For this week’s assignment, we were asked to view a lecture and read an article by Gardner Campbell. To be honest, at the beginning of each source I felt a little lost. Having never previously been involved in the online world with the exception of Facebook and occasionally Twitter, upon viewing the podcast, I felt disconnected, like an outsider. Before this class, I was that student that cringed at technology. I used pencil and paper during classes for notes, and refused to purchase a textbook to read from a screen. Even now that I have my foot in the door with my blog, I feel unprepared for the whole world ahead that I have yet to explore. It’s exciting and daunting.

In the article and podcast, Campbell talks about a “digital facelift” that newspapers underwent to broaden their readership. In regards to higher education, it all makes sense now– the up and coming “fad” that was online classes that tragically failed to live up to its hype. I remember taking online classes freshmen year at Virginia Tech and realizing what a joke it actually was. Not only did we not have a connection with a real-life professor, but we could re-take quizzes an infinite number of times until the maximum score was achieved. Also,  Virginia Tech math department? Almost non-existent. For a majority of the math classes, students were required to use the Math Emporium–which was a center of thousands of computers where the students sign in a receive their math lessons for the day. Online math classes… I don’t know about the rest of you, but learning calculus online is damn near impossible. Anyway, I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to be a part of the new wave of online classes that I hope will catch fire to universities and colleges across the globe. I think these “facelifts” are unavoidable so we might as well stay updated with the technology and embrace the ingenious minds that are crafting our technological culture.

I can already tell this class is going to be a transformative one. Maybe one day I can learn to love technology and all it has to bring? Maybe? Let’s not get too crazy.

Signing off for now–off to cook dinner for my best friend’s 21st birthday

L