Writing for Cyberspace

Your grades

2009-05-04T18:59:00.003-04:00

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.

Lab Time to work on your hypertext essays

2009-04-23T14:41:00.008-04:00

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, April 20

2009-04-20T16:53:00.003-04:00

#@***^^#$@!

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

2009-04-16T15:46:00.002-04:00

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, April 13

2009-04-13T14:53:00.003-04:00

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.

Patterns for Attending and Reflecting on Readings for the Course

2009-04-13T11:01:00.005-04:00

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).

Overview of (revised) calendar for the rest of the term

2009-04-06T10:55:00.002-04:00

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

Characterizing your style for attending

2009-04-06T10:40:00.002-04:00

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?

Workshop!

2009-04-02T14:24:00.002-04:00

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.

For Thursday, April 2

2009-03-30T15:46:00.003-04:00

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,

Electronic Literature

2009-03-30T13:56:00.000-04:00

read something new

For Monday, March 29

2009-03-26T15:11:00.004-04:00

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.

Macro features for web sites

2009-03-26T09:03:00.003-04:00

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

For Class Thursday, March 26

2009-03-24T08:51:00.002-04:00

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).

Monday March 23

2009-03-23T10:12:00.004-04:00

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.

Monday, March 9

2009-03-09T10:32:00.002-04:00

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

Thursday, March 5

2009-03-05T13:38:00.004-05:00

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.

SNOW DAY

2009-03-03T16:54:00.002-05:00

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.

Thursday, Feb 26

2009-02-26T14:57:00.003-05:00

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,

Class February 23

2009-02-23T15:31:00.003-05:00

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.

Class February 19

2009-02-19T15:24:00.003-05:00

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!

Smart mobs

2009-02-19T13:29:00.004-05:00

How to Smart mob

A smart mob is not necessarily a wise mob

Contributing to Wikipedia

2009-02-18T17:23:00.005-05:00

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."

Post on Monday, Feb 16

2009-02-16T21:16:00.004-05:00

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.

Feedback on your literacy narratives

2009-02-11T13:53:00.002-05:00

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.

What we did in class February 9

2009-02-09T15:33:00.002-05:00

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.

Remediation!

2009-02-09T13:05:00.003-05:00

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

Thursday, February 5

2009-02-05T15:35:00.004-05:00

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.

Phone novels!

2009-02-05T13:13:00.003-05:00

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?

What we did in class Monday, February 2

2009-02-02T15:43:00.008-05:00

**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.

draft choices for presentations

2009-02-02T15:12:00.001-05:00

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

What we did Thrusday, and what to do for Monday, February 2

2009-01-30T09:41:00.003-05:00

**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!

Blog list

2009-01-29T15:26:00.000-05:00

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/

January 26: cultural ecologies & the internet

2009-01-26T16:01:00.005-05:00

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!

January 22

2009-01-22T16:01:00.002-05:00

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.

First Class!

2009-01-09T12:15:00.004-05:00

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.

End of the Term

2008-05-09T19:04:00.002-04:00

You should each have received and email with your grade sheet. You are a great class, and it was a real pleasure reading through your reflections and the final, revised versions of your web essays.

I will be working on posting your web essays next week. Some of the links/pictures didn't work on the sites turned in - and I am hoping you will check your gmail accounts so I can be in touch if I run into problems. They look great - and I think they will be a great addition to the cyberworld.

This as been an exciting class to teach. Thanks for all your good work. Be in touch and have a great summer!

Reflecting on (digital) writing process

2008-04-28T10:16:00.002-04:00

In class today you will get started on your last assignment for the course: a reflective analysis of how work for this course has influenced your writing practices. This will be a traditional print essay - to be turned in as a word processed document in your portfolio (on the CD) with your Web essay, the text for your wikipedia entry, and your reflection on your experience with wikipedia.

Description of assignment:
Write an essay in which you analyze and reflect on your growth as a digital writer.

Your essay should include:

1. A detailed description of your process for working on each of the major projects (the blog, the wikipedia project, and the web essay);

2. Evaluation of the effectiveness of your process (what worked, what didn't, how you plan to change and why)

3. Evaluation of the writing products you created for the course

4. Discussion of how (if) and why your practices for writing evolved or changed over the term; include reflections on how (if) changes in your writing process reflect the nature of the digital spaces and audiences you are writing for.

5. Discussion of what you learned about differences between writing in digital versus print spaces

6. Discussion of how (whether) your work for this course has contributed to your overall growth as a writer.

Although information to include in the essay is listed here as a series of points, you will need to organize your work into a smooth, interconnected discussion.

Criteria for grade:

-- focus, organization, effective use of analysis, movement between general statements & specific examples, creativity, style and correctness.

-- demonstration of original thinking

Baisic web pages and feedback on text

2008-04-17T11:47:00.002-04:00

You did a great job setting up the basic frame for your web sites in class today. As far as I could tell - by the end of class - most of you had the overall structure of your site set up (a template + links). That is pretty impressive considering that for most of you this was your first experience using Front Page. As I pointed out in class, there are many ways to produce a web page - and the approach we took using tables was kind of "quick and dirty" in that it does not involve the kind of precision that other approaches have. At the same time it gave you a feel for how to use the program and that is worth something.

I will be reading the text for your essay over the weekend and will send you comments in your course account. Next week you will be giving presentations to your classmates on your sites. These presentations are going to be informal - and for the purpose of getting a feel for the visual impression of your site. Bring what you have so far on your jump drive, and you will put your work up on the LCD projector as you talk. You should come to class prepared to do the following.

1. Talk about why/how you chose your topic + state your research question.
2. Discuss your research process - where / how you got your information
3. Your writing process (how you put together your essay- for example - you might talk about whether/how you wrote your site in sections, how you used the wikipedia project, any places you got stuck, how useful the feedback from classmates was at various points in the process)
4. Give us a walk through of your site + sum up what you do at each link/section and how it connects to your research question. Make sure to offer a clear answer to your research question.
5. Describe any problems you encounterd
6. Discuss how creating this project was different from composing a "written" essay.

Your Draft for your project is due Wednesday, April 23 at the end of class (on a CD). I will return your drafts with comments by April 28.

You are doing a great job so far and I am looking forward to your presentations.

Monday April 14 - attention part 2

2008-04-10T09:37:00.003-04:00

In class wednesday we did some reflecting on patterns for attention and opened up some of the generalizations Hayles put forward about differences between deep attention and hyperattention. From reading through your analyses of your patterns for working and "being" - it looks like most of us move from one pattern to another - depending on what we are doing.

On Monday we will go through a brief overview of what some of the more person/task specific patterns for attending are that were revealed in your surveys. You will also be reading the three research entries you have been working on for your blogs. At this point you should have most of your web essay mapped out and drafted. As you get your entries (Blogs 9, 10 & 11) ready for class on monday, make sure you give your readers an idea of where/how the section posted to your blog fits into your essay. Then - in class - you will be able to get some feedback for how to put your essay together.

- - - - - - - - - -

After reading through what you wrote in response to the questions about attending - I came up with the following generalizations. Because our class represents a small sample - these observations cannot really be extended to a broader population - still - they give us some things to think about.

Observations:
1. Everyone in the class moves between deep attention and hyperattention - 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 - but not everyone.

3. More than one of uss use hyperattention as a reward for working at a task we do not want to undertake - as a way to get through work we really don't want to do. So "multitasking' or media can act as an incentive.

4. Generally, attending style seems to be "mood" and activity dependent.

5. Sometimes we may need an escape even from "relaxing" media.

6. Patterns of media use changed with age (not surprising - especially because the availability of media has changed so drastically).

Any observations that you think would be worth pursuing in more depth?

Analyzing your patterns for attention

2008-04-09T13:33:00.003-04:00

Characterizing your style for attending

1. List the kinds of media you use/read/engage with on a daily basis. Is your pattern for interacting with media the same or different than it was when you were 5? 10? 15? 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
write a paper
study for an exam

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 hyperattention (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 hyperattention 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 hyperattention? 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?

Attention

2008-04-07T20:50:00.002-04:00

So now that you have figured out what we need to do to regulate bullying on the internet, it's time to turn our attention to how the internet is changing the way we read and pay attention (the N. Katherine Hayles piece posted here). As you read, think about how immediacy, remediation, the and how we use digital spaces connect to the patterns for attention described by Hayles.

Since Ryan was sick on Wednesday and the web site workshop did not turn out the way we planned, as suggested by Ricky, we will be having a second workshop on April 16, a week from this coming Wednesday. Keep working on the writing and images for your site so that after you build the structure for your site - you can paste in your work. If you would like to schedule a session with Ryan before the 16th I have included directions for signing up for a conference. He is available M-W, from 10:00 to 3:30.

Conferences will be held in the Center for Academic Success, on the first floor in the tutoring center. Go in through the door just to the right of the desk outside the tutoring center. Ryan will be working in the space at the very back, right corner.

To sign up for conferences on Tutortrac, go to:

http://www.kean.edu/~cas/tutortrac.html

Click the Tutortrac image to enter

Then enter your school id as the user name and your birthday as the password (they show the format right there for the pass)

Select Ryan as your tutor. If that doesn't work - let me know.

See you on Wednesday.

Cyberbullying - what do laws have to do with it?

2008-04-07T11:17:00.005-04:00

No one argues that it was a tragedy that Megan Meier committed suicide. The argument is about who is responsible and what can be done to prevent or discourage similar instances in the future; specifically: what kind of laws, if any, should we make to protect individuals from cyberbullying and its consequences.

In a CNN report by Veronica De La Cruz, De La Cruz points out that currently there are not laws (at the federal level or in most states) that protect individuals from "cyber-stalking." The Missouri statute relevant to this case requires that online communications were intended to "frighten, disturb or harass" the individual. The Drews maintain that the purpose of "Josh's" myspace account was to see if Megan was saying negative things about their daughter, not to harass Megan. So the question is: will a stronger, more specific law improve protection for individuals who experience cyberbullying? Who would these new laws be designed to protect - and why? For example, if we believe the Drews statement abou the purpose of the site, it seems that the Drews, but not Megan, have been the subject of cyberbullying.

And then there are the problems of identity. Who is responsible and how can you tell whether the "name" of the responsible person corresponds to the "real" person? With respect to the Megan Meier case, how can we prove who posted comments that could be interpreted as harassment? Or - with respect to the Megan Had It Coming blog (filled with statements that could damage Drews' case) - it seems that it should be a simple matter to identify the blog's owner - but as it turns out - it is far from simple.

So our questions are: how should issues surrounding cyberbullying be resolved? And can an understanding of the nature of cyberspace help us in framing of laws designed to resolve these issues?

March 31 and April 2

2008-03-31T12:04:00.005-04:00

We are going to be talking about copyright issues as the have played out in terms of the internet. For background on the history and development of copyright you might want to look at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FND

The clip's use of Disney characters is particularly satisfying to individuals who favor copyleft since Disney has been especially rigid and aggressive in terms of enforcing copyright to its characters, ideas, storylines - a move that is deeply ironic considering Disney's use of folk materials as well as storylines and characters from uncopyrighted materials. (See http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/05/hijacked_disney.html ).

Other sites you might want to check out as you follow through on ideas raised in the readings include:

Overview of DMCA of 1998

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm

DCMA of 1998 + amendments + testimony

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/primary_materials/legislation/dmca.html

US Constitution

legal basis for copyright = Article 1 Section 8

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/articles.htm

Creative Commons

http://creativecommons.org/

In class on Monday you will do some writing about how the issues raised by Boynton connect to changes in "writing" and conceptions of authorship that result from the nature of cyberspace. At the end of class you can post these reflections to your blog - or you may choose to create a different post for Reflection 1.

Blog 9 (due Monday, March 31) : your first entry to develop writing for your research topic.

Blog 10 (due Monday April 7) : second entry on research topic.

Reflection 1 (on copyright) + Reflection 2 (on Lauren Collins "Friend Game" are also due Monday April 7.

In class Wednesday, April 2, you have an open workshop. During this class you may work on creating the structure for your web essay, or other work for the course. Good luck - and I will see you on Monday April 7 when we take up our discussion of the Myspace Suicide.

I have sent you feedback on Blogs 7 and 8 and your Wikipedia Projects. You did a great job.

Class Wednesday, March 26

2008-03-26T22:26:00.003-04:00

You did a great job presenting your web designs/headings for the content of your web essays in class today. You all look like you have a good start on this. Keep your research question in mind as you begin to write. Make sure each section of your essay relates to and develops an answer for that question. Good work!

On Monday we will be discussing "The Tyranny of Copyright" by Robert Boynton, 207 - 218 in Vitanza, so take a look at it. For those of you with topics related to ethics - this is relevant. It is also a consideration for publishing issues, and it makes some important points about how digital spaces are changing the way we think about authorship and ownership.

On Wednesday I will be at a conference. You will have an in-class workshop to workshop, using FrontPage on the lab computers, to work on the layout for your essay. Your work will be developing (or choosing) the template for your essay, and setting up the link structure. Bring Johnson-Eilola to class for reference, and Ryan will be available for point of need help to figure out the details. You also have the link for the Microsoft site and help page.

I will be reading through your blogs over the weekend (through Blog 8). For Blog 9 and Blog 10, due Monday March 31, and Monday April 7, you will create posts on your research topic. These posts should be writing you will use for your web essay. We will spend some time in class reading through this writing - to get you some support and feedback before you put your essay all together.

Have a good week end an see you on Monday!

Class Monday March 24

2008-03-24T15:19:00.004-04:00

Today you presented presented your contributions to Wikipedia, and discussed your experiences posting. You had a range of experinces - and had a number of different observations about how Wikipedia works and the "validity" of the information it provides. A short list would include the observations that;

- posts are regularly monitored and removed (sometimes in under two minutes)

- many edits are simply reversions to the original post - there does not seem to be much thought put into understanding and assimilating new users' contributions

- what is valued as important to the entry (what stays posted) does not always make sense or represent an in-depth (encyclopedic) explortion of subject material (eg the contradiction in the pro-ana post, the form of the self-publishing post, the one-sideness of the history of travel blogging) => wikipedia is as much a social experience as a scholarly one

- editors are sometimes rude, pedantic and otherwise off-putting (the comment about using periods at the end of sentences

- there is a definite a hierarchy - where some individuals have the power to remove posts and "ban" individuals who re-post their posts without negotiating a consensus

- getting your post to stay up on wikipedia is not easy => even though this is supposed to be a democratic, open process there are gatekeepers who are bent on keeping some kinds of information out

- there is an ideology that decides what will be posted and what will not I'm thinking of Angela's experience); this ideology goes beyond the npov and not a dictionary and etc. rules listed in "what wikipedia is not" list

- the moderators/editors remove edits based on their understanding of/perspective on the material - not necessarily on its worth ( I'm thinking of James', Ricky's and Jennifer's experiences)

- pages with high traffic are harder to stay posted on than pages with low traffic (the eBay entry was the most vulnerable in this respect)

-some editors spend 8-hour days on wikipedia

- the validity of wikipedia entries needs to be taken with a grain of salt

We also had a discussion of how publishing on wikipedia compares to print publishing - both in terms of validity and possibilities for new authors to make it into print. I would like to read some more of your reflections on this on your blogs. I was surprised at how difficult it was for contributors with good intentions to make edits. I was also surprised how un-welcoming the editors you dealt with were.

For class Wednesday:

We did not get to your presentations on your layouts for your web essays today - so you are going to present them on Wednesday - so we are revising the schedule: do the FrontPage tutorial on your home computer or in one of the computer labs here at Kean (let me and I will get you a place to work). The site for the tutorial is:

http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RC061276411033

Come to class with any questions - about how to use FrontPage - and Ryan and/or I will try to work through them with you.

We will spend most of the class talking about your layouts.

I will be reading your blog entries over the weekend. Your next entry, Blog 9, due on Monday, will be an entry where you are developing writing for your web essay. At this point you should be doing some in-depth analysis on a particular aspect of your topic.

Class Wednesday, March 12 and over the break

2008-03-12T12:48:00.006-04:00

By the end of class today you should have all the information - in terms of how and what to post- for your wikipedia entry. We will use class as a workshop - for you to network with each other and me to do what ever you need to get your entry posted. You should have a quick drawing/plan to set up what your post will look by the end of class.

Your assignment over break is to post your wikipedia entry (no later than Friday, March 14) - and to watch it. Keep an eye on any revisions - and if you are moved to do so - participate in those revisions. Blog 8, due on Monday March 24, should include the text of your original entry, a link to your completed entry, your wikipedia user name, and a reflection on what you learned about participating in wiki online writing/an online community.

Also in class today we will have a brief discussion of layouts and navigation for you hypertext essay. At this point, you should be getting a fairly definite idea of the headings for the information you are going to have in your essay (the sections), the links (both internal and external), and you should be ready to think about how to organize your text.

Your second assignment over the break is to design the layout for your essay and develop a brief presentation.

Your presentation should include:
1) a schematic of your essay that includes the navigational structures labeled with the names in Chapter 7 of Eilola;
2) major headings/section titles with a brief synopsis of content; and
3) a brief explanation of why you decided to organize your essay the way you did.

To find "models" for how you might organize your work, check out the web essays at Kairos. The following link offers one example that is fairly simple. Check through the back issues and TOC to find others. Blogging Places: Locating Pedagogy in the Whereness of Blogs

Have a great break - and have fun in Wikipedia-wonderland.

In Class Monday March 10

2008-03-10T13:55:00.002-04:00

We are now following the assignment sheet for the Wikipedia Assignment. For today - Blog 7- was to do some exploratory writing on your wikipedia entry to include: focus, sources for your entry, draft writing; any questions you ahve about the posting process.

At the beginning of class we will have an open discussion on any discoveries and questions - and the rest of the class will be devoted to developing your entry.

Also - youmight want to take a look at this article by a wikipedia participant; http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21131?email

Wikipedia Project

2008-03-04T12:38:00.002-05:00

The assignment sheet for the wikipedia project is posted and I have written to each of you regarding your focus for your research project and how you might use some of that work for your wikipedia posting. We are actually a little bit ahead of what is stated on the calendar - since we previewed the assignment sheet on Monday.

In class Wednesday you will spend hands-on time in the presence of your classmates to familiarize yourself with the wikipedia editing processes. That way - if something doesn't work - there will be someone next to you to ask. Hopefully SOMEONE in the classroom will have the answer to all of our questions (and it probably won't be me - my editing skills on wikipedia are probably about the same as yours).

As I said in class - your future blogging assignments are going to be your work related to your research topic. At the beginning you will be summarizing and reporting on what you are reading - and as you get deeper into the project you will begin posing theories/answers to your research question. You can use RSS feeds or bookmarking programs as you choose - as I mentioned in class - my feeling was that you had enough to work with at this point. So Blog entries 7 - 10 will be on your topic, with Blog 8 as a report on your posting to wikipedia (see assignment sheet).

Good work on your research plans and see you in class on Thursday.

For Monday, March 3

2008-02-27T14:46:00.003-05:00

Finish your research plans and post them on your Blog. This post, along with the exploratory posts where you developed your research plan will be Blog 6. On Monday in class, each of you will give a brief presentation to the class on your research project.

Also, over the weekend, go to bloglines and del.icio.us to set up a feed and bookmarks for your blogon your research topic. Then begin reading some of the articles/web sites you find using this software. In class Wednesday, we will talk over how del.icio.us is working for you.

For Wednesday, February 27

2008-02-26T09:12:00.001-05:00

Work on your research plan. Using the process posted in the previous entry will give you the kind of broad view that will allow you to make sure you have a valid question and that their is sufficient material "out there" for you to pose an in-depth exploration of that question. Doing the reading is probably the most important part of the planning process. Read what others have written. Examine their questions.

For Wednesday you will be expected to have a draft research plan on your blog. Go into detail for each of the following points:

Detailed statement of your research question

Statement of purpose (what you hope to show/discover)

List of the information you need to gather

Preliminary list of sources

Plan for gathering your information

Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web 2.0

In class on Wednesday - you will give and recieve feedback on your plan. On Monday March 3, you will give a presentation on your research plan.

Develop a research plan

2008-02-25T13:01:00.004-05:00

1. Familiarize yourself with your topic:

Do some general reading about what others have written on your topic

Create some brief summaries of what others have written (keep track of your sources)

Make a list of the ideas/questions other researchers are bring to your topic

2. Identify a research question:

Develop a list of questions you might want to explore with respect to your topic

Strategies to deepen and focus your question:

List ideas connected to one or two of your questions + generate questions to open up those ideas

Deepen these questions even further by asking about: causes and effects; classification or definitions of the concepts your are studying; relative value or importance; history and evolution (etiology); consequences for users or some other group associated with your topic; relationships among actors, actions, context and consequences in your subject..

Organize the questions you by focus

3. Decide what you need to know to answer your research question:

do some focused reading with respect to your question + note the questions other
researchers have asked + how they answered them
using what you have found from your reading, map out the kind of information you will
need to answer your question

4. Formulate a research plan that includes:

Detailed statement of your research question

Statement of purpose (what you hope to show/discover)

List of the information you need to gather

Preliminary list of sources

Plan for gathering your information

Links to sample web texts:

http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/12.1/binder.html?topoi/warner/index.html

http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/10.1/binder2.html?coverweb/lindgren/index.htm

Finding your topic + FAQs for your web essay

2008-02-20T14:54:00.004-05:00

In class today you did some writing to identify/clarify/ develop your topic for your web essay. Specifically, after writing about 100 words on your topic, you got some feedback from classmates with respect to : additional issues/questions you might want to raide; how the topic connects to concepts in ENG 3080; ideas about who might use an essay on this topic; & references, examples, or connections to "experts."

We then had a brief discussion of the reading from Johnson-Eilola, and you started on exercise 1, on page 19 - only you did your search and analysis for sites related to your topic.

For Blog 5, due on Monday, read through what you have so far on your topic and present a detailed description of what you plan to write about and the users you expect to connect to. Post as much (or all) of the writing you did in class as you need to explain your concept your issues/ideas for your essay.

Also - read Johnson-Eilola, 61-85.

See you Monday.

FAQs for your Web essay

* Is the essay just supposed to be our research and ideas about our topic?

This is not supposed to be a report - where you simply state what others have written on your topic - but neither is it supposed to be experimental research - where you create a situation and collect data on that situation. It is essentially a research project where you gather information from a range of sources and put that information together in a new way so as to come up with an original interpretation or idea with respect to your topic. For example, if you are writing about "illegal" activities associated with web forums such as craig's list - you might explore what the most frequent kinds of "crimes" that are connected to a particular forum, whether people are convicted more or less frequently for doing similar things using print media, whether and how both spaces are policed, and so on. Then - after reading through what you find from a number of sources - you will pose an explanation or "theory" for what you have found. For example, if you found that there were about the same number of "illegal" activities advertised for on craig's list as in regular newspapers, but that people generally went to jail for print violations but not digital violations - would come to some conclusion about what that means.

* What are the hyperlinks supposed to be hyper-linking to? Sites? Articles?

This should become more clear as we work through the web design materials. You should have external links to web sites that you analyze, as well as other articles on your topics. The internal links will reflect the structure of your essay. You will use one of the structures (set up in this weekend's reading assignment) to set forward your material.

* Are there length requirements? I am not going to give a word length - because presentation/design of your site makes those numbers not significant. You are expected to cover a subject in sufficient depth to develop some original thinking around that subject.

*When is it due? At the end of the term.

* Are you going to give us an assignment sheet that states the specific requirements?
I will give you a sheet that lists the criteria for the purpose of the assignment, a description of the assignment, and the criteria for the grade after you do the Wikipedia assignment. I hold off on giving the assignment sheet during the brainstorming phase because students regularly come up with ideas/topics that stretch my ideas of what will make a good project. This results in a revised assignment sheet - and I like to leave that possibility open.

Happy President's Day

2008-02-13T18:21:00.007-05:00

Class discussion and writing on Wednesday, February 13th

As you may have noticed - we did not do the "exploratory writing" listed on the calendar, andyou were not required to turn it in as a separate assignment. You did some writing to help identify a focus for your project at the beginning of class today, and you can use that writing as your post - or you can write deeper into the ideas we developed. The idea is that you need to do some serious thinking about a subject for your web essay. The writing in class was to help you identify a topic that connected to your interests - and that you might want to use for a purpose (publish it on the web) other than completing the requirements for this course.

We then discussed McCloud, and the link at the slide show site - which the lab computers couldn't open (so we looked at the presentation on my computer). McCloud's ideas explore questions surrounding how and why we interpret icons and "cartoons" the way we do. Write into this. What he implies about how humans "are a very self-centered race" in that they see themselves in everything, connected with the fact that cartoons are as much a way of seeing as a way of drawing - applies to the internet because. . . .? As you develop your answer - think abou the nature of representation on the internet - its spatial organization, its complexity, and its use of image and icon. Hmmmm.

Due Monday, February 18 (yeah, I know you don't have class).

Blog 3: summaries and exploration of Glister + Rheingold => connections to possible topics
Blog 4: summaries and exploration Jenkins + McCloud => possible topics. The exploratory writing regarding your topic should be posted as part of Blog 4.

I will read over your blogs and have some comments for you by Wednesday (or shortly after - depending on whether everyone turns in their posts at midnight on Monday rather than sometime during the weekend).

Due Wednesday, February 20:
Read: Johnson-Eilola, 1-20

I will be meeting with Ricky on Wednesday, Feb 20 at 3:30 (right?). If have not yet had a conference - or if you want another one - let me know and we will schedule some time.

What to do for class, Wednesday, February 13

2008-02-12T09:01:00.000-05:00

To follow up on class discussion, look around sites associated with fan fiction and think about the questions we began considering. Fan fiction raises many significant questions about digital spaces and digital interactions (many of which take place through writing). There might be an idea for a project in there.

In class Wednesday we will talk about The Vocabulary of Comics. In class Monday I asked you to think about why I was asking you to read an graphic text on comics for a "Writing in Cyberspace" class. You indicated it was because the internet uses spacial and visual rhetorics (though you said it differently) and I agree. We talked briefly about the fact that in some ways, digital spaces were a "remediation" of comics. Think about some of the ways the internet remediates conventions for making meaning used in comics. There are some interesting ideas in there. To take a look at one scholar's discussion of connections between comics and rhetoric/making meanings in general - take a look at slideshare a site where speakers share powerpoints. Slide 10 of Kevin Brooks talk on Scott McCloud's 'Big Triangle' provides a graphic representation of how we make meanings. It is worth while to think about the way the author has laid out relationships among abstract meanings (at the top); scientific prose/reaslistic images; and icons/verbal cliches. Something to think about.

Reading assignment for Monday, February 11

2008-02-11T12:23:00.001-05:00

In class Monday we will discuss the piece on Fan fiction by Henry Jenkins. If you want to read some of the real thing - go to fanfiction.net and set up an account and read some of what's out there. Or you might want to look at a site devoted entirely to Harry Potter fanfic.

You might also want to visit The Daily Prophet, the site Heather Lawver created.

Also, you might want to think about how the two following sites comment on digital "writers" assumptions and values about who owns the images and ideas they use to write with.

Badgers is a classic nonsense sound and image clip, and the Potter site, created by professional artists is a kind of "fan fic" on the original. So what are the copyright claims?

As you look around at examples of Fanfic available on the net, think about the following questions.

1. Why are writers creating fan fiction? What is their motive ? (Yeah, I know - there is more than one.)

2. What literacy skills do fan fiction writers seem to be cultivating? How do these compare to what you learn in school?

3. What do these sites suggest about how fan fiction communities function? (how do you join, can you get thrown out, who is in charge, how are disputes moderated, how do decisions get made, and so on)

4. And what do you think it means that fan fiction is not defended by the ACLU and EFF?

Class Wednesday, February 6

2008-02-06T16:16:00.001-05:00

So we are switched from Google.groups to Cyberspace homepage. From now on, the summary of class & what you need to do for next class will be on this page.

Thursday, February 6
Today we began by clearing up the contradictions on the calendar regarding the confusing blog entries.

Blog 1: Summary Woolley & reflection

Blog 2: Summary Heim & Bolter and Grusin, + reflections, what you might be interested in

Blog 3: Discussions/summaries of Glister + Rheingold - anything in class discussion that you found interesting - beginnings of exploration of what you might write about

As stated in class, these blogs are a combination journal and preparatory writing for your projects for the course. Summarizing the beginning readings will help you become conversant with the basic vocabulary and concepts for the course. As you do the readings, pay particular attention to the other scholars/authors/groups the writers refer to. The key terms and scholarly references from these readings can be your search terms as you get started on your research.

I also reviewed the schedule for your conferences. These conferences are to make sure you are OK with the blog/writing requirements for the class, and for me to get an idea about what you are interested in pursuing for your research/hyperlinked essay. As of now I am expecting to see you on the following schedule:

Friday, Febraury 8: Leyna: 11:40
Monday, February 11: James: 11:30; Marie: 12
Tuesday, February 12: Jennifer: 12:30; Jaclyn: 2:00
Wednesday, February 12: Angela: 11:00 ; Daphne: 3:30

We spent the rest of the class discussing Howard Rheingold's article on "smart mobs" and checking out what's happening in the real world in terms of flash or smart mobs as they have come to be called. I encouraged you to use a search engine you didn't usually use - and to see if you noticed any differences. We got a little involved in the search - so there wasn't much comment on differences in the search engines. If how different search engines is something that interests you, you might follow up on that in your blog. We read about specific events including political activism (thank you Daphne & James) watched clips on utube of crowds chasing random people (thank you Ricky), and looked at scheduled pillow fight events (thank you Angela & Leyna). After looking at sites, we started to think about what we could tell about the people who participate in smart mobs (what we could tell from the videos) - and that was kind of interesting because it turns out that it is not "everyone" => that different interest groups have different members. So what does it mean that interest groups - even when race, gender & age are invisible - turn out to represent particular demographic groups? Maybe it is not surprising - but what does it mean about "equal opportunity" and "democratic values"?

Also, Leyna showed us a site that listed LOTS of smart mob events. Sites such as these (for example: http://improveverywhere.ning.com/ ) use the web to coordinate "spontaneous events.

Our discussion of Rheingold identified the features of smart mobs - and defined terms associated with how smart mobs work. We paid talked about cooperation thresholds, emergent properties and discussed how these features of smart mob events drive the nature of the experience.

I will look over your blogs - and send you some written feedback via email by Friday night. That way you will have an idea how I am evaluating the blog before you have written to many.

I think that is about all to report for today. If you have questions - or if I forgot something - or if I am being unclear -post a comment!!

See you on Monday.

Exodus: From Google Groups to Blogger

2008-02-06T09:39:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Dr. Chandler and I found that Google Groups decided not to work. In light of this, we decided to make this place home base for the course. All the links to your classmates' blogs are on the right along with the PDF readings for the course. News will be updated by Dr. Chandler herself in this blog from now on. To add links like the ones on this page, use the tutorial posted on this blog.

Remember that the links to your classmates' blogs are for all of you to comment and create some immersion, interactivity, and information intensity on the net. Good day everyone and welcome back.

( It would be wise to link to this blog too: http://www.3080sp08.blogspot.net )

Tutorial: How to link to your classmates' blogs

2008-02-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

First Log onto Blogger.com

You should be taken to the Dashboard; if not, click "customize"

in the top right-hand corner of your blog.

Google updated their blog generator recently so there should be a link that says "Layout" instead of Template as shown in the picture.

Either way, it should take you to the Template/Layout page where you click

on the "Page Elements" tab.

Click the "Add Page Elements" link.

Choose "Link List" to make a list of your classmates' blogs.

(Remember you can add other page elements to pretty up and customize your blog;

dont be afraid to try it out).

Now add the Title of the Link List.

Then leave the second field blank and sort it as you choose (or not).

Add the specific website address or your classmate like in the example.

Have the Site Name be the classmate's name.

Click "add link" for each link you enter; if you look below, it will start listing your links.

http://angelacastillo86.blogspot.com/ - Angela
http://cyberreaderdaphne.blogspot.com/ - Daphne
http://jaclynberry.blogspot.com/ - Jackie
http://jalanmetzger.blogspot.com/ - James
http://jenniferwritforcyberspace.blogspot.com/ - Jennifer
http://leynanerlino.blogspot.com/ - Leyna
http://marieacot.blogspot.com/ - Marie
http://richard1-richard.blogspot.com/ - Richard
http://rickydworzanski.blogspot.com/ - Ricky

Oh and let's not forget Dr. Chandler's blog at http://0380fall05.blogspot.com/

When you're completely done with the list, click on "Save changes."

You can add other links that would help you navigate around the websites you need besides your classmates' blogs.

Here are some examples: Gmail, Google Groups (our group), etc.

Hope this was helpful.