Self-Reflection

Walking into this FIQWS class I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t really interested in the topic of “Assistive Technology”, I was just in this class because I didn’t really have many options. However, taking this class opened my eyes to  things I didn’t know were so important and controversial. I was introduced to many new things that attracted my attention.

Writing has always been my way to escape for a while. I enjoyed writing, but only when I enjoyed the topic. If I didn’t, I didn’t really have much to say and much to elaborate on. I was afraid this class would lead to many restless nights and hours of empty pages. However, that wasn’t the case.

Throughout high school I was given many writing assignments that I didn’t want to complete but had no choice so I learned to complete them at the best of my ability. I learned to do as much research as I can and to elaborate on things I thought stood out. I always made sure my writing was appealing to the readers and also followed all guidelines. These were the steps I had taken before entering this class. These were the steps that helped achieve my goal in this class.

My goal is to be able to write any paper without going through the struggle of looking at an empty page for hours. Thankfully, I am slowly but surely achieving my goal. In this FIQWS class I was assigned multiple papers on topics that I knew about and some that I didn’t know at all. We learned about assistive technology from many different perspectives it really opened my eyes. I walked into this class with an open mind. I wasn’t as interested at first but then my attention was caught. I was so interested in the different perspectives I was hearing. I was interested in the activities we did in class. This class also opened my eyes on how to better myself. I procrastinated a lot which only hurt me at the end. I stayed up the night before when I was given the opportunity to have done it before.

Some future steps that I would take to further reach my goal is to avoid procrastination as much as possible. Also to always enter anything with an open mind and not to be close minded.

I learned so much about different kinds of assistive technology. I didn’t think that assistive technology could be so controversial. I learned about assistive technology for visual impairments such as blindness, individuals with near or far sighted, color blindness, and peripheral vision. Some types of assistive technology that are made to assist the blind are canes to help direct, screen recorders to read aloud what’s on the screen, talking calculators that read aloud what is pressed, and “3D” lined papers to allow a blind individual to be able to write in a straight line. For near sighted we were given the opportunity to interact with a soccer ball with an inserted bell. This allowed anyone who was near sighted to hear the ball coming rather than see it.

I also learned about assistive technology for individuals who had hearing impairments. One device that is very controversial is the cochlear implant. We learned that the cochlear implant is a high tech device implanted right under the ear that allowed an individual to hear. I first thought that anyone would love to get an opportunity like this if needed, however I was wrong. I learned that there are many perspectives on such a device. My eyes were opened to many different views. We first learned that this device has changed drastically over time, then learned the views on this device. I was surprised to have learned that the cochlear implant to the deaf community may seem like a negative device rather than a positive. They saw it as a device that took away their identity and that made them someone who they’re not. They thought that the way they were born is the way they should remain and that getting s cochlear implant would be abandoning their community.

Learning about the advantages and disadvantages also made me realize that assistive technology also has its down sides. Even though they do provide assistance they also may cost a lot, require a lot of training and always having to keep up with updates.

This class has allowed me to excel as a writer in many ways from the Course Learning Outcomes. I was able to “explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety genres and rhetorical situations.” I came to learn that a rhetorical situations includes a purpose, audience, stance, genre, medium and design. These elements helped me in many of my writings including my literary narrative. It helped me determine that the purpose of my writing was to explain an experience I had been challenged with. I also “developed strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing”. For all my writings I had to go through a process of first writing a draft, then allowing someone to review it and lastly revise and edit it. It allowed me to perfect my writing and to have different perspectives on it. Lastly, I was also able to “recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations”. This allowed me to be able to include rhetorical terms in my essay such as descriptive writing and chronologically write my essay. All these outcomes allowed my writing to be able to be perfected and easier for me to produce and for the reader to understand.All in all, this class opened my eyes to many things about assistive technology, but also myself and I will further use the steps I had walked into this class and that I have learned from this class to reach my goal.