There were and continue to be, several challenges to the development of this course, not least of them the electronic component. I developed this course as an independent, adjunct instructor in a matter of a few months, left largely to my own devices. There were cross-platform issues to deal with; the need to quickly design an application that would be easy to use and reliable; software distribution and assignment submission issues; and the electronic equivalent of paperwork in order to keep track of student progress, grading, etc. Nevertheless, students have responded to the course generally favourably. I was pleased upon reviewing course evaluations for the spring term that many students singled out the helpfulness of the meaning/value paradigm in increasing their understanding of the course material.
Seven years ago, when there were far less people on the Internet than there are today, people were wary and skeptical about forming virtual relationships. The fact remains that online, it is very easy to create a character or persona very much different from you. One cannot be completely sure if the people they befriend in chatrooms are who they claim to be. As the years went by, the population of Internet users grew, and new softwares and innovations made online interaction easier and more convenient. The latest and most popular to date is Friendster, which was created by Jonathan Abrams, an engineer and entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, and launched in March 2003. Friendster took the Philippines by storm on July and got anyone with access to the computer so addicted to it that reports say Friendster been growing at 20% per week since then (Smalla). Because of its ability to build friendships through “friend-of-a-friend” referrals, Friendster makes online interaction more personal and easier to carry onto the offline world than other forms of online communication.
There were and continue to be, several men to the development of this course, not least of them the electronic component. I developed this course as an independent, adjunct instructor in a matter of a few months, left largely to my own devices. There were cross-platform issues to deal with; the need to quickly design an application that would be easy to use and reliable; software distribution and assignment submission issues; and the electronic equivalent of paperwork in order to keep track of student progress, grading, etc. Nevertheless, students have responded to the course generally favourably. I was pleased upon reviewing course evaluations for the spring term that many students singled out the helpfulness of the meaning/value paradigm in increasing their understanding of the course material.