I will send the grade sheet via your gmail account as soon as I have graded all your work (several CDs have not yet been turned in). Check over my math and etc and if you have any questions send me an email. After a day or so - after any questions have been resolved, I will post your grades on Kean wise.
This has been an outstanding class. You did great work - and I was very impressed with your persistance and resourcefulness dealing with Frontpage. I hope to have your web pages posted at my site by the end of may.
Thanks for the great semester and keep in touch.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Lab Time to work on your hypertext essays
CAS 307 will be available for you to work on your projects ANY TIME BUT the following time periods:
Monday 11:00 - 12:20
Tuesday 12:30 - 1:45
Wednesday 12:15 - 1:45
Thursday 9:30 - 12:15
Friday 12:30 - 1:45
Tell Ms. Coleman or the student assistant in the English Department Office that you are a student in Dr. Chandler's ENG 3080, and you will be let into the lab. Do not allow students from other classes to come into the room with you.
Monday 11:00 - 12:20
Tuesday 12:30 - 1:45
Wednesday 12:15 - 1:45
Thursday 9:30 - 12:15
Friday 12:30 - 1:45
Tell Ms. Coleman or the student assistant in the English Department Office that you are a student in Dr. Chandler's ENG 3080, and you will be let into the lab. Do not allow students from other classes to come into the room with you.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, April 20
#@***^^#$@!
Working with FrontPage on computers with blocks presents many challenges. You are doing a wonderful job. For those of you who fell they didn't get as far as they liked - hopefully you were able to save your site (the assignment for the day) so that you can continue to work on it in other labs on campus. The computers labs in Willis have FrontPage - if you find others on campus let me know and I will post it here so everyone can get some work done.
In class on Thrusday we were going to talk about the portfolio - but at this point, I think I am not going to require you to turn in a portfolio - rather we will do some reflective writing on the last day of class that you can then email me. So that means we will use Thursday to continue working on the hypertext essay. If you want feedback - you can turn in a draft (how ever far you got, in what every state of hyper-ness it happens to be) at the end of class. I will have you turn them in by saving them to a thumb drive that I will pass around class. Your draft should give a clear indication of the form + include your revised text. Unless you schedule a conference - this will be your last chance to receive feedback prior to the grade.
Next week, you will give presentations on your hypertext essays. The idea will be for you to get one more round of feedback from your classmates & me.
In your presentation you will need to state the following:
1. your research question (and how it connects to the ideas in the course)
2. what you found with respect to your research question (your answer)
3. how others have answered your question (connections to work by other researchers)
4. what new information/ideas/perspectives you brought to this question
5. what aspects of the question will need more research for a more complete answer
6. identity of the audience and purpose for your site
7. discussion of how you expect your site to be used
8. explanation of how the design of your site meets the needs of your audience/purpose
This presentation does not need to be perfect. The idea is to make sure your essay writes to the demands of those points - since those are the criteria for your grade.
Working with FrontPage on computers with blocks presents many challenges. You are doing a wonderful job. For those of you who fell they didn't get as far as they liked - hopefully you were able to save your site (the assignment for the day) so that you can continue to work on it in other labs on campus. The computers labs in Willis have FrontPage - if you find others on campus let me know and I will post it here so everyone can get some work done.
In class on Thrusday we were going to talk about the portfolio - but at this point, I think I am not going to require you to turn in a portfolio - rather we will do some reflective writing on the last day of class that you can then email me. So that means we will use Thursday to continue working on the hypertext essay. If you want feedback - you can turn in a draft (how ever far you got, in what every state of hyper-ness it happens to be) at the end of class. I will have you turn them in by saving them to a thumb drive that I will pass around class. Your draft should give a clear indication of the form + include your revised text. Unless you schedule a conference - this will be your last chance to receive feedback prior to the grade.
Next week, you will give presentations on your hypertext essays. The idea will be for you to get one more round of feedback from your classmates & me.
In your presentation you will need to state the following:
1. your research question (and how it connects to the ideas in the course)
2. what you found with respect to your research question (your answer)
3. how others have answered your question (connections to work by other researchers)
4. what new information/ideas/perspectives you brought to this question
5. what aspects of the question will need more research for a more complete answer
6. identity of the audience and purpose for your site
7. discussion of how you expect your site to be used
8. explanation of how the design of your site meets the needs of your audience/purpose
This presentation does not need to be perfect. The idea is to make sure your essay writes to the demands of those points - since those are the criteria for your grade.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thursday, April 16
Today you did some exploring with Frontpage. From what I saw, you are doing a great job. As I said - the hardest part is figuring out how to get around the blocks on the computer.
Monday will be another open lab to work on your hypertext essay. Take some time over the weekend to read through the comments I gave you on your writing; if you aren't sure what I was suggesting - make sure to either talk to me in class or seet up a conference.
The draft for your hypertext essay will be due on Thursday, April 23.
Have a great weekend.
Monday will be another open lab to work on your hypertext essay. Take some time over the weekend to read through the comments I gave you on your writing; if you aren't sure what I was suggesting - make sure to either talk to me in class or seet up a conference.
The draft for your hypertext essay will be due on Thursday, April 23.
Have a great weekend.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, April 13
In class we talked over the results from your assessment of your patterns for attending and you did some brainstorming for the reflective essay. Your task was to identify your focus and the texts you will connect to, and to do some thinking about how you would use each text in your discussion.
On Thursday you will have a free work period to develop your hypertext essay. Post a schematic for your design (or a description of) it to your blog.
On Thursday you will have a free work period to develop your hypertext essay. Post a schematic for your design (or a description of) it to your blog.
Patterns for Attending and Reflecting on Readings for the Course
The assignment sheet for reflecting on the readings for the course is posted under course documents. It is probably best to think of this assignment as a take-home essay exam, where your purpose is to demonstrate your knowledge of the readings - and to show that you can apply the ideas from the readings to new contexts/situations. In class today you will do some brainstorming to set up a focus for your essay. As you will see from the assignment sheet - you have a choice of three questions: CHOOSE ONE. The questions are there to give you direction if you need it - but they can also let you follow your own interests if you want to. Your completed essay is due with your portfolio.
How long do you think it should be?
Patterns for attending
The following discussion sums up the overall patterns within the class.
Deep attention 1 2 3 4 5 Hyper attention
School 3 3 3 1 0/ average 2.3
Living 0 2 1 6 1/ average 3.6
Relaxation 0 1 2 2 5/ average 4.1
These numbers indicate that, in general, you use more deep attention for school, and more hyper attention for recreation, and that daily living presents the most variation in your choice for style of attending.
Further reflections:
1. Everyone in the class moves between deep attention and hyper attention - though the reasons and activities that influence the choice of one style for attending rather than another vary from person to person.
2. More individuals preferred deep attention for school work (there were no 5's in the average, but there were 5's for individual tasks - such as researching topics.)
3. Attending style seems to be activity dependent. Some of us had a preferred identity as a hyper attention or deep attention person - and said so out right - but most of us seemed to have attending styles that reflected the activity - not a dominant attending style.
4. The range for attending for the class was the same in all three categories (always spanning 4, never 5 or 3 ratings), yet when your reported which category had the biggest range you either indicated school or living activities (no one reported recreation); and recreation was the only category reported as having the least variation. This may be accounted for by the experiences of the particular individuals who reported for this section (only 5 out of the 10 participants provided answers for this section).
How long do you think it should be?
Patterns for attending
The following discussion sums up the overall patterns within the class.
Deep attention 1 2 3 4 5 Hyper attention
School 3 3 3 1 0/ average 2.3
Living 0 2 1 6 1/ average 3.6
Relaxation 0 1 2 2 5/ average 4.1
These numbers indicate that, in general, you use more deep attention for school, and more hyper attention for recreation, and that daily living presents the most variation in your choice for style of attending.
Further reflections:
1. Everyone in the class moves between deep attention and hyper attention - though the reasons and activities that influence the choice of one style for attending rather than another vary from person to person.
2. More individuals preferred deep attention for school work (there were no 5's in the average, but there were 5's for individual tasks - such as researching topics.)
3. Attending style seems to be activity dependent. Some of us had a preferred identity as a hyper attention or deep attention person - and said so out right - but most of us seemed to have attending styles that reflected the activity - not a dominant attending style.
4. The range for attending for the class was the same in all three categories (always spanning 4, never 5 or 3 ratings), yet when your reported which category had the biggest range you either indicated school or living activities (no one reported recreation); and recreation was the only category reported as having the least variation. This may be accounted for by the experiences of the particular individuals who reported for this section (only 5 out of the 10 participants provided answers for this section).
Monday, April 6, 2009
Overview of (revised) calendar for the rest of the term
M Apr 6
What you will talk about in your presentations on your web essays (April 20 + 23) + sign up for conferences
Discussion Hayles
Read: Collins, "Friend Game"
Blog 18: Writing about patterns for attending
Th April 9
Discussion patterns for attending posted on your blogs
Discussion Collins
Blog 19: Free blog - anything you want post
WEEK 12
M April 13
Discussion: wrap up on content for course
In-class work on reflective analysis of readings for course
Blog 20: Post schematic for structure for web-essay
Th April 16
In-class work on building web essays
WEEK 14
M April 20
In-class work on building web essays
Th April 23
Presentation on portfolio
In-class work on portfolio + web essay
Draft web essay due at end of class
WEEK 15
M April 27 Web essay returned w comments
Presentations on web essays + feedback from classmates
Th April 30
In-class work on web-essays + portfolios
WEEK 16
M May 4 Due: Portfolio, reflective analysis, web essay
Evaluation of the course
What you will talk about in your presentations on your web essays (April 20 + 23) + sign up for conferences
Discussion Hayles
Read: Collins, "Friend Game"
Blog 18: Writing about patterns for attending
Th April 9
Discussion patterns for attending posted on your blogs
Discussion Collins
Blog 19: Free blog - anything you want post
WEEK 12
M April 13
Discussion: wrap up on content for course
In-class work on reflective analysis of readings for course
Blog 20: Post schematic for structure for web-essay
Th April 16
In-class work on building web essays
WEEK 14
M April 20
In-class work on building web essays
Th April 23
Presentation on portfolio
In-class work on portfolio + web essay
Draft web essay due at end of class
WEEK 15
M April 27 Web essay returned w comments
Presentations on web essays + feedback from classmates
Th April 30
In-class work on web-essays + portfolios
WEEK 16
M May 4 Due: Portfolio, reflective analysis, web essay
Evaluation of the course
Characterizing your style for attending
After your classmates' presentation to explore the differences between hyper and deep attention - you will spend some time reflecting on your own patterns for attending - and what they mean about your relationships to different literacy practices.
Blog 18: post a response to the following prompts to your blog:
1. List the kinds of media you use/read/engage with on a daily basis. Are your choice of media + patterns for interacting with media the same or different from they wayit was when you were 5? 10? 15? etc Give short descriptions to explain.
2. Rank the relative amount of time you presently spend with each medium -- be as specific as you can
3. Describe any media associated with how you perform the following school related tasks:
do math or other calculation-based homework
read assignments
compose a paper (answers may be different for drafting, revising + editing)
study for an exam
conduct research / find references
4. Describe any media associated with how you do the following everyday tasks:
drive
eat a meal by yourself
eat with your family/friends
household chores (cooking, cleaning, household repairs, work on your car)
5. Describe what you do to relax or in your free time - and how you relax
(e.g. watching TV while looking at a magazine and texting a friend)
Analyzing your patterns for attention:
a. Patterns of attention for individual activities: look back over your list and rank the individual practices listed under 3 - 5 . Use a scale of 1 - 5 where 1 is deep attention (focused on one task - creating an environment with no distractions) and 5 is hyper attention (focused on multiple channels for input - creating an environment with many distracting features). These numbers reflect your preferences for attending for individual activities.
b. Patterns of attending within activity clusters: After you have ranked all the activities you listed, give yourself a score for school activities, living/household activities + relaxation activities by averaging the numbers in each category (for example if you have 3 for math assignments, 4 for reading assignments, 2 for writing papers, and 5 for studying for exams, then your school number would be: 3+4+2+5= 14/4 categories = 3.5 (a little more on the hyper attention side than the deep attention side)
c. Overall pattern for attention. Average all the rating numbers to get your overall pattern for attending.
6 Questions to think about.
a. In which category were you most likely to use hyper attention? in which category were you most likely to use deep attention? Or do you seem to have a consistent style (all hyper or deep attention)? How would you explain this?
b. In which category was there the largest range of numbers ( for example, some activities rated 1, some rated 5). Can you explain why the range might be large for this category?
c. In which category did you have the most consistent style? Why do you think this is so?
7. How would you characterize yourself in terms of patterns for attending? Do these numbers reflect how you would characterize yourself (in terms of attention)? What correlations or inconsistencies do you see between your feeling about how you think and these numbers? Can you explain them?
Blog 18: post a response to the following prompts to your blog:
1. List the kinds of media you use/read/engage with on a daily basis. Are your choice of media + patterns for interacting with media the same or different from they wayit was when you were 5? 10? 15? etc Give short descriptions to explain.
2. Rank the relative amount of time you presently spend with each medium -- be as specific as you can
3. Describe any media associated with how you perform the following school related tasks:
do math or other calculation-based homework
read assignments
compose a paper (answers may be different for drafting, revising + editing)
study for an exam
conduct research / find references
4. Describe any media associated with how you do the following everyday tasks:
drive
eat a meal by yourself
eat with your family/friends
household chores (cooking, cleaning, household repairs, work on your car)
5. Describe what you do to relax or in your free time - and how you relax
(e.g. watching TV while looking at a magazine and texting a friend)
Analyzing your patterns for attention:
a. Patterns of attention for individual activities: look back over your list and rank the individual practices listed under 3 - 5 . Use a scale of 1 - 5 where 1 is deep attention (focused on one task - creating an environment with no distractions) and 5 is hyper attention (focused on multiple channels for input - creating an environment with many distracting features). These numbers reflect your preferences for attending for individual activities.
b. Patterns of attending within activity clusters: After you have ranked all the activities you listed, give yourself a score for school activities, living/household activities + relaxation activities by averaging the numbers in each category (for example if you have 3 for math assignments, 4 for reading assignments, 2 for writing papers, and 5 for studying for exams, then your school number would be: 3+4+2+5= 14/4 categories = 3.5 (a little more on the hyper attention side than the deep attention side)
c. Overall pattern for attention. Average all the rating numbers to get your overall pattern for attending.
6 Questions to think about.
a. In which category were you most likely to use hyper attention? in which category were you most likely to use deep attention? Or do you seem to have a consistent style (all hyper or deep attention)? How would you explain this?
b. In which category was there the largest range of numbers ( for example, some activities rated 1, some rated 5). Can you explain why the range might be large for this category?
c. In which category did you have the most consistent style? Why do you think this is so?
7. How would you characterize yourself in terms of patterns for attending? Do these numbers reflect how you would characterize yourself (in terms of attention)? What correlations or inconsistencies do you see between your feeling about how you think and these numbers? Can you explain them?
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Workshop!
In class today you worked through the preliminary drafts for the text for the hypertext essay. Your feedback addressed the drafts' focus, the efficacy of the research question, and the use of analysis with respect both to the references and the interpretation/evaluation of the references brought to bear in the analysis. You also were looking for connections between the analysis and the focus of the essay.
Rather than posting additional reflections on the wikipedia project - use Blog 17 to post your revisions to your draft for your hypertext essay.
For Monday:
Blog 17: revise hypertext draft in light of comments from classmates
Read Hayles essay on Hyper and Deep Attention.
Have a great weekend.
Rather than posting additional reflections on the wikipedia project - use Blog 17 to post your revisions to your draft for your hypertext essay.
For Monday:
Blog 17: revise hypertext draft in light of comments from classmates
Read Hayles essay on Hyper and Deep Attention.
Have a great weekend.
Monday, March 30, 2009
For Thursday, April 2
Blog 16: Write a draft for the text for your hypertext essay. Don't worry about getting all your facts/references right or using polished language. You have permission to do a big, messy draft - a much writing as you can get down.
The purpose(s) for this post is/are to:
1. To make sure you are writing a research essay
2. To make sure you have covered the appropriate points/sub-topics/questions relevant to your topic.
3. To set forward all/identify of the main ideas relevant to your focus so you can do some preliminary work on organization.
4. To consider the depth/detail of development you want to put forward for the different points/sub-topic and identify (additional) appropriate sources for support where necessary.
In other words - on Thursday you will workshop your draft for focus, organization + development.
The more writing you have, the more useful the workshop will be for you,
Revisions to the calendar:
Next week we are going to switch the presentations for the "Friend Game" and the "Hyper Attention" essays.
Blog 17 is NOT going to be on the Wikipedia project. TBA.
See you Thursday,
The purpose(s) for this post is/are to:
1. To make sure you are writing a research essay
2. To make sure you have covered the appropriate points/sub-topics/questions relevant to your topic.
3. To set forward all/identify of the main ideas relevant to your focus so you can do some preliminary work on organization.
4. To consider the depth/detail of development you want to put forward for the different points/sub-topic and identify (additional) appropriate sources for support where necessary.
In other words - on Thursday you will workshop your draft for focus, organization + development.
The more writing you have, the more useful the workshop will be for you,
Revisions to the calendar:
Next week we are going to switch the presentations for the "Friend Game" and the "Hyper Attention" essays.
Blog 17 is NOT going to be on the Wikipedia project. TBA.
See you Thursday,
Thursday, March 26, 2009
For Monday, March 29
I will be giving you feedback on your blogs - with particular focus on your research plans - on Sunday, so if you have new ideas, information, plans for your hypertext essay put them up on your site. Also - if you have any questions concerns you would like me to attend to - put them out there so I can respond.
Blog 14: Follow through on your thoughts, reflections, ideas for the structure of your hypertext essay => develop a preliminary discussion of the macro structure for your site: how you hope to "chunk" the parts of your essay in terms of links and nodes; what basic structure will be most appropriate for your users (look back to the writing you did about your users in your earlier blog); how your macro structure will support the expected uses for your site.
Blog 15: Update your observations on your wikipedia assignment. Your observations should include: your contrib name (so we can track your changes); the text you posted; a link to your entry page; how your contributions were received; why you think they received the reception they did.
In class on Monday we will be discussing electronic literature. Check out Electronic Literature Collection and come to class prepared for Joe and Dan's presentation. We will use this discussion to deepen our discussion of how hypertext structures create meaning and usability.
Have a great weekend.
Blog 14: Follow through on your thoughts, reflections, ideas for the structure of your hypertext essay => develop a preliminary discussion of the macro structure for your site: how you hope to "chunk" the parts of your essay in terms of links and nodes; what basic structure will be most appropriate for your users (look back to the writing you did about your users in your earlier blog); how your macro structure will support the expected uses for your site.
Blog 15: Update your observations on your wikipedia assignment. Your observations should include: your contrib name (so we can track your changes); the text you posted; a link to your entry page; how your contributions were received; why you think they received the reception they did.
In class on Monday we will be discussing electronic literature. Check out Electronic Literature Collection and come to class prepared for Joe and Dan's presentation. We will use this discussion to deepen our discussion of how hypertext structures create meaning and usability.
Have a great weekend.
Macro features for web sites
In class we will review the basic structure types for web sites (Johnson-Eilola, chapter 6). After looking at some real-world uses for the different types, we will do some talking about what kinds of uses are suited to which kinds of structures, and about users preferences.
You will then look back over your characterization of users for your site (or revise and update your characterization of your users in light of any changes in your topic) and use this writing as a basis to identify a primary structure for your hypertext essay.
Listed below are some sample sites - all linked from Kairos, rhetoric and composition studies flagship journal for new media composing.
Losing Control: Writers, Readers, and Hypertext
Constructing a Tool for Assessing Scholarly Webtexts
Using Facebook as a Teaching Tool
A Review of Writing Inventions: Identities, Technologies, Pedagogies
Re-mediating the Canons
Kairos News
You will then look back over your characterization of users for your site (or revise and update your characterization of your users in light of any changes in your topic) and use this writing as a basis to identify a primary structure for your hypertext essay.
Listed below are some sample sites - all linked from Kairos, rhetoric and composition studies flagship journal for new media composing.
Losing Control: Writers, Readers, and Hypertext
Constructing a Tool for Assessing Scholarly Webtexts
Using Facebook as a Teaching Tool
A Review of Writing Inventions: Identities, Technologies, Pedagogies
Re-mediating the Canons
Kairos News
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
For Class Thursday, March 26
Work on your research plan. This writing is an important part of your research process. Before you begin looking for references - you need to think about what you expect to discover/show, and the kinds of references you will need in order to develop your exploration. Doing some solid work on your research plan can save you from taking on a project that will be too much work, a project that does not have enough readily available information, or a project that is too general or too narrow. Perhaps more importantly it can help you develop a *reserch project* ("tips", "how to essays" and reporting essays are not research essays).
Include:
Statement of purpose (what you hope to show/discover)
Detailed statement of your research question
List of the information you need to gather
A preliminary list of sources
Plan for gathering your information
Do some in-depth thinking about whether your question is broad enough or focused enough.
For those of you who have changed/re-focused your research topic - you will want to up-date your user analysis (check back to the writing we did in response to Johnson-Eilola's prompts on who your users are & how they will use the site.
In class on Thursday, we will look at Johnson-Eilola's presentation of structures and navigation devices in common use for web sites. You will identify those features on some sample sites - and then we will discuss correlations between how a site is built - and how it is used.
At this point, you will look at your user/user context analyses - and at your research plans - and we will do some discussing about what kind of structure will work best to present your information to your users.
For Thrusday:
Blog 14: Revised research plan
For Monday, March 30
Blog 15: overview of your experience with Wikipedia. This reflection should include:
1. a link to your post
2. your user name so we can follow your participation in the history
3. a discussion of what you posted & why you chose to post it where you did; how long your post stayed "up" & how & whether it was edited; a report on your discussions/interactions with other editors; your speculations about why your post was received the way it was (some reflections on how wikipedia works).
Include:
Statement of purpose (what you hope to show/discover)
Detailed statement of your research question
List of the information you need to gather
A preliminary list of sources
Plan for gathering your information
Do some in-depth thinking about whether your question is broad enough or focused enough.
For those of you who have changed/re-focused your research topic - you will want to up-date your user analysis (check back to the writing we did in response to Johnson-Eilola's prompts on who your users are & how they will use the site.
In class on Thursday, we will look at Johnson-Eilola's presentation of structures and navigation devices in common use for web sites. You will identify those features on some sample sites - and then we will discuss correlations between how a site is built - and how it is used.
At this point, you will look at your user/user context analyses - and at your research plans - and we will do some discussing about what kind of structure will work best to present your information to your users.
For Thrusday:
Blog 14: Revised research plan
For Monday, March 30
Blog 15: overview of your experience with Wikipedia. This reflection should include:
1. a link to your post
2. your user name so we can follow your participation in the history
3. a discussion of what you posted & why you chose to post it where you did; how long your post stayed "up" & how & whether it was edited; a report on your discussions/interactions with other editors; your speculations about why your post was received the way it was (some reflections on how wikipedia works).
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday March 23
Hope you all had a great break!
We are going to begin class today by reviewing your experiences with Wikipedia - we will spend the rest of class tightening up your research plans (and taking a look at a publication venue for your projects => Kairos Special Issue on Undergraduate Research.
If you look at the bottom of the assignment sheet on Developing a Research Plan, it asks you to formulate a research plan that includes:
Statement of purpose (what you hope to show/discover)
Detailed statement of your research question
List of the information you need to gather
A preliminary list of sources
Plan for gathering your information
In class - we will work in small groups, through your blogs and through whole class discussion (as a team) to make sure each of you has a strong research question. Your question needs to be:
1) related to the writing/technology issues that are the focus of this course;
2) ask a question that is in dispute or not yet answered;
3) sufficiently focused or narrow so that you can throroughly explore your topic within the format, length, and time constraints of this assignment.
To put it another way, this means that your hypertext essay needs to connect to the theory from the readings, it needs to use that theory to explore ideas about writing and technology in a new way - so as to pose new ideas on your topic; and it needs to present that exploration in-depth and with references to the ideas of others.
The outcome of today's class will be revised research plans (including plans for gathering/thinking through your research process) that should set you up to write a focused hypertext essay that meets the requirements.
We will discuss schematics and work on designing your sites on Thursday.
We are going to begin class today by reviewing your experiences with Wikipedia - we will spend the rest of class tightening up your research plans (and taking a look at a publication venue for your projects => Kairos Special Issue on Undergraduate Research.
If you look at the bottom of the assignment sheet on Developing a Research Plan, it asks you to formulate a research plan that includes:
Statement of purpose (what you hope to show/discover)
Detailed statement of your research question
List of the information you need to gather
A preliminary list of sources
Plan for gathering your information
In class - we will work in small groups, through your blogs and through whole class discussion (as a team) to make sure each of you has a strong research question. Your question needs to be:
1) related to the writing/technology issues that are the focus of this course;
2) ask a question that is in dispute or not yet answered;
3) sufficiently focused or narrow so that you can throroughly explore your topic within the format, length, and time constraints of this assignment.
To put it another way, this means that your hypertext essay needs to connect to the theory from the readings, it needs to use that theory to explore ideas about writing and technology in a new way - so as to pose new ideas on your topic; and it needs to present that exploration in-depth and with references to the ideas of others.
The outcome of today's class will be revised research plans (including plans for gathering/thinking through your research process) that should set you up to write a focused hypertext essay that meets the requirements.
We will discuss schematics and work on designing your sites on Thursday.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday, March 9
Designing effective web sites: Johnson-Eilola
The first chapter introduces considerations regarding:
- usability = careful consideration of who will be using your site, for what purposes, and under what conditions;
- structure = planning an organization/link structure that will reflect the users needs, interests, circumstances and abilities
- navigation = choosing the specific devices/facilities that will enable users to move from one screen/node to another
The second chapter engages you in thinking about who your users are and how their identities and circumstances affect their interactions with your site.
Johnoson-Eilola points out:
- that the sites' purpose should connect to the particular users
- user characteristics to consider should include: "age, cultures, interests, movtivations and skills" (10)
- the sites' structures should reflect users' profile; sites can be tailored to users in terms of: navigation devices, size and resolution, aspect ratio, color, fixity and reading patterns (see 10 -18, take a good look at the section on reading patterns)
Chapter 3 considers users' contexts:
-technical
-physical
-mental (+ predisposition to look for certain information)
-social and institutional contexts
Over break you will be reading Chapters 4 - 7, so that after class discussion of these chapters in class Monday, March 23, you can map out a schematic for your site.
In addition to dsicussion Johnson-Eilola, we will talk over the exploratory writing you did for your hypertext essays, and discuss how to finish developing your research plan.
For Wednesday, March 11
Read: Johnson-Eilola 4 & 5
Blog 11: (we will start this post in class March 9) Describe your audience, purpose, focus and work out some of the consequences these features of your project will have for your design; provide links to sites similar to what you have in mind
Blog 12: Wikipedia post + report on-going interactions with wikipedia
Th Mar 12 Online class, Chandler at Conference
Develop your research plan
Read: Johnson-Eilola, navigation + structure; 6&7: come to class prepared
Blog 13: post your research plan
The first chapter introduces considerations regarding:
- usability = careful consideration of who will be using your site, for what purposes, and under what conditions;
- structure = planning an organization/link structure that will reflect the users needs, interests, circumstances and abilities
- navigation = choosing the specific devices/facilities that will enable users to move from one screen/node to another
The second chapter engages you in thinking about who your users are and how their identities and circumstances affect their interactions with your site.
Johnoson-Eilola points out:
- that the sites' purpose should connect to the particular users
- user characteristics to consider should include: "age, cultures, interests, movtivations and skills" (10)
- the sites' structures should reflect users' profile; sites can be tailored to users in terms of: navigation devices, size and resolution, aspect ratio, color, fixity and reading patterns (see 10 -18, take a good look at the section on reading patterns)
Chapter 3 considers users' contexts:
-technical
-physical
-mental (+ predisposition to look for certain information)
-social and institutional contexts
Over break you will be reading Chapters 4 - 7, so that after class discussion of these chapters in class Monday, March 23, you can map out a schematic for your site.
In addition to dsicussion Johnson-Eilola, we will talk over the exploratory writing you did for your hypertext essays, and discuss how to finish developing your research plan.
For Wednesday, March 11
Read: Johnson-Eilola 4 & 5
Blog 11: (we will start this post in class March 9) Describe your audience, purpose, focus and work out some of the consequences these features of your project will have for your design; provide links to sites similar to what you have in mind
Blog 12: Wikipedia post + report on-going interactions with wikipedia
Th Mar 12 Online class, Chandler at Conference
Develop your research plan
Read: Johnson-Eilola, navigation + structure; 6&7: come to class prepared
Blog 13: post your research plan
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Thursday, March 5
Today's discussion of produsage is going to be collaborative (how appropriate -right?)
The class will work in 4 groups - who will each give a brief presentation on the main points of (one of) the following:
1. Defining produsage = differences from producation
2. Preconditions for produsage
3. Key principles of produsage
4. Impacts and implications
Then we are going to look at Bruns web presence + sites relevant to this work, including:
http://produsage.org/ Bruns site for the book
http://www.ning.com/ = create a social networking site
http://snurb.info/net => software for creating social networking sites
We will also take a look at some examples/products of produsage = open source software open source software. open office, & audacity.
We will spend the rest of class (if there is any time left) talking about your hypertext projects & discussing the plan of work to develop them.
For Monday:
Post Blog 10: Begin work on developing a research plan for your hypertext essay.
Read: Chapters 1 - 3 in Johnson-Eilola, and think about what kind of site will fit with the essay you will be writing for your hypertext essay project.
The class will work in 4 groups - who will each give a brief presentation on the main points of (one of) the following:
1. Defining produsage = differences from producation
2. Preconditions for produsage
3. Key principles of produsage
4. Impacts and implications
Then we are going to look at Bruns web presence + sites relevant to this work, including:
http://produsage.org/ Bruns site for the book
http://www.ning.com/ = create a social networking site
http://snurb.info/net => software for creating social networking sites
We will also take a look at some examples/products of produsage = open source software open source software. open office, & audacity.
We will spend the rest of class (if there is any time left) talking about your hypertext projects & discussing the plan of work to develop them.
For Monday:
Post Blog 10: Begin work on developing a research plan for your hypertext essay.
Read: Chapters 1 - 3 in Johnson-Eilola, and think about what kind of site will fit with the essay you will be writing for your hypertext essay project.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
SNOW DAY
Well - we missed class on Monday. I hope everyone had a great day cause I sure did. I will talk about Produsage (it's sort of a long article) and we will figure out how to make up for the lost day when we get to class.
See you Wednesday.
See you Wednesday.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, Feb 26
In class you gave some feedback to your classmates for their wikipedia posts, and we did some class brainstorming about how you might build on your post to develop your research project. Good work on connecting + providing one another with some ideas!
At the end of class we discussed the reading for Monday on produsage.
For class Monday:
Read: "The Key Characteristics of Produsage" (handout provided in class - extra copies in my mailbox in CAS 301 E)
Blog: This is slightly different from what is listed on the calendar. Rather than connecting to social networking sites, I want you to use this reading to pull together + reflect on the readings we have done so far. Write a little about how the concept of produsage connects to : 1) the features of the internet; 2) internet mindsets (as set forward by Lankshear & Knobel); 3) the concept of remediation; 4) the ideas underpinning the intensive information exchange for flashmobs; and finally, the community that underpins wikipedia itself. This does not have to be polished writing; the point of this post is for you to do some thinking about how the readings for the course fit together. Go for the ideas.
Have a good weekend and see you on Monday,
At the end of class we discussed the reading for Monday on produsage.
For class Monday:
Read: "The Key Characteristics of Produsage" (handout provided in class - extra copies in my mailbox in CAS 301 E)
Blog: This is slightly different from what is listed on the calendar. Rather than connecting to social networking sites, I want you to use this reading to pull together + reflect on the readings we have done so far. Write a little about how the concept of produsage connects to : 1) the features of the internet; 2) internet mindsets (as set forward by Lankshear & Knobel); 3) the concept of remediation; 4) the ideas underpinning the intensive information exchange for flashmobs; and finally, the community that underpins wikipedia itself. This does not have to be polished writing; the point of this post is for you to do some thinking about how the readings for the course fit together. Go for the ideas.
Have a good weekend and see you on Monday,
Monday, February 23, 2009
Class February 23
Feedback on your blogs + grades for your literacy narratives should be in your email. If you feel that I did not correctly/fairly evaluate your narrative, please schedule a conference and we can talk about it. If you are not satisfied with your grade, you may revise your writing and re-submit it. Overall this writing was well done. What a pleasure to read these stories. Thank you for your good work.
In class today Kathy and Jenna gave their presentation on the wikipedia article. They provided us with some of the history of the site and introduced the collaborative nature of the site "where everyone is a groundskeeper," along with wikipedia's version of vandalism, John Broughton's "missing manual," instruction creep, deletionism, and the "Article Rescue Squadron. . . a small group that opposes "extremist deletion.""
The presentation intimated the social nature of the site (which I then picked up on in the presentation of your assignment. As the author of "The Charms of Wikipedia," Nicholson Baker points out, "Without the kooks and the insulters and the spray-can taggers, Wikipedia would just be the most useful encyclopedia ever made. Instead it's a fast-paced game of paintball."
We discussed the assignment, you created your accounts, and then did some exploring to identify your topic (in terms of what is posted on wikipedia & what needs expanding)and figure out how to construct a post. Read the information on wikipedia about how to post; take advantage of the discussions and practice in the sandbox or by making small edits and checking out the code.
For Thursday-
Read: references for your wikipedia post
Blog 8: Exploratory writing for your wikipedia post
Remember to keep in mind that your wikipedia post can set up your research project - and that the focus for both needs to connect to literacy, technology, digital writing and "cyberspace" => the focus of the course.
See you on Thursday.
In class today Kathy and Jenna gave their presentation on the wikipedia article. They provided us with some of the history of the site and introduced the collaborative nature of the site "where everyone is a groundskeeper," along with wikipedia's version of vandalism, John Broughton's "missing manual," instruction creep, deletionism, and the "Article Rescue Squadron. . . a small group that opposes "extremist deletion.""
The presentation intimated the social nature of the site (which I then picked up on in the presentation of your assignment. As the author of "The Charms of Wikipedia," Nicholson Baker points out, "Without the kooks and the insulters and the spray-can taggers, Wikipedia would just be the most useful encyclopedia ever made. Instead it's a fast-paced game of paintball."
We discussed the assignment, you created your accounts, and then did some exploring to identify your topic (in terms of what is posted on wikipedia & what needs expanding)and figure out how to construct a post. Read the information on wikipedia about how to post; take advantage of the discussions and practice in the sandbox or by making small edits and checking out the code.
For Thursday-
Read: references for your wikipedia post
Blog 8: Exploratory writing for your wikipedia post
Remember to keep in mind that your wikipedia post can set up your research project - and that the focus for both needs to connect to literacy, technology, digital writing and "cyberspace" => the focus of the course.
See you on Thursday.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Class February 19
In class today Rishi and Melissa talked to us about Smart mobs and we did some exploring on the internet to see some recent examples. We then talked about some of the historical precedents of smart mobs (such as the Boston Tea Party!) and identified the features of digital technologies that have extended their possibilities.
For Monday -
You blog assignment is listed on your calendar:
Blog 7: What in the world of print might correspond to the communications that underpin flashmobs? How have digital communications changed/remediated these communications and what are the effects of that remediation? What kinds of changes might you predict for the future?
AND
Read the wikipedia article.
In class on Monday, after Cathy and Jenna talk about the reading assignment, we will do some talking and writing to get you started on your wikipedia post.
I will be looking at your literacy narratives, hopefully within the next week, and you will receive an email with comments.
Have a good weekend and see you on Monday!
For Monday -
You blog assignment is listed on your calendar:
Blog 7: What in the world of print might correspond to the communications that underpin flashmobs? How have digital communications changed/remediated these communications and what are the effects of that remediation? What kinds of changes might you predict for the future?
AND
Read the wikipedia article.
In class on Monday, after Cathy and Jenna talk about the reading assignment, we will do some talking and writing to get you started on your wikipedia post.
I will be looking at your literacy narratives, hopefully within the next week, and you will receive an email with comments.
Have a good weekend and see you on Monday!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Contributing to Wikipedia
Next week we will be talking in some depth about wikipedia - how it works, how it is connected to the ideas and practices that make the internet work, and how you might participate.
To get some background - you might want to read about Wikipedia (where else?) - on wikipedia. Check out the section on contributing to Wikipedia. As you read this material (and the assigned reading for next week) - you will begin to understand that this is an interactiveprocess - that there is much more than simply typing in the information and hitting save. Your contributions will be read, evaluated, and edited by the community of readers interested in your page. If you choose a "hot" topic - you might find it difficult to become part of the group that directs what is and is not "allowed" as information. Regarding the technical aspects of posting - check out what is available in terms of help, do some experimenting in the "sandbox" or read about the available tools.
And do some thinking about what you have to contribute in terms of "expertise."
To get some background - you might want to read about Wikipedia (where else?) - on wikipedia. Check out the section on contributing to Wikipedia. As you read this material (and the assigned reading for next week) - you will begin to understand that this is an interactiveprocess - that there is much more than simply typing in the information and hitting save. Your contributions will be read, evaluated, and edited by the community of readers interested in your page. If you choose a "hot" topic - you might find it difficult to become part of the group that directs what is and is not "allowed" as information. Regarding the technical aspects of posting - check out what is available in terms of help, do some experimenting in the "sandbox" or read about the available tools.
And do some thinking about what you have to contribute in terms of "expertise."
Monday, February 16, 2009
Post on Monday, Feb 16
In class Thursday Feb 12 we had a quick discussion of Hayles work on technotexts, cybertexts, and hypertexts. We also brainstormed a list of possible topics for your wikipedia/research projects. From discussion in class and from glancing through your blogs and it sounds like most of you are starting to get some ideas for what you might work on. As Kathy pointed out in class - it is whatever you want. . .so long as it connects to the focus of the course.
I know it says to post your literacy narrative today - but we agreed in class that you could turn it in on Thursday.
In class on Thursday, Rishi and Melissa will give a presentation on Smartmobs, and I will talk a little about wikipedia.
See you on Thursday.
I know it says to post your literacy narrative today - but we agreed in class that you could turn it in on Thursday.
In class on Thursday, Rishi and Melissa will give a presentation on Smartmobs, and I will talk a little about wikipedia.
See you on Thursday.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Feedback on your literacy narratives
You should have an email with some feedback on your literacy narrative posted on your blog. If you posted it - you got full credit for Blog 4. These are great. I am looking forward to reading the finished essays.
In class Thursday you will spend some time checking out & commenting on what your classmates have written, both for their literacy narratives + brainstorming (Blog 5). We will do some group brainstorming on topics for the wikipedia + hypertext projects, and hopefully by the time you leave class you will be excited about becoming the "expert" on your particular topic.
In class Thursday you will spend some time checking out & commenting on what your classmates have written, both for their literacy narratives + brainstorming (Blog 5). We will do some group brainstorming on topics for the wikipedia + hypertext projects, and hopefully by the time you leave class you will be excited about becoming the "expert" on your particular topic.
Monday, February 9, 2009
What we did in class February 9
We talked through the concepts in the remediation reading with a focus on the facts that media are produced through different technologies, and that remediation is the process of re-creating a text from one medium in and through the forms, conventions,and technologies of another medium (e.g. making a movie from a book, a video game from the story line of traditional mythology, etc).
Bolter and Grusin emphasized the features of immediacy and hypermediacy. Immediacy draws us into the text and makes the world disappear. It makes us feel as if we are there; while hypermediacy draws our attention to the textual/representational nature of the medium - and to that medium's connections to other media.
We made a timeline of technologies and you then did some group work to identify the practices/conventions for "reading" texts in one particular medium.
We didn't get to spend as much time as I'd hoped on the Star Wars links - texts that borrow heavily from and "re-mix" texts from a number of different technologies.
For Thursday:
Read the Hayles text on Materiality and Technotexts.
Blog 5: Exploratory writing for your wikipedia project/hypertext essay.
This post is to give you a chance to respond to, reflect on, speculate about the ideas we have considered so far, and think about what you might like to dig into a little deeper and develop into an area of expertise so you can post to wikipedia on your subject, and so you can develop your hypertext essay. You do not have to write about the ideas posed in this post.
Summary of ideas raised in the course so far:
1. Literacy values and practices reflect the historical cultural conditions that surround them (illustrated in timeline, your literacy narratives, the history of the internet article + discussion).
2. New literacies are products of the new technologies AND the new ways of thinking and being (DISCOURSES) that evolved with those technologies (Lankshear and Knobel).
3. New literacies and "old" literacies and the technologies that embody them are constantly making and re-making one another (Lankshear + Knobel; Remediation; Phone Novels).
For your post, choose some aspect of the focus of the course and develop it in terms of your own particular areas of interests. Pretty much anything connected to writing, digital technologies, and the internet will work. For examples of hypertext essays developed by students from last years' class, see ENG 3080 This post is meant to get you started + open up some ideas, put your interests out there; your classmates will give you feedback on it in our next class. If you are really stuck - say what you are stuck on and ask for some suggestions, make a list of your interests, etc.
See you Thursday.
Bolter and Grusin emphasized the features of immediacy and hypermediacy. Immediacy draws us into the text and makes the world disappear. It makes us feel as if we are there; while hypermediacy draws our attention to the textual/representational nature of the medium - and to that medium's connections to other media.
We made a timeline of technologies and you then did some group work to identify the practices/conventions for "reading" texts in one particular medium.
We didn't get to spend as much time as I'd hoped on the Star Wars links - texts that borrow heavily from and "re-mix" texts from a number of different technologies.
For Thursday:
Read the Hayles text on Materiality and Technotexts.
Blog 5: Exploratory writing for your wikipedia project/hypertext essay.
This post is to give you a chance to respond to, reflect on, speculate about the ideas we have considered so far, and think about what you might like to dig into a little deeper and develop into an area of expertise so you can post to wikipedia on your subject, and so you can develop your hypertext essay. You do not have to write about the ideas posed in this post.
Summary of ideas raised in the course so far:
1. Literacy values and practices reflect the historical cultural conditions that surround them (illustrated in timeline, your literacy narratives, the history of the internet article + discussion).
2. New literacies are products of the new technologies AND the new ways of thinking and being (DISCOURSES) that evolved with those technologies (Lankshear and Knobel).
3. New literacies and "old" literacies and the technologies that embody them are constantly making and re-making one another (Lankshear + Knobel; Remediation; Phone Novels).
For your post, choose some aspect of the focus of the course and develop it in terms of your own particular areas of interests. Pretty much anything connected to writing, digital technologies, and the internet will work. For examples of hypertext essays developed by students from last years' class, see ENG 3080 This post is meant to get you started + open up some ideas, put your interests out there; your classmates will give you feedback on it in our next class. If you are really stuck - say what you are stuck on and ask for some suggestions, make a list of your interests, etc.
See you Thursday.
Remediation!
In class today, after we discuss Bolter and Grusin's introduction to remediation, immediacy and hypermediacy, we are going to identify and classify features of different media, and talk about how those features affect our experience of "texts" - using Lankshear & Knobel's definition of tex- in those media.
After we have some guidelines for how different media shape the expectations and experiences of "readers" we are going to think about some more complex examples in terms of a single text: Star Wars.
Below are some "hybrid," multimedia presentations of what started out as a movie and was rendered as a book (check out Amazon to see just how many "versions" of the "book" there are now) and is now. . .
Star Wars Revelations (film)
Star wars legos
Darth Vader playing harmonica
Star Wars Gangsta Rap
Lucas Response to fandoms' creative appropriation of his "property"
Clone wars online comics
After we have some guidelines for how different media shape the expectations and experiences of "readers" we are going to think about some more complex examples in terms of a single text: Star Wars.
Below are some "hybrid," multimedia presentations of what started out as a movie and was rendered as a book (check out Amazon to see just how many "versions" of the "book" there are now) and is now. . .
Star Wars Revelations (film)
Star wars legos
Darth Vader playing harmonica
Star Wars Gangsta Rap
Lucas Response to fandoms' creative appropriation of his "property"
Clone wars online comics
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Thursday, February 5
We began by firming up the list for who will present on what. The final list for presentations is as follows:
Notice: I got the presentation dates incorrect on the first list. This list has the correct dates for your presentations - as they are listed on the course calendar
Rheingold, "Flashmobs" 2/19 Rishi Melissa
Wikipedia article 2/23 Liz Jenna Kathy
"The Key Characteristics of Produsage;" Axel Bruns 3/2 Sally Amnah
Electronic Literature 3/30 Joe Dan Stephanie
Collins, "Friend Game" 4/6 Alison Nicole Tiffany
Hayles, Hyper and Deep Attention 4/9 Sue Celia Rebecca
We then checked in on the literacy and technology narratives. You talked about some of the themes you were identifying in your experiences + ways of thinking about literacy, and then we talked about some of the dichotomies for thinking about literacy, and considered how your experiences of print and digital spaces might have set you up to embrace one or the other of the sides with respect to a number of values. For example, when you give a quick unpremeditated response:
- do you think of literacy as a great equalizer/a way to provide a way up for those who have been left behind OR do you think of literacy as one more piece of machinery to perpetuate the status quo/ to keep power with those who already have it, and to keep those who don't from getting their share?
- do you think of writing as work - something hard but valuable/ OR fun - something you do for your own pleasure, and that is playful and enjoyable?
- do you think writing is "dangerous" in that putting something into writing sets you up for criticism (is turning in writing for school anxiety producing?) OR do you think of it as a place where you can prove yourself and get well deserved rewards?
- do you see writing/literacy as a sine qua non for getting ahead in the world OR do you think there are other much more valuable skills, and writing is really an "elite" but not so important life skill?
We then talked about how your answers to these questions might connect to your value system - and how that value system might reflect the print or digital values/mindsets laid out in the Lankshear and Knobel essay.
We then discussed the Phone Novels essay. (see previous post). This discussion was both my presentation on the reading - and a model for how you might do your presentation. The point I wanted to get across was that when you present - you are the expert, and it is up to you to lead your classmates to practical examples (on the internet) of the concepts covered in your reading.
We finished up with a brief introduction to the Remediation reading by Bolter and Grusin. I passed out hard copies of this article in class; for those of you not in class, copies are available in my box in 301E. Copies of Smartmobs by Rheingold are also available in my box.
For Monday:
1. Blog 4 Post your draft literacy narrative.
2. Read Bolter and Grusin: the first chapter from their book Remediation.
Begin to think about an topic you would like to explore in some more depth. You will be posting to wikipedia, and you will be developing a hypertext research essay. Keep looking through the readings - think about what you would like to dig into in study. We will do some in-class writing to explore topics.l
I will be providing feedback to blogs 1-3 over the weekend. This will give you a more clear idea of what I am looking for in terms of posts.
Have a good weekend and see you on Monday.
Notice: I got the presentation dates incorrect on the first list. This list has the correct dates for your presentations - as they are listed on the course calendar
Rheingold, "Flashmobs" 2/19 Rishi Melissa
Wikipedia article 2/23 Liz Jenna Kathy
"The Key Characteristics of Produsage;" Axel Bruns 3/2 Sally Amnah
Electronic Literature 3/30 Joe Dan Stephanie
Collins, "Friend Game" 4/6 Alison Nicole Tiffany
Hayles, Hyper and Deep Attention 4/9 Sue Celia Rebecca
We then checked in on the literacy and technology narratives. You talked about some of the themes you were identifying in your experiences + ways of thinking about literacy, and then we talked about some of the dichotomies for thinking about literacy, and considered how your experiences of print and digital spaces might have set you up to embrace one or the other of the sides with respect to a number of values. For example, when you give a quick unpremeditated response:
- do you think of literacy as a great equalizer/a way to provide a way up for those who have been left behind OR do you think of literacy as one more piece of machinery to perpetuate the status quo/ to keep power with those who already have it, and to keep those who don't from getting their share?
- do you think of writing as work - something hard but valuable/ OR fun - something you do for your own pleasure, and that is playful and enjoyable?
- do you think writing is "dangerous" in that putting something into writing sets you up for criticism (is turning in writing for school anxiety producing?) OR do you think of it as a place where you can prove yourself and get well deserved rewards?
- do you see writing/literacy as a sine qua non for getting ahead in the world OR do you think there are other much more valuable skills, and writing is really an "elite" but not so important life skill?
We then talked about how your answers to these questions might connect to your value system - and how that value system might reflect the print or digital values/mindsets laid out in the Lankshear and Knobel essay.
We then discussed the Phone Novels essay. (see previous post). This discussion was both my presentation on the reading - and a model for how you might do your presentation. The point I wanted to get across was that when you present - you are the expert, and it is up to you to lead your classmates to practical examples (on the internet) of the concepts covered in your reading.
We finished up with a brief introduction to the Remediation reading by Bolter and Grusin. I passed out hard copies of this article in class; for those of you not in class, copies are available in my box in 301E. Copies of Smartmobs by Rheingold are also available in my box.
For Monday:
1. Blog 4 Post your draft literacy narrative.
2. Read Bolter and Grusin: the first chapter from their book Remediation.
Begin to think about an topic you would like to explore in some more depth. You will be posting to wikipedia, and you will be developing a hypertext research essay. Keep looking through the readings - think about what you would like to dig into in study. We will do some in-class writing to explore topics.l
I will be providing feedback to blogs 1-3 over the weekend. This will give you a more clear idea of what I am looking for in terms of posts.
Have a good weekend and see you on Monday.
Phone novels!
For an English version of the focus of this article - check out Textnovel - a home page for cell phone novels in English. After you click through some of the "novels" you might want to check out the real thing: Maho i-land. Any observations? What do you think what you observe means with respect to digital spaces, phone novels, and the different uses different cultures have for these phenomena?
And after you read a few of these - you might glance through what The Shakespearean Rag has to say about phone novels.
So the question we take up today - is this: is the Shakespearan Rag correct in suggesting that "classical" literature is "better" and that we lose "subtlety & irony" among other things if we allow that cell phone writers have composed novels? Or is the Shakespearean Rag simply protecting its own turf, excluding an emerging Discourse by devaluing what it cannot control? OR - maybe something altogether different is going on?
And after you read a few of these - you might glance through what The Shakespearean Rag has to say about phone novels.
So the question we take up today - is this: is the Shakespearan Rag correct in suggesting that "classical" literature is "better" and that we lose "subtlety & irony" among other things if we allow that cell phone writers have composed novels? Or is the Shakespearean Rag simply protecting its own turf, excluding an emerging Discourse by devaluing what it cannot control? OR - maybe something altogether different is going on?
Monday, February 2, 2009
What we did in class Monday, February 2
**If you cannot open the .pdf for the Phone Novels article, it is in the Dec 22 issue of the New Yorker, Issue 84, volume 42. Also - I have left several hard copies of the article in my Mailbox in CAS 301E. **
We began class by going through the main concepts in the Lankshear & Knobel article: socio-cultural approaches to the study of literacy, definitions of literacy and Discourse; differences between primary and secondary Discourses; mindsets, and paradigms. As I pointed out throughout the discussion - these are concepts are foundations for the ideas and examples related to literacies and technology that you will be working on this term. Make sure you understand the difference between thinking of literacy as a "skill" and thinking of it as a social-interactive process.
Next you picked out the topic you wanted to do your presentation on (choices listed in the previous post). Most of you got your first choice, and those of you who were absent got stuck with what was left. As noted on the title to the post - these choices are still under negotiation - so those of you who got assigned - if you can't live with your "choice" let me know and we will do some negotiating.
We did not get to the commenting period for the blogs - but I think at this point most of you have gotten your posts up, have your links set up to classmates' blogs, and are ready. So go for it. I will be giving you feedback on your first three posts over the weekend. I was going to give "grades" this weekend - but there were a few of you still struggling with the technology - so this weekend it will be. Hopefully my feedback will give you a clear idea of the expectations for posts.
For Wednesday:
1. Read the essay on Phone novels. (It will be sent to you shortly, in two parts, in your email. If you don't receive a copy - let me know, it means you are not on the email list and that is BAD.)
2. Blog 3: Post a response to Lankshear and Knobel. Do you agree with their characterization of print versus digital mindsets? Or you might write about how or whether you see the history of the internet as shaping the mindsets of users - or about where you see the internet going in the future (check out Joe's blog); or you might have an issue or idea we didn't get to in class discussion.
3. Also - since you didn't get a chance to comment to your classmates' blogs in class - do some looking around. Leave some comments.
In class we will spend some time talking about the literacy & technology narrative - so if you have questions - bring them to class.
Good discussion today, and see you in class Wednesday.
We began class by going through the main concepts in the Lankshear & Knobel article: socio-cultural approaches to the study of literacy, definitions of literacy and Discourse; differences between primary and secondary Discourses; mindsets, and paradigms. As I pointed out throughout the discussion - these are concepts are foundations for the ideas and examples related to literacies and technology that you will be working on this term. Make sure you understand the difference between thinking of literacy as a "skill" and thinking of it as a social-interactive process.
Next you picked out the topic you wanted to do your presentation on (choices listed in the previous post). Most of you got your first choice, and those of you who were absent got stuck with what was left. As noted on the title to the post - these choices are still under negotiation - so those of you who got assigned - if you can't live with your "choice" let me know and we will do some negotiating.
We did not get to the commenting period for the blogs - but I think at this point most of you have gotten your posts up, have your links set up to classmates' blogs, and are ready. So go for it. I will be giving you feedback on your first three posts over the weekend. I was going to give "grades" this weekend - but there were a few of you still struggling with the technology - so this weekend it will be. Hopefully my feedback will give you a clear idea of the expectations for posts.
For Wednesday:
1. Read the essay on Phone novels. (It will be sent to you shortly, in two parts, in your email. If you don't receive a copy - let me know, it means you are not on the email list and that is BAD.)
2. Blog 3: Post a response to Lankshear and Knobel. Do you agree with their characterization of print versus digital mindsets? Or you might write about how or whether you see the history of the internet as shaping the mindsets of users - or about where you see the internet going in the future (check out Joe's blog); or you might have an issue or idea we didn't get to in class discussion.
3. Also - since you didn't get a chance to comment to your classmates' blogs in class - do some looking around. Leave some comments.
In class we will spend some time talking about the literacy & technology narrative - so if you have questions - bring them to class.
Good discussion today, and see you in class Wednesday.
draft choices for presentations
Rheingold, "Flashmobs" 2/12 Rishi Melissa Alison
Wikipedia article 2/19 Liz Jenna
"The Key Characteristics of Produsage;" Axel Bruns 2/26 Stephanie Amnah Kathy
Electronic Literature 3/26 Joe Dan
Collins, "Friend Game" 4/2 Rebecca Nicole Tiffany
Hayles, Hyper and Deep Attention 4/6 Sue Celia
Wikipedia article 2/19 Liz Jenna
"The Key Characteristics of Produsage;" Axel Bruns 2/26 Stephanie Amnah Kathy
Electronic Literature 3/26 Joe Dan
Collins, "Friend Game" 4/2 Rebecca Nicole Tiffany
Hayles, Hyper and Deep Attention 4/6 Sue Celia
Friday, January 30, 2009
What we did Thrusday, and what to do for Monday, February 2
**The correct address for Rebecca's blog is on this page under the CLASS links. Be sure to add her to your list.**
So everything is starting to come together - the literacy narrative, the google.doc, your blog, and the readings for the course - and you are doing a GREAT job.
Literacy Narrative:
In class on Thursday, you wrote to the prompts for the literacy narrative and we did some talking to reflect on patterns or repeated references that came up in your writing. I wish we'd had about an hour for that discussion as there were some intriguing insights - from Joe's & Rishi's (and other's) observation about how the internet "ruined" reading, to Dan's and Celia's (and other's) feeling about how internet writing wasn't as "good" or reliable as print writing, and Alison's (and other's) observation that a lot of what she learned and wanted to learn about digital literacies was driven by her peers. And there was lots more. What is important here is that your experiences are both YOUR particular experiences - and a reflection of the assumptions, values and beliefs of your family, your peers, and the culture at large. SO keep working on writing into that material. The better your brainstorming material - the easier your essay will be to write. Maybe do some more writing (fill out some of the details that you couldn't get down in class) about your experiences, and then do some writing for the reflecting questions. These should be a good read for me - and I am looking forward to them.
Google.doc Timeline
I prodded you some more to put up some more "stuff" on the History of the Internet timeline. You have done the good student thing - and I give you credit for that - but now how about really filling out some of the details of what happened with the internet in terms of YOUR history with it? I volunteered information about my first email account and my first laptop. Do any of you remember DOS? Netscape? Linux? What were your experiences? And keep filling in the "facts" to give name and context to your experiences. (Maybe I should have added some info about when PINE came into being and the fact that it has been replaced by Alpine?) This will be an important resource for you as you begin to work on your literacy and technology narratives. It will give you both the history of the internet, and some feeling about what your classmates were doing, compared to what you were doing.
Blogs. Again - I am very excited about what you are doing with this as a class. Some of you have AWESOME posts up. Some of you have put in a lot of work on the design and customization. And some of you have stepped into a new technology for the first time. Really great work, I am so pleased with what I am seeing.
I was going to give you "feedback" on your first post this weekend - so you could get a feel for what I was looking for (ie so you know how I grade) before you put up too many posts, but I see that a number of you have not yet put up your first post. If you are having "technical difficulties" ask a friend, classmate or ME (CAS 324 or by email). YOu don't have to write a grammatically correct, formal essay - just get your ideas up there. The blog is about being in touch - so we can share ideas, brainstorm together, and figure out what we think. Check out what your classmates are doing (if you don't have your link list up - use the links here on my blog).
So - for Monday - FOR SURE - post Blogs 1 & 2.
Blog 1: what was it like using google.docs? What features of the google.docs made it easier to collaborate with your classmates? Describe any difficulties or problems presented by using this software to collaborate. What kind of features might you add to google.docs to make it easier to use for class projects?
Blog 2: Discuss the course readings. Which issues raised by the readings are of particular interest for you and why? Describe any concepts/theories that you have practical experience with?
Also - finish putting in the links to your classmates & me. Be sure to edit the blog names so you know who your are linking to. Again - if you get stuck - ask. If this is a new program for you, there is no shame in getting some help.
Readings for the course
Finally, I talked through the readings for the course - gave a little bit of an overview of what each reading is about - and set you up to think about which reading you might to take on as your area of expertise for class discussion. We will talk about this more - I just wanted you to have some time to think things over.
HOMEWORK:
Blog 2: Discuss the course readings. Which issues raised by the readings are of particular interest for you and why? Describe any concepts/theories that you have practical experience with.
Read: "Sampling "the New" in New Literacies," Lankshear and Knobel. I sent this as an email attachment. It might take a minute to open, be patient. You will need acrobat reader and a decent connection to get it open.
See you Monday!
So everything is starting to come together - the literacy narrative, the google.doc, your blog, and the readings for the course - and you are doing a GREAT job.
Literacy Narrative:
In class on Thursday, you wrote to the prompts for the literacy narrative and we did some talking to reflect on patterns or repeated references that came up in your writing. I wish we'd had about an hour for that discussion as there were some intriguing insights - from Joe's & Rishi's (and other's) observation about how the internet "ruined" reading, to Dan's and Celia's (and other's) feeling about how internet writing wasn't as "good" or reliable as print writing, and Alison's (and other's) observation that a lot of what she learned and wanted to learn about digital literacies was driven by her peers. And there was lots more. What is important here is that your experiences are both YOUR particular experiences - and a reflection of the assumptions, values and beliefs of your family, your peers, and the culture at large. SO keep working on writing into that material. The better your brainstorming material - the easier your essay will be to write. Maybe do some more writing (fill out some of the details that you couldn't get down in class) about your experiences, and then do some writing for the reflecting questions. These should be a good read for me - and I am looking forward to them.
Google.doc Timeline
I prodded you some more to put up some more "stuff" on the History of the Internet timeline. You have done the good student thing - and I give you credit for that - but now how about really filling out some of the details of what happened with the internet in terms of YOUR history with it? I volunteered information about my first email account and my first laptop. Do any of you remember DOS? Netscape? Linux? What were your experiences? And keep filling in the "facts" to give name and context to your experiences. (Maybe I should have added some info about when PINE came into being and the fact that it has been replaced by Alpine?) This will be an important resource for you as you begin to work on your literacy and technology narratives. It will give you both the history of the internet, and some feeling about what your classmates were doing, compared to what you were doing.
Blogs. Again - I am very excited about what you are doing with this as a class. Some of you have AWESOME posts up. Some of you have put in a lot of work on the design and customization. And some of you have stepped into a new technology for the first time. Really great work, I am so pleased with what I am seeing.
I was going to give you "feedback" on your first post this weekend - so you could get a feel for what I was looking for (ie so you know how I grade) before you put up too many posts, but I see that a number of you have not yet put up your first post. If you are having "technical difficulties" ask a friend, classmate or ME (CAS 324 or by email). YOu don't have to write a grammatically correct, formal essay - just get your ideas up there. The blog is about being in touch - so we can share ideas, brainstorm together, and figure out what we think. Check out what your classmates are doing (if you don't have your link list up - use the links here on my blog).
So - for Monday - FOR SURE - post Blogs 1 & 2.
Blog 1: what was it like using google.docs? What features of the google.docs made it easier to collaborate with your classmates? Describe any difficulties or problems presented by using this software to collaborate. What kind of features might you add to google.docs to make it easier to use for class projects?
Blog 2: Discuss the course readings. Which issues raised by the readings are of particular interest for you and why? Describe any concepts/theories that you have practical experience with?
Also - finish putting in the links to your classmates & me. Be sure to edit the blog names so you know who your are linking to. Again - if you get stuck - ask. If this is a new program for you, there is no shame in getting some help.
Readings for the course
Finally, I talked through the readings for the course - gave a little bit of an overview of what each reading is about - and set you up to think about which reading you might to take on as your area of expertise for class discussion. We will talk about this more - I just wanted you to have some time to think things over.
HOMEWORK:
Blog 2: Discuss the course readings. Which issues raised by the readings are of particular interest for you and why? Describe any concepts/theories that you have practical experience with.
Read: "Sampling "the New" in New Literacies," Lankshear and Knobel. I sent this as an email attachment. It might take a minute to open, be patient. You will need acrobat reader and a decent connection to get it open.
See you Monday!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Blog list
Dan http://drobertcyberspace.blogspot.com/
Celia http://cyvega.blogspot.com
Alison http://ame0401.blogspot.com/
Joe tingletime.blogspot.com
Sue ENG3080-sue.blogspot.com
Nicole http://nicmacs.blogspot.com/
Tiffany http://0380sp08.blogspot.com/
Melissa http://lissa-spot.blogspot.com/
Stephanie http://wis-stephy.blogspot.com/
Liz http://lizdamnit.blogspot.com/
Rishi http://cyberspacewriting.blogspot.com/
Jenna http://jenna3080.blogspot.com/
Kathy http://whoiskathy.blogspot.com/
Celia http://cyvega.blogspot.com
Alison http://ame0401.blogspot.com/
Joe tingletime.blogspot.com
Sue ENG3080-sue.blogspot.com
Nicole http://nicmacs.blogspot.com/
Tiffany http://0380sp08.blogspot.com/
Melissa http://lissa-spot.blogspot.com/
Stephanie http://wis-stephy.blogspot.com/
Liz http://lizdamnit.blogspot.com/
Rishi http://cyberspacewriting.blogspot.com/
Jenna http://jenna3080.blogspot.com/
Kathy http://whoiskathy.blogspot.com/
Monday, January 26, 2009
January 26: cultural ecologies & the internet
We talked through Mowery and Simcoe's essay,"Is the Internet a US invention?" not so much for the sake of prooving the US claim to the Internet's creation - but as a way to look at the relationships between the political, cultural, economic and social circumstances in the US as the Internet was evolving - and the particular form the internet too - and is taking. We will build on and extend the ideas we developed in this discussion for the rest of the term. In their book, Literate Lives in the Information Age, Cindy Selfe and Gail Hawisher point out that technologies evolve and take root in individual users within "cultural ecologies" => the particular sets of political, economic, social, and personal circumstances surrounding a given technologies development, dissemination and use. What is more, the national cultural ecology, will be made up of a wide range of local cultural ecologies.
In our next several classes we are going to continue to think about how and why digital communication technologies have the particular forms/effects that they do - only we are going to take up the exploration at a much more local level as you begin to reflect on your personal experiences with technology. We very briefly looked over the assignment sheet and the prompts for the literacy and technology assignment, and hopefully you will spend the next couple of days musing on some of the "formative" experiences that have made you the writer you are (and the writer you are becoming.
FOR CLASS THRUSDAY
1. Create your blog. Then send an email to ENG3080@gmail.com with your blog address.
2. Enter your first post on your blog. Use Blog 1 to reflect on your experience contributing to the timeline on google.docs. ALthough none of you seemed to want to say anything bad about the assignment in class, when I talked to you individually a number of you pointed out concerns about deleting/correcting classmate's work, about not being able to figure out how to add different features and worrying about messing the whole thing up, about the lack of resources for figuring out how to use the page. . . . There were LOTS of complaints. In this blog - give air to those grievances! And suggest how you might design a better, less confusing site for collaboration. What issues would need to be addressed? What features of google.docs kept it from being an EXCELLENT space for collaboration?
3. Read through the prompts for the literacy and technology narrative (posted to the right) and think about/talk about your past literacy experiences. Spend some time there so you are ready to write on Thrusday.
4. Make that History of the Internet Timeline come to life! Give some of the details of what happened during your lifetime and what was important to YOU. We're not there yet.
Great class today. Thanks for your questions and comments. It was sort of lecture-y - but there was a lot of material to cover.
See you on Thursday!
In our next several classes we are going to continue to think about how and why digital communication technologies have the particular forms/effects that they do - only we are going to take up the exploration at a much more local level as you begin to reflect on your personal experiences with technology. We very briefly looked over the assignment sheet and the prompts for the literacy and technology assignment, and hopefully you will spend the next couple of days musing on some of the "formative" experiences that have made you the writer you are (and the writer you are becoming.
FOR CLASS THRUSDAY
1. Create your blog. Then send an email to ENG3080@gmail.com with your blog address.
2. Enter your first post on your blog. Use Blog 1 to reflect on your experience contributing to the timeline on google.docs. ALthough none of you seemed to want to say anything bad about the assignment in class, when I talked to you individually a number of you pointed out concerns about deleting/correcting classmate's work, about not being able to figure out how to add different features and worrying about messing the whole thing up, about the lack of resources for figuring out how to use the page. . . . There were LOTS of complaints. In this blog - give air to those grievances! And suggest how you might design a better, less confusing site for collaboration. What issues would need to be addressed? What features of google.docs kept it from being an EXCELLENT space for collaboration?
3. Read through the prompts for the literacy and technology narrative (posted to the right) and think about/talk about your past literacy experiences. Spend some time there so you are ready to write on Thrusday.
4. Make that History of the Internet Timeline come to life! Give some of the details of what happened during your lifetime and what was important to YOU. We're not there yet.
Great class today. Thanks for your questions and comments. It was sort of lecture-y - but there was a lot of material to cover.
See you on Thursday!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
January 22
You met your classmates, set up your gmail class accounts (you all should have received an email from me with the class list of emails - if you didn't - write to me so I can set that right), and started work creating a collaborative online document. So we are off to a running start.
For homework, use the history of the internet links to create your contributions to the timeline. Also, as you are creating this document, think about what this space does well - and what it doesn't do so well - in terms of supporting collaborative writing.
In class on Monday we will take a look at your creation, and discuss how this assignment worked. You will then set up your blogs and get started on your first entry.
Good class today, and see you on Monday.
For homework, use the history of the internet links to create your contributions to the timeline. Also, as you are creating this document, think about what this space does well - and what it doesn't do so well - in terms of supporting collaborative writing.
In class on Monday we will take a look at your creation, and discuss how this assignment worked. You will then set up your blogs and get started on your first entry.
Good class today, and see you on Monday.
Friday, January 9, 2009
First Class!
Yep. This is the homepage for ENG 3080 Writing for Cyberspace.
Today in class we will look over the course syllabus and the calendar. We will talk a little about what you will be doing for this course - and then you are going to open a dedicated gmail account (or use one you have) and send your gmail address to me at ENG3080@gmail.com so I can invite you as a collaborator for the google.doc on the History of the Internet.
You are welcome to print copies of your calendar and syllabus, but you can also rest assured that copies of important documents for the course will either be here on the course blog, or sent to you via email. Your text book is listed on the syllabus, along with an overview of the course policies.
The calendar has a day by day plan for what we will do during the term. This presents an overview of the workload and the schedule. While this schedule is generally accurate - you will need to check here after every class to confirm calendar listings - as we may revise things as we go along.
If you have questions - be in touch with me or your classmates. We have some exciting readings and projects ahead of us, and I'm looking forward to a great term.
Today in class we will look over the course syllabus and the calendar. We will talk a little about what you will be doing for this course - and then you are going to open a dedicated gmail account (or use one you have) and send your gmail address to me at ENG3080@gmail.com so I can invite you as a collaborator for the google.doc on the History of the Internet.
You are welcome to print copies of your calendar and syllabus, but you can also rest assured that copies of important documents for the course will either be here on the course blog, or sent to you via email. Your text book is listed on the syllabus, along with an overview of the course policies.
The calendar has a day by day plan for what we will do during the term. This presents an overview of the workload and the schedule. While this schedule is generally accurate - you will need to check here after every class to confirm calendar listings - as we may revise things as we go along.
If you have questions - be in touch with me or your classmates. We have some exciting readings and projects ahead of us, and I'm looking forward to a great term.
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