After spending hours crafting an eloquent synthesis of blending education and technology, it was very puzzling to me that I would be condensing it into a concise blog post. No one wants to read an essay online. That’s just boring. However, I had a hard time thinking about what to cut out of my essay while still having a clear argument for my blog post. My goal was to make an easy to read and follow blog with facts followed by explanation. As a very visual learner myself, I find it more convenient when pieces are organized in a way which focuses my attention on bigger topics and then provides greater detail below, almost like a funnel. It also doesn’t hurt if there are a few funny gifs thrown in here and there – it keeps the mood light. I’m not the type of person who likes to get lost in never-ending paragraphs. Basically, if all textbooks were blogs, I would be a happy camper. Short and to the point is the way I like it.
source: http://wifflegif.com/tags/56180-shrink-gifs
My initial blog post started out as a copy-and-paste of the quotes I found most interesting from the original assignment. From there I built my arguments around the quotes so that it was more condensed than the 6 page paper. At first it was hard to pick and choose which arguments I wanted to keep and which ones were better left in a more academic setting. I deconstructed the academic tone to make it friendlier. Ultimately I wanted my post to sound like a conversation I would have with my friend about the different roles technology can play in education. I wanted my blog to be relatable.
source: http://cf.ydcdn.net/1.0.1.67/images/computer/_WDCUT1.GIF
This was a unique opportunity for me to showcase a different type of voice and style that is not always considered formal. First off, the addition of gifs and other links and add-ins create an interesting flare. Pictures in general drive the mood and tone of a piece. They can be a lighthearted relief in what would otherwise be a lengthy and boring piece. Having articles linked makes it easier for readers to navigate original sources and find more information if they would like to without clogging up the writer’s work with annoying citations. Hyperlinks are concrete pieces of evidence that add even more context to an argument since multiple sources are engaged.
source: http://giphy.com/search/brad-pitt-laughing
The greatest challenge of this piece was coming off as colloquial while also being taken seriously in an academic environment. It’s rare that a professor will ask you to let loose a little bit and let your true voice shine. This piece was not only written for my professor, but it was mostly meant to be shared with a wider audience. A wider audience can be harsher critics because once they lose interest they will simply stop reading. I only get one shot at impressing them, but my professor on the other hand has to read it in order to assign a grade.
In the end I learned a lot about tone, being concise, voice, and audience through this assignment. It was a neat opportunity to bring academic writing to a real world setting, something that I don’t have the chance to do very often.