Final Reflective Blog

Before the spring semester had started, I was very curious what electronic comm would be all about. Right off the bat when we read the introductory section on CMC, I began to realize that this was something I had been taking for granted all along. CMC has always been a part of my life and I have never deeply explored simply because its just a means of communicating I use every day. That’s why I was pretty excited about the opportunity to explore different aspects of CMC and learn more about something that has had great influence on my life. One of the very first things Corso brought to our attention in the course was how often we use CMC with one another. My big “oh wow” moment came when Corso read off some statistics about CMC and when revealed how many million text messages are sent every day, I was astounded. I never would have thought that text messaging was used by so many people. Every time I send a text message now, I think about how it has become such a normal yet important means of communicating. As far as my future and career, I think that CMC will only become more and more a part of my life. My generation has grown up with computers and cell phones and nowadays, that is how we function is so many ways. I think that I will continue to use CMC to communicate and complete various tasks especially within my major of broadcast communications. Lets face it, emailing is as common as a phone anymore and I feel that in order to make contacts and apply for jobs, I will be using email. That’s how I got my internship. I sent an inquiring email and from there, sent a resume, cover letter and a link to my blog to view my work. All my communication with my internship advisor was done through email up until the interview. I feel that this is how I will function most of the time in my career and every day life in the future and I will most definitely raise my kids using CMC as well. I view CMC somewhat differently now as I find myself always thinking of ways to improve something. Some people are fascinated with modern technology but to me, its only normal and I look beyond the buttons and gadgets for ways that CMC technologies such as cell phones could improve. I always wonder, “What will they come up with next?” and I try to predict it. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the course. It was different than other courses that I’ve taken because it was much more “modernized” with use of modern day technology such as the internet to assist with the teaching of the course. There wasn’t your typical “read and retain” style of teaching like some courses I’ve taken but rather an enjoyable reading experience on the web. This made it more fun and made me feel like I was applying my knowledge of technology to learn. Coming into the class, I knew Mr. Corso’s style of teaching and I enjoy it a lot so I knew it would be fun but never expected to get as much out of it as I did. CMC sounded like a boring topic at first but turned out to be something I had underappreciated for many years.

reflective blog #10

Ooops. I blogged backwards. Apparently last week I was supposed to blog about the cyber liaison article. Oh well. So anyways, I did end up finally reading the article and I found it very interesting. At first, I immediately figured out that the guy was intending to turn a simple email relationship into something more. I assumed the woman (and author of the article) would be totally against this since she was aware that he was married with a young child. Usually women are more aware of this and care a lot about destructing a relationship. However, in this case, she was hooked on this guy and their online affair. They were able to relate well to each other as each had was handicapped and it seemed like a match made in heaven but it couldnt be because the guy was married....simple as that. It didnt help matters that each of them lacked a social life because of their disability and this is what I feel was both of their downfalls. In any6 other case, I would completely encourage this relationship and support it. Its great that two people can meet each other and develop a great relationship and a common bond and still have some kind of a social life even if its online. However, in this case, it cant work out given the circumstances. Im sure even though this article is somewhat out dated, this is a common problem that happens all the time on the web. Two people meet accidentally and realize that they are absolutely perfect for each other but some conflict is keeping them apart...a conflict like marriage. Sometimes, the relationship is ended because of the conflict but other times, online relationships can ruin real-life relationships with spouses. Just another way the web can help OR harm you.

reflective blog #9

Although it is considered a "chick-flick," I must admit that the movie, "You've Got Mail" was pretty good. At times, I found it hard to stay focused on finding material from class within the movie because I had become so involved with the storyline. (please keep those recent comments away from my guy-friends...thanks.) Anyways, one thing in particular that stood out to be was the different personalities Joe Fox seemed to have. WHen he was online talking with Kathleen, he seemed like a very sensitive and understanding guy. He was easy to talk to and seemed to be very down to earth. However, in person he sometimes acted like he was into himself. For instance, whenever he and Kathleen were enemies and fighting about the fate of her bookstore, he was egotistic and bragged about his bookstore being better. He seemed to take on a different identity and was somewhat of a smart-ass (pardon the french) and it completely turned Kathleen off and she didnt like him at all. Little did she know, she was totally falling for him online. How can this be? Well, Joe shaped his online identity differently than his real-life one. Joe was in search of finding a better woman in his life and wanted to make sure that he did all the right things to attract the opposite sex. He was kind, easy to talk to, understandable, and always offered a helpful and sometimes flirtacious word to Kathleen. In the end, Joe was able to mold both identities together and express his true self to Kathleen. She liked him alot more once he started to act like the man she met on the internet and they fell in love and lived happily ever after.
I liked the movie alot and this was the main concept that stood out to me from class. Online identity and how it can vary enough from your real-life indentity to cause some conflict.

reflective blog #8

Another shorts week. Im definitely not complaing but it makes blogging somewhat difficult. I try to blog about things we did in class but its hard when we only had one class this past week. I guess ill take a moment to talk about the video we watched from youtube. I thought it was very powerful story and it definitely touched many people on the youtube community including myself. I cant believe that a video camera, a very sick girl, a concerned loving mother, and a very passionate individual can start a world-wide campaign. Its so awesome that people all over the world can see this girl and realize the pain she is going through and most importantly pray for her. It also provides them an opportunity to touch base with and effect the young girls life and for some people, including myself, it makes us realize how lucky we are to be healthy. Its so nice to see youtube and the internet being used to positively effect someones life, istead of just serving as a source of entertainment.

reflective blog #7

Oooops! I forgot to blog last week. Shame on me but I got busy with baseball and broadcasting and it completely slipped my mind. Oh well, enough with the excuses. This brings about a topic I was thinking about recently when I realized I hadnt blogged: People use blogging in different manners. For me, I like to use my blog site to display some of my work and update people (particularly family) about my life. I knwo that some people use blogging as an everyday journal where they go and vent about their day and take a "dear diary" approach to blogging. I usually dont need to vent about my day and if it was a crazy and stressful, I vent to my pillow at night when I fall asleep. This is what I blame for my inconsistency with com 301's weekly reflective blogging. If I had a reason to access my blog every night, I would remember and probably get into a routine to blog for class and might even feel compelled enough to blog more than once a week about whats going in com 301. However, I just use my blogger as a personal website to display my work and keep people up to date with my life which only requires me to blog every so often.

reflective blog #6

This past week, we had the pleasure of watching "Myspace the Movie" in com 301 class. This is the first time I had ever seen the homemade flick on youtube. The movie was pretty well produced and made for some good laughs and most importantly, it kind of put everything into perspective. Stopping to think about myspace, facebook, and other social networks, they have become a significant part of our lives even on a daily basis. Since coming to college, I have an obsession with checking my email everyday mainly because it is a vital part of communication with faculty, friends, and family. However, I (along with many others im sure) also seem to obsess over checking my myspace and facebook accounts. I think the main reason deals with what we discussed in a recent reading which is identity. We want to make sure our facebooks and myspaces are up to date and accurate because they represent us in a way. If we are not in touch with these social networks, how can we be in touch with ourselves considering social networks are a part of ourselves?

reflective blog #5

With the short week, there isnt a whole lot that comes to mind for me to blog about. We only read one chapter during the week and it dealt with ethics of the internet. One thing that stuck out to me in that chapter was how so many parts of the world do not have access to the world wide web. I mean, isnt that why we call it the "world wide web?" Everyone in the world needs to be connected so we can all communicate with one another. I cant even survive one day without accessing the internet, I dont know how some people have never and will never be able to use the web. Imagine if everyone in the world had access to the internet and how great it would be if we could communicate with people from all cultures throughout the world. Wouldnt that be cool? I think it would result in better understanding of one another's cultural beliefs and could lead to less conflict between cultures and countries.

-Chris

reflective blog #4

It was pretty nice not having class at all this week. I figured that this online class thing would be pretty simple and straight-forward and that I would like it alot. However, I found it to be somewhat of a hassle. To me, when I come to class, I know exactly what the professor is expecting from me for an assignment. I can easily ask questions and get immediate answers. Also, I can easily communicate with my group members before, during, or after class fairly easily. With the online class, if I sat down to work on an assignment during a particular time of day but had a question for Mr. Corso or another group member, I would most likely have to wait for an answer. Why? Because I cant expect Mr Corso to respond to an email instantly or expect a class mate or group member to respond to a question right away via IM, text, or email. This could pose a problem because much like everyone else, I have a busy schedule and find it difficult to find time to sit down and work on online assignments. Therefore, when I finally do sit down, I need to have all the required info and dont have time to wait around for answers from others. Also, I found it difficult to keep up with my online work because without a daily reminder from my professor or group members, I tend to forget and take for granted an important upcoming assignment. Overall, I felt it was a good experience to see how online learning takes place. Of course it was nice not having to go to class each day but I feel more comfortable and productive with an in-class learning experience.

reflective blogging #3

Of course I am going to want to blog about the test we had. Having had Mr Corso before, I kind of knew what to expect, but I never remember my hand being so sore after taking one of his tests. I really appreciate the fact that we are allowed to choose the questions ourselves and I think that makes it a little easier but there was alot of material on that test. Overall, I thought that I prepared sufficiently and was ready for the test. I only had to stop and think about a few of the questions and for the most part, I answered every question with confidence. The longest pauses I took were to get feeling back in my hands. Although I feel confident about how I did, I still worry about one thing...did I study the right answers? I fill out the study guide and thats my salvation for studying, if I answered one of the review questions wrong, I'm screwed!!! The first test I ever took in Corso's class last semester, I studied and flew threw the test and felt good about how I did but later found out that I didnt do so well because the answers I studied either werent right, or wasnt what Corso wanted. I am kind of worried about this again because it seems too good to be true. Oh well...you live and learn.

Reflective Blogging #2

I recently got some great news that I was chosen to serve as an intern this summer at Jacobs Field with the Cleveland Indians. I am really excited about this and I couldnt wait to share the news with all of my family who had been praying for me. This is when I take CMC for granted as I used email, blogging, and IMing to notify everyone about my good news. Had I not had CMC at my fingertips, what would I have done. Most likely, there would have been family members that would not have found out about me getting the intership for many reasons. Firstoff, I dont have everyone's telephone number nor do I know their schedule. I have family all over, its not possible for me to get a hold of them because they all have busy schedules like me. However, I have all my family's email and some of their screen names so therefore, I could easily and instantly send them a message that they would definitely recieve at some point. Also, mostly all of my family knows my blog address so they often access it to see what I am up to and eventually, they would have checked it out and seen my recent post about the good news. Not only does it make it easier for me to notify family, but also friends. I posted the news in my away message and I cant tell you how many people IMed me to congratulate me on getting the internship. Even facebook was a huge help as I wrote a public note for all to see that was all about the good news. So by the time people checked my away message, facebook note, or their inboxes, they knew of my excitement and were sure to congratulate me and wish me the best of luck...THANKS CMC!!!

Super Sledding with the On the Road Crew

WCN's On the Road crew decided to stay off the icy roads and hit the hills for some serious sled riding. Jill, Chris, Danielle, and Dave all took their turns flying down the hill towards Lake Britian.

Reflective Blogging #1

So here is my first reflective blog of the semester. The first thing that comes to mind that I would like to reflect upon is what this class has made me think about so far. First off, I never realized how much I actually use CMC. After a few discussions in class about how many different ways there are to communicate through various means of technology. I guess since it I have grown up around it most of my life, I tend to take it all for granted. In the most recently read section of the book, (S1:U4) I had the chance to consider some of the views of those who feel that CMC is destroying our relationships with others due to lack of face to face communication. This is a good point that is raised and I can see how the absence communicating to another person face to face could indeed affect people's social skills and overall outlook on life. It doesnt take much social skill, personality, or effort to type a text or send an email, but on the other hand, CMC allows more opportunity for comunication. So there are two sides to the story but I'm sticking with supporting CMC because if it werent for my laptop and the internet, I would have lost contact with many friends and family members. However, I still enjoy a good sit-down conversation with these people anytime I have the chance.