Evaluation of blogging experience. Extra Credit

         I had used a blog before RTF305 for a European history course. It was similar in that we responded to prompt questions and we also commented on each other’s blogs to aid discussion. Its focus was to facilitate learning through research and discussion. It was extremely useful.

I really liked the blogs focusing on movies because I found that applying technical concepts of movie making to my own examples really helped me internalize the information and understand it. I also liked defining things in my own words via the blog because it made me really understand the concept and not just memorize a definition.

I didn’t really encounter any difficulties while using the blog. I thought the instructions were fairly simple and the prompts were not difficult to follow either. I’d used a blog before so I knew how to technically work it. I think blogger is fairly simple even if you haven’t had to use a blog before if you are fairly adept at computer use.

Because I’m a film major, I naturally felt that the film related blog prompts (for example the one where we had to find examples of Long shots, short shots/ close up, etc.) were very interesting and useful. I also thought the prompts relating to advertising were very interesting. I thought that the blogs about general terms such as “globalization” were a bit dull, but not difficult. I did not find any of the blog prompts difficult.

I would definitely recommend using a blog in any class. I think students spend an inordinate amount of time online so blogging is the next natural step in education. It’s good to put down original thoughts and an easy format for that is blogging.

I thought the prompts were all pretty relevant to the topic. I might suggest a central location online where everyone has their blog URL so students can read other student’s blogs. I would have liked to read what other people were posting about.

Yes, you can use my blog in a paper or report.