April 19, 2009
Class Reflection
Like many of my classmates, I agree that this is one of the best classes offered at Dominican, if not THE best.
One of my favorite aspects of the class was the community that was formed both inside and outside of the classroom. The environment that was created allowed people to explore, experiment and think creatively. I think the three-weekend format worked well. Because of our weekly blog posts and twitter communication, the class continued to flow even on the weeks that we did not meet in person. On the weekends we did meet, our sessions were thought provoking, inspiring and fun.
I was surprised by how much I learned from maintaining this blog. While an avid blog reader, I never had the experience of having one myself. I was apprehensive at first, but by the end I realized the importance of cultivating a public voice. You write differently when the whole world could be reading, as opposed to an assignment turned in only to a teacher or posted on Blackboard. It was an important lesson in leaving my comfort zone to try something new.
I also really liked the assignments for this class and how well they worked together. There was room to explore ideas through blog posts, the context book report, the group project and ultimately the final paper. The assignments felt like cohesive building blocks rather than isolated exercises. I also especially liked having the opportunity to read material from outside of the LIS world.
More than anything else, this class left me with a sense of optimism and hope for the future of librarianship. Michael, thank you for leading us on this journey and carefully crafting such a wonderful class. And to my fellow 768ers, best of luck to all of you in the future. I look forward to seeing you out in the field.
