IRC

Mother-Fucker, excuse my language, but my whole fucking post about chatting, and identity was erased. My login had expired, so when I went to post, it asked me to login again, which I did, but then when I was brought to my blog, the post was gone. Usually, if I have a particularly long blog message or e-mail message, I will copy it to the clipboard before I post, but I didn't this time. I'm too damn pissed to redo it right now.

Evaluating Blogs

Damn, I came across a blog this morning. It was one that was highlighted on blogspot's homepage, I clicked, starting reading and couldn't stop. I will find the address and link it shortly, but let me describe it first.

This was a blog written by a young college student, at least I assume it was a college student, possibly high school, but i seriously doubt. The author was using the blog as essentially a personal journal, and the plot was very much like a sopa opera -- "H said this about me which amde me mad and I wanted to get revenge so I did this" -- stuff like that, which, under normal circumstances, BORES me to tears, but this blog was engaging, and I kept reading. In fact, I was interested and engaged. Why? Why? Why?

I think, sadly, I related on some level. This blog spoke to human issues, feeling vulnrable, shamed, vengeful, angry etc. Moreover, the blog was written like this: "I wish I was so hurt by what H said about me, but when I heard about it from K2, I just felt betrayed. I had trusted H and told him in complete confidence. Normally, I wouldnt reveal these sorts of things to people, but H had made me feel so safe and secure." Do you see a pattern here. The whole "plot" of the piece is so general as to almost apply to anyone, in almost any situation. I mean, who hasn't been betrayed in this way, and the author of this piece doesn't give us enough specifics to actually make it stick to HER, but, rather, it sticks to each and every reader. As I was reading, I related because I was recalling instances of the same treatment and feelings; I filled in the blanks on my own, and this made this an engaging read.

Okay, took me forever, but I finally found the url: http://tangiblethoughts.blogspot.com/2005/09/utter-confusion.html

I was side-traked by another blog, some dude travelling around Europe drinking and pimping his way acorss the continent. Primarily, this blog is a journal for recording the author's experiences. He is not very reflective, doesn't write a lot, but posts lots of pictures, some adult-only, but mainly the blog is recalls a big SILVER SPOON. The pics are nice though, makes me want to hop on the metro to Lambert and take off, but, ahh, real life intrudes on my dreams daily.

God, I hate to admit it, but I'm drawn to the personal blogs! Weird. I've been rambling around looking for blogs of note, and each time I settle on a blog and actually get into reading it, it's a personal blog. The blog I just finished reading -- http://anchorednomad.blogspot.com/ -- caught my attention becaaue of the layout. It's different, professional, colorful, has graphics. At first, I thought it was a magazine or newspaper site, The Anchored Nomad, what a great name.

This blog, while personal, has connections to the outside world. You'll notice a list of links to local (to her, Chicago) and worldy blogs running down the left frame. The blog is quirky, about cupcakes, her bank statement, a blue pen exploding in her ear on the train to work, her monthly cycle (LOL), and so on. There's an honesty here that is captivating, plus the prose is REALLY good.

In each of these cases, the writing is primarily personal or meditative. This does not mean, necessarily, that they are written for an audience of one, because I think both the writers understand strangers will be reading them, but they don't seem to care. These blogs are not intended to change the world, their audience is not the president or UN, nor are they focused around an issue or idea, just the SELF. They both have a voyeuristic quality and I think it is that type of person who would enjoy reading them, and because of this, these blogs do not, in their construction alone, encourage social connections; however, it may be the blatant honesty that will, in the end, encourage readers to respond.

Probably, the biggest barrier to blogs becoming a serious venue for exchanging information is what they have become -- online journals. As a construct, the blog is an excellent paradigm for building social/learning connections, but probably, in practical use, they are evolving into something quite different, at least based on what I have seen in reviewing random blogs on Blogspot.

EdTec 6436 - Log #1

CMC - Computer-Mediated Communication; CSCL -- Computer Supported Collaborative Learning.

I first started using CMC as a grad teaching assistant. The English department had just completed creating a very fancy, state-of-the-art (at the time), computer lab, and no one was using it! Ouch. I volunteered to teach my classes in the lab.

At the time, I wasn't really sure how to teach, let alone teach with technology. Mainly, what I did was post assignments online, had students respond to them, and post their responses to a sort of discussion board. We were using computers, but mainly just for writing and reading, not authentic communication.

As a writing teacher, however, this was probably very formative for me because it was during this period that I realized that the best way to teach students to write was by having them write, a lot. Novel, I know, but I had been taught writing by being talked to about writing, and I had this sort of paradigm in mind when I started my own teaching career.

From here, I moved to setting up listservs for my classes, and asked students to share what they had written in this way. This was probably the most successful I've ever been in teaching with computers. E-mail was still a novelty for most at this point, and when students received messages from their peers, they actually responded with thought and substance. The novelty has worn off, I'm pretty sure of that.

After graduating, there were a few years when I did very little with technology in the classroom. In fact, when I was a TA again, at UMN, studying for a 2nd Masters, I was stuck in the basement of an old building that had nothing in terms of technology. I was reduced to making overheads and projecting them on a ruddy colored wall. Dark ages!

My first FT job however was a marked change. I was at a college that had recently recieved a multi-million dollar grant for technology improvements and we had so much technology no one knew what to do with it all. I started using a smart board at this time, developed websites for each of my classes and embedded discussion boards into the web pages themselves. This was, I think, a bit like the GAW's (Group Awareness Widgets) that Kreijns and others discuss. This worked well. So, when students got to a point in the web content, they were asked to respond to what they had just read, and this material was published to the web for others to read.

When I moved to SWIC, I developed my first online course. I've been teaching this course for 3 years now and it's been a steep learning curve. Normally, I'm a sort of laissez-faire sort of teacher, but teaching online courses has forced me to become far more organized, far-sighted, and explicit about my expectations and what's to be done. In these courses, students communicate with me and their peers using e-mail, post material and responses to a discussion board, thye submit and I evaluate and return their work to them online, and they read all course materials from the web. I think I'm to the point now where the course itself runs fairly smoothly, so now I am able to begin to rethink the pedagogy itself and evaluate what's working and what's not.

Personally, as a CMCer, I use e-mail regularly, In fact, I'm beginning to tire of e-mail and it's becoming a burden, and instead of labor-saving, or time-saving, it consumes a great deal of my time. I rarely, if ever, write personal e-mails anymore. Now, the e-mail I receive and respond to is mostly dirty little business sorts of things.

I also blog. Mainly, I use my blog to record notes, or thoughts about the coursework I am taking. I summarize articles, respond to readings, and sort through ideas on this blog. I also have a general blog, the Nexus, that I use for freewriting. When I ask students to write in class, I often write with them and this blog is where I maintain this material.

I'm also an avid gamer. I play EverQuest which is a MMORPG. What is remarkable about this game is the social aspect to it. I'm not quite sure how I think about this yet, but it is the social aspect, the cmc that occurs, that makes this game much more than any other rpg, and that much more engaging. It's not just that relationships are built while playing the game, there is some of that, but I would not say that that is primary, because it's not. There are times when I "play" with the same people all the time, but generally, this doesn't work well and even if you plan to "meet" sometime, it hardly ever works out. Usually, I play with different people everyday. The game requires you to play as a group, and it is very difficult to progress, often impossible, without doing so in a group. The developers have created GUILDS as well, which are just collection of players who are willing to help each other, chat with each other, and, in general, support one another. This develops further social connections and entices more cmc, but, again, it is not a primary factor in the game play. Don't know. It's a great environment though.

As a student, I'm also taking a hybrid course, part online and part F2F. I didnt sign up for a hybrid, but the professor is pregnant, and opted to develop the course in this way. It's far more work taking a hybrid course. I'm not good with planning and online courses require you to be diligent, organized and detail-oriented, not really my thing.

I guess that about sums up my experience with cmc and cscl.