I enjoyed this part of the course very much since it was a good way to get to know some of the other students and to get a sense that you are not alone in taking EDIT 435. Initially I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of messages that were posted on a daily basis. It was fun to see that so many people were so passionate about topics (especially in the Issues Forum) such as dating and the NCAA tournament. At the same time, it was very hard to keep up with the many topics posted each day. Everyone I encountered was extremely friendly and followed Netiquette with few exceptions.
One major complaint I have of this format is that it is done via WebCT, thus making it very cumbersome and slow in operation. For example, during busy hours of the school day it could be nearly impossible to do any work in the forums because the lag time was so great. Moreover, I think the forum could be constructed to make our entries more personalized. On some sports forums I visit, each user has his/her own picture beside each post and can choose fonts, colors, sounds, etc. that go along with their message. Just another way to make things more fun and interactive. All in all, conferencing added a unique and positive attribute to the course.
The topic threads I started include:
Some of the discussions in which I was active included:
Last updated: April 7, 2005