MIDTERM REFLECTIONS: Joy with a hint of cynicism

Introduction to 21st Century Media 120

Autumn 2010/MidTerm Examination: MID-SEMESTER REFLECTION

After studying the 21st century media for eight weeks in class, what have you learned? Please be specific.

I have learned how to analyze any forms of media and think differently about what is being said and the techniques used to persuade the viewers. Along with that I have learned how to blog, which I didn't take the time to know how to do before. Not to mention I learned how you have to fight and argue with your own blogs to make sure it is all posted correctly. One of the most recent problems I had was trying to have words come out and not symbols in replace of words.

What is the most important thin you have learned about yourself as critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far?

I learned how much I like to blog, to be able to communicate in the virtual world. Before I never viewed blogging or Twitter as a positive thing, mainly because of the stupidity that's often posted out there. Learning to to intelligently blog piked my interest and I find that I truly enjoy all the blogging and communicating in a more modern sense.

What's one think you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

Personally, I would study my power tools more. The power tools (which had been confusing to me at the time) make more sense the more to go over them. Now that I know them a lot better and understand the uses of them I regret not focusing on them more before.

What's one thing you would like me to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

This is the difficult question for me to answer, because to be hones I haven't had any qualms with the teaching method's used in class, mainly because that's half o f the reason I life the class so much. All the videos shown, the blogs and blog posts have all been great experiences for me there is only one thing that I am not to keen on and that is the Media & Culture book, but even posting about it isn't too bad. I feel nothing should really be changed, I liked how the class eased in to learning how to pick apart videos with the tools and the history of mass media itself. The daily class has a formula that it follows and I personally prefer that, so I know what I'm getting in to. Unfortunately I couldn't answer what the question asked, because I don't think anything should be changed, I like it all.

Please comment on the usefulness of the power tools, our course blog, your personal blog, our in-class quizzes, our films, and our book(s) as learning tools.

The power tools: I find that the 3 subjects in the tools are very helpful. They make it easy to pick apart videos and pay attention to what is used in media to draw us in. The power tools and the knowledge you can get from them, (Which I only realized just recently) is that it shows you everything and you WONT fall for the media scams.

The course Blog: The course blog has to be one of the most handy tools a class could have, and for multiple reasons. One, because you can see ahead of time what is going to happen in your next Media and Society class or if you miss a class you can see what went on in class and be able to know what work you need to do for next class. Two, it makes it a very easy way to post homework assignments, and look at others assignments and see if you are on the right track. Finally, you can always go back to use what you need, which is hard to say so I will give an example. Every time we post about the next chapter in Media & Culture, I always forget the five things we need to write on. So I know I can go back to the post that has the five parts and I can get it again instead of losing it and having to see what others did.

The Personal Blog: This idea has to be one of my favorite parts of the class, because we can write about anything that we want and design it how we want. Using the techniques we can blog about what interests us and what we feel about a certain medias as opposed to writing for the teacher and trying to please them with an opinion they would like.

The In-Class Quizzes: At first I didn't like the quizzes so much, mainly because I wasn't pleased with my grades I guess. Now though, I can use the charts better and I like them because it gives me a chance to dissect a video and see how someone is trying to sell ideas or products.

The Films: Maybe I can just get pulled in to easily, but all the films shown hold some interest for me. They all seemed to have to pull in my attention, which is good because we have to watch them, but I like everything that's been shown, whether it's the history of something or a short video or music video I haven't seen any of the films in that class bore me.

Media & Culture Book: Now of course we can't like every aspect of something, so this is the one thing that I do not like, the class book. I have a hard time reading it and being interested at the same time, which is rare because I tend to like most books. The book is rich with facts which I love, but the reading

itself is dry. If I were to say I didn't like something about this class it w

ould be the book, as my roommate would say, "I am not a fan," which I am not when it comes to reading it, even though I know there is a lot in it that is useful information.