Proof-of-Learning #4

This last week is certainly a stressful one! Everyone is busy working on their final projects and trying to get everything submitted. Something I've really enjoyed about this class is the communication aspect of it. The discussion boards have given us the freedom to share our ideas and check out the perspectives of other students in our class. I think it is so cool that we have the ability to work as a team and let each other know what our research findings are. It's very likely that whatever each person has done for their project is something they are passionate about. At the very least they at least have some interest in it. I've enjoyed getting to see those interests come out and having the ability to give my fellow classmates my thoughts on their thoughts!

Something I found to be interesting this week was that some were posting questionnaires for their research projects. I really liked this because clearly their aim in doing this is to make their findings relevant to our individual community and age group. When they present their findings, they will be incorporating what they found through interviews and questionnaires with us. We had the unique opportunity to help one another out in this way, and I thought that was really special.

I have been very encouraged by other’s explicit interest in my project via the project topic forum, specifically the in the past couple of weeks. My project topic is something that is near to my heart because recently it has affected one of my closest friends. Not only am I excited about what I’ve been researching the past few weeks, but a few of my classmates shared their interest in what I was doing too. This helped me to feel connected with them even though we have never met in person before. Yet, interest in the Deaf community served as a uniting force.

I am such a play by the rules type of girl. If I’m honest, this whole class I’ve been freaking out. I’ve been amazed at the fast-paced but laidback feel of it. I’ve been impressed by how understanding and flexible the professor has been with technical issues and everything else. It’s driven me nuts not to have a set-in-stone rubric to know what is expected of me in terms of the final project. Honestly, I mean no disrespect. I’m the girl that gets excited to see her rubrics in the syllabus in the beginning of each semester and is thoroughly looking forward to tackling them as the semester progresses. I’ve finished research projects for other classes up to a month before they were due. Yep, I’m that kind of crazy. That being said though, this experience has been a very freeing one too. I get the feeling that we weren’t given a strict set of rules of what needed to be included in our projects because those can sometimes limit creativity drastically. I can definitely admit that this has been a learning experience that tested me but overall I’m thankful for.

Proof-of-Learning #3

Of all our discussions this past week, I think what intrigued me the most was getting to hear my classmates’ views on online classes. For some, this is the very first online class they have taken. Others, like me, have taken quite a few. This is a topic that everyone has an opinion on, and seemed open with sharing why they had strong feelings one way or another.

In terms of benefits for traditional setting courses, I think the major one that was discussed reflected how beneficial and sometimes time efficient the face-to-face interactions can be. While I do enjoy online classes, I did have a few thoughts on this concept. For example, it can be much more time efficient to answer questions in a more traditional class setting. In a face-to-face interaction, the professor can answer a question in front of the whole class and therefore they are less likely to have to repeat themselves in a series of ten different emails from students asking questions. However, this problem was solved in this online class due to the professor providing a forum strictly for asking technical and genre questions about the class projects. Still, then it is the student’s responsibility to read through everyone else’s questions and the professors responses to see if their question has already been answered. Then if it hasn’t, they would need to present the question and wait for the professor to get online to get back to them. Also, if you ask someone to re-explain a concept, they can tell fairly well from your body language if you understand the explanation or if they need to change their tactics and start presenting the information in a different way. You could go back and forth for days asking professors questions online and either not wording your question correctly or having them miss explaining what it was that you were really asking to begin with.

There are many benefits to taking an online course as well. With the Biology example as well as other classes, I find the in-class time to be useful and interesting...however, I generally have to take the information home to learn it. I enjoy seeing the presentations and learning how the concepts link together, but in order for me to actually get a grasp on the material to the point where I remember it, I need to work through it myself. Still, I use the notes I gathered from the presentation and the professor's power points too. The only exception to this that I can think of is in math. For me to understand a concept in that, I have to focus and learn that as they are teaching it...it would be much harder for me to teach myself those concepts later. Personally, my brain just isn't wired for math, and that's all right! Going along with the "learning at your own pace" sort of idea...for me, the benefit of online classes for me is that I don't have to sit in the lecture hall for 2 hours and then come home to re-teach the material to myself. I just go through it on my own and ask questions when I need help. It's far more of an efficient and independent thing for me I guess.

Something I consider to be a major downfall in terms of online courses though is something that has actually affected me this past week. If your internet is down, then you are kind of stuck. You might miss out on important information or turning things in by their deadlines. Then, your grade could possibly suffer. I’m hoping that since I’m doing my best to submit now what I have in terms of what I’ve been working on (Even though it's a couple days late! Sorry!), I hope that my grade won’t suffer too badly. Technology can be a very beautiful but frustrating thing sometimes!

Proof-of-Learning #2 (week 2)

This week I have been putting a lot of focus on trying to improve my discussion posts. One of the concepts regarding them that I tried to work on specifically was to ask my classmates questions regarding what we were discussing in order to challenge them to expand their perspectives further. I also tried to expand further on the topics we were learning about this week. I felt that I did better at this especially during the online dating conversations.

For our big research project, I have been checking out various technologies that are available to the Deaf community. I am a deaf education major, and the Deaf have a big place in my heart. I'm very passionate about sign language and learning anything associated with the Deaf community as a whole. Much of the research I've been finding I've been at least slightly aware of prior to this class. However, getting the opportunity to expand on this knowledge has been very interesting! I've been learning more about not only the different technologies available to help those who are deaf or hard of hearing to hear, but also the technologies that make communication even easier for them. There are so many! I hadn't really thought about it before, but online communities have opened countless doors that might not be open to you if you have a hearing impairment. Just some of these technologies include: email, facebook, online dating sites, TTYs, and texting.

Something I found particularly interesting this week was our discussion on online dating sites. I found much evidence that online dating is something that many in the Deaf community are interested in as an avenue to find their significant other. One of my roommates is deaf. She wouldn't necessarily be opposed to dating a hearing person, however, they would definitely need to know sign language in order to communicate effectively. While she is proficient at lip-reading, she has told me before that she isn't comfortable with the idea of dating someone who she can't communicate in her most comfortable avenue. (sign language) As understandably important of an issue as that is, it drastically limits who she would consider being in a possible relationship with. Online dating can help her locate men in her age group, who are deaf/hard of hearing or at least know sign language, and who have similar interests to hers. While it's unlikely that she will run into a guy with ALL of those qualifications out on the street or at a club, it is very likely she could meet one using something like eHarmony or some other dating site. Then they could get to know each other better via email, texting, facebook and the other countless avenues available. Eventually they could meet up and see if there is something to the relationship.

Proof-of-Learning #1 (week 1)

Our discussions and course readings for this week really led me to consider some things about online technology and social networking that I hadn't thought much about before. I found it easy to connect with our discussions because we were talking about topics that I am very familiar with. For example, I use facebook almost every day. I'm definitely addicted. Additionally, I now have an unlimited texting plan on my cell phone because that is the cheapest option considering how many texts I go through in a month's time. I found it very interesting to get to dig in and discuss the technologies most college students use on a consistent basis and see what potential they have for allowing space for creative writing and sharing thoughts.

One of the articles I found most intriguing was the one about Reputation Management. One of the first things I ever did online was to google my name and see what came up. I can remember being so curious to see my last name show up on the "world-wide web". At the time, it was kind of disappointing, because there wasn't a whole lot on a 4th grader from Iowa. Every now and then I still find myself randomly googling my name to see if anything unwanted pops up. I do this in an effort to keep a good reputation and see what future employers might be seeing if they were to google my name. First day of freshmen year here at ISU, I sat in class in my "first day of classes" new outfit, with a smile on my face. Only to be freaked out that future employers and scholarship givers could potentially take one look at my facebook page and find something they disagree with, canceling me out for an opportunity. I'm a pretty well-behaved girl...I don't do much to get into trouble and I certainly wouldn't post it on my facebook if I was doing something incriminating. However, I can't control what others post. I love my friends, but sometimes they can post things jokingly that my future employers might not necessarily understand are inside jokes. So while I'm online deciding which photos are flattering enough to stay "tagged" in, I also have the "I want to be seen as having the possibility of being professional" thought in the back of my mind. Managing your reputation is a lot of work, but I've been assured that it'll be worth it!

I also found our “Revisualizing Composition” conversation very interesting this week. Somehow it didn't surprise me that texting has become one of the most frequently used forms of communication. I feel that there are both benefits and downfalls of this. While it may be causing our youth to be socially stunted in some ways, it also serves as an outlet for further communication. While I have a close relationship with my family, I don't get to see them much. We text a lot because this allows us to keep up conversations throughout the day when we wouldn't be able to do so over the phone or in person. It keeps us connected. Same thing with my best friend. She goes to a different college and we rarely have free time at the same time due to busy class schedules and work, etc. We use texting to stay close and make each other laugh throughout the day. It doesn't replace face to face interactions...and it's not nearly as good. However, it does serve a good purpose in my opinion. In addition, things like facebook and email could be great outlets for creative writing and sharing of thoughts. Most of the things I end up reading are fairly well-written and honestly funny. They can give the opportunity for people to collect their thoughts on the day and express themselves via at least a form of writing.

I felt that our peer discussions on the topics this week were very good as well. I have to admit, initially I was very nervous after I read the syllabus. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well the interactions have been, as well as how much more interesting the conversations have made our learning this week. Many times as I open up other student’s comments to read, they have either stated in a well-put manner how I felt on the topic, or broadened my perspective on the topic at hand. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next three weeks will bring!