Workshop- Super Helpful

Today in class we had our first major peer review workshop, and I could not be more thankful. As I have stated in several posts, I am very new to this whole technology based learning and have very little previous experience with blogging, so I was excited to hear constructive criticism and receive feedback from my classmates.
During the workshop I was able to not only receive feedback, but give it which really helped me further my understanding of blogs and how they should be organized. By critiquing my peer's blogs i was able to look at the blogs from an objective viewpoint. What drew me in? What kept me interested? And what would I have wanted to see more of? By participating in this workshop I feel as though I will be able to take the advice I gave my classmates and work in into my future posts.
I found that the suggestions I got from my peer reviewers will help me a lot in continuing the process of creating my clubhouse blog. One weakness of my blog that was brought to my attention from my classmates was that, although my aesthetic appeal was on point, my blog lacked any visual aids. After talking with my classmate, she helped me come up with a few great ideas for pictures that would make my posts more eye-catching and interesting, as well as a better layout to emphasize my visual aesthetics.
Overall, this workshop helped me more than I originally thought it would. It not only allowed me to recieve feedback, but also forced me to engage in the process of blogging deeper by looking at other blogs from a reader's point of view.

Getting the hang of this blogging thing, Finally!!

So after out last class meeting and talking with my professor and peers, I am finally starting to not only understand hoe blogs work, but I am actually beginning to enjoy it! As i have said in previous posts I am not very savvy with computers, and blogging was a whole new and challenging realm of the technology world that I have had to tackle. I consider myself to be a decent writer, but I am coming to the realization that blogging is a type of writing that entails several different aspects. After posting my first few posts on beer, i realized that not only was my blog not aesthetically appealing, but that they didn't really engage my readers or have enough personality to them. So i went back and revised my posts, and ended up with, in my opinion, a much better blog.
I still have a lot of work to do, especially in making my blog more personable, but I think I'm on my way to creating a great, informative and engaging blog for my fellow beer enthusiasts.

Slow, but Exciting Start to Clubhouse Blog

When trying to create my clubhouse blog I ran into quite a few challenges. My first problem was simply what in the world was i supposed to focus the blog on?? I had this same problem in my other writing class, research writing. In this particular course, the entire semester revolves around an in depth research project in which we are supposed to investigate and report on a subject that we are passionate about. After a week of failed brain storming sessions my professor sat me down and asked me what my interests were. After i told her i really have idea, she asked me what I do in my spare time, and I said I mostly just like to hang out with my friends. After about an hour more of just conversation, we came to the conclusion that since I like to be social, i should base my paper on the social scene at URI through a sociological perspective, since that happens to be my major. 

I went through a very similar process when trying to come up with an idea for my enthusiast blog. While sitting in class I was talking to my friend, Amy Levinson. She new exactly what she wanted to base her blog on, her major and passion, fashion. Coming up with an idea for my blog was a little more difficult. As i have previously explained I really dont have too many interests that I am particularly passionate about. Within my group of friends, there is a sort of on going joke about my love for beer. Amy said I should just do my blog on beer, and as much as I wanted to do that, I wasnt sure if that subject would fit the criteria for this class. Still stumped about what my topic should be, I went to my professor for some help. He simply asked me if you could do anything this weekend, what would it be? I told him what I told my other professor, I mainly just like to hang out with my friends and drink a few beers. My professor then said, do you blog on beer.

I can honestly say that I have never been as excited to do an assignment, as I am to write this blog on beer. Although I do love beer, my love for this beverage is not solely based on my love to consume it. Being born into an Irish family my father, grandfather, and cousins are all avid beer drinkers, so I grew up having family BBQs that included kegs, beer bong, flip cup, and various discussions and debates in which everyone in my family would argue which beer was the best. I cant remember a Friday evening without seeing my dad sitting at the dinner table drinking a bottle on Yuengling, which has become my favorite beer as an adult, and the beer brand I plan to focus at least one of my posts on through out the semester. 

But before I was able to start research and begin the blogging process i needed to come up with a fitting anme for my blog. So last Friday night, while drinking a few beers with my friends, we had a brainstorming session about the perfect name for my blog. After several ideas were bound around, I finally came up the name that is a play on words, "Hops To It." Hops is the ingredient with which most beers world wide are flavored with. Hops adds bitterness and and acts as a preservative. 

Now that i have chosen a topic I am passionate about, and one I already have plenty of previous knowledge on, and a great name for my blog, I am ready and excited to being blogging. 

Wurman reading Response

Wurman presents an interesting and eye-opening philosophy on the process of learning and what it means to succeed in today’s society. He speaks of his “ignorance” in a positive way and a type of launching pad for retaining new information and furthering his education. One of my favorite lines in this article, “…the key to making things understandable is to understand what it's like not to understand,” really resonated with me because it made me think about my own ignorance and how that ignorance is in fact just more room to fill with new knowledge rather than trait that should be hidden from society.

Wurman’s description of aesthetic seductions in relation to writing and the outpour of information to the general public sheds light on the fact that people seem to be less concerned with understanding information, whether it be vital or trivial, and more preoccupied with elements that initially attract them.  We as human beings are drawn to what appeals to us aesthetically, which is why Wurman points out that most graphic designers are taught more about how to make things “look good,” rather than presenting information in a way that any person in the general public would be able to not only understand, but be able to process that information and apply it to everyday life. 

Overall I really enjoyed this article. Wurman presents a simple yet useful philosophy of understanding information by being able to admit what it is that you don’t know, asking questions and attaining the answers you need to learn and in the end succeed. This article made me think about the endless amount of knowledge floating around in our world and how all that I don’t know, “my ignorance,” is actually the basis of my abilty to truly understand the information I need to learn, succeed, and survive. 

Jump Start on Technology Based Learning

After exploring blogger.com I feel a little more comfortable with the blogging process. To be honest, I have never even read blogs online, let alone created my own. In fact, i have very little experience with computers in general. Over the summer i took my first online class and spent most of the course attempting to navigate  Sakai. After  a few meetings with my professor and several hours familiarizing myself with technology based learning i feel as though i have my foot in the technology door. Even though I am not as naive with technology based learning as I was before completing my summer course, I will be the first to admit that I have a lot more to learn in order to succeed in this class.
I decided to name my process blog "Katie Bo Process Blog" because Katie Bo is my nick name and I felt as though it would give my process blog more personality. I wanted my readers to to get a little piece of me directly in the title. While creating my process and enthusiast blog my first challenge was to make my blog appealing to the carious readers that may come across them. It took me a while to understand the process by which to enhance the aesthetic appeal of my blogs. During this course so far one thing I have learned is that aesthetic appeal is extremely important. If I want people to not only read my posts, but remain interested in my topic, my blogs need to be visually attractive. I chose a comb nature-like background for my process blog because, again I feel as though it fits my personality and will create a stronger understanding between myself and my readers.