Journal # 15 - Blogging

How do you feel about blogging now that you have had an opportunity to develop a history with it over the past two and a half months? Do you feel that you are more or less organized and productive than you would be "the old fashioned way?" What are some of the advantages? What are some of the drawbacks? What advice might you give to students starting the course next semester about how to get the most out of their blogging experience?

Blogging, for me personally, has been an enjoyable experience this far. It has helped me to keep organized and on track. It also helps that when a class is missed, it is easy to get caught up on any assigned work. Just take a look at the blog, and it will be there. Blogging also helps me with my spelling and grammar. Also, with blogging, it is a lot easier to start and stop, as well as work on more than one thing at once, than it is with doing it 'the old fashioned way.' Some of the drawbacks to this style is internet use, as well as computers not working. Blogging, overall is a great way to do and submit work.

With blogging, I am able to save my work on the computer, or on the website. This helps me to keep my assignments organized. Since there is no paper, I am not able to lose my assignments, or journal entries, which is always a good thing. When I log onto to the computer for the EWC class, I am able to easily access my work from the previous time. Whenever there is a class that has been missed for whatever reason, it is easy to get caught up. Take a look at the blog and at the calender, and you will be able to know what you have missed and if anything is due.

Since with blogging, you are able to use a computer, well you have to, but anyways, you can easily edit your work. I always have problems with my spelling and grammar, mainly when I have a lot to write at once. With the use of a computer, words that are misspelled are highlight, and can be easily fixed. As well, since you have the ability to save your work, you can also go back to it the next day, and re-read it. This way, it helps you to know exactly what you said, and what you meant to say. From this you can make any corrections that may need to be done.

A lot of the time, when I am writing, I tend to have more than one idea in my head at once. Writing things out, can be hard to get everything onto paper all at once. I can only write so fast. But with blogging, I am able to type everything, and I can everything out faster. I am also able to use bolded and italic fonts in order for me to read things more clear. With the use of a computer, it is possible to have more than one document open at once. So, this way, you can work on one thing, have an idea for something and still be able to get it out.

Some of the drawbacks of using the blogging method are that technology cannot always be trusted. There are times when you could have written a 20-page essay, and if the computer shuts off, or it freezes, all you hard work is gone, just like that. As well, there are times when there is no internet connection. When this happens, it makes it hard to submit your work and keep caught up in the class through blogging.

Blogging is a great addition to the EWC class. The advice I would give for future students would be to ensure that you save your work, and check the blog and calender often. Blogging is very beneficial, and can help out in a lot of ways, but at the same time could be very frustrating (lost work). For the majority of blogging though, it a great writing tools to be able to use