Final posting on JOUR289I

The Info 3.0 course was an eye opening course for someone who previously had very little use of computers/technology while in class. The majority of courses I have taken in college were taught in a more traditional type setting. The traditional setting I am speaking of is the class where the professor writes on the white board, usually information that is straight from the text book, and the students take notes. Once the class time is up, I have rarely had opportunities, past ELMS and webassign, to use technology as a learning aid.

This course revealed a completely different side of education that I believe many are not aware of. The ability to use twitter, blogs, and many of the other new media devices (especially audioboo) allowed the class to remain more in our element, rather than what seems like a return to high school when watching our professors regurgitate information that we can read. Our generation has grown up with the great expansion of technology over the last decade, and are usually more comfortable using forms of technology to complete assignments than the old fashion ways. As more and more of these courses are developed, I believe students will respond more positively to education due to the fact they will not be merely listening to the professor but will be interacting with the class and information as a whole.

After taking this course I will encourage my peers to seek these classes to take, classes that make a better use of technology in and outside of the classroom. Those who have not experienced a class that takes advantage of the various forms of media and social networking that universities offer may have catching up to do as society becomes more interconnected. My peers and I have been exposed not only to many forms of media but have used them in a productive manner.

I knew of twitter before joining the class, as everyone not living under a rock does, but I thought it was a way of following celebrities and friends. I did not think Twitter had any way of being used productively. Having to use a twitter account for this class changed my mind about twitter for life. In the three months that I have used twitter; I have found it to be one of the quickest ways of getting news and other important information on current events, as well as a social network that I believe can surpass Facebook (just because of its simplicity). The site/application audioboo.fm was another tool used in class that I previously had little knowledge of. For those reading who are not familiar with this app, it allows the user to quickly record interviews or speeches and quickly post them online on the audioboo site, twitter, or even facebook.

This course, overall, has given me a greater appreciation for how great an impact technology can have on not only education, but society as a whole. I hope more courses that take advantage of using technology are created because I believe it will help keep students intrigued and productive in the classroom.