Social Learning: Online

This EComp class has been a challenge for me. I enjoy computers; I use them for numerous functions. I don't like using a computer foring reading however, I get too distracted by the unlimited possilbities of things I could be doing on the computer. I like reading from books, I'm old fashioned I guess. Through out this class I found it very difficult to read blogs. In our class online class on April 1, we discussed some ways to prove whether an "internet source" is credible. I've always had the impression that most things on the internet should be taken as a message, not a fact. I don't trust the internet, however I do trust people. I would often read blogs of classmates that I knew from other classes because I could put a face to their blog.

I would like to give huge props to Erika , her blog has so much creativity, insight and material. I appreciate the time and effort she put into her step by step instructions, wow ! "Dreaming" is such a relaxing tune. I would often check out how she did her tech tasks so that I could have an idea of what to do. Thanks Flavapuff!

On the second day of class I had the amazing oppurtunity to have class with Dionne, we were both on campus for that day's online course. She kept saying that she was new to this computer world, I believe she said she would throw her computer against wall at one point. She mentioned that I helped her out on her first day of EComp. Honestly I didnt do very much. I forgot how to set up a gmail account, she was the one that got it set up. That was all her. I still think she should of used her old hotmail account name though. As I look at Dionne's current technical prowess, it's truly inspiring. You rock Dionne!

Having class in the comfort of my room was very distracting. I wish I could say I was a perfect student in class, but I wasn't. I listened to the "lectures" but I found it hard to stay focused without being able to be in the presence of the person talking. Elluminate was a great program to use for this class, it made this online expierence feel like a discussion forum.

At the beginning of this class I had very little expierence with blogging. I am still warming up to it. I can really see how benificial blogging could be inside any classroom. If I could some up my reflection on social learning online it would be: someone can type "haha" but its not satisfying as actaully seeing a real person laugh. I had alot of fun in this class, it wasn't a typical university class. I really enjoyed the way Dean let us use our creative ideas to shape our projects/tech tasks.

This class emphasized my idea about "commenting". The internet is great for this. On the internet we expose "ourselves" to other cyber identities. The oppurtunity for inter-nationtal collaboration is the most fascinating aspect for me. As I started learning more about the "flitter" people and how useful a large supporting cyber community can be, I started to comment/review other cyber people's digital work a lot more frequently. The only problem is that this was on a different website (not my classmate's blogs).

Reflection: I glad I started up a blog. I can't help but imagine how much a classroom could benifit from a cyber space to showcase their creations for the world to enjoy.