I’ve been asked to comment on the work of another, and so here I am doing just that…
Ellen McCutchan‘s blog post which discussed our first reading: Blogs In Media Eduction, is a good evaluation of the ways university can be quite a culture shock in terms of the amount of trust you can have in your tutors and the way things run. I admit, I felt quite lost during the first semester. You suddenly don’t have the support you did during high school, there’s no longer a head looking over your shoulder and running you through every minute detail of the information given. Ellen discussed this in her lead-up to the the actual discussion of the reading itself, stating that:
“In this reading, the first for the course, Adrian is open about his, in my own words, ‘blogging agenda’. His advice for other teachers is clear. His aims for his students are clear. The chapter keeps the relationship between teachers and students exposed. There are no hidden bits of criteria, no assessment traps. I feel secure in my understanding of the point of this blog. I do not feel as if it is a meaningless piece of assessment, written only with the aim of a passing grade. Rather I am clear in the use of this blog as a learning tool, as something that is public, and something that is intended to be a long lasting and useful resource.”
I think this is a good way to build everything up and show her appreciation for the reading as well as the course itself, and I could really connect with the things she was saying. The only criticism I would have is that there was not much detailing of the actual reading itself, but then again, that was not really the angle she was taking here. Overall an engaging post!
