Hello, Everyone!
What a pleasure it has been to be a part of this class, Introduction to Social Media.
It's hard to believe we have been together for a full three weeks now. Remember those first few days when we did our introductions? Then we started seeing each other through RSS feeds, Facebook, and LinkedIn, not to mention Angel every day. And think about how much each of us has changed and grown in the past 21 days.
Alex and I were discussing this and we decided since we were always asking you for your reflections and what you had learned, we thought it would be fun to do the same for you.
I'd have to say the learning that had the biggest impact on me was how quickly each and every one of you jumped in, got your feet wet, explored, learned, and then shared your learnings about social media with the rest of us. I am struck by how quickly you embraced and then acted on what you learned. It was truly inspiring. I want you to know that if you ever wondered if your reflections and posts are impacting your instructors, the answer is a resounding YES!
And it's a very good thing you learn so quickly because, you see, we are all in the same boat. Oh, some of us have dabbled and played with social media longer than others, but change and learning will always be a big part of this process. We will never learn it all and thank goodness for that. I think something to keep in mind as we all go forward is to have a sense of wonder, adventure, and curiosity--especially during those times when we're frustrated because we just can't figure out how something works! (Or maybe it's only me who feels that way at times...but I don't think I'm the only one.)
I want to wish you the best as you move forward. I know a number of you are graduating this June so my congratulations. Those of you who will be at Marylhurst University for awhile yet, enjoy.
You may remember on our initial blog post, one of the assignments was to friend Alex and me on Facebook. You may "unfriend" or "defriend" us now if you like, or if you'd like to stay connected, then I support that option to. I'd like that.
It's been a privilege to connect and converse with each and every one of you. Thank you so much.
All my best,
Joanne
Showing posts with label Reflections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reflections. Show all posts
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Alex's Thanks and Learnings
As you read this, I am not actually at the computer. In fact I am in Chicago right now, at a conference, and thus unable to join you all for the last few days of class. (I hope that you're being nice to Joanne while I am gone!)
Be assured though that I will be reading your reflections once I am back this week. Every one of you in this class has been a pleasure to spend time with, and each of you has brought some great learning and experience to the table. This class was meant to help you to explore the vast realm of Social Media, and through exploration to gain familiarity and understanding of how this landscape of tools can profoundly change the way we communicate with each other.
Even so, I have to admit that Joanne and I have learned almost as much from you as you likely have from us. Discussing this point, we decided that before this class was out, we would thank you for the experience and share what we took away from the class. This post contains my thoughts; Joanne will be posting hers as well.
The biggest thing that I think I have learned from our short time together is just how quickly these mediums can be learned. It was very amusing and heartening to see many of you shift your viewpoints to ones similar to our own, not because we prodded you to these conclusions, but because you "thought your way there."
Another point that came home to me is that, even to someone who is as steeped in Social Media as I, there are huge aspects of this field that are as yet unfamiliar to me. It seems that any given hour researching some Social Media tool or platform leads to yet another new one I had not heard of, or yet another new way of using them.
As we draw to a close, again, I want to thank each and every one of you for the pleasure of being part of our class, and any of you who wish to stay in touch, you know how to do so! (And on a side note, although the class is ending, Social Media is endlessly fascinating to me, and we barely scratched the surface of many topics, so feel free to drop me a message if you want to continue the conversations we have begun.)
Lastly I want to make one "plug:" the Communication Studies department here at Marylhurst has both a facebook page and a new blog called Conversations. I invite you all to become a fan, and subscribe to the blog.
Be assured though that I will be reading your reflections once I am back this week. Every one of you in this class has been a pleasure to spend time with, and each of you has brought some great learning and experience to the table. This class was meant to help you to explore the vast realm of Social Media, and through exploration to gain familiarity and understanding of how this landscape of tools can profoundly change the way we communicate with each other.
Even so, I have to admit that Joanne and I have learned almost as much from you as you likely have from us. Discussing this point, we decided that before this class was out, we would thank you for the experience and share what we took away from the class. This post contains my thoughts; Joanne will be posting hers as well.
The biggest thing that I think I have learned from our short time together is just how quickly these mediums can be learned. It was very amusing and heartening to see many of you shift your viewpoints to ones similar to our own, not because we prodded you to these conclusions, but because you "thought your way there."
Another point that came home to me is that, even to someone who is as steeped in Social Media as I, there are huge aspects of this field that are as yet unfamiliar to me. It seems that any given hour researching some Social Media tool or platform leads to yet another new one I had not heard of, or yet another new way of using them.
As we draw to a close, again, I want to thank each and every one of you for the pleasure of being part of our class, and any of you who wish to stay in touch, you know how to do so! (And on a side note, although the class is ending, Social Media is endlessly fascinating to me, and we barely scratched the surface of many topics, so feel free to drop me a message if you want to continue the conversations we have begun.)
Lastly I want to make one "plug:" the Communication Studies department here at Marylhurst has both a facebook page and a new blog called Conversations. I invite you all to become a fan, and subscribe to the blog.
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