Reflective Letter
When I first started the Writing, Research, and Technology course, I constantly kept saying to myself “Breathe Kim, I know you can do this.”
This course has expanded my ability in the field of writing, researching, and the use of technologies. In the areas below, I have separated the three main components of this course into individual sections. Each part discusses what I have learned, the struggles I had, and how it has impacted me as a student. Within these sections, I also integrated the three main assignments: twitterive, oral history, and the collaborative research project.
Writing
Having a dual major in Writing Arts has improved my skills as a writer much more than I had anticipated. This course deeply altered my impressions of writing. I have always enjoyed writing poetry, but this course helped me find a new love for a genre called multimodal. Being introduced to a new genre made these three projects I had to complete more pleasant. Even though there were genres within the multimodal projects that I was not particularly in favor of (editing videos for the Oral History Project) I still had fun completing the assignments. Twitterive was a way for me to express my true emotions through multimodal writing. The collaborative research project not only allowed me to write in different genres, but I was also able to work collaboratively with someone who was as passionate about education as I am. Together we produced a well-rounded assignment that I was very happy with. My partner and I discussed our ideas together, but wrote independently. Initially, I was concerned that our writing was going to look choppy, but everything fell into place.
As much as I enjoyed completing the three assignments, I did not like blogging. I struggled with displaying my personal ideologies. The thought of classmates (and random people) being able to read my blogs anytime they wanted was discomforting. As much as I tried to reflect on assignments, class discussions, and the class in general, it was hard for me to open up. By blogging over twice a week, it made me realize that I would never be able to maintain a public blog that depicts my feelings or discusses my personal life. Due to this problem, I also had a difficult time expressing myself through tweets. I am not the type of person that likes to broadcast what they are doing throughout the day; therefore, I would always have to think about what I was going to say before I posted every tweet. The 140 maximum characters did not bother me as much as having to share my personal experiences or thoughts. Even thought I struggled with expressing my sentiments through blogging and tweets, I do feel that I have opened up somewhat as I became more familiar with the class, especially during the collaborative research project. I posted various blogs about how I felt with regards to my partner, the interviewees, and the project in general. Here is an example of one of my blogs:
“After speaking with the developmental psychologist yesterday, I realized that this interview is just what we needed for our research project. Coleen specializes in autism spectrum disorders. She improved my knowledge on the topic of autism spectrum, not just in the area that we were researching, (gluten and casein free diet) but also in other ways. I always knew it took a special person to work with children/young adults with severe disabilities, but she stated that when working with these individuals, you should never look at them differently. Coleen also said don’t ever underestimate their capabilities. One of the tricks that she does when working with clients is to always find something you like about that person, she said, “even if it is the way they blink their eyes.” By finding something you like in a person with autism, it helps you develop a deeper connection and special attachment to them. I thought many of the things Coleen said was inspiring, not only in regards to this project, but also as a future special education teacher.”
My process of revision has also changed as a result of this course. For many years, I have revised my papers as a hard copy, but since everything was completed and submitted through a website, I knew it would be time consuming if I printed out every little blog or assignment that I had to complete. It was very challenging for me to read long passages on a computer. However, the more I did it for this class, the more I was able to get used to rereading my writing through a word document. I also noticed that I revised my website a lot. I wanted individuals to see my own unique personality that I brought into the website. I revised my “About Me” section three times and I always reread my previous blogs from weeks ago. If I did not like what I wrote, I would simply hit the edit button and reword/revise the sentences I felt needed corrections. In a way, I liked being able to revise blogs and other pages on my website so many times. Each time I wrote something different or added something to my website, it showed the “true me.”
My writing alone has changed dramatically in this course. Between blogging, tweeting, writing on my website, and reflecting, I was able to open up a new perspective on writing. I used to be in the mindset that writing was strictly academics. Reflecting through the use of blogs and tweets has made me view writing as something that is relaxing and stress-free. The more I reflected on the readings, blogs, and class discussions the more I loved expressing how I felt.
Research
For each project, we had to do some type of research. I never had to investigate information that was outside of the Internet. The twitterive expanded my knowledge by helping me relive memories through research of the past places that I had a connection with. The oral history and collaborative research project showed me how extensive research could be. When we decided on our topic, we did not have any knowledge on it. We were prepared to do thorough research pertaining to the gluten and casein free diet and its link to autism. Not only did my partner and I have trouble finding and contacting various participants to interview, but we also searched long and hard for reliable case studies regarding the gluten and casein free diet.
By working hard to find solutions to our problems during the collaborative research project, I learned that research is not as easy as just searching through the Internet and typing things in the Google search engine. I made numerous phone calls to professionals and parents who had knowledge on our topic. Reflecting back on how hard we researched our topic, I gained a great amount of respect for those individuals who research areas of study for a living. Overall, I had a lot of fun going out in the field for both projects. I developed a deeper connection with my topics and was engaged as I worked on both the projects.
Once my partner and I finally found the participants we needed for our topic, we decided on various questions that we could ask each individual (the pharmacist, developmental psychologist, and a parent of a child who has autism spectrum). I had never conducted a recorded interview before, so it was something I had to teach myself. When I interviewed the pharmacist, (who is my brother) it was very informal and I ended up not recording him correctly the first time. Even though he provided a great amount of insight when it came to medications and autism spectrum disorders, we still felt like our project was missing something. The topic was out of the ordinary; therefore, it was challenging to find an interviewee that specializes in autism and had knowledge about the GFCF diet. After hours of searching through the Internet, we found that a developmental psychologist was just what we needed. Once we found someone in this area of expertise, we realized that it was not as easy as we thought to contact these individuals. However, with determination we did not give up and connected with a developmental psychologist who specializes in the field of autism.
All the research that I did individually and with my partner has made me recognize that there is much more to research than simply browsing through multiple websites. To really get the results that will provide a solid and coherent paper, one must be open to any type of research. I now believe that I must look outside of the box to broaden my area of study. I truly gained so much knowledge during the collaborative research project. The information that we obtained from the three participants not only made our project a more ambitious piece, but I was able to get valuable information that could help me as a future special education teacher.
Technology
I learned a lot about technology, especially in the field of editing and the website YouTube. I never understood how to work YouTube and I was not aware that it had an editing tab on the website. When my partner and I first started finding participants to interview, we had to figure out a way to record them without showing their face. The problem that I had with the audio recording was that I was unable to convert the audio into a file that that was compatible with YouTube. I spent countless hours trying to figure out a way I could publish the interview on YouTube and then put it on weebly. Unfortunately, I still could not find a way to convert the file. However, I did find a solution. I played the video very loud and recorded it back on my phone as a video. Even though the video had a black screen on it, it still presented the conversation I had with the interviewee. This whole process made me extremely frustrated; however, when I finally figured out a solution, I felt such a sense of achievement.
I found the interview with the pharmacist much easier than the developmental psychologist because I was able to record the participant’s face. Even though it was easier to record the interview with the pharmacist as a video, I still had trouble editing his video on YouTube. Since I recorded him on my IPhone, I was only able to send it to YouTube in ten-minute increments. I kept overlapping the interviews as I sent them to YouTube, which caused difficulties while I was editing. If I would have known that my phone only allows ten minute videos to be sent to YouTube, I would have restarted the recording every ten minutes. I have never put any type of video on YouTube before; therefore, it was a new experience for me. As much as I thought I was technology literate, having difficulty with uploading and converting videos made me realize that I could use some work.
Other than editing and converting files to fit the requirements of YouTube, I did not struggle with any other type of technology device. I found twitter, weebly, blogging, and digital recording relatively easy. Considering that I never have never made a website, I did not have difficulties creating it. It was actually enjoyable to watch the website expand over the course of the semester. As a future educator, I believe that the technology that had the greatest impact on me was the weebly website. I learned how to manage and maintain a website, which could be tremendously helpful for when I have my own classroom. One of the benefits of having a website when I am a educator is that the students and parents will be able to access information about me and remain updated with their child’s work and progress.
With everything that I have learned about technology this semester, one of the biggest influences it had on me was the awareness of my identity construction. One of my blog posts consisted of a reflection that discussed technology and how it has impacted my own identity. Here is an excerpt from my blog:
With everything that I have learned about technology this semester, one of the biggest influences it had on me was the awareness of my identity construction. One of my blog posts consisted of a reflection that discussed technology and how it has impacted my own identity. Here is an excerpt from my blog:
“Technology significantly impacts my identity construction. I noticed when I am in class and paying attention, I do not talk as much. Its not that I am shy or afraid to speak up, but it usually means that I am paying attention to the professor or whomever may be speaking at the moment. I enjoy hearing various opinions from my fellow students, but I have noticed that when I am in front of a technology, I react differently. For instance, when I work on my weebly website or tweet, I say whatever comes to mind (as long as it’s appropriate and does not go too much in-depth with my personal life). In my opinion, working with a technology is much more laid back. It is a way to express my thoughts and feelings on certain topics without trying to act professionally. With technology, I am able to take my time and really concentrate on what I am writing or reading. I never realized how much technology makes a difference in my personality. I realized that constantly updating my tweets is a way to express myself in a way that I wouldn’t usually do in a physical setting. I think I am an outgoing person and always act like myself (depending on situations), but I have to admit that my identity changes dramatically with technology. Whether it is a computer or simply a phone, I believe I am more relaxed.”
I loved working with the various devices within the technology (weebly, blogging, tweeting, and YouTube). Even though I thought I was an eight out of ten on the technology literate scale, I now recognize that I am only about a six. I am not disappointed in myself for realizing that my technology skills were not as good as I thought. This course has showed my stronger areas of technology as well as the areas that need improvement.
My View on The Course
I can honestly say that my knowledge in all three areas (writing, research, and technology) has expanded far more than I had expected. Even though I was very overwhelmed in the beginning of this course, I overcame many of my struggles by figuring out possible solutions. Many college classes that I take are not very motivating, but this class kept me engaged throughout the entire semester. I loved seeing each one of my colleague’s projects through their presentations and websites. It was interesting to see the different topics they chose. After this class, I may not keep my twitter, but I certainly want to maintain my website for when I graduate and become an educator. I feel much more confident in myself when I write (and reading), investigate, and use technologies. From this class, I have come to the conclusion that anything is possible with dedication and the belief of never giving up.
