Blog appeal?

As we already discussed in class, I think the blog was pretty successful in prompting class discussion outside of the classroom.  I think it was also really useful because it forced us (those of us who hadn’t previously had a blog) to actually experience what it is like to write online and keep a blog.  That seems like an important aspect of this course.  I think I may have enjoyed some more ”experimental” forms of reading/writing.  Even though “Patchwork Girl” and Mark Amerika’s sites were not the easiest works to read/navigate, they were helpful in making me better understand how literature/writing is changing and what books are going up against.  In the beginning of the semester, I did not really understand Sven’s fear of the book becoming extinct.  That idea seemed completely absurd.  I think I had such a hard time understanding that fear because I didn’t really know what else was out there.  Since I haven’t done much writing or reading online, I didn’t realize the extent of its popularity.  As I suggested in class, I think it may have been useful if we had each chosen what we wanted to present on.  That way, we could each have introduced the class to something new which literature may be competing with (fan fiction, online journals, flash poetry, etc.)  This might have been a good way of making us more aware of some things we did not even know exist. 

Although it seems uncharacteristic of me, I really enjoyed writing my final paper online.  It made me feel like I truly had made some real progress this semester.  I felt comfortable doing my paper online and I’m happy with how it turned out.  I feel like parts of it could be expanded into a longer more in-depth paper, but it was a good start.  I also feel as though I found a great balance between academic work, my favorite interest, and new ways of writing.  I know that sometimes at the end of the semester it is easy to write a paper you know the teacher will like and you’ll get a decent grade on.  But I really felt like I believed in this one hundred percent and was not just doing it to please the professor.  I’m not saying that I’m completely in love with online writing now, but my idea of it has definitely changed.  I’ve become more open to it and have actually discovered many benefits, which I mentioned in my final paper.  It might be interesting to offer this as an option/alternative to the whole class next time.  This would give the students the opportunity to, in a sense, “practice what we’re preaching.”  It doesn’t necessarily have to be a blog project, but something other than a “traditional” paper.

As for texts we read, definitely keep The Keep!  I think most of the theory pieces were important as well (even though I don’t like to admit that!).  I didn’t love reading The Diamond Age but I think the concept of the primer was important to this course.  Too bad there isn’t a “condensed” version of that text.  If you’re going to ditch one, I would vote for Special Topics in Calamity Physics.  I kind of felt like that was a lot of reading that didn’t offer too much to work with.