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.

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