Final Blog Post

What I have learned: My Reflection

Before arriving to CT-101, I heard of the class prior. My journalism class with Professor Moore kept reminding me and the rest of the students how useful the class would be, especially for those into Journalism. I knew nothing about this class so I took what was said with a grain of salt and did not expect to be using my creativity in a class such as this. When I heard about the class, I thought it would be some sort of online art class and it was something I had no plan on taking due to my terrible artistic drawings. I cannot draw and the thought of taking an art class brought nightmares of what I dealt with in my high school. However, doing advisements with Professor Moore, I was informed that the class would help with expanding your Journalism skills to the next level by using the art of the internet. I decided to give it a try, putting myself at risk and not really knowing what I am in for, but it was a great decision.

 

The Introduction:

Upon enrolling in the class and missing the first day of class due to being tired and accidentally sleeping past the class time, I did not know what I was in for. I was already saddened by the fact that I missed my class on the first day due to not waking up on time, but I was also confused as to what the class would be. I joined the class group chat and saw some fellow students speak about the class, but not that much engagement was happening. So what I did was go on blackboard and checked the class to find out that we will be doing our activities on commons which I was also introduced to in my English class. Commons was a new site to me in the fall semester and I was still learning how to use it. Our first homework was commenting on a post and I never knew how hard that could be, being in the position that I was in. I eventually found a post that said “Welcome back” and I commented on this post, but later realized that it was the wrong post to comment on and I saw the rest of my fellow classmates commenting on the correct one. So already, the beginning of classes were a learning curve for me even though it should have been basic.

The Blogs:

After homework week 1, even though I struggled, I was starting to understand what I had to do and assumed that this course was going to be easy. That was until we were assigned assignment #1 which made us create our very first blog post and it’s also where the journey begins. Creating a blog post was not new to me as ironically, I had to create many blogs for my Journalism class with Prof Moore. However, I never had to create a blog post in the fashion that I had to for this class using the commons website. Not to mention, the usage of hyperlinks, images and the media to help assist with creating a great blog post.  The post asked what makes you happy on the internet and my creativity came into play since I used Gifs, videos and hyperlinks to express that Youtube, the social media platform on the internet that I use everyday is what makes me happy on the internet. Specifically, the reaction videos that showcases various different Youtubers giving their expressions on certain things such as sequences in films. The example I used being reactions to the new Spider-Man game coming out next year and their reaction to the main Villain being Venom. Assignment #2 tasked the class with expressing their thoughts on how they feel about the course so far in which I went into detail similar to my reflection about my thoughts and experience with the class so far. This assignment mainly was for testing our abilities to use Gifs and Memes to which goes into the next assignment asking whether Memes are Art or not. I answered this question in my blog post stating that Memes are Art and I even made my own meme. The next following blog posts went to a more advanced level that I was ready for.

Assignment #4 – DS 106 Assignment Bank (Looking for your best skill and worst skill and using a prompt by the site to help create your masterpiece and translate it over to a blog)

My Blog: I discuss writing as my specialty and I find an assignment that challenged me to write a poem about the point of view of an object.

Assignment #5 – Creating digital art using the mmm.page (Testing your ability to create art digitally on this new program, also testing your creativity)

My Blog: I used the mmm.page and created a page that showcased my dreams being to live in a Cabin, be financially stable and just have a genuine good time with family.

Assignment #6 – The Mid-Semester reflection (Reflecting on the class and how it is so far)

My Blog: Probably my longest blog until this one where I reflected on my experience with the class so far and what I am still looking forward to.

Assignment #7 – Creating Domain Names (Having the class think about what domain name they want to use for their website building careers)

My Blog: My weakest blog due to having to think of a domain name which is important to the website’s identity. This was something hard for me to do as I never thought of what would be a a great domain name that I would use.

Assignment #8 – Process of creating the Domain name and web hosting account (Students had to write about their thoughts and opinions on creating their domain name and getting started with web hosting)

My Blog: There was no blog. The assignment required the class to learn how to set up their domains and their web hosting accounts which was confusing at first, but I got the hang of it.

Assignment #9 – Using WordPress and creating a Website (Students finally got the opportunity to work on their envisioned website and play around with the tools in WordPress.

My Blog: I actually made two blogs to this assignment without even realizing it.

My other Blog: ^

Assignment #10 – While also working on your Website, publishing a new blog post on Commons and on your website (Continuing to use the WordPress tools and creating that first blog on your site)

My Blog: I advertised my website and I still hope the rest of the class sees the Website.

Assignment #11 – Commenting on the assignment post, visiting your fellow classmates websites and leaving them a comment on their progression and publishing a new blog post (3 part assignment)

My Blog: I saw two websites that I enjoyed viewing and it showed me how creative the rest of my classmates are.

And then there’s this. The Final post, the final assignment, the finals. 

My Blog: This

Grade Assessment:

I have no idea what my grade is for this class and I dislike assuming what grade it will be due to that risk of disappointment and let-down. Especially when it’s almost Christmas and a new year where people are meant to be happy. However, if I had to guess my grade, I’d say a B+ or higher because I completed all of my assignments, but I know what I have done wrong. For example, I am not much of a peer reviewer and I don’t think I ever peer reviewed anyone, besides the websites and assignment #11 which told students to look into the peers website and leave a comment. Another reason is I unfortunately did not have much time to edit my previous post and fix the errors. Such as assignment 1 where I was informed to add in more videos which was something that should have been easily completed. Or assignment 5 where I was asked to show more of the mmm page into the blog so people can see the full spectrum and layout of it. Although, I feel like I should do it justice by posting it here which is what I will do.

My mmmpage:  Added the hyperlink to the page this time.

The numbers within the screenshot are gifs that are moving under my progression work which were the assignments I had to do before Assignment #6.

Next up are some videos I would recommend of reactions that are just great to look at and feel the emotions that they are going through while also still getting those goosebumps.

This video shows people reacting to iconic villians of Spider-man making an appearance in the new movie.

Or this video that is a spoiler of the movie, but showcases the audience reaction to certain scenes in the movie, which gives that goosebumps feel to people like me who have already seen the movie.

Or if marvel is not your cup of tea, you can just search for whatever genre you like and put reaction to it and watch reactors react to your favorite series or genre. For example:

I watch these two and I enjoy their reactions and their review after the series that I enjoy. The Witcher season 2 just released and seeing people’s reactions is what makes my day as it is also insightful.

People’s Voices

Remember when I said I was having trouble with creating a domain? I remembered having a thought to myself which will usually happen at random and coming up with the brilliant idea of calling it People’s Voices like People’s Court because Journalism specifically Social Journalism, involves spreading awareness on the injustices within the system of America or any other country and giving people that voice that should be heard which is the point of my website. Giving people the platform to voice their thoughts and opinions with the use of the 1st amendment which is why my background picture is a document of the 1st amendment.

 

My frustrations with building a website is pretty much the tools involved due to not being familiar with them and not wanting to mess it up. There are a lot of advanced tools that will take getting used to, but other than that I like the layout of my website and the idea behind it. Knowing myself however, I probably wouldn’t be continuing to work on the website due to myself being so busy. Although, I am grateful for the opportunity to create my own website and showcase it to my fellow classmates and expressing the creative vision.

Last, but not least, my hyperlink to my website.