I can’t say it better than Rick Astley so I won’t. But lucky me because I had an iPad at the start of class and I’ve still got one now.

I am not an Apple girl. I have a dinosaur of a Dell, a Verizon EnV flip phone, and I still use an iPod mini. Yeah, no not the Nano, the discontinued mini.

But I have an iPad 2, which I proudly bought for myself for my birthday two years ago, because I was excited to finally join the age of college kid technology. Since then, I’ve learned that it is more than just a fun object to interact with (read: check my email), it is a device that connects me to the various social media sites which journalists now rely on.

Though I came into the class with a strong mastery of some of the most common social networking sites, I learned about so many more ways I can create because I was encouraged to explore new apps like Spotify, Flipboard, and Evernote. It is crucial to remain connected, and especially for those like myself without a smartphone, the iPad keeps me ready to share even when I’m on the go. I use it to cover football games (it was with me at USC) but I also use it for class.

The iPad represents the shift in journalism toward a multimedia product. Learning with one has better prepared me to be a journalist.

Never Gonna Give You Up