Reflecting on Blogging Experience

After the exposure of blogging experience through this course, I'm made aware of much more knowledge towards the advantages of this activity. In this 4th posting, I'll be reflecting on my own personal experience on blogging. It has only been weeks since we began this blogging activity for this course so I wouldn’t say my writing has already improved in such short term. However, I would say it is the topics given to blog about instead that are useful for my writing skills. First of all, it’s on ‘Computerized Reading’, then ‘Computer Assisted Writing’ and the ‘Impact of Wireless Technology in Education’.

All these topics are very much related to my other course subject, SKBS 1033 Written Communication that is, conducted by lecturer Pn. Azizah Yaakob. In academic writing, the usage of computer and information technology is unlimited. Much research has to be done to come up with an informative essay that has reliable quotations, statistics and other resources. The assignment on ‘Computerized Reading’ and ‘Computer Assisted Writing’ is very helpful in obtaining the right method to browse for dependable resources and also expose me towards a lot of software that assist improvement on writing. As for ‘Impact of Wireless Technology in Education’, I discover accommodating tools for a writer. For example, a Tablet Pc; it is smaller than a notebook, travel friendly and allows wireless connections. This I look forward in owning someday so I can indulge in writing anytime, anywhere. Other than that, the blogging tasks given also keeps me in practice on paraphrasing, quoting and citing which are all vital skills for my essay writing assignments in Written Communication course.

In my opinion, I think that it is clear and obvious enough that blogging is a useful learning experience, not only to me, but benefiting to all. Most of us would remember how teachers and or adults used to encourage diary writing. I personally do remember about it and did attempt on keeping a diary, yet as the world progress and how life tends to move in a faster pace, it seems so impossible and maybe tedious too; to actually find a time to sit down with a pen and a book to reflect on what's been done throughout the day. The fact is, the difference between keeping a personal diary and blogging is the audience. For a diary, basically you're the writer and the reader at the same time. One would easily get to the point of thinking: 'What's the point?' As life gets more difficult and complicated, by the end of the day, people not only want to share but needs to share. I am saying this on a general sense where it applies to all sorts of blogs. For example, I personally find it very rewarding that all the effort I've put in to complete the assignments does not just stay on the lecturer's desk once done. Besides my lecturer reading my work and commenting on it, the result of my effort can be shared with my course mates or maybe even to the world at large. Someone out there may be searching for information on the topics I've wrote in my blog and as they ‘google’ the title, they might actually come across my blog and find it useful. This, I must say is the reason why blogging makes such a useful learning experience, its nature itself is motivation that keeps people writing. I have seen how some of my Chinese friends who used to be poor in English improving sub-consciously through writing blogs. Besides, the language itself, one is motivated to be creative in order to keep readers entertained, therefore, they explore creative ways in expressing themselves. All these, makes writing so much more enjoyable than keeping a diary that remains in only your drawer. As I've mentioned before, keeping a diary can be tedious too, because with the advancement of technology, it is no longer quite as practical as blogging itself. With gadgets such as PDAs and mobiles that allows connection through wireless technology, one can write anytime and anywhere. Saving time or maybe as a pass time while waiting for the train, while having a cup of coffee in Starbucks and so on. It is a practical and effective learning experience for all. Most importantly, the learning experience is an enjoyable one.

In order to complete the blogging activity successfully, I have to first know what it is that I wish to be writing and of course, there has to be something I want to write about. For this course subject blogging activity, I would have to consult my lecturer, Pn Zaini first hand to make sure I do not waste time progressing on the wrong track. It is after all an assignment that will be evaluated; therefore, it is wiser to first know what your main audience expects to see from your blog. After getting a rough idea on the expected content for the topic given, I would take the next step of going through the lecture notes regarding the topic. This is to ensure that I am not merely doing the assignment blindly without knowing what it is that I should be learning, otherwise, I would consider it to be a waste of time if I spend time on it and not taking full advantage on what the course subject is trying to teach. After that, I'm all set to start gathering information to answer the topic. It is so much easier to search for information through the net when you are sure enough with what it is that you're looking for. All information found, I make sure I know the source well and keep track of it for citing purposes. The next step would be to read through and understand all the information I’ve found. It is often clear when a person do not read and do just cut and paste because you will see that the flow of the essay is not a coherent one. Therefore, it is important that I know the information I will include in my blog. After all these steps, I would say I am well off in completing the blog activity. Sometimes, I would need to read blogs written by others, (for this case, it is the seniors' blogs that the lecturers have commented to us) before beginning to write myself. The purpose is to first be inspired and sometimes you just need that one last assurance before setting off on your own writing.

Main problem using blog for me personally is my stubbornness or to say how I'm determined to come out with the best I have to offer or I’ll not write at all. This is closely related to the previous paragraph on what I need to know before completing a blog activity. I have to follow those steps mentioned specifically and make sure I know well enough on what I am posting for the public's view. For example, on how I intend to learn through the activity and read through all the information I have found. The problem is that, there are too many information and knowledge made available that sometimes you have to tell yourself that you can't have it all and to STOP PROCRASTINATING! and to GET ON WITH YOUR WORK ALREADY! It is very time consuming to achieve perfection and for the course's blogging activity, there's a due date given with so many other assignments from other courses making it difficult for me to full fill my intention of giving my best. Other than that, it has to be the same problem that most users would come across occasionally, that is the slow connection and the failure of connection. It can be rather frustrating at times when the website is down or the server is too busy making you stare into the monitor blankly for a long period of time and feeling absolutely like a slave to technology. There is another time consuming factor which is the part where you have to manage the outlook of your blog to make it more interesting and consisting more varieties. For example, to include music and slideshows, you’re required to join a few more other websites in order to have its functions on your blog. This adds up to more websites you have to manage. The blogsite itself don’t usually offer enough templates that may suit different individuals so one has to browse through the net to find more variety of templates.

The problems are still manageable so despite some of it's inevitable weaknesses, I would still recommend blogging as a benefiting activity to others. How would I recommend it? Exactly the same thing that I am doing now. Reflecting on my very own experience and what I’ve gained through Language and Information Technology blogging assignments and share the knowledge and my point of view to others. The opportunity to express one self with words should be widely utilized.

I know we were told to answer the questions in paragraph and not state the question out but here's the next and final question: "Now that you are able to blog online will you continue using it even after the course is over?" It is still a question in consideration. I would definitely continue my blogging experience but maybe not using the same website I use for this course because I believe that there’s a theme for every writer’s blog and readers will know what to expect when they come to a certain particular blog. For instance I would say that this blog is more of an informative one and there are some people that focus on blog about travel, food, etc. So I’ll most probably be continuing my blogging experience in a different direction.

Overall, this course has provided input on useful information technology that aids in writing for me and I would say instead of it being a waste of time, the assignments were time well spent on and the efforts are benefiting