It's likely that the majority of students associate blogging with leisure and their social life rather than academic courses. However, increasingly, blogging is being seen as a way of encouraging writing and it's an inescapable truth that the more you are obliged to marshal your thoughts within the discipline of writing, the better you will be in that skill or should be. In the words of Edward Murrow(1908-1965), the famous American radio broadcaster:
"The newest computer can merely compound at speed, the oldest problem in relations between human beings and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem of what to say and how to say it."
What to say?
This quote heralds in what I want to say next. That is, blogging gives you an opportunity to "confront' what you have learnt and may raise concerns that you ( and other students) were only mildly conscious of before. Consider this quote by John Dewey (1859-1952), the philosopher, educational reformer and psychologist:
"There is more than a verbal tie between the words common, community and communication. Try the experiment of communicating with fullness and accuracy, some experience to another, especially if it is somewhat complicated, and you will find your own attitude towards the experience changing."
Such communication has the added advantage of strengthening ties within your blogging group and everyone knows it's easier to learn in a close, supportive classroom environment than amongst strangers. Communication has to be two ways of course so group members must give feedback and comment on their fellow bloggers publications.
Finally, I hope to get some feedback on your reaction to this course ands also insight into how you are faring.
To end with a quote from Marcel Proust(1871-1922), the novelist: "we are healed of a suffering only by expressing it to the full." Or as we used to say more prosaically back in my home town in Birmingham, England, "a trouble shared is a trouble halved."
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2 comments:
HELLO! :D
I find this course really interesting, and I believe that we will be able to learn alot from it. Basically, this course is very different from the rest of my courses (maybe because the rest of my courses are math courses). I hope that by attending this course, it would put me a class above the rest, and give me an edge over others when I start working in the near future. I believe that many of us in the class also think so, since we used 997 bid points to bid for this module (which was really expensive).
In addition, by making us write blogs instead of handing in essays seem more relax, and allowing us to put our creativity into use. It's true that our blog groups will enable us to know more people, and get ideas of them through interaction.
However, I feel that we should perhaps rotate groups every 4 weeks or so, so that we can get to know more people and interact better with them. In my perspective, I find that being able to work with people whom we do not know, or people who are from different cultures and backgrounds is of grave importance. This is especially so in our workplace, which we will all be positioned in soon (maybe in another 1-3 years to come). :D
In short, I find that this course is really exciting!!!
Hello!
I feel that the course has been refreshing thus far. It was really interesting to hear about the thoughts and experiences of my fellow classmates. Perhaps we can grow to become a more closely knitted group at the end of the semester!
Also, I think we can learn more about ourselves, and how we communicate, through the interactive methods employed in the lectures.
Cheers,
Lin Lin
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