Blog Journal #4 (online)

•  I've had a relatively limited experience with actually blogging. I blogged anonymously on tumblr with a false name and changed locations so I wouldn't be tracked or doxed (someone finding my location and then trying to find me in real life). Before I deleted Instagram in December of 2023 (I was at one of the worst lows in my lifetime, and social media was only feeding that monster), I did blog a little bit about my day to day life. However, most all of my social media accounts have been privatized so only those I wish to see me could see me. I now have a TikTok that is public that I intend to blog on, but it's not an increasing focus in my life at it's current rate. I enjoy blogging because I think it's fun to build community with people you otherwise may never have met. However, to be a healthy blogger and consumer, you have to develop a thick skin. One reason for this assertion is that, unfortunately, many people don't like seeing others be happy, and public blogging can open access for them to unfairly criticize and tear you down. Another reason is that you need to manage your own expectations of what you do and how you think not based upon the perception or actions of others. As a writer, I simply enjoy the thought of someone finding my work and my words meaningful. I think blogging is also susceptible to the algorithm (i.e. how often do people even get your blog post on their feed?), and I and other bloggers can struggle with the feeling that our audience is not being reached, and a community not being found.
• An interesting Web 2.0 tool that I would incorporate when I eventually start teaching is Hypothes.is. It's a social annotation website that allows students to comment on material (such as textbooks and articles), through type, images, and links to additional material. You can add students to your class and select specific students to see their annotations and their comments. Annotations appear as highlighted text, where to view you must click on the text. However, all annotations students write appear as a side scroll on the right side of the page, which are ordered by placement on the page(s) of the text. I really like how students can read material and make the side bar swipe away so they are not distracted by other comments, as well as how other annotations are discreate and do not impair viewing via a pop up. I think it would be really useful to limit how many textbooks or books my students would have to purchase, as well as facilitating discussion via grading upon types of annotation (feedback being one of them).
• Honestly, I was surprised and scared at Ai's sophistication when it came to generating images and text. But not too surprised: after all, all it does is steal other's work and write it off as it's own. For the lesson plan activity, I have no doubt that the lesson plan it spat out was actually a combination of other teacher's lesson plans. I honestly tried to interact with it as little as possible, as it's against my morals and my ethos to mess with it at all. I focused on making my prompts simple and straightforward, so I could tinker as little as possible. Everything I did worked, mostly because I tried really hard to make it simple so that I didn't have to work with it too much.
• Unfortunately, I plan to use no Ai when I start teaching. I see Ai as wrongful, because it is not a source of original thought or product. While convenient, I don't want to contribute to the problem by relying on it to present me with fast answers and plans I should be able to think of and make on my own. I understand this is somewhat of a pessimistic view. However, as someone who's already written published essays and plans to become a published historian, I loathe the idea that my thoughts and ideas can be stolen and brutalized by a software that exists for the anti-intellectual. This was the first time I've ever interacted with ChatGPT and Ai software, and I plan for it to be my last.