Self-directed Learning / Personal Blog Posts
There are many ways I have investigated and developed thinking about specific topics in digital culture this semester.
Some blog posts that document my learning include:
1. nonfiction book review of How We Became Posthuman
2. fiction book review of A Hazard of New Fortunes
3. adapted repost of an essay from a previous course about virtual reality
4. review of Nyssa Silvester's chapter about echo chambers in Writing About Literature in the Digital Age
5. conscientious recap of social proof
6. group project proposal (later combined with LBP group)
7. research on the benefits of video gaming (which informed the LBP project proposal)
8. midterm self-evaluation
Some Google+ posts that document my learning include:
2. posts about Web 2.0 sites (Khan Academy, Netflix)
3. current events posts (internet and the election, international web regulation proposals and commentary, etc.)
4. posts about social media (YouTube, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Blogger)
5. prior art posts (V for Vendetta kinetic typography, LBP 2 Final Fantasy 7 level, LBP 2 Back to the Future DeLorean, LBP 2 Missionary level)
6. academic digital culture posts (Dwyer's "Building Trust With Corporate Blogs")
5. extensive comments on others' Google+ posts
*Books, articles, videos, and research materials I've looked at in my self-directed learning process are all included above.
Collaboration
Contributions to my group:
1. wrote proposal
2. scripted video pitch
3. contacted BYU video games club and organized meeting for social proof
4. got Daily Universe article published (after our group experienced some complications)
5. recorded, scripted, edited, and narrated 3 gameplay walkthrough videos mid-semester to show our progress
6. obtained social proof from expert LBP 2 level builder/YouTube user omegafalcon
7. found and posted several instances of prior art
8. posted a quality midterm recap to keep us on track
9. produced a quality LBP 2 level ("The Mission")
10. recorded, scripted, edited, narrated, and produced our final product
11. brought in PS3 and presented our published LBP 2 levels in class (with Casey)
12. variously represented our project's progress to the class and other entities
Contributions to other groups:
1. critique of the Badges group proposal
2. research identifying potential sources for social proof and an extended G+ write-up for Badges group
3. several in-class comments and feedback given to the Chaotic Connections group
Contributions to class:
1. regularly contributed to class discussions
2. represented our group to the class on various occasions
3. missed few class periods
Others' assistance
Early on, I engaged in conversations on Google+ with (and had a lot of help from) the following people: Allie Crafton, Katie Cannon Wilkie, Gwendolyn Hammer, Rebecca Ricks, Nicole Black, Greg Williams, and Casey Deans. Allie Crafton was particularly helpful and engaged in more than a dozen separate conversations with me. Later, I continued conversing with these people but gained more help from Heather Andersen, Grace Kim, Joshua McKinney, and Nyssa Silvester (a former student). I am thankful for the insight and diligence of these individuals; they were integral to my learning this semester.
Digital Literacy
Before this course, I thought I was fairly well versed in digital culture. I've always been kind of a computer hobbyist and knew some things about programming and hardware beforehand. However, the idea of "consume, create, and connect" was completely foreign to me. I was almost exclusively a consumer, as I assume many of our classmates had been prior to the course, and my efforts at creation and connection were superficial and unguided.
I feel like this course taught me to use technology purposefully. It taught me not only how to use digital culture mediums but, more importantly, how to respect them. Gone are the days when I'll jump on Facebook and spout random drivel. Treating digital mediums with as much respect as traditional literary mediums has driven me to produce work of equal quality, detail, care, and attention. It has prevented me from wasting time on what I previously considered to be purely entertainment mediums: internet, television, video games, smartphones, and tablets. I now see these as concerted production and connection mediums, and while there was a period of adjustment after I made that realization, I enjoy them more now than I did before. I have come to realize that unique principles of digital culture such as various liquid stages of publication, RERO, social proof, DIY movements, collaborative tools, open source sharing, badges, gamification, and a focus on visualization can make us better thinkers and vastly improve society.
