Assignment 1: the best title ever for what I will be writing in this 200 words. The word assignment together with a number: food for thought… Being a student means just being a machine which must produce regularly and efficaciously. I don’t see much difference with any working experience. You produce and you get a number: a mark if you’re a student, a pay envelope if you’re a worker. In this capitalistic side of the world, only money seems to matter.
I’m not protesting against this particular “homework” I have to do for my university career. I love writing and there is no better thing for me than spending some time typing words on my best friend’s eyes (i.e. my MacBook). I just can’t stand the fact that knowledge can be quantified. I spend almost 25 hours par week in class for a total of 5 exams which corresponds to 35 “credits”. It is just as in Wesch’s video: numbers, assigmnents, numbers, assigments againa and again… I don’t get any emotional approach to what I’m pretending to learn.
Maybe it’s better to talk to my friends on FB. They really know what’s inside my heart and not what is on the surface of my brain.
Ilaria Montagni 
Very good. Actually I quantify in a very limited way your contributions. Rather, I accumulate some sort of points as long as you do things and not necessarily things related to my assignments.
You see, I’m somewhat obliged to “produce assignments” because a large part of students expect them. Thus I give them assignments but they are a kind of trick to let people do things taking care of their learning by themselves.
yes, this is what I mean when we’re talking about Italian university in general… in the USA, for example, students are more independent and assignments are not so compulsory…