Unit 1 Reflection

I feel as if I have already gained a lot of new writing skills from this class.  The free writes at the beginning of each class were a difficult task at the beginning of the semester.  I thought that keeping my pen/pencil moving at all times and always flowing new thoughts and jotting them down was extremely difficult.  As we did more and more of these small assignments, I felt my thoughts coming more concisely and and consistently.  I feel that even though these assignments only took up a total of five to seven minutes each class, they have helped me tremendously.

While brainstorming for my Unit 1 Project, I wanted to do something that was interesting for me and would keep me engaged.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized this whole class was based on a concept that would keep me engaged regardless: technology.  This open ended sort of assignment was difficult to wrap my head around at first because I was not used to having this much freedom in a college class.  Although, once I realized how easy this truly was, ideas began to flow.  I decided to choose articles that depicted how ESPN and the sports world interacts with technology and how it is used to draw more interest to their platform.  

I feel the quality of my curated sources for my unit one portfolio is good.  Out of my three sources, one is a scholarly article, one is a sequence of videos, and the last is just an article on ESPN’s technological advances over the last forty years.  They started with just a cable television show that has now expanded to five channels, over fifty smartphone applications, and countless countries.  The growth of ESPN is truly due to their ability to stay with, and most times ahead, of the technology curve.

I used a lot of technology to enhance my project.  At the beginning of this class, I was worried about how difficult it may be to find three different kinds sources that would be helpful for my area of research.  I needed to find a scholarly article, which seemed like almost impossible.  I was informed of a whole new form of Google that searched just scholarly articles.  This technology was very helpful in searching for a certain type of source.  My second source was a series of videos from ESPN’s Monday Night Football primetime broadcast.  Technology not only allowed me to find these videos and article, but played a much larger role.  Without the technology we know and love, this video would have never been taken, the microphone would never relay the players words, and it could not have been broadcasts for millions to see.  My third source was a regular website article showing the growth of ESPN and the technological advances it has made, step by step, over the last forty years.  

Right now, I feel as if my sources are all of great quality.  I have three sources that support ESPN’s use and exploration of new technologies.  Although, a hole I have found is that one article slightly contradicts the others.  While the article “Tweet Talking: How Modern Technology and Social Media Are Changing Sports Communication” discusses how technology is affecting sports but has a negative look on it.  The article explains that the technology and social media are actually taking away from sports due to the fact that players no longer have the personal skills they used to.  According to the author, this takes away from interviews and other ways fans and viewers can get insight into their favorite players lives.  

I believe I can use these sources for the following unit projects.  If I choose to use how ESPN uses technology to widen the fan base, I most likely will not be able to use the contradicting article about social media.  I felt as of this article was important to my curated sources in order to show that social media and technology is having affects on sports that we do not think about all of the time, even if it is in a negative way.  This article may become useful if I can find a way to reword my research and thesis to show both sides.  This article shows impacts of technology with sports and the way ESPN writers and athletes communicate; although, not in a way to broaden horizons and reach the masses like I originally thought my research would go.