal postings as it gave me an opportunity to talk about things other people might find irrelevant but that I thought really connected with something I had read or thought about in relation to the course.

The Wiki
Dun Dun Duuuuuuun. Honestly, I think everyone hated it because it was the hardest thing of the course. It was hard to remember to do it, to come up with terms, and to define them. I understand that it's helpful and important, and in retrospect I guess I didn't hate it all that much, but I think this will forever be the bane of Writing in Cyberspace Students.

The Video
I was originally really excited about the video, but as the time drew closer my excitement dwindled. I wish that we could have taken a fictional approach to it, or could have done the videos by ourselves or in smaller groups. It was exceptionally difficult trying to get everyone together (even though Diana, Liz, Phil and I are all good friends outside of the class, finding a few hours where we were all available was next to impossible). Most of the effort was put into getting together (as you can see in the video, we all look like crap because we had all rushed to get to the lib when we all had a free moment) instead of on the video itself. I have to commend the Evolution of Technology video though, I really liked that one.

Overall, I had a really fun time with this class. Thankyou for being so patient with us, Dr. Reid, I know this couldn't have been easy for you either. Have a great summer and I'll be seeing you next semester!