Cumulative Knowledge

What have I learned this semester? Lots of good things. One of the most important is about blogging. While it was not a requirement to use a blog for this course, I chose to complete my journal via this blog. The experience has been extremely positive. In fact, I am doing my thesis work, as well as my research project for this class, on blogging. I am even considering continuing with blogging when I work on my Ph.D., but from the standpoint of using blogging in distance education. What I like about blogging is the dynamic environment within which it operates. The chance for responses from others makes it even more interesting. As a result, I have started my own blog separate from the ones I am maintaining for my classes. PLEASE stop by at Bring Out Your Blog and take a look. There isn't much yet, but it will slowly and steadily increase.

Also, I have appreciated learning about the different research methods. Even though I have had a masters level research class before, that class focused on what would be considered "traditional" research. I haven't been exposed to ethnographic, historical, and feminist as much as I have other types, so that was helpful. I think it also has helped lessen my "fear" of research to a certain extent although I am not completely comfortable yet.

In addition, I have appreciated the exposure to research proposals, which is what are individual projects are about. I am still learning about proposals, but what we have been doing is certainly helpful. Having worked for a proprietary school, we did not do normal academic research. The research we conducted was primarily geared toward solving an immediate problem. For example, if I had a network problem that I wasn't familiar with, I would conduct research in order to fix the problem. Nothing like what we have been, and I will be, doing.Furthermore, I have learned that I need to be more proactive. It isn't that I haven't been proactive in the past, but my self-confidence has not been at the same level as it used to be. You might say that I'm out of my comfort zone. I am starting to feel like I belong here and that is making the process easier, but I still have a long way to go.Lastly, I have learned that I still am not completely sure what telos and mechanism are about, and John Monberg was way above my head in chapter 11 of our text. A lot of the difficulty I am having is with the level of discourse so I guess what I still need to learn is how to converse in this community. I am hoping that my continuing education next year in Comm Studies is going to help make me more comfortable. However, I do have a problem with the academia writing in such an inaccessible way. See my blog for a longer commentary on that subject. Well, that's it. I believe that this is my last entry. It's been a ride, much like a roller coaster, only this coaster isn't stopping just yet!