ePortfolio

Hello readers,

This week has come to an end. Classes and work in Info Commons are starting up and about to be in full swing. After only working a few days in the library, and of course after the retreat, I have realized how valuable it is being apart of Info Commons. For example: my PO 490 Senior Seminar class is a writing intensive class in which we work on a series of short writes and discussions that eventually lead to our “senior thesis” as it were. One goal of my professor is to become more active with technology. This is unusual because she is very ‘old school’, does not allow computers in class and will not post power-points online because she states that it deters from people paying attention and taking notes by hand, which she says has a direct correlation to memory retention. However, in this class, once a class we draw a lottery for the next class to see who will be ‘webmaster’ and ‘note taker’. Webmaster starts every class with an interesting article, song, movie clip, etc. and explains why or why not it is political (the title of the class is Everything is Political). We as a class then discuss this media and debate from our previous education and personal experiences whether or not it is political in nature, what the political relevance is, and how it influences society. While everyone is taking their own notes by hand, the note taker takes the classes notes as a whole and uploads it to BlackBoard. It’s the best of both worlds, a fair compromise between the student and the professor. More updates to come on the success or failure of this experiment. As an Info Commons assistant I feel well prepared to do these tasks, and have told my professor that I can assist in helping students in class.