So I just did...

A webinar!! And wow, that turned out so much better than I expected. Besides my voice being a little shaky, (I thought) that was the best 1-minute presentation I've done yet. That was great to see so many people show up, and to see some of those that were sincerely interested in the topic. I liked the "testimony meeting" aspect of the webinar, as well. We really all did learn a lot, and I personally enjoyed sharing my thoughts on that and hearing others' thoughts as well. Rather appropriate that we would share all of this, isn't it? Especially in this online format of a webinar. I believe it really is a summation of the things we've learned throughout the term. Digital Literacy, significant research and writing to prepare for this, social proof (as demonstrated by our varied audience), and lots of connecting, creating, pondering, and proving. Good stuff. Great term, everyone!!

What I imagine our trolls may have looked like

Introspection Time!

This is one of those crazy-nostalgic moments when I come to the end of another term and find myself speculating about everything. Good term? Bad term? Why, or why not? How did I do? What do I need to do better next time? All those sorts of good questions. Here is a breakdown of that evaluation, presented through the structure of our lovely learning outcomes.

• BYU-Idaho. I'm still glad that I'm here in Provo and not there... but they do have a pretty good learning model! They have three nice key phrases- Prepare, Teach One Another, and Ponder and Prove. All of those together demonstrate self directed learning. Key word: SELF DIRECTED LEARNING. This was crazy! Class preparation initially included reading Rainbows End, but after that was much more focused on our individual research. Rereading The Scarlet Letter, writing blog posts, doing scholarly research, toying with media tools, talking to social contacts. In the classroom, it was great to talk with my cohort and classmates. I could share what I'd learned, share insights that I'd read in their novels, offer opinions, help them talk out ideas. And they did the same for me! I usually came out of class with quite enough material to ponder, and could then go home to do follow-up research on more media tools we'd discussed, or do a blog post based on thoughts from class. 

Then and Now

So. Ya'll. I just want you to know that whenever I feel the urge to say that word, I really really wish I was from the South.  (That was so not relevant to this blog post at all.) Just so ya'll know.
But to get down to real business. Anyone out there ever been a college student? Or a high school student? Or written a research paper? Or any kind of paper? Well, I have been (or done) all of those things, and I have something to say:
IT IS TIME TO EVALUATE THE WAY WE WRITE PAPERS!! I am tired of the age old model- I want more than just to take an assigned topic, search for sufficient scholarly quotes to support my claim, and then chuck some words on a page. That is what I did all of winter semester, and it was painful. Luckily, I've learned a few things since then. Mostly that any terrible experience that I have is probably my fault. (After all, I am the one that decides just how I write my papers.) Aside from that, though, I really have seen a change in my perspective on the good ol' 10 pager. Let me explain just what I mean by sharing the following story:

I will never forget how that felt-- hunched at the kitchen table, staring at my laptop,  my roommates sprawled on living room couches with thick textbooks. It was getting late, and I was getting emotional... Every passing minute seemed to tell me how POINTLESS that paper was. There was no purpose, no passion, no applicable audience to which I could write a paper about dumb tone and voice in an old British play. And that is when I lost it. After rambling to my roomies about my disappointment in the English discipline and how I had begun to doubt my chosen major, I buckled down and wrote the paper. What else could I have done?

T is also for...

T is also for Thought process! And Take Two. (Any Scategory players going to give me double points for that one?) Here is a brief overview of what went into the making of my little video.

It all began with a brilliant idea from Sam. She is kinda awesome. Just fyi. Because Google chat was unable to convey the awesomeness of this concept, she sent me this quick video.

What could be better? I started brainstorming how to make it work. Unlike Emily Coleman, I was hesitant to involve large groups of people. They take too long. So that leaves... Me? My sisters? Paint animation? Stuffed animals? No. How about those Family Home Evening magnet people? Bingo.

As I brainstormed just what to do, I rifled through all the magnet people we have. Most were wayyy too churchy. Because the goal was NOT to be sacrilegious, I chose all of those that seemed the most street-worthy. I was also pleased to find a mother-child magnet, which served perfectly for my Hester. As I separated those people into "peer group" or "society", I recognized some major irony. If the magnets looked similar to my Hester figure, I put them in the peer group, yet looks have almost nothing to do with online societies. The only criteria on which I could judge social connection was appearance. NOT APPLICABLE TO ONLINE CULTURE. One of the main points in my paper is that the web allows people to bond through common interest, experiences, and even shared sin.

Rough Draft!!

Suuuuper rough draft of my paper. Here goes.

T is for...

T is for trailer!!!

Just in case you were hungry for another representation of my thesis idea.... No worries. Here is a wonderful video, made just for you.

If that piqued your interest at all, feel free to read over my MiniPaper and share your thoughts!! I'd really appreciate it.

Confession is Spelled P-O-W-E-R: MiniPaper

Even after many years of technological advancement, the nature of confession survives with almost perfect authenticity; technology has touched, but not transformed the polar ends of sinful openness. Like in The Scarlet Letter, there is still public scandal, and there are still secret acts. Rather, modern media has amplified that area in between, where individuals may choose either to reveal or conceal their minor flaws and transgressions. Programs like Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, YouTube, Blogger, etc. indicate an evolving view of personal disclosure, summarized by the word “more.” Thus, the lesser errors and imperfections of human existence now claim a larger online acknowledgement than ever before.

As online openness grows, so do the indulgent confessions, (if you're wondering just what that means, check out Sixbillionsecrets or some of the public journal entries on my-diary). As those become more common, it only follows that people would adapt to the trend and use that influence for purposes other than penitence. The cyber-society created by modern media gathers a world of imperfect people and holds them just close enough that one average sin, when advertised properly, wields social influence. Essentially, confession serves as an instrument of social power; it works internal changes on the sinner, alters an individual’s social conditions and has potential to change widely held perceptions of morality and social structure.