Courtney's Blog Corner

 Welcome!! My name is Courtney (on the right👆), currently a student at ODU💙. I have never written a blog. I cannot figure out how to edit the actual "About me" setting, so this will do. Currently I work at a preschool as a Kindergarten summer teacher. I am used to talking with kids all days so this will be a little weird. I imagine this is like an infographic about our weeks teachings? Very nervous going into this but I'm going to keep it formal and hope for the best. 😃 Reflection and Thoughts This was my first time creating a blog and it was a learning curve😬. I could have cultivated a more personal relationship with readers, however going in blind I went for informational text. This being said, after reviewing my classmates I see how it is meant to be more of a conversation. I went the very formal, educational route and used a more newspaper vibe. I wish I had more time to create a better platform and really get into it or had feedback after each post to better the ...

This week was all about making digital content more usable, accessible, and inclusive. Basically, it’s not enough for your site or writing✎ to look good, it needs to work for everyone. Usability is about how easy something is to use. If a site is confusing, takes too long to load, or is hard to navigate, people are going to bounce. We learned that web users mostly skim, so it’s important to keep things simple, clear headings, short paragraphs, and content that’s easy to scan. Accessibility takes it a step further. It means making sure people with disabilities can access and interact with your content. The WCAG guidelines break this down into four areas: your content needs to be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust . That includes stuff like alt text for images, keyboard navigation, and enough color contrast. Inclusion is about making everyone feel welcome: regardless of ability, age, or language. We read how using plain language and avoiding slang or technical jarg...

This week focused on how digital writing can influence real-world change🌎. In Public Writing for Social Change , Holmes says that writing in the public sphere means being aware of what’s happening around you👀, social issues, politics, culture, and using that to create timely, relevant content. It’s not just about your message, but how it connects to people and invites them to act. Rheingold adds onto this idea by pushing us to be active participants online. Even small actions like liking a post or signing a petition, what some call clicktivism💬,  can lead to real offline engagement. Whether people call it lazy or not, it still spreads awareness and brings people into important conversations.🙀 We also learned about social capital , or the value we get from our connections. Bonding capital is about close relationships, bridging connects us with new people, and linking ties us to institutions. These networks, through platforms like LinkedIn, TikTok, or Change.org, can help us ac...

This week, we focused on digital and visual rhetoric,  basically, how design choices affect the way people read, react to, and understand our writing online. We’ve already talked about the rhetorical situation (audience, purpose, message), but digital writing adds new layers, like layout, images, and interactivity. Hocks talks about three key ideas: audience stance , transparency , and hybridity . These basically mean that writers should know how their audience will interact with the site, make the experience smooth and easy to navigate, and blend visuals and text in a way that feels natural. It’s not just about saying something smart, it’s about designing a space where people want to listen. Carter’s article reminded me that online writing doesn’t follow a straight path like an essay. People click around, follow links, and explore. That means we have to treat pages like rooms and hyperlinks like doors. Our job as digital writers is to guide the reader so they don’t get lost. Foss ...