UPDATED: CLASS OBJECTIVES & GAPS

HERE ARE MY ORIGINAL CLASS OBJECTIVES (GRAY BACKGROUND):

I was not sure what form this class would take, and even what we would be covering. I thought it might potentially be about the latest trends in social networking (including the latest technological trends that support social media), but I was also open to whatever. In some ways, social media is morphing and developing so rapidly every day that it's hard to keep up and speak in generalities, but there are available up-to-the-minute stats. Perhaps that's not the overall objective/goal of this class. If I had to create my own objectives? Here they are:

• Make the most of my interactions (social networking!) with professor/classmates
• Informally pick up tips about how social media is used in the classroom (I'm not a teacher, per se)
• Take this time to do my own extracurricular reading on the latest trends in social media (that I've been wanting to do)
• Learn new technological skills where I can
• Gain a deeper understanding how social media fits in to the classic principles and evolution of the discipline of Media Literacy Education
  REVIEWING CLASS OBJECTIVES (MARCH 2015) COMMENTARY IN ITALICS
•           Make the most of my interactions (social networking!) with professor/classmates
  Since this has been a huge part of the course and a valuable one, I think I have learned the most from informal sharing, "hive mind" collaboration, often in the form of technology hacks that I've always wanted to learn. I feel if I spent even more time doing the "back and forth" commenting and making better use of the coffee house format, I could have gained even more. It has been daunting to keep up with all the various assignments, evaluating, discussion forums (class, assignment, coffee house, google group, facebook, email, etc.), but always fruitful.
  ·         Informally pick up tips about how social media is used in the classroom (I'm not a teacher, per se)
  This HAS been amazing. I had no idea, for example, that Twitter was used in the classroom at all! The teachers in this course are unending sources of information and the latest technologies that do and don't work in real-life classrooms. I find when actual reactions of students and teachers are related to us "from the field" it's very enlightening. I also work with youth, but not in a day-in-day-out situation. I do what I call "hit and run" presentations, but often with follow-up and input from teachers, youth ministers, parents before and after presentations. The youth I work with are also very open with me when I inquire about their media use, the latest lingo, etc. (I think because I'm not their parents they are more willing to share!
  ·         Take this time to do my own extracurricular reading on the latest trends in social media (that I've been wanting to do)
  This has not happened! (Although watching the assigned videos has taken the place of this in some ways.) However, my reading list is growing from suggestions by fellow students. The books I am most eager to read (some oldie but goodies): "The Shallows," "You are Not a Gadget," A book on "the body" that Wes mentioned, "iGods--How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual and Social Lives," "Returning to Reality: Thomas Merton's Wisdom for a Technological World." It's harder to find books that are POSITIVE about our digital world rather than negative, especially when coming from a religious perspective, but I'm always looking for positive strategies. Maybe I'll have to write one.:)
  ·         Learn new technological skills where I can
  I finally figured out how to gracefully share/embed animated GIFs. I have learned ABOUT many web 2.0 tools--teaching ones and other collaborative/communicative ones, and I finally "got" Snapchat and have begun using it.
  ·         Gain a deeper understanding how social media fits in to the classic principles and evolution of the discipline of Media Literacy Education
  Since I'm the only student coming rather exclusively from the Media Literacy community and perspective (although I can tell a lot of the teachers have a background in ML and are intuitively incorporating it in their teaching), I find that this is an area (also due to the newness of social media) where we/I have to be pioneers. I am always actively applying these principles to social media--successfully--which just goes to show that they are withstanding the test of time.
  It's with chagrin that I note the crumbling, dissolution and watering down of true Media Literacy in academia.The discipline is not generically "using technology" but rather a researched tradition of specific and critical thinking about our media use as we simultaneously forge ahead, engaged in the media culture. The incorporation of true Media Literacy into curriculum has always been a battle, but it seems the knowledge and ability to teach ML is embedded in certain personalities who are aging, retiring and dying (across the English-speaking world). This engenders a great responsibility on those of us still alive and kicking to further Media Literacy's reach.