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.