Final Blog Post
An online class about online communication certainly seems to be a delicious irony. After all, those who use online communication for an entire class likely understand online communication very well, n’est pas? However, this class brought up some questions and aspects of online communication that I found intriguing thought starters.
Between the weekly blogs and discussion posts, this class definitely made me write more than any other course. On the other hand, I found that the online medium allowed me to submit shoddier work than usual. I never bothered to seriously rewrite each blog post, the way I would with an ordinary essay. Neither was I completely happy display my assignments for all of the world to see. Once this class is finished, I will probably delete my wordpress blog, to keep my online profile low (Not that I have complete control over that—US Swimming apparently likes to post the best racing times for every swimmer ever registered with them. Anyone in the world can find out how long it takes me to swim the 100 free. Not a pleasant thought.)
Communication online for the coursework was an aspect I enjoyed. The flexibility of the scheduling allowed me to continue working two jobs over the term. Considering the economic situation, I didn’t want to give either of them up because of conflicts with class times.
Despite these obvious advantages, I did miss the interaction of a physical classroom. In on-campus classes, I and the other students had a chance to get to know each other. With an online class, I didn’t have an opportunity to really get to know the other students or find out what they were like. After this class ends, I’ll probably forget about everyone I encountered on this class, with the exception of a few people that I know from the Cascades Campus and/or previous online classes.
Even though I come from the Millenial generation, I learned a few new tricks in this class, not least of which was how to turn off the reply moderation settings. I enjoyed Neil Postman’s examination of the problems caused by technology—although it did feed my tendencies for paranoia—and was more than a little pleased to see that he followed up his criticism with a proposed solution. I was also pleased to notice that he addressed the situation in a logical manner, without resorting to emotional tirades against the ridiculosities of modern technology and society, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera… (if you don’t know who I’m quoting with that, you need to start watching classic movies. Especially because one of my great-aunts was in that movie. Lol).
From my perusal of some recent articles in the newspaper, online classes like this are apparently becoming the rage. Communicating online for purposes of learning is becoming common because of its ease and accessibility—which could lead to more education, but could also lead to trivialization of education (the more common something is, the more overlooked it tends to become). Again, it depends on how people use internet communication—to connect with other people and gain knowledge, or to distance themselves from people and clutter their minds with trivial information.
Goodbye folks, and good luck with wherever life may take you next!
