extra credit

- Had you ever used a blog before attending RTF 305? IF SO, WHAT WAS ITS FOCUS?


Yes, I have used one before. I had a few in the past and one now, all mostly for personal use. One of them was used also for a marketing blogging position I had for a while. None of them had a certain theme or focus - they were mostly just a place for me to write about random things and share ideas with my friends and whoever else would read it.

- What were the positive aspects of using the blogs in the course?


I liked the speed in submitting the post. I could do the blog at any time during the week and submit it even an hour before the actual submission time. Another aspect I enjoyed was the more personal feeling of the blog, giving the impression that we could say our own opinions as well as talk about the terms and the subject involved. The less strict atmosphere of the blog made it feel less stressful for me to do the assignment. Incorporating media such as videos and pictures also added to what could have been a more dry and boring blog. Furthermore, the ability to edit the post after it was already submitted was useful just in case something didn't work out the first time. 

- What difficulties did you encounter in using the blogs? (both technical and conceptual)


The only technical difficulty I encountered with the blogger was that it always reverted to my Gmail account even though I signed up with a Yahoo account. Maybe in the future you guys could use a different type of blog instead of one that was linked to a company that practically forces you to use their email service. One conceptual problem I had in the beginning was trying to make it somewhat formal while in an informal setting, but it wasn't too hard to overcome that.

- If you had difficulties in using the blog, how were you able to overcome the difficulties you encountered?


I just had to make sure my Gmail was logged out of before I started a post and I couldn't sign back in or else the blogpost wouldn't submit. Sometimes I would just save it in an MS word doc before.

- What types of blog prompts were more or less interesting or difficult? (provide an example and rationale)


I thought the blog prompts with more analysis were more interesting to me - such as the one analyzing television shows in a sociological point of view and the one analyzing commercials. This could be biased though because I'm also really interested in sociology. One in particular is the first blog prompt where you analyze the stereotypes in a certain television sitcom. I liked it because there was room for examples and it was a specific enough prompt to go in depth with. One I found less interesting was the one asking for an example of a 3-act structure - the blog was basically just summarizing a movie while classifying it in which act it went in. 

- Would you recommend using a blog in future course, either in RTF 305 and other undergraduate courses at UT-Austin? (explain why..)


Yeah, I really liked the idea of having a blog for a class. I think it makes doing assignments less stressful and I originally liked blogging anyway. I also liked all the positive aspects I listed above.

- What would you suggest to change or improve the blogging experience in the future?


I would suggest a change from blogger so that people who don't have Gmail or don't want to use their Gmail account for this blog. I also would have wanted a more interactive use of it since after you submit the post you wouldn't get much feedback on it from either the ta or the students. 


Oh and "Yes, you can use my blog in a paper or report."