Looking back at the relatively short amount of time I have participated in COM 410 – Advanced Topics in Communication Studies, it strikes me how often the connections between the content we discuss and use in class come up in my everyday life, not only digitally but also interpersonally. For this reason the class has really stood out to me and piqued my interest in the topics we go over that much more which really goes back to the content. Over the course of the next few pages I would like to go over some of the material that has stood out among the rest and driven my interest to not only understand the content, but excel in it as well.
One of the biggest ideas that stood out to me was the concept of blended learning that we really examined for the second week of class. While it has been a part of my school experience for a number of years now, the percentage of classes that actually used blended learning in a positive, effective way is very small. Typically in my student experience blended learning meant having an online class webpage where content, resources, and assignments were posted and potentially some interactive capabilities, but none that ever were intended to capture the interest of the modern student. After participating in this class not only are we shown multiple examples of effective blended learning but I myself am involved in effective blended learning learning about blending learning, kind of wild right? I think that this really articulates and most importantly demonstrates firsthand effective examples of the blended learning we receive the benefits from every week.
One of the biggest ideas that stood out to me was the concept of blended learning that we really examined for the second week of class. While it has been a part of my school experience for a number of years now, the percentage of classes that actually used blended learning in a positive, effective way is very small. Typically in my student experience blended learning meant having an online class webpage where content, resources, and assignments were posted and potentially some interactive capabilities, but none that ever were intended to capture the interest of the modern student. After participating in this class not only are we shown multiple examples of effective blended learning but I myself am involved in effective blended learning learning about blending learning, kind of wild right? I think that this really articulates and most importantly demonstrates firsthand effective examples of the blended learning we receive the benefits from every week.
The video above was on the topic and brought to light some of the biggest highlights in terms of the positives involved in blended learning. You hear one of the teachers talking about how before they were able to effective utilize digital media to create an effective blended learning system they were really only able to teach at the average learning pace of the entire class leaving certain students extremely bored having the same thing repeated numerous times and some still lost after everything was said and done. Once the teachers brought in the right amount of technology and were able to seamlessly blend both media and education you hear one of the students say now instead of just sitting there bored he has the opportunity to advance and continue on the next topic which really allows the student a feeling of freedom. The pressure of not fully understanding a topic becomes a nonfactor as students in effective blended systems have the option to go back over the content until they feel comfortable and keep moving right along.
After receiving the syllabus and attending the first synchronous class, one of the curiosities I had coming into the class personally was our infatuation with social media such as twitter and the like and why we feel the need to be constantly checking our newsfeeds etc. As I was completing the reading for class a quote came up that not only addressed the topic but referenced a case-study that came up with some very intriguing findings. ““In a single-subject case study, Paul J. Zak of Claremont Graduate University, a pioneer in the emergent neuroeconomics field, discovered that a spike in oxytocin occurred after using Twitter for ten minutes. The implication of Zak's finding is that the frequent checking behavior of our favorite social networks might be reinforced by the chemically mediated feeling of connection that it gives us (oxytocin) as well as the chemical reward for hunting-seeking behavior (dopamine) described by others,” (47-48). It really stuck out to me as it shows a possible scientific correlation between our desires to check social media and the chemical releases that are triggered in our systems when we fulfill that desire which was very interesting. I have caught myself too many times after looking through my newsfeeds coming back to the very top again after about thirty seconds, to the same first headline, and checking briefly to make sure nothing had changed in the short time I was gone. Having someone explain and give reason to what not only I but many others do in their patterns of interacting with digital media really made me connect with the reading and the other ideas that Rheingold went on to convey which only enhanced my learning that much more.
Overall I would have to say that so far this has been the most positive online class experience I have ever had. I think that the content as well as our web page is oriented in such as way that it links all the content back together in such a way that we not only learn about the information we are presented but also are challenged to use multiple forms of media to fully fill out the key concepts of each lesson. For that reason I am very excited be a part of the COM 410 community and look forward to the lessons and challenges that await me this semester.
References:
After receiving the syllabus and attending the first synchronous class, one of the curiosities I had coming into the class personally was our infatuation with social media such as twitter and the like and why we feel the need to be constantly checking our newsfeeds etc. As I was completing the reading for class a quote came up that not only addressed the topic but referenced a case-study that came up with some very intriguing findings. ““In a single-subject case study, Paul J. Zak of Claremont Graduate University, a pioneer in the emergent neuroeconomics field, discovered that a spike in oxytocin occurred after using Twitter for ten minutes. The implication of Zak's finding is that the frequent checking behavior of our favorite social networks might be reinforced by the chemically mediated feeling of connection that it gives us (oxytocin) as well as the chemical reward for hunting-seeking behavior (dopamine) described by others,” (47-48). It really stuck out to me as it shows a possible scientific correlation between our desires to check social media and the chemical releases that are triggered in our systems when we fulfill that desire which was very interesting. I have caught myself too many times after looking through my newsfeeds coming back to the very top again after about thirty seconds, to the same first headline, and checking briefly to make sure nothing had changed in the short time I was gone. Having someone explain and give reason to what not only I but many others do in their patterns of interacting with digital media really made me connect with the reading and the other ideas that Rheingold went on to convey which only enhanced my learning that much more.
Overall I would have to say that so far this has been the most positive online class experience I have ever had. I think that the content as well as our web page is oriented in such as way that it links all the content back together in such a way that we not only learn about the information we are presented but also are challenged to use multiple forms of media to fully fill out the key concepts of each lesson. For that reason I am very excited be a part of the COM 410 community and look forward to the lessons and challenges that await me this semester.
References:
- Rheingold, H. (2012). Net smart how to thrive online. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4gA-eeJrcc