Wow! Let me just say that I think we have covered a lot of information this semester in this class. I cannot believe all the things I have learned! When I first looked over the previous presentations the students covered the summer, I was overwhelmed. I just remember thinking there was so much work that needed to be done. And now the time has come—it’s done!!! (Well at least to a point where it is ready to be graded…still needs to update it from time to time) CD 315 made me take assignments one at a time, which allowed me to concentrate more on one genre per week; this was very helpful to me. I have definitely learned a great deal about computers and the internet. With many struggles in the process, I learned how to link sites into my webliography, sign on and talk on MOO, and create an antville blog. I also became more knowledgeable of Parkinson’s disease. I actually surprised myself during this semester: In another class we were required to watch a list of movies. One of the movies I watched was “Awakenings”. It is about a rare disease that is like Parkinson’s disease. While watching the movie, the ‘doctor’ was explaining the disease and compared it to Parkinson’s disease. Before he could get to how this rare disease differed from PD, I had already come up with a list of differences in my head. It’s funny, because I didn’t realize how much I had learned from this research.
I did not have a very organized way of completing this assignment. I am what you could call a HUGE procrastinator. It is definitely one of my weaknesses! In the beginning of the semester, I was completing most of my assignments before Sunday and was organized. However, as the semester went on, the procrastinator in me started to show more and more. Needless to say, some Sundays were more hectic than others, but the assignments were done on time! I was able to get my information from the MU library search, reliable internet sites, and a text book. I would basically type in different words to search and then go from there. I think my researching skills improved because in the beginning I was very picky. If I did not find the specific information I wanted then I would exclude that site and continue my search elsewhere. However, I soon learned that I was missing out on a lot of useful information. I needed to take more time to read over the material because it could include some bits of useful information or be helpful in the future.
I’m sure computer technology will be integrated into my future work in many different ways. One way is that I will use computers and the internet to learn new information. With the knowledge of finding reliable sites and searching techniques, I will be able to learn the latest research. I may also want to join a mailing list with other SLPs. This will not only provide me with new information, but can also work as a support group. I’m sure there will be days when I feel like I have been making no progress with a client and I am feeling down on myself, it will be nice at these times to talk to people that can relate to how I feel. Another way technology will be integrated into my profession as a SLP is with augmentative devices. With all the fast progress technology is making, who knows what they will come up with in the future. (I’m anxious to find out)
Well, this is my last journal I will be writing. In closing, I would just like to say that it has been a long road, but I’m appreciative of what all has been accomplished.
Hope my blog is informative to all who read it!!!
Miss mustudent,
Julie:)

(this journal entry was done on 11/24/02, but was not posted til later due to the website difficulties; it was sent to the mailing list on time for recordation)

This week, I wanted to get my web page more organized and work on some finishing touches. The people in my group have made some good suggestions on how I can improve my genres. I haven't made all the changes that I want to yet, so I was hoping to get that done. One of our assignments for this week was to organize our web page the way we would like people to see it. I did not get to complete this stuff though because unfortunately, there is something wrong with the
website. Makes me a little nervous, because there is a lot of work that I still need to do. Mrs. McCommas knows about these problems though and assured us that the problem will most likely be fixed soon. She's had a lot more experience with this website than I have, so I feel better about that. Right now I do not feel good about this project at all. I do not feel like mine is very good and I feel very behind. There are still a lot of things that I need to do, and I am planning on doing it over Thanksgiving break while I am at home. However, it seems like I every time I plan on getting work done at home, I never get as much done as I need to. There is so much other stuff for me to do and the last thing that I want to do is sit down and do work. So I guess I'm just going to have to force myself to take one day just to get this done. I was able to get one assignment done for this week though. It had to do with the peer editing projects we have been doing each week. I noticed in mine that I concentrated more on the grammar and misspellings than on the content. I also noticed that I am really careful when I criticize their work. Everyone in my group did a great job on their genres, in my opinion, and I did not want them
to take it the wrong way when I made suggestions. So, I always tried to make sure they knew that I thought it was good. Also, I wanted them
to know that they did not have to take my suggestions; it was just simply a suggestion.