Mid-Semester Reflection: What's Going on with Media These Days?

Image courtesy of hdtvuk.tv

Technology is crazy these days, and this is my reflection about our culture, the current media, and how easily I am persuaded by commercials.


1) After Studying 21st Century Media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned?

I have a learned a lot, especially the way different advertisements appeal to audiences and the techniques that are used in nearly every ad. I never realized how many commercials use the same exact techniques to get people to buy a product, and as a person who is always looking for a good deal, I am now going to watch out for ways I could possibly be persuaded. I also liked learning about the beginnings of radio, television, and magazines through the text book. I never really knew the origins of these types of media before now.

2) What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far?

I have learned that when watching infomercials or daily advertisements, I need to be more critical of the content. I used to watch infomercials all of the time and want everything they would show me, but now I have learned that I need to be more careful. In the past, I have fallen victim to buying the Snuggie because the infomercial made it seem like I just had to have it. Now I am stuck with a strange blanket that resembles a backwards bathrobe.

The Snuggie Commercial


I have also learned that I quite enjoy blogging. Though I am more apt to say I like old-fashioned pencil and paper more, it is a useful 21st century skill to know.

3) What's one thing you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

I would read the textbook more thoroughly, I believe. Though the information is quite interesting a lot of the time, I would end up leaving the reading until the last minute. This would cause me to then rush and try to get the reading finished just so I can finish the blog at a reasonable hour. I would like to have done my reading more immediately so I was not always so rushed, because I feel like I probably missed out on some good information that was in the details of the text. Again, this comes down to my own procrastination.

4) What's one thing you would like me to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

Perhaps blogging about the text book could be less mundane. I feel like if every week or so the questions could be altered slightly or something along those lines, that would probably keep me more interested in thoroughly reading the text and ultimately getting more out of the reading. Also, showing more films like Reel Bad Arabs- I found that video to be quite interesting.

5) Please comment on the usefulness of the power tools, our course blog, your personal blog, our in-class quizzes, our films, and our books as learning tools.

Power Tools- These actually helped me a lot. I feel like I can watch an advertisement and now realize exactly how it is persuading people to buy a product or do a certain act. Without the power tools, I would not be as critical of ads in general.

Course Blog- I find the course blog to be very useful; I like not having to hand in pieces of paper for my assignments. I also like that the assignments are always on the blog in case I forget what I am supposed to do, and there are always helpful videos and such all the time as well. It is much better than an entire typed syllabus.

Personal Blog- I really like writing on my own blog about my thoughts on media experiences I have had. I really love music and movies, so if I can write about these along with other media experiences and then get class credit for it, then I am all for it. It is a cool way to get students involved and participating in media and the class.

Quizzes- Though I do not really like being tested in general, I really don't mind the everyday quiz. They force me to study and know my power tools, and this really helps me with knowing the material for bigger tests such as the midterm and final. I like having a lot of little quizzes rather than only a few bigger tests.

Films- I really like the use of the short youtube films, especially the Kfee ad. I feel like they really help explain what we talk about in class. I also found Reel Bad Arabs to be very interesting because it showed me to look at our film culture in a new way. The one radio movie didn't quite keep my attention as much, but it was still interesting to see the local radio in Burlington.

Books- As far as textbooks go, I never really enjoyed them. However, I really do like our textbook that we use; I feel that I learn a lot of interesting information about our culture rather than just straight history. I wish that we could read excerpts from other books that are mentioned in class. The one about the internet taking over our brains sounded very intriguing to me and probably many others in the class, so I think it would be cool if we were able to read passages from that book as well.