ds106

Okay so seeing we had to research something called ds106 really had me curious to what exactly it was. I cannot say that I have ever heard of it or knew anything about it. So doing research over this topic to complete a blog was vital.

After watching a few videos about the topic and reading into it, I learned the main point of what ds106 was: a course that is not a course at all. I will  be completely honest, this is something I do not think I would enjoy or want to participate in. I also think though, that this is a great tool for those who are curious and wanting to see what others are completing or what others are capable of doing. According to this website, ds106 is used to inspire. This means that this “course” community is able to view the best of collections of student’s work which are nominated by others that are actively ds106 participants. This class began as an experiment that allowed students to create their own frame. I took that as, they are given the space, the minimal rules, and then are allowed to do whatever with their space and let their mind and imagination flow to create their work. Because this class is open, it allowed other students around to join in on making this a very large welcoming course. Not only did it let students complete their work, it let the students throw in assignments that the other students could complete as well.

Yes, this tool is  great to allow other students to help each other and to get creative with their work, but to me, I do not feel as if I could keep up with all of the new information and assignments that would be posted. I think that going through college now, I have enough assignments to complete that are being graded that I do not feel like I would love to volunteer to complete other assignments just for fun unless it was something I really found interesting or wanted to know more about.

As a teacher, I think I could use this information or this kind of site for my own class. I would personally have my students follow the course, read blogs, write reviews, and maybe even participate as a blogger through the course. This kind of class I feel would get my students to maybe find something that they did not like before or simply connect with the other students.