The End is Near

Well as we come to the end of a fruitful second 8 weeks, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on what I have learned in this class. One of the main things I learned more about was my writing style. I really enjoyed being able to free write for once. So many professors are so strict about how your thesis has to be and if it is arguable, ect. I felt like this class allowed me to relax a bit with regards to the rules. It was a breath of fresh air to just write what I wanted to write about and not have to worry about all the extras that are involved. Sometimes that makes writing papers so boring! Especially when the topic is assigned to you.

I also learned a lot about where technology is heading with regards to writing and school in general. I know online courses have taken off within the past, well 5 years really, and I think with the advancements technology is making every day, things will continue to get more digital. I am not sure of what specifically the future holds, but I am excited to be a part of it.

I've had a great class experience and look forward to taking another class in the summer!

Digital Age

I think the digital age will not only enhance the way we write research papers, but our general communication as well. It has already been proven that communication has increased over the last 20 years with the improvements of technology. People can communication much easier now. There are blogs that can be utilized for family members and friends to catch up on their activities. With the advancement of instant messaging, people can talk any time of any day.

With regards to research papers, the advancement of technology has had a positive impact on researching and writing. Information is readily available via the Internet. The days of spending hours researching at the library to find more research for a paper are long gone. This has substantially helped to make the content of research papers more interesting and valuable.

Overall, the digital age has helped increase our communication, research and writing skills. It will be very interesting to see what the next 20 years of advancements bring.

I'm late

Well I was supposed to post on my blog last night. I forgot. One of the main reasons I forgot was because today I had to pack up my life (my laptop) and send it in for warranty work. I guess the wireless card went bad. That brings to me a question. What would we do without technology? I do not remember the last time I was without a computer. Maybe when I was like 10 years old. I remember when AOL had the first dial up connections. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. Then with the introduction of cable internet service, and now!!! It's crazy. I am really sad thinking about being without my laptop for almost 2 weeks or more depending on how long it takes to fix. And I did not save any of my stuff. Well I saved what I could but I had videos on there I really wanted to keep and I don't have a burner and don't have the money to go buy one and did not feel like spending 24 hours uploading everything to the internet, so I am hoping that they do not have to wipe out my hard drive because I will lose everything. It's almost like losing your wallet. You feel lost, alone and depressed!!!!

Ok, so maybe its not THAT bad, but still. Technology has completely taken over the world. It just amazes me how reliant we are on it today.

Anyways, but as far as our posts and readings for this past week, I think that instant messaging and online texts are definitely a thing of the future and will remain to be for years and generations to come. As I said, this is a technological world and its is not going anywhere anytime soon, so we must embrace this tech savvy world and move on with our lives! If you can't beat em, join em!

More Advertising

Well this week we discussed advertising and its connection to our emotions. I think that advertisers do and will always continue to study, monitor and feed off our the emotional need of consumers. We as a society have gotten so used to having our needs met and things catered to our specifications, that I don't know what would happen if advertisers stopped feeding this innate desire to be pulled into buying something. I am sure the outcome would not be very good.

We also talked about books and the digital age. I think that if books are all put into an online format within the next 10 to 15 years, that would be a great thing. I would also in turn hope that libraries did not see any decrease in population due to this fact. However, I am sure they will and have already seen some increase in their business. As someone previously stated, curling up with a good laptop is not even close to the same thing as curling up to a book!

Advertising

This week we discussed advertising in general. Advertisements in today's society can be very stereotypical and gender biased. There were a number of comments made about certain commercials gearing towards one gender more so than the other. This dynamic begins at a very early age. I was watching some of my children's cartoons the other day and noticed all of the advertisements that are directed towards children today. Of course all of the barbie dolls and "girly" stuff was directed towards girls, and all of the monsters and action figures were directed towards boys. But one thing I also noticed that showed gender based advertising was the kitchen and easy bake oven sets. These all had little girls gathered around them. So it seems as though even the tender age of 3, advertisers are gearing household duties towards the female gender.

Consumerism also plays a role in advertising. We, as consumers, need certain amenities to survive everyday life; however, advertisers make it seem as though we need so many other things than what it takes to survive. They feed on the desires of society to have the nicer things and the more up to date accessories, etc.

I guess advertisements have worked just fine up to this point and I'm sure the advertising/commercials we will continue to see in the future will be no less geared towards specific genders or to try to make consumers believe we "need" something that we don't.

Lets talk about Blogs

Well this week out discussions focused on blogging and the impacts of blogging on the mainstream media. The information provided was thought provoking and very interesting to say the least. I never really thought about how blogging and the future of it has affected and will continue to affect my daily life.

I get the majority of my news and information via the internet by reading blogs and watching news segments online. I believe that blogging has made it more convenient for people to obtain their information immediately. We live in a hurried society these days and blogging has had it's fair share of affecting this type of lifestyle.

Overall I believe blogging will have a positive impact on the future of media. I am sure local newspapers and news stations are not at all excited about the future of blogging; however, it is a sign of the times and there is not much anyone can do to stop it!

It's that time again!

Good evening everyone! Well here we go again. Another day, another class. However, this one, even though it is a requirement for my degree, I have been looking forward to more so than others. I obviously did not become an English major for nothing. I want to write. I love to write. I love to get wrapped up in my own thoughts and feelings and rhetoric. At times it can be a great escape from reality. Hence why I was so excited about taking this course.

I am already thoroughly enjoying reading all of the other classmates posts and their thoughts on the views of the world. I enjoy giving my feedback and seeing what others opinions are. This first week talking about different issues has been enlightening for me. Remembering back on my days growing up of watching television have brought back a lot of memories. I only hope that I can learn the good and the bad from the way I watched television, particularly the types of shows I watched, and make sure my children enjoy a positive experience from their time in front of the tube.

Well I look forward to an exciting and interesting next few weeks!