The linked courses have been great. Because the technology class was linked to something I enjoyed, it made it much more understandable because I felt I had more invested in the topics. Also, the link cut back on additional research, allowing for more time to be placed into the project. We were creating digital stories on topics studied in class, so the projects reinforced the class, and the class reinforced the projects.

I think the digital stories are the best medium for learning technology because they are fun, easy, and the student can see uses for it other than just the digital story class. For example, I've had fun putting together personl photo stories with pictures of past vacations of my wife and me.

I learned so much more about pop-up books and series books through 2 digital story presentations than if I had just relied on the information in the class. Abrahamson knows more information on children's literature than is healthy for a person, but the digital stories on specific topics explain aspects that the class simply didn't have time to cover.

The linked course certainly taught me a way to connect technology to my content area. I'm using the digital story medium to teach kids how to analyze thematic issues within given texts.

This is my first semester as a doctoral student, and I have a ways to go. So I'm hoping to take the pop culture/technology linked courses that I've heard about. I really enjoyed this semester, and I would recommend this class to anyone majoring in education.

The idea of having the second part of the linked course on-line would worry me. Most of what I learned came from Dr. Robin's patience when helping me through hands-on assignments. But I'm slow, so I need the face-to-face help.