Epilogue: Some reflections on the process
Writing this “essay” has been fun. It’s a very different process to the many other essays I have had to write during the course of my life and, as a teacher of English who is learning about the process of learning in new communication forms, I feel I want to comment.
Posting a comment is something different to writing an essay. It can be a lot less formal, for starters. It’s interesting for me to look back over this blog and notice the changing nature of my style and approach. Lots has been written about how technology is changing the way we communicate and I am regularly coming across articles decrying the destruction of our language in the hands of texting adolescents. The outcry that followed the inclusion of a text message in the NSW HSC exams last year is a case in point. I am more likely to use the first person in my blog writing, but I am finding that I am making more use of the first person in essays as well and I feel this is increasing my power to communicate, not decreasing it. What I have particularly enjoyed is the ability to add links and images to my writing and this has added a whole new level to the capacity to communicate.
This is not much of a blog, mind you, because, to date it is pretty static without any comments or interaction from others that I am aware of (and I pity the poor sod who decides to read it all and isn’t being paid for the privilege). The possibilities open to me to link to others who are blogging on similar topics and to turn this into something much more dynamic seem really interesting. This is where I need to go next.
Posting a comment is something different to writing an essay. It can be a lot less formal, for starters. It’s interesting for me to look back over this blog and notice the changing nature of my style and approach. Lots has been written about how technology is changing the way we communicate and I am regularly coming across articles decrying the destruction of our language in the hands of texting adolescents. The outcry that followed the inclusion of a text message in the NSW HSC exams last year is a case in point. I am more likely to use the first person in my blog writing, but I am finding that I am making more use of the first person in essays as well and I feel this is increasing my power to communicate, not decreasing it. What I have particularly enjoyed is the ability to add links and images to my writing and this has added a whole new level to the capacity to communicate.
This is not much of a blog, mind you, because, to date it is pretty static without any comments or interaction from others that I am aware of (and I pity the poor sod who decides to read it all and isn’t being paid for the privilege). The possibilities open to me to link to others who are blogging on similar topics and to turn this into something much more dynamic seem really interesting. This is where I need to go next.
By the way, this image comes from Wikipedia and is a chart of part of the Internet. There's an aesthetic beauty to it that takes my fancy.
Comments