(Online) Class Review: Psychology of Play

What could be more fun then studying how to play? Literally! 

The day this class opened I knew it was going to be a lot of fun, and it was (as expected) from start to finish. Psychology of Play means exactly what you think it means: The psychology of playing. This wasn't your typical psychology class, though. We did learn about the parts of the brain, studied the positive effects playing has on the brain, and learned how to incorporate it into our everyday lives. We also learned how to incorporate it into the work place. How so? Take a look at Google. They're known for treating their employees very, very well. If you have some downtime some time, read up on it. It's quite interesting! This was a fun course to say the least! It's also been my favorite thus far.  

First and foremost, I had an excellent instructor for this course. They provided me with very detailed feedback on my assignments; highlighting my strong points throughout the assignment and the parts that could've been a little more detailed (if any; which there hardly were, haha). This was one of the better things in this class. The feedback that was given on the assignments was very helpful in bettering my future assignments. Along with the strong feedback that was given, the instructor's ability to assist me with questions when necessary was also very helpful. Every instructor should have their students at one of their top priorities for whenever they may need help. Fortunately, my instructor was, and when I did have questions, they were very thorough in their responses. 

There are many ways you can contact your instructor: Email, AIM chat, call/text, and/or the FSO (Full Sail Online) platform which is what I used mainly. Now of course this varies instructor to instructor, but most of the time emailing your instructor with any questions is going to be the fastest method of receiving a response. Throughout all of my online classes, I have used the FSO's messaging platform as I've found it to work very well; however, you must give your instructor time to respond. For example, reading through your assignments sometime on Monday and sending a message about your assignment due on Sunday via FSO would give your instructor plenty of time to read and respond. So, sending a message to them Friday night at 9:00PM will not get you a response in time. I've sent messages via FSO during the day on Friday and I don't think I received a message until Monday morning. If your message is very important, and you need a speedy response, send an email, but I still would not recommend waiting until the last minute! The instructors generally have their email linked to their phones, but you can't count on it.

The assignments for this course were very, very manageable and not too hefty on time. This class does, however, require a lot of reading, and some of the material that is assigned to you to read is material that the instructor has written and there are also external articles that you are directed to read. I, personally, hate reading. Unless it's for something that I actually want to read, then I can more easily comprehend it. Other than the hefty amount of reading, the course really is quite interesting. I learned a lot throughout the month, and to be honest, I changed my outlook on life. It sounds a bit weird, but it's true. I used to play video games when I was younger, but as I was growing up I kind of shut them out and found other hobbies. My youngest brother unpacked our old Wii along with Super Smash Bros. Brawl and we had a grand ole time. I had fun, forgot about everything else, and just had played. As learned in class, I knew that it was important to play and have fun and just let loose. I knew that it was important to my production skills and overall creativity. 

I've come to realize that keeping this blog updated is going to be a lot harder then I thought it would be. I have so many things that I want to share in each post, but I can't remember them all. I'll do my absolute best, but the work is tough, free time is very minimal, and sleeping isn't even an option. I'll do my best to keep you and this blog updated. As always, if you have any questions or things to add, please leave a comment and I will help you out or address it. 

All the best,

Lennon 
Student
Bachelor of Science, Music Production