Week 4, Final POL

A 100 level class is usually not thorough, often it covers a large amount of information quickly and even before the class is over I have forgotten much of the material.  Online classes often go the same way, because they are over so quickly I have not truly learned – but memorized.  That is why I have found this class to be surprising and quite refreshing.  I have not only learned a good deal about technology and the use of the Internet but also the concepts involved in the class.

I found the discussion boards to be helpful, as well as these proof of learning entries. The POL forced me to keep tabs on not what I was learning, but how I was learning and how I developed academically as the class went on. I found that this class was able to help me make connections much more effectively, to previous material as well as experiences in my own life.  The discussion boards helped to facilitate this as many posts discussed aspects such as technology in the classroom and personal ways that online dating had an affect on a certain classmate.  In addition, I think the most important thing I learned in the last section of the class was in research.

Gaining a new perspective on researching and developing my ability to research was definitely not what I expected from this class.  As a History major, I have put a lot of time into researching and thought I had a pretty solid grasp on it.  Even though I have written over a hundred pages of research, it has been historically based and therefore all using sources that already have been written.  I have not done any original research.   It was pretty easy to find the subjects to fill out interview, because I have played football here the past three years and am close with most of the team.  In addition my father is a football coach, so I was able to talk to him.  I also have high school friends that have moved on to play collegiate athletics and they were able to offer important opinions.  Also, I know plenty of non-athletes who are fans and their contributions were able to balance so that I had both sides of the issue to get a full prospective how instant replay is viewed.

Doing original research so was new and exciting, but also held a good deal of responsibility.  As I collected information, I found the issue of interpretation of the material is the most important aspect of the research and can be very subjective. I have always read books and have not truly realized how much rom for personal beliefs to get involved.  Even historical fact based books are not without an influence from the author, this is unavoidable. But that does not mean that the information cannot be presented in a fair and accurate way. 

I had an idea of what the opinion of the people would be, in my head prior to research, because I am an athlete. It was important to have this influence my questions for the subjects as well as my interpretation of their answers. I had to keep in mind that it does not matter whether my original opinion of how the research would turn out was correct, but just that I presented the information correctly and explained it well.  Now it did turn out that the opinions of athletes and fans backed up what I thought, but it was not due to how I approached interpretation or presentation of the poll. 

            This class was much like the individual POL reports that forced me to truly learn and think about how I am learning. I can honestly say that I have not had a non major course that has put so much pressure on me to develop myself academically. It is something I could definitely use because I will be graduating this summer and it is nice to have one more course that makes me think as well as improving my skills of interpretation of readings and communicating effectively with classmates.  The latter is something that I have not done well or often throughout my career and I have enjoyed how this class has forced me to do so and also taught me how to relate to the other students well.

Week 3

Whether or not it is showing up in my discussion posts or not, I feel like I am getting better at looking at the readings and relating them to my own life and experiences as well as other themes in the class. Through the many posts I have made over these past three weeks I have found that the online discussion has become easier and more natural. At first I looked mostly to just look for a post to comment on that would be the easiest and quickest to discuss.  Now, I feel confident that I can look at anyone's post and be able to write bout not only my own opinions but give them answers to questions they are looking for.  I should be focusing more on making original posts and I will try to do so in the last week, but I just don't feel as comfortable doing so.  I like to first read other people's opinions on the subject matter and then injecting my own opinion and analysis into the conversation.  For me, I see this as the way in which I can be most effective and bring the most to the class's online discussion.  The way the class learns is through discussion and it is important to be able to contribute effectively in this genre.  

In terms of research there is a lot thatI need to do for presumably the paper that I will write. I have read a good deal on the subject and have formulated an outline and detailed idea of my paper, but there is a good deal left to be done. The research aspect has been quite easy with the good deal of experience I have in the area.  Not that I am a professional, but as a soon to be graduating History major I have written a good deal of research papers and have developed methods that help me to research and write successfully.  That said, the website on research was quite helpful in looking at research and writing in a new way. 

I have been impressed with the format of this class and how it has facilitated learning. I am not used to being such an active participant in a class and this is quite a different experience.  The way I have had to stay involved in the classwork has made me not only learn more about the subject matter, but learn about the way I can and should communicate with classmates and analyze the information through discussion.  This is not something I am accustomed to because in most classes I do not say much at all because I am quite shy. This is a welcome experience that I am finding surprisingly valuable.

Week 2

This week, the focus was on online dating. It would be easy to say that I learned a lot about the subject because I had little knowledge on it before.  However, one way that I did find myself improving and learning was in relating information back to other articles. I found that the article on Friday was similar to Tuesday’s article about internet scams because it discussed the unrealistic optimism that people carried when going into online dating. Though most people carry a solid level of conservatism, there are the unrealistic optimists that can open themselves up to dangerous situations- such as losing thousands in a scam.  Though I was surprised by the idea that people can be tricked into throwing away thousands, I was surprised that there were not more extreme optimists.  It was important to read the Friday’s article because if I had not, then I would have gone on thinking that online dating was full of unrealistic optimists that are willing to put everything on the line, including their security and money, in order to have a chance at finding love. 

I also found that the article of Tuesday and the online scams could be connected back to the previous week’s article about online security and how the older generation less often adjusts privacy settings.   I thought that adults not adjusting security settings was an important point.  They may not understand that people should not be trusted if there is no tangible personal relationship. I think that our younger generation, while not necessarily smarter, will be less likely to fall into such a trap because of more experience with the internet and technology and a greater skepticism towards online strangers.  

An important part to my learning over the past week has been the posts and opinions by the other students.  I have not had any experience in online dating, and have had limited experience in online communities. I found it very helpful to read posts from others who had friends that dated online or had even done it themselves. This perspective is important and allowed me to more thoroughly analyze the articles.  Specifically, La Tocha had a friend that had dated online as well as her mother.  Her friend said that she did not post a picture on her online profile because she believed it allowed her to get to know people better and not to have a relationship based on attraction.  I thought this was very interesting and wondered whether it would work when the relationship moved offline.  If she is one of the few people not at all concerned with looks, this can be a great way to develop relationships.  In addition, La Tocha also said her mother liked dating online more because it was easier to cut off relations if she so wished.  Over all of these articles, I think that there has been much information presented that says online dating is a good idea and can be very helpful. This is another point that says so and has come to counterbalance the scams and negative ideas that the person you are talking to online could be nothing like what you think. 

These posts were accompanied by many others which detailed student’s relations with people in online communities. Although I have been a part of facebook for a while, blackboard, and even posted on other web sites, I have not found myself compelled to develop new relationships with people online.  Those that had done so had very good experiences doing so, and that makes me more inclined to attempt to develop relationships online in the future. 

Week One - MHHIEST

The first week of this class has been quite different than I had expected. I was prepared for an English class in which we would read and discuss literature. I clearly was wrong as this week I have been forced to think about humanity and much of its interaction through technology.  It has made me reexamine my own online behavior and think about how exactly I communicate with people online, my online reptution and identity.  At first I thought that I was the same person online, but through readings and examinations I have realized that I definately say things that I would not usually in person, behind a screen.  This is not a major issue because most of what I say online I would say in person, but there are differences. 

I found some of the information to be fresh, as the first two videos developed my understanding on the brain. Watson and the human brain were both fascinatingly documented.  They allowed me to think about the extreme capabilities of humans and the machines they can create. On the other hand, the articles on the internet I did not find to be as insightful. While there was some new information, much of it has become common knowledge as I have used the internet over the past few years.  This is likely due to the fact that the study on online anthropology was completed in 2002 and cited often from the 1990s. It has since become stale in the ever changing internet.  The facebook friends article is similar because facebook is an ever changing entity that has grown tremendously since 2007, when the article was published.