reflection on the course

My learning curve and curiosity goes downwards and then more depressed during the course. I like the beginning 3 weeks of this course much better. From week 4 and 5, big lengthy group discussion started to occupy the whole lecture. It seems like coming to a class became a social event. Nigel's teaching time becomes less and less during the class. And with little preparation, we have to initiate something to discuss during the class.

Week 4 was discussion about online community, if we can do less on sit and talk about the danger and hypothesis of online community and actually see some examples of online communities and how they work, interact; Read what newspaper and theorist have been written about online community; And have slides or PowerPoint presentation on some high profile internet community incidents etc, etc, the class will be more engaging and informative.

During the week 5, we discuss new journalistic style on line. If we can spend some time read through some good blogs and online journalism together and give feedback during the class, it will be much more interesting. It is pretty bad that I don't have internet at home, and it is probably due to my own fault that I didn't organise my time well for learning, so I didn't manage to listen to the online board cast and the radio show and absorb some useful information.

I found it difficult to focus during the class too. Sometime going to the class seems pointless and frustrating for me, but I attend anyway because there was group project that I need to work on. When Week past after week, I can't remember what we learnt in the class.

However, I am glad to learn how to make wiki pages, and doing the group project is interesting and enjoyable. I think it makes more sense for me now why people want to write blogs. And how some blogs are popular and with many replies. I think there are some basic factors that blogs will run well. They have to be in a place where technology and intellectual zones are proliferate and overlap. The writer of the blogs have the access to computer and Internet (which is not that easy), and their writing are interesting, passionate and critical (this is not easy either). Some people are talented in their writing skills, they are fluent and expressive, they have a point to make and they are confident with their voice. That is what i want to learn in the future.

When I start this course I was hoping that I would learn better how to manage my time online and know more interesting websites, blogs. But instead I learnt the idea behind Internet, and some concepts and ideas about how things work, and how people cooperate online through open source movement and wiki. It is good. I feel more positive about Internet and it becomes a place in which things make much more sense. I think I have to work out on my own how to manage my time online and practice my writing, discover good blogs on my own though.

That is the end of my course reflection.