Dear future ds106ers,

Have you ever been in that relationship that is hot one second and cold the next. Yes, than no. In, than out? Okay, if you didn’t get the Katy Perry reference watch the music video.  Anyway, ds106 will take you for a ride from the very start where you learn how to purchase you’re own domain name and web hosting site.  Once you get over the frustrating password particulars, you’ll have learned that it is fairly easy for people to create their own websites.  Don’t be fooled by it being only a “100″ level class.  It is a lot of work, but an excellent change to the typical reading/writing/tests from other classes. (Yes, that’s right, there are no tests.) BUT, you got to complete the assignments.

One of the best projects is the dailyshoot assignment.  Each day you receive a new assignment and it is an excellent challenge to snap that photo.  If you want to see some great works and examples, check out Cali4beach’s Flickr.  This blondie has created an entire Rainbow Bright series that got started because of the daily shoot challenge. It’s awesome! (Along with everything else like this dandelion photo!)

Another amazing benefit from this class, is following everyone else’s work.  Google Reader is the best thing invented for following people’s blogs, news feeds, etc, all in one place.  Peoples creativity is incredible.  And sometimes it’s not even the basic assignments being created but things found on the internet that are then shared/linked to from a classmates blog….you really see the effect of media in how ideas are spread.  The speed is also unbelievable.  Twitter, which you must use for this class, is something I never enjoyed using the entire semester.  And while I understand some of the benefits, I still do not have any interest in “checking people’s tweets” to see what’s happening. Maybe someday if I get one of those fancy iphones Twitter will become an ‘on-the-go’ boredom check.  Anyway, Twitter was incredible useful when I was working on some projects, had some ideas, but was lacking the movie to do it.  So I sent out a tweet and less than an hour later Martha Burtis came to the rescue saying she had a copy of the movie and would get it right to me!

Don’t worry if you nervous about working with video, audio, or other mediums that you may have never explored.  This class, while challenging, is suited to all skill levels.  Chances are, once you finish this class, you’ll have found something that you’ll want to continuing doing in your free time. Whether it’s creating mash-ups, staring on ds106 radio, just following other people’s blogs, or creating your own work and sharing it, ds106 teaches you the means to get comfortable using the internet for more than just  research papers and email.    4 stars, Highly recommended!