I signed up for this class like I have signed up for any other class: with the expectation of a couple of tests, maybe a quiz here or there and some essays. Most other classes I have been in have been oriented around the idea of cramming. A professor will give students an assignment, and the students will take that information and pack it all extraordinarily tightly into their brains just for it to be irrelevant, erased and forgotten immediately after the class, exam or paper comes to a close. Little did I know I was in for so much more than that.
As I reflect on this class, I realize that the structure of the class, while dynamic and requiring much more personal discipline, creativity and motivation to complete tasks, also required a total immersion in the information from which we were extracting understanding and integrating information into our own work.
Projects such as the bitstrip, or the infographics, required us to draw upon knowledge and research in order to formulate that information into our own creative versions. In doing this - in molding the information that we were to process into our own work - elevated the resonance of the material, and the value of my learning.
I certainly found the class to be very abstract in that I was not always certain about what or how I should be going about my assignments, especially when it came to the beginning of the midterm project, wherein the class began to brainstorm and create literature reviews. I felt completely lost in the process of compiling research, but ultimately, the lack of structure in this sense forced me to really peel down what I wanted to learn to the core. Because the midterm was more of a trial and error process for me, I did not feel nearly as attached to the research that I was conducting. However, with that being said, this allowed me to understand that in order to truly become invested in understanding and extrapolating research to come to my own new comprehension and creation, I needed to delve into a topic that not only interested me on an academic level, but also on a personal level (though these two things are certainly not mutually exclusive).
This was especially important, as just as volunteer service can only truly be invested in when one is passionate about their service, I could only research a topic that would ignite my civic engagement interests if I was passionate about my research topic.
Ultimately, the two website creations were extraordinarily helpful in the practice of mapping out thought processes in a way that is interactive and engaging. In the past, any research that I have taken part in has been for the sole purpose of the professor and my understanding and exploration. However, the idea that this research is actually meant to engage opens up what it means to do research and more importantly, this type of engaging research relies on the intention behind the research to propel it forward.
In this way, Participatory Culture, became the name of both the class, and the type of active engagement I was doing. While certainly the readings and smaller projects, as well as class discussions, were meaningful to me, the actual participation in an online community in my research was a completely novel approach to learning.
At some points, the abstraction of participating in the ever-shifting and constantly adapting internet proved to be difficult because of the overwhelming amount of knowledge to sift through. However, it is undeniable that producing such interactive research, both for me and for the consumer of the creation that is available on the web, was an invaluable experience.
Thank you for a wonderful semester, and for teaching us that learning is not always about reverberating knowledge. Rather, it is about creating something from that knowledge, or, participating in our culture.
As I reflect on this class, I realize that the structure of the class, while dynamic and requiring much more personal discipline, creativity and motivation to complete tasks, also required a total immersion in the information from which we were extracting understanding and integrating information into our own work.
Projects such as the bitstrip, or the infographics, required us to draw upon knowledge and research in order to formulate that information into our own creative versions. In doing this - in molding the information that we were to process into our own work - elevated the resonance of the material, and the value of my learning.
I certainly found the class to be very abstract in that I was not always certain about what or how I should be going about my assignments, especially when it came to the beginning of the midterm project, wherein the class began to brainstorm and create literature reviews. I felt completely lost in the process of compiling research, but ultimately, the lack of structure in this sense forced me to really peel down what I wanted to learn to the core. Because the midterm was more of a trial and error process for me, I did not feel nearly as attached to the research that I was conducting. However, with that being said, this allowed me to understand that in order to truly become invested in understanding and extrapolating research to come to my own new comprehension and creation, I needed to delve into a topic that not only interested me on an academic level, but also on a personal level (though these two things are certainly not mutually exclusive).
This was especially important, as just as volunteer service can only truly be invested in when one is passionate about their service, I could only research a topic that would ignite my civic engagement interests if I was passionate about my research topic.
Ultimately, the two website creations were extraordinarily helpful in the practice of mapping out thought processes in a way that is interactive and engaging. In the past, any research that I have taken part in has been for the sole purpose of the professor and my understanding and exploration. However, the idea that this research is actually meant to engage opens up what it means to do research and more importantly, this type of engaging research relies on the intention behind the research to propel it forward.
In this way, Participatory Culture, became the name of both the class, and the type of active engagement I was doing. While certainly the readings and smaller projects, as well as class discussions, were meaningful to me, the actual participation in an online community in my research was a completely novel approach to learning.
At some points, the abstraction of participating in the ever-shifting and constantly adapting internet proved to be difficult because of the overwhelming amount of knowledge to sift through. However, it is undeniable that producing such interactive research, both for me and for the consumer of the creation that is available on the web, was an invaluable experience.
Thank you for a wonderful semester, and for teaching us that learning is not always about reverberating knowledge. Rather, it is about creating something from that knowledge, or, participating in our culture.