Hello everyone!

The semester is coming to an end and so this will be the last blog I post to share with you all. In the spirit of goodbye, I will share that I have had an amazing experience with this course. In 4 short months, I have become more able with a computer, with software and with technology in general than I ever thought possible. This course allowed me to discover my hidden passion for all of this stuff and steered my concentration in this graduate program towards technology and the Internet. I have signed up to take Journalist Toolkit and Electronic Publishing in the Fall in hopes to continue to broaden my knowledge and ability in this area. These are skills that I know will prove immensely valuable in December when I start marketing myself for jobs. I am thus very thankful to this course, Dr. Robinson, and all of my classmates for the experience and everything I have learned.

Also, thanks to all of your insightful comments and suggestions, I have made changes to my Web site (our final project), and I think it's looking really good now! Check it out at http://plaza.ufl.edu/soniaa

I hope you have enjoyed my blogs and especially this corny but very honest one! Comment and let me know what you've gained from this course!


Sonia :)

I just can't get enough of New Media!

I have recently become very interested in the study of new media both through this course, my mass commnication theories course and the realization of just how much space this concept is taking up in my daily life. I remember seeing a video on someone's blog last week and thought, wow, this is cool. Something different and a little more exciting to post. Having said that, I found this cool video on New Media that I really enjoyed. It is from last year but still very interesting. The interviews offer some thought-provoking insights. Check it out!

HELP!

Hello everyone,

This week I don't have a Web treasure to share with you, instead I'm hoping you will have one to share with me. I am building a Web site for my final project in this class and would like to add some kind of blog or comment page for visitors to give feedback or share information with each other. I am having a really hard time figuring out how to do this or finding good information on how to do this. Does anyone know of any free software that might allow me to create a blog or comment page on my site? Maybe some good information on how to do it or a tutorial of some kind?


Let me know! I really want to add this component to my page!

Digital Learning Sites!

Because we are all working on our projects and creating digital learning for others, this week I thought I'd look for Web sites on digital learning. I was certain I'd find something, but I was surprised to see just how many sites out there are dedicated to this topic and more interestingly these sites were based in many different parts of the world. Sometimes in the U.S. we tend to think that we are among the most advanced in areas of techology but if we take a closer look, we can find that a lot of the world is concerned with technology and increasing education in these areas. This digital Learning site is based in India and offers all kinds of news on digital learning, conferences, policy, etc. The organization who runs the site, the Center for Science, Development and Media Studies(CSDMS) strives to provide solutions for underpriviledged societies through advancements in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in these areas. This site offers a lot of fun and interesting navigation if you are interested!

Another site on digital media and learning funded by the MacArthur Foundation also contains a lot of great information. The site offers current research in the area, experts in the field, young people's thoughts on how digital media and learning is affecting their lives, and a Blog that interested parties can participate in. Another fun journey of navigation if you can find the time!

Of course, there are many more such sites, but I will not go on and on about them here. If you can, take the time to do a search for digital learning and see what you find. This is obviously an area of booming interest and it'd be interesting to see just how much depth and breadth of information is out there.

I am S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D!!

I don't know about the rest of you, but 12 credits and four final projects has got me on the edge of insanity. I decided to search the net for stress management tips, avoiding burn out and relaxation techniques. I found a lot of interesting information but liked this "Burnout Prevention and Recovery" site the most. It was honest, to thbe point and offered some good suggestions and at times a much needed slap in the face.

Check it out. It might make you feel better too! :)

Spring Break & Thoughts on Technology

Hello fellow bloggers! I hope you all had a great spring break. I had an amazing time traveling to Miami, Michigan and Chicago to visit friends and family (I was a busy girl!). Throughout my vacation, I kept noticing the role technology, mainly the Internet, was playing in making my vacation easier and in my surroundings as well. It's funny. I often don't consider myself a technological person, but the more we talk about it in this and other courses, the more I realize just how much of a "digital native" I have become.

Throughout my vacation, I thought, what did I do before the Internet? From booking my flight to Michigan online in just a few minutes on the days and times that were convenient to me, to getting step by step driving directions from my friend's home in Michigan to my other friend's home in Chicago (There is no way I would have made it there without MapQuest), the Internet was there every step of the way. While in Michigan, I was able to be the good grad student that I am, and do research through the library Website, communicate with professors and keep in touch with other family and friends. At the airport, I could skip long lines and e-check-in in seconds. My friends' roommate, obsessed with sports, spent the whole time reading sports blogs online. I was fascinated as I saw how she could enjoy sports on a whole other level by interacting with other fans and commentators online. She continuously announced the minute by minute news on all the different sporting events going on, and here I was seeing the true power of communication on the Internet.


The Internet is something I started using in the 10th grade, not at 3 like my younger sister, yet it has become such a central part of my life, that I often cannot wrap my head around how anyone did anything before it. How did one register for classes, find information on a restaurant, do research? Yes I realize it all got done, snail mail, the yellow pages, the card catalog, but oh my, what a slow way to function!


The more you study the media and especially new media, the more you start to realize the impact of these on your every day life. Throughout my spring break, I just could not help but notice the amount of ease and convenience the Internet, and technology, in general, adds to my life every day.

Do you ever stop and suddenly find yourself amused by the times we are living in or am I just a huge dork?!

Interview with Adobe CEO

While reading through some of the week's digital music news and technology news, I came accross this particular article and thought it could be relevant to many of us in class. The article is basically an interview with Adobe's CEO Bruce Chizen in which he talks about the ever increasing number of free photo editing, Web page design and layout tools available on the Internet and the possible losses this is creating for Adobe. There's also some interesting info on whats to come with newer versions of software like Dreamweaver and Photoshop. There are some pretty cool advancements to come in the future as Adobe tries to compete with more and more free resources. Check it out. I thought this was a really good article, maybe you will too!


http://news.com.com/Its+Adobes+game+to+lose%2C+CEO+says/2008-1012_3-6164519.html?tag=nefd.lede

Have a great Spring Break everyone :)