Before coming into this class, I really had no idea what to expect. Through friends and other LASA provided resources, I had somehow constructed a vague idea of what the class will be like. I thought it would be a spin-off of an English class where we write essays, have discussions, write more essays, read articles, and then eventually come up and write a “final article” that will be published in a magazine. I could not have been more wrong. First off, this class was not a spin-off of an English class. This was a journalism and graphic design class. It was designed not to make us better essay writers, but to introduce us into the world of writing articles. We weren’t going to write an article that was going to be published in a magazine by someone else, we designed and published our own magazine. We were in complete control over everything, from designing the home page of the website to deciding which way to best represent ourselves in our bio. It has also taught me how to better work in a group setting, the importance of good communication, and the restraint of not using the oxford comma in your article.

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Going into this class I was aware that it would be completely online and maybe even thrilled that I only have to wake up 2 minutes before class starts, but was ignorant of the many times I would later wish for this class to be in person. The inconvenience of relying completely on technology was something I was not accustomed to; sure, I did online learning back in April-May, but this was different. This was not just, “here is the assignment now go do it and make sure you turn it in by 11:59 pm on Sunday” but this was “here is the assignment go meet with your groupmates and you can turn it late but just make sure you turn it in before I grade it”. There was a chillness to the class that can only have been a cause of the flatness of a zoom call, which almost deceives you into how accelerated this class is and just how much work will build up if you don’t do it. I will admit, there were times when I fell behind , but I have also benefited from the flexibility provided by online learning and was able to catch up.

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The flexibility proved to be the greatest “pro” for the online class. The fact that this class was online allowed me to take this class remotely, from anywhere I want, allowing me to continue doing both this class and sports over the summer. If this class had been in person, there would be no way that I could do both. But since it was in person, I was unable to access many resources that would normally be available otherwise. For example, I was unable to use certain software that would be much more professional and conducive to our magazine. However, we were still able to make-do with what we had, and end up producing something that still looks goods and professional.

 

One of the biggest problems working remotely in a group project was communication. This was something we struggled with in the beginning, but were able to resolve in the end. There was something about knowing very little concerning the person who is in your group that raises a little apprehension when still being forced to communicate to them. It makes it so much harder to write an email just to point out one small thing, to bring up an idea after the zoom call that was an afterthought, to remind each other that there is a zoom meeting in 5 minutes. Eventually as we somewhat got to know each other better, communication became easier and we established better forms of communication that were much more efficient. Going into Ezine, I didn’t like doing group work. I had only had bad experiences with group work before and had a general hesitation when assigned to a group. However, this time, I was able to see the possible benefits of having a good group. I had always essentially done all the work, fixing and changing things at the last minute without telling anyone, organizing and coming up with the ideas by myself. But this time, I was not forced to do everything and was able to have a better experience working as a group. This has taught me to trust in my teammates abilities and to learn to accept other people's ideas and opinions.