Course Reflection

The course was enriching because there was information I was exposed to that I would not normally have known if it was not for this class. For instance, in the book Content Strategy for the Web, I learned a new term and job position called content strategist. This person’s specialty is to know the information, but also to know how to persuade the content to other who may be unfamiliar with the product or message. In the same book, I learned what magic layer means and its purpose. Magic Layer seems as though it comes after the brainstorming process and then the person starts to apply the ideas. This layer is feared from many people because it tests their creativity and challenges them to not rely on themselves rather executing the impossible with collaborators. I could relate the challenge this process called the magic layer can be, especially when I began my rhetorical analysis and finding content for the webpage contribution. I needed to allow people to look at my work so I could include any detail I may have missed. In the book Spreadable Media, I learned that participatory cultural practices transform transnational media flow through what users watch on social media. In this case, society contributes the success of others in regards to exposing them to the world.

Even though the class was not necessarily intended to be face-to-face, this type of interaction exposed me to more honest conversations. I was able to remember and learn the information because of the structure of the class. The structure was less lecture-based and more interactive. I felt more connected and involved than I would probably have had if I took the class online. My attention was hooked from the beginning of the semester where our class discussed the social apps and different digital writing environments. Many of them I never heard from such as Yik-Yak, Vlogs and Redit. I learned from my peers in class and listening what they had to say. I am use to being around with other historians in classroom settings so it was refreshing to be with people from different disciplines in this class. When our class looked at examples of websites doing less Sebastian Tamayo and other classmates mentioned important critics on how to improve websites’ design. One comment Sebastian mentioned was users usually are directed to the left-hand corner of any webpage and I would have never known that, but his comment made perfect sense. His comment influenced how I thought the design of our webpage contribution would look like by placing the logo and the tabs at upper left side of the page.

Our class had collaboration when we peer-reviewed each other’s rhetorical analysis. Even though we may think that technology and social media can bring solidary, in that moment discussing new ideas to write on our choice of digital writing environment we were collaborating and listening each other’s opinions and knowledge. These interdisciplinary interactions are experiences that will help me if I want to pursue a digital humanities job and a skill I need if I ever want to be a content strategist, as discussed in the book Content Strategy for the web. Not only was I learning to build architectures of participation on social media, but also I was building one in class among my peers when we had discussions and when working on our webpage project. Having this course face-to-face executed what really digital humanities is all about. Digital humanities integrate the digital applications with the traditional teachings. It does not replace one with the other.