Proof of learning week 4

The fourth week of class was geared towards research and research only. Im going to use this proof of learning to look back at the class a little bit and just comment on how unexpected this was for me. When i signed up for this class this was far from what I ever would have imagined it being. To the work in week 4. I was extremely confused as to how I was going to peace together a research project but I managed to pull something together. I did alot of research and went in wanting to find the most adverse things about facebook that effects college students in particular the most. After a couple days of looking through articles i settled on 6 of them and decided i wanted to work off of those pieces of information and attempt to put something presentable together. I found it very difficult to do, and I'm not sure how my project turned out. There werent alot of guidelines and i found myself very confused several times. The topic itself continuously changed itself on me. I started out with the social aspects of technology, which then moved its way down to facebook, which then moved its way down to what i settled on, which were the adverse effects of it towards college students. I tried to stay focused with it, but i do feel like it jogged off a little bit when i was putting it together. All-in-all it was not something i was expecting to do, and i was very impressed with the way some of the other projects turned out. The genre we used to present i thought was very cool. Weebly was much easier to use than i expected and leaves alot of options open for creativity when putting a site, or a project together.

All-in-all this class wound up being something that i would never have expected, and i've never taken anything like it before. I enjoyed trying new ways of learning and retaining information, and I think enjoyed how open ended everything in here was. It left alot of room for creativity, though maybe just a little bit more structure when have been easier for a 4 week class so we had a basic direction we were supposed to be heading.

Proof of Learning Week 3

Week three, was not quite like week 2. We still had our readings, but I found it a bit more difficult to pull so many posts out, and I don't think i was the only one. There were alot less posts I noticed this week, compared to weeks 1 and 2. I feel like alot of the class was more focused on accomplishing other things for the class, such as catching up on proof of learning/lab notes, and getting research done for the topics they have chosen.


Beginning with the readings though, I found 2 main topics of conversation that was brought up from the articles read. First were Ezines. I personally did not know alot about ezines, nor was i expecting that to be a focus at all. An E-Zine is an email newsletter. An E-Zine is mailed directly to your email inbox. You do not have to GO to the E-Zine, the E-Zine comes to you. Ezines can be a great way to market things as well. All over the internet there are sites talking about the advertising on ezines.

In the discussion I think the consensus was that ezines can be useful but I was still somewhat skeptical. Stephanie H. made a great point that really caught my attention and made sense about the ezines. She said, ”I wonder though, who are the writers posting their articles in them? Can we assume that they're credible? I have to imagine that they would have to be deemed reliable in order to get posted, I'm just curious how.” I think the point behind this is that they are fan based, and fans cannot always be a credible source, the article even says it itself; "ezines operated by fan cultures…..” This proving that they're fan based. I then looked around on the internet for a few minutes and came across this article. http://www.imakenews.com/ephilanthropy/e_article000878990.cfm?x=b11,0,w

Asynchronous online discussions was the other topic. I felt that this was a very relevant topic, because it is a genre that we use everyday in this class and makes this class what it is. Without the online discussions it would be a lot different, and a lot harder to have online. I found a quote from Ryan W that really puts everything in perspective. It goes, “Asychronous online classes and discussions allow students and faculty more independence. This can be both beneficial and negative at the same time. On one hand, the student is free to do his/her class work at any time. On the other hand this freedom can almost encourage laziness.”  This i think really sums up the way online classes work in general. This is the way most students treat them and I think that is displayed very well in this class. 

Throughout the course of week 3 I feel like research was a main focus. I, like the rest of the class, continued with a little bit of research. I was really glad that the "you are here" portion was a bibliography because it really kick-started my research. It helped me get into looking for articles and thinks about ways i could put my project together and the direction i wanted to go with it. I have my topic pretty much set in stone now, and it will pertain to facebook and its effects on the community. I have several good articles for it that i will be using now and will be focused strictly on that for week 4.  

Proof of learning week two

Throughout the course of week 2, we have really started to get into the swing of things. There are several aspects of the class that have taken a turn, including the quality of the discussion posts, the articles we have been reading/discussing, and our topics for the final project. We continue to use the technology theme, this week, just how it relates to love. 


To begin, the first thing that i have noticed, and should be the first thing noticed, are the discussion posts. This week i feel like everybody in the class has seemed to have really get the hang of using the online discussion posts, and have really gotten extensive with the posts. This is really contributing to my perspective of each topic discussed because i am now able to see other peoples logic and the way they think about it, which can at times stray my opinion one way or the other. I think this holds true to several people in the class and i think it will be great if it continues like this. 


The material covered this week in class discussed online dating relationships in lots of depth. After going through all of these articles and talking on the discussions, my stance remains the same on them. At this current juncture in my life, i still am against them. First issue i had with them is the fact that your privacy is exploited and most people do not realize it. The Pew statistics on how people feel about their privacy on online dating is as follows- 6% said that the websites do an "excellent" job, 32% stated they do a "good" job, 33% said a "fair" job and 12% said they do a "poor" job. These are according to the pew article. The results do not favor one end or the other. I think most people are confused and are not aware of their surroundings sometimes. Sarah Owens posted a great comment relating to this. She said "People are constantly hearing these horror stories about people getting their identities stolen amoung other things. For this reason, I believe that most people have a misconception about the safety of using online dating sites." If people were to do their research about what can happen and the risks first, online dating would not have as many issues like this. 


Online dating also is not real life. It is like living in a reality world, and its basing "compatibility" off of test results. Our ABC article brought about a discussion referencing things like this. Online dating can pull people in and have them expect to find the "perfect person". Jennifer Williams made a great point "One of our first conversations wasn't, "hey, what denomination are you because if we aren't the same there's no way I'm dating you." This doesn't typically take place in real life so why should it on an online dating website? I just feel like online dating websites are people being partially lazy and not actually going out and looking. The difference with places online is that 

they are often easier to access, using a browser and a search engine or through e-mailing people in the know. This is a quote from the rabbit in the hole article. This is just proving my point that people are just being lazy and need to get out and try to find somebody instead of just giving up. 

The last thing discussed were soul mates. I had a strong disagreement with the article read. The article talked about soulmates having several things in common, and gave the perception that there was a "perfect person". In my opinion that does not exist. Every relationship its going to take its turns for the worse or better and they are going to require work to continue. Ryan Wrigley quotes "I believe that the definition of a soulmate is someone you are intmate with and love dearly. Soulmates may not always have the same interests, however I believe that when in a romantic relationship (hence being one's soulmate) you develop common interests with the other person. A soulmate may not like the game of golf when they first meet the other, but because the other likes it, over time the first comes to enjoy the game. This is true both ways." These things require work and there is no perfect match, it is just something to strive for. The article begs to differ and quotes ""of course optimism can provide protection from becoming unhappy in relationships". Absolutely disagree, and if this is how people are viewing love currently than i am sorry for them. 

Because of the last 2 weeks and the topics covered, which were technology related, i have an idea for my project topic. I am going to do it on something that involves the way technology has effected the way we communicate in the modern era. The reasoning behind this is the first week, our technology discussion led to facebook, which led this week into online dating. All forms of communication through technology. Those are my thoughts for week 2. 

proof of learning week one

Throughout the course of the first week of class, we have discussed several things that I have found it very easy to relate to. The discussions are something that I have never done before, especially online. Typically when we have class discussions in small lecture halls, I never get this involved with them and this has contributed quite a bit more to my learning than those ever have. 

Throughout the first set of course readings, the topics discussed have been thoughts that I know have crossed every one of our minds, just in different ways. They all seem to have a direct relation to technology which is a topic that is very relevant to the age group that is discussing it in this class. We are the future of technology and it is simply second nature for us to think about it.  The most relevant topic discussed so far was facebook. Facebook has become an everyday thing for just about every college student across America and as Michael Cross said “It would not surprise me at all if everyone in the class has a facebook profile.”(discussion forum) I think that continuing with discussions like these about relevant topics are going to bring about several thoughts on studies that students are going to be interested in doing for their projects. Sticking to one of the themes of technology is going to do nothing but make it easier to elaborate on these topics as well. Technology is forming our society today, and as Ryan Wrigley stated, “Without technology, there would be no human life as we know it.” (discussion forum). Sticking to these boundaries, I think that this class has a lot of potential to take our thinking into several places that we have never gone before, while still being able to relate to the material in our every day lives.

All-in-all, I have found this class to not be at all what I expected initially. It is very easy to relate to, and I am enjoying it being online a lot more than I would be enjoying it in a classroom. So far  I am trying to sum up ideas about what I would like to do for a project and am expecting to have something in mind by mid- the end of next week. Therefore currently, I have no relation between my topic and the material, but soon I am expecting to.