Reflection on Blogging & Multi-Modal 2009

I can't believe the semester is coming to a close. Looking back, I am surprised at how much my views have changed. I used to think blogging was stupid, and didn't see the point of a professional blog. I didn't know anything about Twitter, Ning, or Wikis, nor did I care. I just thought they were another senseless form of social networking. Before this semester, I couldn't have told you what a graphic novel was, and I would have never gone to the Cleveland Film Festival.

However, now I see why all of this was assigned. My perspectives are broader, and I realize that a blog is good because you can reflect on how you once thought compared with how you think now. It's really a good way to practice writing, too. Ning is pretty neat too, because it can be set up like a facebook type of thing, but you can restrict it to whoever you want to join, ie. only the students in your class. Wikis are great, and are a terrific resource for one-stop-shopping for information. As for Twitter, I'm still not so sure I see the point of it, but that's okay. The film festival was great too. Looking back, I wish I would've gotten to see one of the alternate language films or the film shorts.

I will probably not use all of the things we learned in class. I will use a lot of the lesson ideas, the in-class activities, and so forth. I don't want to be too pushy or too technologically advanced and try to use a class wiki, a ning, and a blog in my class. Rather, I think that I will have to see which will apply to my class best, and choose one or two. Maybe I could present all the ideas to my class and let them choose which ones they would like to do. All three have great advantages to using them. The wiki would be a good collaborative project for my class, and would serve as a resource they and others can use in the future. The Ning would be a great way to set up an online community specifically for my class, so that students can pretend they are on Facebook, but is purely for educational talk and use. And the blog would be a great way to get students to do a journal and practice their creativity and writing.

I think that these new sources for information are great tools. They should enhance communication between students and myself. They should enhance communication among students as well. Although texting and instant messaging and Facebook and Myspace can be looked at as hindering communication and the English language, I think that these resources can be quite positive as well, it all just depends on how they are used!