I have learned many different skills in this class. I think the most important skill is hypertextual, and modern academic styles of writing. I think we’ve all grown accustomed to the old style of writing in which we pick a point, find evidence for it, argue it until there’s nothing left to say, and then beat down any opposing ideas.
Modern academic writing, especially in researching solutions to many of the complex issues present in our society, is more focused on examining all of the past solutions, noticing trends, and proposing alternative methods that should help to advance the cause and the understanding of the issue. These solutions often do not and are not exhaustive, but are rather one more step forward.
Effective hypertextual writing is different than both of these types. It needs to all link together, to make independent, but coherent webpages. This was perhaps the biggest hurdle I have overcome, and I will not be so naïve as to claim that I have gained proficiency at this type of writing. However, I do have a firm grasp on what is and what isn’t effective, and it is my hope that I continue on, I will able to improve my own style.
Through this class I have gained familiarity and proficiency with may design and web publishing programs (primarily Photoshop and Dreamweaver), as well as a few media editing programs that I had never used before (iMovie, IShowU HD, Soundtrack Pro). There is a clear progression in the overall design, layout, and linking styles that I used in my first, second, and third hypertexts. This is actually one of my favorite things that I have learned because I enjoy having proficiency with all forms of media production, and these are definitely skills that will be useful later in life.
The class readings interested me a great deal. The emphasis I have in my English major is British Literature (primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries). While I love this period, it is nice to be able to read about current trends on an academic level, and participating in the forums was a great way to engage the texts on a deeper level. I particularly found the readings on social networking interesting, as I am an avid participant in many different social networks (last.fm, facebook, twitter, linkedin).
The final project was great, because I was able to do some more media editing for my PSA. Overall the hypertext was about 3500 words, not including any of my annotated bibliography, image credit, PSA, and other basic pages. Single spaced, it was spread out over six pages, the majority of which was my own original writing. I kept quotes to a minimum, but made heavy use of statistics, so if quotes and statistical citations were eliminated I would still have 3200-3300 words of original text. I wanted to put as many of my own thoughts in this particular hypertext because of the complex issues involved, and break it down on simpler terms, and in my own way.
Overall, this was a great class, and I will miss having so many opportunities to demonstrate my proficiency with all the different design and publishing elements that I used.
|