Lets just say this has been one of the most diverse course I have ever taken in terms of content and activities, especially in-class assignments. What I really liked about this course is that we covered the theoretical parts, all types of activities; on-ground and online games. All these widened the scope of my knowledge in topics I wouldn’t normally search about to be honest. These topics we covered like privacy issues, algorithms, and data protection made me more aware and more conscious of my online presence and this is something that I wouldn’t normally be interested in learning about despite its huge importance. I felt like every assignment was not something that we do just for the sake of getting grades, even the evaluations and self assessments we did mid-semester and after the presentations. They were very useful because it gave us an opportunity to evaluate ourselves and the others and also give us a chance to improve for the rest of the semester.
One of the most thought provoking assignment to me was ‘Read & Annotate: Lina Mounzer article’. Although this was early in the semester, but I connected with this assignment to a great level. Not only because of how the article itself was attention-grabbing, but because of the chance I got about commenting and giving my opinion even if it’s on every single phrase. I am majoring in political science, and I tend to read on a daily basis and rarely do I find an article that has the potential to grab my attention and spark my interest like this article did. It is a beautiful and heartfelt portrayal of an extremely saddening situation that is unfortunately a reality. The way Dr. Maha pushed us to come up with something creative, really pushed me out of my comfort zone, and in a utterly positive way. I always thought of myself as someone who isn’t creative and I need to exert a lot of effort only to come up with a small idea. However, the way we constantly had to get creative in our assignments got me used to this idea of how to create something creative. This is something I will definitely use in my career life. Usually I got asked in interviews what something creative did you do in your university, so after this course it will make me think of many creative things I have done; like creating a game from scratch.
If I were to showcase any of the assignments I have done, I would show them the game (even if it is not the best) because this assignment felt like a burden from the beginning of the semester, but when I really got into it, it became very easy. Also something that cannot be seen but I am really proud of and would talk about if given the chance is Soliya assignment. They reported me as very active, and in this assignment I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone. That i because I talked freely to people from different culture, people I don’t know anything them and about controversial issues, bearing in mind that I am an extreme introvert. One last activity I would talk about is the online games we played like the Syrian refugee game, these games have out me in a situations I wouldn’t normally be in and provoked me to act helplessly.
Although the assignments were very engaging, one thing I would change about this course is the frequency of those assignments. To be completely honest, hey were always easy assignments, but sometimes because of their frequency I wouldn’t put 100% I would have liked to put because we sometimes had like 2 assignments per week. They were really engaging and I have always been excited to do these assignment regardless of the being in the middle of midterms. One other thing I would like to change in the semester is the events that we attended and we writing reflections was required of us. I know that it is a way to ensure that we attended, but sometimes when I attended an event, I would focus on the material that will help me write a reflection instead of getting the best out of this event.
The type of person who could take this course is basically anyone. This is because how the course will push you to engage more, get creative and be able to express yourself; even if you are an introvert person. So this course is helpful to any type of person regardless of how he/she is.