“Introduction” Posts (HW for F 8/28)
In order to start exploring the site, getting comfortable with posting/adding media (blogging), practicing reflective writing, and getting to know one another, please make sure to create an initial post that introduces yourself to the class.

*This Introductory Post is due no later than F 8/28 @11:59pm, but I encourage you make this initial post as soon as possible to become comfortable with OpenLab and to give others a chance to learn a bit about you).

Content of Posts
Tell us a bit about yourself … what are your interests, hobbies, desires? Current job or internship? Career goals? What did you do over summer break (and what do you plan to do over the upcoming winter break)? Share some photos of you (you can either pull a photo from the web if you have one up there, upload one from your computer, or … you can even take one with your smartphone right now!) and your family, friends, neighborhood, etc. Practice adding a link and maybe even a video to your post too.

At the end of your post, please address (in at least a paragraph) the following questions (not necessarily in this order):

• What your strengths/weaknesses as a writer/reader/thinker?
• What do you enjoy/dislike most about writing/reading/(critical) thinking?
• What is your background with using OpenLab & technology more generally (it’s OK if you don’t have any!)?
• What is your sense of new media is [JB, update as of M 8/31: the original reference to “science fiction” was a typo, but I’m still excited to see your responses on it!] (what is it? who writes it? why reads it? what’s its purpose? etc.)? Don’t do any research for this … just state what you think it is, prior to entering the course (think back to the freewriting and group discussions we had in class today, our assumptions, preconceptions, stereotypes, etc.)?
• • What do we think about when we think about “new media”?
  • What do we think of when we hear the word “new”?
  • What do we think of when we hear the world “media”?
  • Who writes (produces) new media?
  • Who reads (consumes) new media?
  • Why are you taking this course?
• Why did you choose to pursue a B.S. degree here at City Tech in Professional and Technical Writing?
• What are your expectations for this course/semester (what you think you will learn and what you hope you will learn)? Any questions?

Categorizing/Commenting on Posts
Don’t forget to categorize your post as “Introductions” (and uncheck “Uncategorized” if it is checked already by default). If you forget to do so before you “publish” you post, you can go back and edit/update it after the fact.

I made an Introductory post about myself (if I’m asking you to share some of your personality/background with the class, it’s only fair that I do the same!), so you can get to know me a bit better as well and also so you get a sense of what this type of post might look like/include.  Browse through everyone’s posts (if you choose the “Introductions” category for the right side of the homepage, you will be taken to all of these posts) and drop comments to get some conversation going and start building our class community for the semester!