Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Reflections on ENGL 4832
Throughout the course of this semester, I learned a great many things about myself, writing and the advantages of managing online genres. It is hard for me to believe now that I had the same online technologies at my disposal before the class and never used them. I never quite knew their capabilities or understood how to go about using them and avoided them as a result. I realize now how unfortunate that is because their application can greatly enhance a work. Publishing materials online makes it available to the public, allows feedback, organizes it more effectively and can assist you in getting people involved. This action step is an impossible result when utilizing only a written work that is confined to a folder and never emitted to the online world. The publishing ability Web sites, blogs and other online outlets allow open the gateway to a world of opportunities, friendships, recognition, challenges and knowledge.
My personal doubts about my ability to use online media paired with my skepticism about their effectiveness and credibility kept me from exploring them until this English course. I originally took the course to face my fears when I realized that my media skills were almost equivalent to my grandparents. I knew it was time for changes when my grandmother and I had to Google what a blogosphere was. I can now say with great appreciation and pride that not only do I know what a blogosphere is; I am currently a part of it!
I feel as though no technology escaped my attention these past four months; blogs, videos, Web sites, discussion boards, Twitter and GoogleDocs were all important parts of my web learning expedition. Through my exposure to these genres, I learned the distinct advantages of each and how to make their features most effective. The most difficult and significant thing I learned this semester was that there is a big difference in using a technology and using a technology well.
The “well” part took me a while but I can say that I feel I have finally arrived.
The sequence of grades I received throughout the semester nicely paints the picture of my journey in the class. In our first assignment, when we reviewed a Web site and made a Blog about it; I was clueless as my grade reflected, “C.” My Web site of choice for the review was Facebook. The problem was that I treated the blog I created like a Web site instead of what it was: a blog. This is a prime example of my confusion on how each genre worked differently. The result was a review with disastrous organization. For my final e-portfolio, I eliminated all of the links I had originally made and posted my review in sections in ascending order in blog posts.
The second class assignment, to remediate a work, went slightly better but I still had no confidence in my ability to successfully organize a Web site; my genre of choice for the project. I decided to remediate a work I had done for SafeCampusesNOW, a non-profit organization in Athens. I had previously made a public relations campaign plan for the group which was located in a huge binder. I knew it was a good opportunity for me to take the packet and make it available online. I typed all of the information onto different tab pages on the site and was quite happy with the result at the time. I did not realize that I did almost nothing to utilize the features on the Web site. Links, images, interactive pages, the ability for guests to reply to the information, a “sign-up” page… etc., I was completely oblivious to how painfully elementary my Web site was. This project was not included in my final E-portfolio but I did learn the importance of adding an interactive feature to a Web site, especially when your project goal involves fundraising or any kind of public involvement.
By the time the last two projects came about, I was well on my way to realizing how useful the genres I had been exposed to could actually be. Several readings in the class assigned via WebCT for WordPress responses had opened my eyes to all the opportunities the genres afforded their users. The collaboration project was my ultimate turning point in learning because worked with others, learned from others and applied my own knowledge to the collaborative work. I realize that our academic “how-to” guide was created to inform an outside audience, but I accumulated a wealth of knowledge from the completed work, Shifting the Script. It was incredible to me that such a small group could successfully combine our individual talents to make such an impressive, informational site.
For our last assignment, the multi-media piece, I decided that I wanted to take on a new challenge and create a video. I would have never mustered enough courage to attempt this if not for this course. Solely producing a professional video for a organization that I wanted to publish on an official site seemed out of reach only a few month prior. This endeavor was undoubtedly my most challenging and rewarding. It pulled from all the information I had learned previously in the course and required me to adapt it to a new, completely different technology.
Throughout all of the projects, there is a common thread. That is, the ability to effectively organize. I have realized how important organization and having a plan designed is before trying to embark on a successful web project. I have concluded that this systematic approach is the single most important phase in producing an online work. Therefore, loading the final material to the genre of choice should be the final step; it was my first when I first started the projects in this course.
At first glance, it seems hard to draw a connection between the three very diverse projects I choose to include in my e-portfolio. It is however, easy if you were the author. Each are very similar in one regard; they all played an important role in morphing me from an apprehensive, misplaced online observer to a confident web savvy publisher. Now, instead of fearfully trying to make my information “fit and work” for a genre, I make that genre work for me.
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