The Art of Blogging

Friend's Broken Wrist @ Chinese HospitalI had never taken an online course before and didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t ever blogged before, I knew it wasn’t going to be technically challenging but I was hoping it would challenge me intellectually. I wanted to come into this study abroad experience with an open mind and I wanted to reflect on the things I was experiencing, I can honestly say that The Art of Travel helped me greatly in reflecting on my experiences.

The course was pretty straight forward and it was what I expected it to be. The hardest part of the blog, for me, was meeting the deadlines for the assignments. Initially, it was difficult to become adjusted to a new culture, learn a language, socialize and still blog regularly. Because there isn’t a classroom setting it is easy to forget that you have a 5th online-only course. Assignments then become piled up and you can easily be set-back 3-4 assignments without even realizing. However, it was easy to catch up and Professor Hutkin’s reminders were helpful as well.

I appreciated that the deadlines were there more for guidelines than actual mandatory requirements. It would’ve taken away from the course itself and from the actual blogging experience and the travel experience. The flexible syllabus gave students a chance to complete the assignments but on their own time, just like how a blog should be. The first few assignments were awkard. It was difficult for me to express how I was feeling and what I was experiencing into words, and even more difficult for me to put all my thoughts out there for everybody to see. As the semester progressed I became accustomed to the thought of blogging and actually came to enjoy it.

I would have liked it a little more if there were more “open topic” assignments. I just feel a blog should be a medium for someone to talk about whatever they want, I understand that The Art of Travel is still a course and needs a syllabus and structure, but a couple more “open topic” assignments would’ve been appreciated. I understand that the comments requirements were there to facilitate discussion and support bloggers but I found it a bit of a nuisance as a requirement. I regularly read people’s blogs but sometimes I just felt like I didn’t have anything to say, maybe that’s something I need to work on. The photo requirements were nice because it gave the other bloggers a chance to see what that blogger sees, even if its just a photo. It also would have been nice to here some feedback from Professor Hutkins in our blog comments.