Final Experience Exam Self-Analysis Essay

Question

Answer

Name of Student

Name of Professor

English 101 Paper

01 August 2015.

In this self-reflective narrative, I set out to outline my collective experience in relation to the course English 1A – Online. At the beginning of the semester, I was keen to learn many new things in relation to online experiences. At first, I was not confident about my ability to grasp many of the online concepts I have been hearing about for a long time. However, all this changed after the introduction to the course. I gained a new sense of appreciation of the fact that online aspects of life are not as mysterious as I had traditionally taken to me. I was fortunate to learn more about blogs at the beginning of the course. I had for a long wanted to understand the meaning of the blog. After being introduced to this concept, I am not more confident than ever before that one day I will become a blogger.

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            The one thing that I like most about blogs is that they give writers a platform to express their ideas without any limitations (Maxymuk 44). The free flow of ideas facilitated through blogging greatly contributes to their popularity as online informational marketing tools (Singh, Veron-Jackson and Cullinane 287). Having done several blog assignments, I now understand why blogs are an integral part of the internet success story in the present world. In an online blogging environment where people from all parts of the world are free to express their ideas freely, it is highly likely for innovation and technological advancement to take place.

            The issue of corresponding and working with my online classmates was also a very enlightening experience for me. For many years, I kept hearing people talking about online learning. I did not fully understand means until I was exposed to the task of engaging in learning experiences with my online classmates. This was not only an exciting experience for me but also an opportunity to learn about a whole new way in which the internet can be used to facilitate learning. I believe online learning is one of the greatest breakthroughs in the online world because it can lead to significant reduction in education expenditure. I also spent a lot of time reflecting on the idea behind the use of a podcast. At first, the idea seemed somewhat surreal for no apparent reason, but later on I understood everything. I guess such an experience is sometimes necessary in the online world because it opens up one’s mind to the endless possibilities therein.

            When it came to essay development, I anticipated a lengthy and uninteresting part of the course to commence. However, it seems I was wrong because the topic on mechanics of essay development turned out to be the most crucial source of writing skills that I desperately need to succeed in blogging. It took me a lot of time to understand the concept of thesis. This is because I have in the past had numerous problems trying to differentiate it from concepts such as hypothesis, topic, theme, outline, and main idea. The only reason why I finally came to understand what a claim means is by adopting a “critical analysis” approach to essay writing and reading. At the moment, the process of identifying theses in texts has become the most interesting activities for me. Every time I read an essay, I am always keen to identify the thesis in order to determine whether I disagree or disagree with the author’s main line of argument.

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            The concept of thesis also helped me when I was conducting research on a literary writer before writing an academic paper. The research process required me to engage in a lot of reading. If I had not developed keen interest in the process of identifying theses and main arguments, I would have found the reading process tedious and extremely boring. After reading various texts, time came for me to write an academic paper, thereby enabling me to use the MLA format. Right now, I am proud to report that I have added a new skill to my repertoire, which is the creation of in-text citations and a corresponding Works Cited page using the MLA format. For this reason, I feel like a true scholar. I cannot wait to learn about the other referencing systems that I keep hearing about such as APA and Harvard.

            Additionally, my learning experience has immensely been enriched by interactions with online classmates. I may point out one particular experience in which we were required to exchange outlines and drafts of our essays with other online classmates. After reading through several of my classmates’ drafts and outlines. I realized that I was not the only one who did not know how to differentiate between an essay thesis and hypothesis. Several other students also had the same problem. Moreover, quite a number of them still had difficulties identifying themes in essays even after being shown how to do it. Similarly, a number of my online classmates seemed uncomfortable with the idea that a learner could somehow abandon the comfort of the traditional classroom in preference for an online classroom.

In conclusion, I went through many exhilarating experiences during the online course. It enabled me to learn how to blog, appreciate online aspects of life, use podcasts, identify theses in essays, write academic papers using the MLA citation format, and interact with online classmates. The most important finding for me was that the nature of online learning is only now beginning to be embraced by school communities, such that it may take some time before its true value is fully harnessed.

Works Cited

Maxymuk, John. “Blogs.” The Bottom Line, 18.1 (2005): 43 – 45.

Singh, Tanuja., Veron-Jackson, Liza and Cullinane, Joe. “Blogging: A new play in your marketing game plan”. Business Horizons, 51.4 (2008): 281–292.