learning

Young Adult Novels Adhere to the Unconventional

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Young adult novels…they’ve seem to have gotten repetitive. Fascinating worlds and wonderful tales fill them but many of the main characters across the book have a common shared theme:  they’re socially awkward hipsters who take off beaten paths.

youngadult

I’m not saying that all young adult books are like this. There are several books to choose from that do not take this well-worn path: The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent. It is worth pointing out why many young adult books are diving in this theme of embracing the unconventional individual. Several young adult books with nerdy/awkward protagonists have become bestsellers. Young adult author John Green’s books including Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska all include having a main protagonist who isn’t very outgoing and believes in staying quiet.

Two young adult genre breakout hits of 2013 were Eleanor & Park and Fangirl. Both books (written by the same author: Rainbow Rowell) deal with introverted characters who surround themselves in their own world. This Song Will Save Your Life, a novel by Leila Sales, deals with a quiet teen girl who has trouble making friends. Notice a similar theme/trend with the other books mentioned?

Perhaps this is just a trend that in the coming years will start to slow down. It’s good that many young adult authors are helping teens embrace their quirky traits and awkwardness in a world of weight pressure, body image critics, and bullying. There is room for change however. Sometimes it needs to be known when to move on and describe other types of characters. Embrace the person who likes to speak up, make things, and/or is overly vain. It would be a welcomed change.

#FDOM: Final Evaluation

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This semester I spent blogging has been an overall positive experience. I was able to learn about different ways, both with different methods and media platforms, to tell a story. One of the major things I am proud of is that for the most part I was able to upkeep with one post a week. I made sure all of the posts had a good visual aid and a link to an article for further reading.

The thing that stuck with me the most during this blogging assignment was during Mass Communication Week at Texas State. The main speaker to start off the week was Evan Smith, CEO of the Texas Tribune. He said something that really stuck with me. He mentioned during his speaking event that despite common perceptions, now was actually the best time to go into journalism. New innovations are being done to effectively tell a story. His words hold true to what this fundamentals of online media class is all about: figuring out ways to effectively tell a story thorough the use of digital and online platforms.

Editing my Austin Film Society Internship Application Video

If you happened to read my about.me page (it’s a widget on the sidebar of this blog) you would read that I like to study the idiosyncrasies of things, the deep down meetings. So in order to fully realize how I have benefited from this blog, I would take down short notes and tidbits in class whenever my professor mentioned something important. Below is a list of the things I have learned in this digital media class from the notes I gathered and from this blogging assignment.

  • Visuals are important in a blog. Photos that could tell a story if they stood alone.
  • Blogging is a lot more enriching if you are 100% part of the process. Learn to code.
  • Don’t just put your own thoughts in a post, email people, get quotes.
  • Coding and graphic design are just as important as writing and communication skills. LEARN TO CODE.
  • Be genuine and leave comments on other blogs to get traffic to yours

All in all, my blogging experience has been positive. I learned a lot about building a solid base of content.  I know in the near future (January 2014) I will set up an entertainment blog (Movies, TV, Analyzing) to help become the career that I want which is to work at Entertainment Weekly magazine. Look out for me when I come to mass communication week 2015 as a speaker. Save the date! October 19, 2015.

[Update: 1/9/14: Found this cool article on The Daily Muse on how to upkeep and write good content for a blog]

MOOC’s: Open Learning

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Open Learning

“You blew 150k on an education you could have gotten in $1.50 in late fees from the library.”

-from Good Will Hunting (1997)

Photo Courtesy of Colin AshbyScribbles in a library study room

I’m a believer in self-taught education. I like being around people who are considered autodidacts (people who self-teach themselves). There is something great about watching a person demonstrate or talk about something they care about. They talk with so much passion and knowledge yet they never went the traditional classroom route to learn it. I’m sure most people have come across at least a few people like this (have you seen the vast amount of 12-year-olds teaching things on YouTube?)

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have given people, regardless of location or experience, the opportunity to learn. Moocs have been covered a lot lately in the news. Embracing the thought of people wanting to learn outside the traditional classroom, I put compiled a list of some great sources to find free courses available to people (offered even from high-end universities).

UCLA

UCLA offers many open and free extension courses on writing. Some of the topics include: Working on a Personal Brand, Screenwriting, Writing a 1-Hour Drama Pilot. There is basically a course for almost anything a person can think of. You may notice there are courses that cost money, but plenty that are available for free.

Stanford

Stanford University has a program called S.E.E. (Stanford Engineering Everywhere) that offers ten open courses for anyone to take. The courses use the same lecture videos and assignments that regular Stanford students use (and the courses are free!). Some of the courses they have include Artificial Intelligence and Introduction to Computer Science.

Carnegie Mellon

Carnegie Mellon University has a program called the Open Learning Initiative. The program is just that, open learning available to anyone. They have courses on biology, math, psychology, and more. There motto is “No instructors, no credit, no charge.”

iTunesU Store

iTunes offers the free app that can let a person took for and take free courses with no additional materials like textbooks needed.

Udemy

Udemy is the ultimate in free online learning. Their goal is to “democratize education by enabling anyone to learn from the worlds experts.” The website allows anyone to take or teach courses.

The point of this post is that students often feel restricted by many things. They feel trapped by their major, unable to take interesting free electives. They think that their degree may limit them, and so on. This does not have to be the case. Working towards your college degree is worth it. In my experience, through taking some free open online courses, I was able to build upon what I was learning in the classroom. I was able to explore more into my major than ever before.  Through the exercises and assignments, I was able to refine my thinking about how to use my degree to my best advantage.

So next time that winter/spring/summer break rolls around, consider using the resources above to take some free courses.