So this week was the first week of classes and the first week of Network Media.
And yeah I’m a little bit like..
But in a good way though đ
I chose the course because I was really interested in learning more about the different online networks that we use everyday through the internet and their origins as well what ways have our uses for them changed over time.
Particularly for my generation the way we communicate through the internet is a daily thing and we often take for granted how much technology has evolved as well as what the network really is. Information is given to us in a really different way now. It can be done through messaging, gifs, photographs, memes, the list goes on.
The first reading of the course delved into the use of Blogs within Media education and how they allow more possibilities for writing and conveying ideas than say a notebook or diary could. Thinking about blogging and my experiences with blogs (I have done a little blogging through my Media and Communications Course and read a few blogs outside of that), they really change the way I would approach certain assessments. Â
A good point that the author includes is that âa blogger become(s) a publisherâ (Miles, 2006) and through this you automatically feel a sense of importance and a sense of power. You are not simply writing to yourself, or one teacher who will mark your work then be done with it. The blog post exists after that and can be accessed by any reader. As a blogger you feel more of a responsibility and an enthusiasm towards writing a blog because it can be your voice, delivered creatively in any way you wish.
Yes, the information and the key ideas asked of you need to be there, but you can express them in a less constricted way and you are also able to be connected to other bloggers or online contributors.
A great point that Miles makes is that in terms of the education use for blogs assessment wise, you are also able to see what excellence looks like in terms of what others are writing and creating for their assignments. A student is able to understand why their work received the grade that it did and what it will take to improve or maintain the standard they have set. I never really thought about blogging this way and it makes me more interested in using over the semester.
We learned about how we will be looking at a prompt for the course which involves a focus on instagram:
âHow do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?â
I definitely need to learn more about the affordances part and what an affordance really means. But I think Instagram it is a great example of how we as consumers are able to be much more active than previous generations in our thoughts and opinions being listened to and shared. Instagram is immediately personal and enables you to personalise what you put out there online. If you want to put a filter on your photo you can do that. You can follow people in the public eye, whom you probably wouldnât be able to communicate with in real life.
Most of all, heaps of people can follow you and see what youâre doing. You can gain an audience that is larger and more diverse than you realise. From this, the way you create and release content is going to differ than just sending a text or a photo to a friend. How all of this it authored, published and distributed in the Network Iâm not an expert on yet. But I look forward to learning about it đ