New Blog Post #5 Assignment

New blog post five assignment: Evaluate blogging as an academic assignment to promote critical thinking. Your answers should be construncted as arguments. That is, give your opinion (the conclusion) and then provide the reasons (premises) for your opinion. Simply saying "I liked it" or "I didn't like it" isn't enough. Tell me WHY? Answer each question with approximately 100-200 words. The assignment is still due May 6th at noon.

1. Compare 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?

I think that, initially, compared to writing traditional essays, my expectations of writing a blog was that it was going to be no different than using blackboard, not too different from writing an essay. However, I learned that writing a blog entailed its own ritual acquaintance (learning) as blackboard did for me last year, and writing an essay all those years ago (although I admit to still struggling). Writing a blog was something that I had to learn - how to insert html codes and, generally, navigating the system. I think that once I learned how to use blogger it did seem easier in that I did not have to put in citations, I could just provide links.

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

I think that the blog assignments - and the requirement to create a blog - do relate to the course objective of understanding and evaluating the use of modern technology. We "write" our blogs on a computer and create our blogs using both blogger and animoto, all of which are forms of technology. Because our blogs are on the world wide web, they are instantaneously available to anyone who might want to see them - another way in which technology has connected us. As for the blog assignments being related to our class topics: many of the blog topics were about our course related reading; other blog topics, like propaganda, we later discussed in class; while other topics were discussed in class prior to our blogs being posted. So, yes, I do think that the blog assignments (and the requirement to create one) are related to the class topics and objectives.

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 effect at all?

I definitely feel that the non-text images helped to contribute to my learning. I never realized how powerful images and music are - some of the students made great animoto videos! I think that by using non-text elements, students have to think in new and abstract ways (making, or forcing, them to become more creative). I think that students varied a great deal on how they could make the non-text elements of blogging work for them.

Watching the Persuaders video and learning about the different styles in which ads appeal to us, I think, made me more conscious of the ads in my daily life. I learned that pathos is the way in which we are marketed toward more than by using ethos and logos.

"I liked it".