And so the end is near…Incredibly this is my final blog post. I know those colleagues who have submitted comments to this blog will be sorry (all two of you:-0). Now, therefore, is a suitable time for reflection and discussion.
Summer time on campus is like a parallel universe ‘there is life, Jim, but not as we know it’. It is the same thing for this course. Over the academic year we have experienced so many facets of the new technologies (and as Dr Darina rightly said in her final lecture) we now have a whole range of skills that we did not have before. From next week we will all go off to different venues and start to apply those skills. In a way we will be distance learners from then on.
I recently completed my final thread on the virtual team project which went very well whether by chance or design. Personally, from a class building point of view the use of threads for discussion created an excellent group dynamic and I feel that it might be better employed in term one in future years.
There is a definite market for this type of postgraduate programme and I expect to see it going from strength to strength. There is also a definite market niche for a course that is application-based and not just programming-based. Social media are increasingly used by companies and have great revenue generating potential.
So as you sail off into the sunset do not forget where it all began for you. No matter whether you become a ‘Sage on the Stage’ or a ‘Ride (or was that Guide?) on the Side’ there are no former students of the University of Limerick only present ones.
Nice summary John. I'll be around for a few weeks/months yet, though!
ReplyDeleteI agree that perhaps the discussions would have been better placed in semester 1. That activity proved very effective for bringing about greater social presence. So did the blogs (for those of us who actually did update them regularly). I thought the blog assignment was thoroughly enjoyable, and I'm very grateful to all those who posted comments on my sometimes o'er-wordy entries! In addition, I can see the course focusing on social media more and more over the coming years. I can see it becoming a technical communication course with three pillars: tech writing, e-learning, and social media.
I'm going to maintain my blog for a few more months. It would be great if you posted comments every now and then, John.
I will do that. Thanks for the comments. Now there are three people who sent me comments :-(
ReplyDeleteHave you uploaded your site to sulis I did not see it there otherwise send me a link. Cheers.
It's on Sulis alright. Melanie, Maureen and I all commented on your earlier post about using gendered language in relation to machines :-)
ReplyDeleteHi John,
ReplyDeleteJust want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog over the course of this assignment. I think you posted some excellent content.
I should have made more of an effort to leave a comment or two!
Best of luck.
Bryan
Thanks Brian and to all my loyal customers (four now). I may keep blogging forever if I get to five ;-)
ReplyDeleteFive John, you've got five!
ReplyDeleteI must apologise to everyone with a blogspot account, I attempted a few times to post to them but my comments were not processed properly.
Just like to add that I found your posts very informative and refreshing, a really welcome read whenever I was looking for something new. Well done. I can see "Journalist" written all over your musings.
Continued happy blogging!
Thanks again to everybody for yoour contributions. See you all in 'the lab' over the next few weeks.
ReplyDelete