Hello Fabulous Students,
At the beginning of the week I updated grades in D2L. Please take a look at the most recent discussion week grade, among the other grades, and email me if you have any questions.
Starting last week I will no longer email you individually regarding your grade in the class. It is your responsibility to check grades at least once a week and email me if there are any discrepancies or issues.
Have a great weekend everyone!
:)
The Blogging Prof.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Instructor Wrap Up - Community Media Chapter 7 - by Ellie Rennie
A seemingly unrelated reading that I have crazily chosen for this semester in Comm 131P, right? I beg to differ. There is certainly a method to my 'geeky madness' when it comes to New Media/You Media. When I was first planning this course well over a year ago now, I had the hardest time trying to find a textbook for the course. I ordered many books from publishers, purchased many books from online sources, and spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what I wanted to cover in the class. New Media can cover so many ideas, and so far, we have read through a number of them. Community Media was one of those ideas that I was completely enamored with. In fact, I almost required you to purchase a number of books for the course before deciding to change things up a bit and simply make the readings available on D2L. The decision was a hard one, but I'm happy with the readings I have chose for this semester. Who knows - the course may look completely different next semester, as it did last semester.
I think I have mentioned before that the first semester I offered this class, I required the textbook "The New Media Reader". There were quite a few difficult readings in that text, but it really opened up the world of new media in a number of different ways for students. Through feedback I received from students over the last year or so, I decided to no longer require that text and simply go to a 'reader' that I put together myself. This allowed me to cover quite a few more topics than I had previously in this course. One of those topics is Community Media. To frame this idea a bit, click HERE to read about it a bit. While Wikipedia is not my favorite place currently, it sure helps to give a jumping off point a lot of time. This is one of those times!
Here is a short excerpt from the book Community Media by Ellie Rennie page 12: "Chapter 7 synthesizes the arguments of previous chapters and offers some further thoughts as to what media democracy in the digital age might look like. Community media has always been about self-expression - - - and seeing ourselves as part of the society in which we live. Democracy is said to be in a predicament over the perceived distance between the people and the institutions that represent them, which results in political apathy. Can participation in the media help close that distance? E-government model suggests direct input into the policy process by citizens. Is this desirable? Being able to represent oneself in the media paves the way for a more visible, transparent, and responsive model of democracy. Community media may not solve the problems of the mass media, but it does offer some valuable lessons for e-democracy."
If you are at all interested in this concept, you can purchase the book through online booksellers. In fact, Amazon has an interesting review about the book. You can link to the Amazon page HERE.
You can also read more about community media
HERE
HERE
and HERE. These are just a few samples of what is out there pertaining to Community Media.
Are you geeking out about Community Media movements? Perhaps not yet, but at least this exposed y'all to a concept that some may have never heard of previously.
Enjoy!
:)
The Blogging Prof.
I think I have mentioned before that the first semester I offered this class, I required the textbook "The New Media Reader". There were quite a few difficult readings in that text, but it really opened up the world of new media in a number of different ways for students. Through feedback I received from students over the last year or so, I decided to no longer require that text and simply go to a 'reader' that I put together myself. This allowed me to cover quite a few more topics than I had previously in this course. One of those topics is Community Media. To frame this idea a bit, click HERE to read about it a bit. While Wikipedia is not my favorite place currently, it sure helps to give a jumping off point a lot of time. This is one of those times!
Here is a short excerpt from the book Community Media by Ellie Rennie page 12: "Chapter 7 synthesizes the arguments of previous chapters and offers some further thoughts as to what media democracy in the digital age might look like. Community media has always been about self-expression - - - and seeing ourselves as part of the society in which we live. Democracy is said to be in a predicament over the perceived distance between the people and the institutions that represent them, which results in political apathy. Can participation in the media help close that distance? E-government model suggests direct input into the policy process by citizens. Is this desirable? Being able to represent oneself in the media paves the way for a more visible, transparent, and responsive model of democracy. Community media may not solve the problems of the mass media, but it does offer some valuable lessons for e-democracy."
If you are at all interested in this concept, you can purchase the book through online booksellers. In fact, Amazon has an interesting review about the book. You can link to the Amazon page HERE.
You can also read more about community media
HERE
HERE
and HERE. These are just a few samples of what is out there pertaining to Community Media.
Are you geeking out about Community Media movements? Perhaps not yet, but at least this exposed y'all to a concept that some may have never heard of previously.
Enjoy!
:)
The Blogging Prof.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Instructor Wrap Up - Uses and Grats Article
Hello Folks!
This was a fairly easy read, so I will cover only some minimal things, and highlight some ideas I thought were interesting.
First off, when you write your Social Media Paper (based on your data-gathering project) you will need to incorporate some outside sources (see assignment sheet for more detail). The Uses and Grats article is a great place to find other sources to support your ideas. Use the "Literature Review" section and the Reference page from this article to help you find other sources.
Here are some quotes from the article that I thought were pretty interesting:
Pg. 217 "Dye (2007) points out that this new medium has created a new generation of individuals whose identities are defined by their connections and the content they produce online". Think about this for a second...... Think about how YOU used to define yourself before social networking. What were your definitions? What did you connect with? Who? This is a very interesting concept! What about folks how are not as connected online? How do those folks define themselves?
On page 217 the idea of 'instant gratification' is brought up. How does this idea, or how has this idea (or process) shape our society? Connect this idea to pagers back in the early 1990's before cell phones were wide spread. Go further and connect this idea to drive through restaurants. Even cell phones, DVR's, internet - - - do you get the point? Instant gratification! There is no waiting.
Side Note: My SIL just had her first child, and I have been thinking a lot about babies, kids, families, etc... Babies are on demand, right? Kids are taught patience through growing up. We sit in classes for hours and hours at a time through primary education, then in college our time is divided up even more with hour long classes, then work, then friends, then family, etc... Now throw into the equation this idea of instant gratification and what do we have? I will stop here and let you make the obvious link, but what are your thoughts on this? What are the implications of social networking when taking into account where we have come in just 10-15 years?
Moving on.....
It is interesting to read on pages 217 and 218, the start and spread of Facebook. Pay attention to that section, because it is fairly easy to breeze by it. Also pay attention to process gratifications and content gratifications.
Page 218 states, "According to the uses and gratification perspective, media use is determined by a group of key elements including "people's needs and motives to communicate, the psychological and social environment, the mass media, functional alternatives to media use, communication behavior, and the consequences of such behavior" (Rubin, 1994, p. 419)."
Page 218 - "Gurevitch (1974) defined that the uses and gratification perspective as focusing on the "social and psychological origins of needs, which generate expectation of the mass media or other sources, which lead to different patterns of media exposure resulting in need gratifications and other consequences" (as cited in Rubin, 1994, p. 419)."
One last thing - page 223 talks a bit about the idea of 'convenient communication' and how some folks sent their profiles to 'private'. This idea is one that I hope to cover soon, but setting your Facebook profile to 'private' is key for a lot of folks. The privacy issue on FB is an important one because of accessibility on the internet. FB changes their privacy issues so frequently that it's hard to keep up. However, if you are careful about keeping up your privacy settings (news articles are published frequently about 'how' to keep up your privacy settings), social networking can be a useful tool for satisfying interpersonal needs (keeping up with friends, networking with folks, etc..). It can also be a decently safe place for folks to 'hang out' if they watch their content, who they allow to be their friends, and certainly keep up with privacy settings.
It is my hope, that through the way I have planned the class (reading 'new media', 'old media' and the Social Selves text), that folks will come out of the class with an arsenal of new media experiences along with learning some incredible things from the past/present and even future projections about new media and what this means to you as a media consumer.
How's that for a tangent? ;)
Until later.....
The Blogging Prof.
This was a fairly easy read, so I will cover only some minimal things, and highlight some ideas I thought were interesting.
First off, when you write your Social Media Paper (based on your data-gathering project) you will need to incorporate some outside sources (see assignment sheet for more detail). The Uses and Grats article is a great place to find other sources to support your ideas. Use the "Literature Review" section and the Reference page from this article to help you find other sources.
Here are some quotes from the article that I thought were pretty interesting:
Pg. 217 "Dye (2007) points out that this new medium has created a new generation of individuals whose identities are defined by their connections and the content they produce online". Think about this for a second...... Think about how YOU used to define yourself before social networking. What were your definitions? What did you connect with? Who? This is a very interesting concept! What about folks how are not as connected online? How do those folks define themselves?
On page 217 the idea of 'instant gratification' is brought up. How does this idea, or how has this idea (or process) shape our society? Connect this idea to pagers back in the early 1990's before cell phones were wide spread. Go further and connect this idea to drive through restaurants. Even cell phones, DVR's, internet - - - do you get the point? Instant gratification! There is no waiting.
Side Note: My SIL just had her first child, and I have been thinking a lot about babies, kids, families, etc... Babies are on demand, right? Kids are taught patience through growing up. We sit in classes for hours and hours at a time through primary education, then in college our time is divided up even more with hour long classes, then work, then friends, then family, etc... Now throw into the equation this idea of instant gratification and what do we have? I will stop here and let you make the obvious link, but what are your thoughts on this? What are the implications of social networking when taking into account where we have come in just 10-15 years?
Moving on.....
It is interesting to read on pages 217 and 218, the start and spread of Facebook. Pay attention to that section, because it is fairly easy to breeze by it. Also pay attention to process gratifications and content gratifications.
Page 218 states, "According to the uses and gratification perspective, media use is determined by a group of key elements including "people's needs and motives to communicate, the psychological and social environment, the mass media, functional alternatives to media use, communication behavior, and the consequences of such behavior" (Rubin, 1994, p. 419)."
Page 218 - "Gurevitch (1974) defined that the uses and gratification perspective as focusing on the "social and psychological origins of needs, which generate expectation of the mass media or other sources, which lead to different patterns of media exposure resulting in need gratifications and other consequences" (as cited in Rubin, 1994, p. 419)."
One last thing - page 223 talks a bit about the idea of 'convenient communication' and how some folks sent their profiles to 'private'. This idea is one that I hope to cover soon, but setting your Facebook profile to 'private' is key for a lot of folks. The privacy issue on FB is an important one because of accessibility on the internet. FB changes their privacy issues so frequently that it's hard to keep up. However, if you are careful about keeping up your privacy settings (news articles are published frequently about 'how' to keep up your privacy settings), social networking can be a useful tool for satisfying interpersonal needs (keeping up with friends, networking with folks, etc..). It can also be a decently safe place for folks to 'hang out' if they watch their content, who they allow to be their friends, and certainly keep up with privacy settings.
It is my hope, that through the way I have planned the class (reading 'new media', 'old media' and the Social Selves text), that folks will come out of the class with an arsenal of new media experiences along with learning some incredible things from the past/present and even future projections about new media and what this means to you as a media consumer.
How's that for a tangent? ;)
Until later.....
The Blogging Prof.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Week of June 25 - July 1
Hello Folks!
Here is what is listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages from D2L for this week. The schedule for the entire semester, and the discussion questions for the entire semester are listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages, respectively. In case you do not want to wait for the "Monday Post", you are more than welcome to get started by looking at those two pages on D2L.
Due this week:
*Read the article "Uses and Gratifications" (download and print from D2L)
*Read the article "Chapter from: Community Media" (download and print from D2L)
*Read the article "Just Like Me Only Better" (download and print from D2L)
*Read Chapter 3 from the Burkitt text - pages 77-82 only
*Participate in the discussion (see questions below)
*REMINDER: Your "Data Gathering" portion of the Social Media Project is due by Saturday, July 1st @ 11:59pm. Remember to submit early to avoid running into any technical issues.
Class Discussion:
Answer one question in its entirety in each of your three separate posts, at least 12 hours apart. Please make sure you are creating a NEW POST for each question on your blog. You MUST WAIT at least 12 hours from the first post in order to create a second post. The same is true for the second and third post. I will record dates and time of your posts, so make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. EACH POST MUST BE 150 WORDS OR MORE.
1). Respond to the article, Uses and Gratifications. What did you learn from the article? What did you find interesting or useful?
2). Respond to the article, Chapter from: Community Media. Please highlight 2 or 3 main ideas from the article and discuss them.
3). Respond to the article, Just Like Me Only Better. Please discuss 2 or 3 interesting ideas from the article.
Remember to post 3 responses to your colleagues blogs. (As a reminder, comments will only be counted for the current discussion week. I do not go back to past discussion weeks to look for comments. Once a discussion week is over, it's over. So please make sure you are commenting on a relevant blog post. In other words, pay close attention to the post, and date.
Comments - Remember to post ONE comment ON THREE DIFFERENT BLOGS between 12:01am on Monday and 11:59pm on Sunday. This means that you will log onto MY BLOG at: http://comm131p.blogspot.com/ and look under "Student Blogs" to see a list of your colleagues blogs. Click on those blogs, read what was posted for this week and respond. You need to make sure you are responding to only what was discussed THIS WEEK (starting Monday and ending Sunday of the current week). Comments posted to blogs that were NOT within this week will not be counted for points. Each comment must be a minimum of 100 words.
Note about comments: When you leave a comment on another blog, make sure you are logged into your blogspot account. In other words, you will need to make sure your "Display Name/Alias Name" shows up on the blog you are commenting on. I record the locations, dates and times of your comments. Please keep record of your posts and comments in case there I have questions about where they are located.
Here is what is listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages from D2L for this week. The schedule for the entire semester, and the discussion questions for the entire semester are listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages, respectively. In case you do not want to wait for the "Monday Post", you are more than welcome to get started by looking at those two pages on D2L.
Due this week:
*Read the article "Uses and Gratifications" (download and print from D2L)
*Read the article "Chapter from: Community Media" (download and print from D2L)
*Read the article "Just Like Me Only Better" (download and print from D2L)
*Read Chapter 3 from the Burkitt text - pages 77-82 only
*Participate in the discussion (see questions below)
*REMINDER: Your "Data Gathering" portion of the Social Media Project is due by Saturday, July 1st @ 11:59pm. Remember to submit early to avoid running into any technical issues.
Class Discussion:
Answer one question in its entirety in each of your three separate posts, at least 12 hours apart. Please make sure you are creating a NEW POST for each question on your blog. You MUST WAIT at least 12 hours from the first post in order to create a second post. The same is true for the second and third post. I will record dates and time of your posts, so make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. EACH POST MUST BE 150 WORDS OR MORE.
1). Respond to the article, Uses and Gratifications. What did you learn from the article? What did you find interesting or useful?
2). Respond to the article, Chapter from: Community Media. Please highlight 2 or 3 main ideas from the article and discuss them.
3). Respond to the article, Just Like Me Only Better. Please discuss 2 or 3 interesting ideas from the article.
Remember to post 3 responses to your colleagues blogs. (As a reminder, comments will only be counted for the current discussion week. I do not go back to past discussion weeks to look for comments. Once a discussion week is over, it's over. So please make sure you are commenting on a relevant blog post. In other words, pay close attention to the post, and date.
Comments - Remember to post ONE comment ON THREE DIFFERENT BLOGS between 12:01am on Monday and 11:59pm on Sunday. This means that you will log onto MY BLOG at: http://comm131p.blogspot.com/ and look under "Student Blogs" to see a list of your colleagues blogs. Click on those blogs, read what was posted for this week and respond. You need to make sure you are responding to only what was discussed THIS WEEK (starting Monday and ending Sunday of the current week). Comments posted to blogs that were NOT within this week will not be counted for points. Each comment must be a minimum of 100 words.
Note about comments: When you leave a comment on another blog, make sure you are logged into your blogspot account. In other words, you will need to make sure your "Display Name/Alias Name" shows up on the blog you are commenting on. I record the locations, dates and times of your comments. Please keep record of your posts and comments in case there I have questions about where they are located.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Data-Gathering Clarification
A couple of students from class have asked about Part I of the Data-Gathering Project. Here is a brief explanation of what you should do for this project:
Part 1: First, you will gather data by using the most recent 25-45 status updates. Go through your status updates and simply copy/paste the quotes directly into a word document. Include dates/times, as these may be relevant in your analysis.
Notes: In this task you should observe and evaluate your FB page. What have you placed on your wall? What do your status updates say? How have you constructed your online identity? How do you portray yourself through your FB page? You are simply reading through your FB page and drawing some conclusions.
Part 2: You will then father information about yourself, or your 'friend' based on their interaction on other people's Facebook pages. You will gather postings/comments you have made on your friends FB pages or 'side' conversations you have contributed to on your pages or other pages. Again, go through and gather past comments you have made on 'friends' pages, or comments on pictures, etc.... Use as many as needed to construct your identity.
Notes: Questions to ask yourself in this section: Have you let your guard down with your comments? Do you see a different pattern with your comments than with your status updates? What other patterns emerge? Do you only comment on certain posts from friends?
Part 3: In addition to these two text based constructions, you will gather and analyze at least 8 pictures to represent who you have constructed yourself to be on the popular social networking website.
Notes: Again, you should analyze your FB page (or that of the same friend as you did in Parts 1 & 2).
Part 4: Finally, you will draw conclusions by analyzing the data you have collected. (HINT: Use the Burkitt text to inform this part of your project). In other words, ‘construct’ who you have represented yourself to be on the popular social media website. Try to analyze yourself from an outsider’s perspective. What do they see? What do your friends see? The conclusions that you draw can be a summary of ideas, formatted in bullet points. The adjoining assignment to this data-gathering project will use all information gathered, and you will put together a final analysis paper based on your data, and your analysis. Please do not go through your Facebook page and ‘clean it up’ before engaging in this assignment. Be honest with yourself throughout this process.
Notes: This is, by far, one of the most important parts of this project. Part 4 will help you write your Media Representation Project by looking at the data you have gathered in this project. How do you represent yourself (or how does your friend represent themselves on FB)?
This project will basically inform your next project, the Media Representation Project. You are essentially confronting three different ideas by putting into "Practice" (this is a 4-unit practice course, and this project represents the additional unit for this class) your observations.
Here are the three ideas you will be confronting throughout the process of the Data-Gathering Project, and the Media Representation Project:
1). What do I think? The data-gathering portion will do a lot of this for you. What are your observations about your FB page, or the FB page of one friend that you chose to evaluate (Parts 1-3)?
2). What do they say? This part will be accomplished in the Media Representation Project. You will need to inform your analysis by figuring out what researches have said about media representation. (HINT: Use the Burkitt text) You will also ask some HR departments how they use social networking. (This will make more sense once you read through the Media Representation Project).
3). What does this mean? Again, this will be accomplished in the Social Media Representation portion of the project.
For right now, let's just focus on the What do I think? part. The other two parts will come as you begin to work on second portion of the "Practice" unit in this class, the Social Media Representation Project.
I hope this clears up the Data-Gathering portion of the "Practice" unit project for Comm 131P.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Instructor Wrap Up - The Medium IS the Message - McLuhan
Although I am not a big fan of Wikipedia because of it's current lack of internal and external control, THIS page talks a bit about McLuhan, and may help to clarify the reading.
First off, let me mention that McLuhan was criticized a bit for his ideas. You can easily search the internet for some opinions about McLuhan, but let's skip over the for now, and focus on who McLuhan was, and his ideas as presented in the present piece.
The article starts on page 203 with an explanation of how and why McLuhan thinks the medium really IS the message. The rest of the article goes on to support this idea by bringing up a number of examples. He also throws in some other ideas here and there, but he is pretty succinct in asserting his idea throughout the writing. Here are some excerpts that stood out to me:
*pg. 203 - "This is merely to say that the persona and social consequence of any medium - that is, of any extension of ourselves - result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology". After this statement, the author goes on to explain job elimination and a creation of roles, etc.... After this, McLuhan states, "Many people would be disposed to say that it was not the machine, but what one did with the machine, that was its meaning or message".
*pg. 203 - "For the "message" of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs".
(I'm backtracking a bit here)
McLuhan is brilliant in explaining the electric light. You might be thinking, "I already read that, and he lost me pretty quickly". that is understandable. Go back and read the parts on page 203 about the electric light - just those parts, and see what you can extrapolate from his explanation. This short description of the meaning of the electric light, or lack thereof, is the essence of the reading. McLuhan states, "The instance of the electric light may prove illuminating in this connection. The electric light is pure information. It is a medium without a message, as it were, unless it is used to spell out some verbal ad or name. This fact, characteristic of all media, means that the 'content' of any medium is always another medium". Brilliant! (am I geeking out again - sorry!). :) But then if you keep reading he comes back to the electric light and explains, "Let us return to the electric light. Whether the light is being used for brain surgery or night baseball is a matter of indifference. It could be argued that these activities are in some way the "content" of the electric light, since they could not exist without the electric light. This fact merely underlines the point that "the medium is the message" because it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action". If you keep reading a couple of sentences beyond this excerpt, it says, "...it is only too typical that the "content" of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium".
As an aside - I am looking through my notes on the McLuhan article, and if you can get past some of the wording, the meaning is incredible!
Here are some other brief quotes. I will try to limit my commentary so that you can simply absorb what McLuhan is saying, and the implications it has for us today in our current 'media state'. I suggest that you read these in context, that is, have your book/the reading close by so that you can follow along and really absorb what is being said and implied. It may take a second to simply sit there and think about the concept for a few seconds before the light bulb (pun intended) flashes on and you 'get' what he is saying.
*pg. 205 "In other words, cubism, by giving the inside and outside, the top, bottom, back, and front and the rest, in two dimensions, drops the illusion of perspectives in favor of instant sensory awareness of the whole. Cubism, by seizing on instant total awareness, suddenly announced that the medium is the message."
*pg. 205 "Before the electric speed and total field, it was not obvious that the medium is the message. The message, it seemed, was the "content", as people used to as what a painting was about. Yet they never thought to ask what a melody was about, nor what a house or a dress was about. In such matters, people retained some sense of the whole pattern, of form and function as a unity".
*pg. 205 "...He understood the grammar of gunpowder". Think about this for a second. I mean, really think about this statement. What does this statement say to you? Does it not explain in 6 words what McLuhan is trying to convey?
*pg. 206-207 "But with electric media Western man himself experiences exactly the same inundation as the remote native. We are no more prepared to encounter radio and TV in our literate milieu than the native of Ghana is able to cope with the literacy that takes him out of his collective tribal world and beaches him in individual isolation. We are as numb to our new electric world as the native involved in our literate and mechanical culture".
*pg. 207 "Our conventional response to all media, namely that is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot. For the "content" of a medium is like the juicy piece of mean carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind".
*pg. 208 "Today when we want to get our bearings in our own culture, and have need to stand aside from the bias and pressure exerted by any technical form of human expression, we have only to visit a society where that particular form has not been felt, or a historical period in which it was unknown".
I can go on with quotes from this piece that would be great conversation starters, especially the last couple of pages, but I will stop here. As I mentioned earlier in the post, many folks did not agree with McLuhan's assertions, and if you do not agree, explain your position in your post. You certainly do not have to agree with the folks who have written the articles we will be reading throughout the semester. I simply ask that if you do not agree, or even if you do agree for that matter, that you state your position clearly.
Each of the pieces I have selected for us to read throughout this class will confront a myriad of issues. I find Lickliders piece relevant for a completely different reason than McLuhan's piece. McLuhan brings up a completely different set of issues and ideas, and that is the exact reason why we will read through a number of different pieces. Simply because I would like the class to be exposed to a number of different perspectives, focuses, etc... throughout the semester. Licklider was a forward thinker, as was McLuhuan, but McLuhan brings up some controversial ideas.
I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did, and I hope this post helped to clarify some of the ideas from McLuhan.
First off, let me mention that McLuhan was criticized a bit for his ideas. You can easily search the internet for some opinions about McLuhan, but let's skip over the for now, and focus on who McLuhan was, and his ideas as presented in the present piece.
The article starts on page 203 with an explanation of how and why McLuhan thinks the medium really IS the message. The rest of the article goes on to support this idea by bringing up a number of examples. He also throws in some other ideas here and there, but he is pretty succinct in asserting his idea throughout the writing. Here are some excerpts that stood out to me:
*pg. 203 - "This is merely to say that the persona and social consequence of any medium - that is, of any extension of ourselves - result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology". After this statement, the author goes on to explain job elimination and a creation of roles, etc.... After this, McLuhan states, "Many people would be disposed to say that it was not the machine, but what one did with the machine, that was its meaning or message".
*pg. 203 - "For the "message" of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs".
(I'm backtracking a bit here)
McLuhan is brilliant in explaining the electric light. You might be thinking, "I already read that, and he lost me pretty quickly". that is understandable. Go back and read the parts on page 203 about the electric light - just those parts, and see what you can extrapolate from his explanation. This short description of the meaning of the electric light, or lack thereof, is the essence of the reading. McLuhan states, "The instance of the electric light may prove illuminating in this connection. The electric light is pure information. It is a medium without a message, as it were, unless it is used to spell out some verbal ad or name. This fact, characteristic of all media, means that the 'content' of any medium is always another medium". Brilliant! (am I geeking out again - sorry!). :) But then if you keep reading he comes back to the electric light and explains, "Let us return to the electric light. Whether the light is being used for brain surgery or night baseball is a matter of indifference. It could be argued that these activities are in some way the "content" of the electric light, since they could not exist without the electric light. This fact merely underlines the point that "the medium is the message" because it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action". If you keep reading a couple of sentences beyond this excerpt, it says, "...it is only too typical that the "content" of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium".
As an aside - I am looking through my notes on the McLuhan article, and if you can get past some of the wording, the meaning is incredible!
Here are some other brief quotes. I will try to limit my commentary so that you can simply absorb what McLuhan is saying, and the implications it has for us today in our current 'media state'. I suggest that you read these in context, that is, have your book/the reading close by so that you can follow along and really absorb what is being said and implied. It may take a second to simply sit there and think about the concept for a few seconds before the light bulb (pun intended) flashes on and you 'get' what he is saying.
*pg. 205 "In other words, cubism, by giving the inside and outside, the top, bottom, back, and front and the rest, in two dimensions, drops the illusion of perspectives in favor of instant sensory awareness of the whole. Cubism, by seizing on instant total awareness, suddenly announced that the medium is the message."
*pg. 205 "Before the electric speed and total field, it was not obvious that the medium is the message. The message, it seemed, was the "content", as people used to as what a painting was about. Yet they never thought to ask what a melody was about, nor what a house or a dress was about. In such matters, people retained some sense of the whole pattern, of form and function as a unity".
*pg. 205 "...He understood the grammar of gunpowder". Think about this for a second. I mean, really think about this statement. What does this statement say to you? Does it not explain in 6 words what McLuhan is trying to convey?
*pg. 206-207 "But with electric media Western man himself experiences exactly the same inundation as the remote native. We are no more prepared to encounter radio and TV in our literate milieu than the native of Ghana is able to cope with the literacy that takes him out of his collective tribal world and beaches him in individual isolation. We are as numb to our new electric world as the native involved in our literate and mechanical culture".
*pg. 207 "Our conventional response to all media, namely that is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot. For the "content" of a medium is like the juicy piece of mean carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind".
*pg. 208 "Today when we want to get our bearings in our own culture, and have need to stand aside from the bias and pressure exerted by any technical form of human expression, we have only to visit a society where that particular form has not been felt, or a historical period in which it was unknown".
I can go on with quotes from this piece that would be great conversation starters, especially the last couple of pages, but I will stop here. As I mentioned earlier in the post, many folks did not agree with McLuhan's assertions, and if you do not agree, explain your position in your post. You certainly do not have to agree with the folks who have written the articles we will be reading throughout the semester. I simply ask that if you do not agree, or even if you do agree for that matter, that you state your position clearly.
Each of the pieces I have selected for us to read throughout this class will confront a myriad of issues. I find Lickliders piece relevant for a completely different reason than McLuhan's piece. McLuhan brings up a completely different set of issues and ideas, and that is the exact reason why we will read through a number of different pieces. Simply because I would like the class to be exposed to a number of different perspectives, focuses, etc... throughout the semester. Licklider was a forward thinker, as was McLuhuan, but McLuhan brings up some controversial ideas.
I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did, and I hope this post helped to clarify some of the ideas from McLuhan.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Week of June 18 - 24
Hello Folks!
Here is what is listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages from D2L for this week. The schedule for the entire semester, and the discussion questions for the entire semester are listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages, respectively. In case you do not want to wait for the "Monday Post", you are more than welcome to get started by looking at those two pages on D2L.
Due this week:
*Read Chapter 2 in the Burkitt text - pages 31-40
*Read the article "Consequences of Online Social Networking" (download and print from D2L)
*Read the article "The Medium IS the Message" (download and print from D2L)
*Participate in the discussion (see questions below)
*Test on D2L - includes all readings so far in the course, including this week's readings.
*Start working on Data-Gathering - downloadable from D2L.
*Connect to my page through Facebook and Twitter if you haven't already.
*Comment on my most recent Facebook status to get connected to your colleagues in the class. Go ahead and "friend' all other students in the class please. Do this ASAP.
Class Discussion:
Answer one question in its entirety in each of your three separate posts, at least 12 hours apart. Please make sure you are creating a NEW POST for each question on your blog. You MUST WAIT at least 12 hours from the first post in order to create a second post. The same is true for the second and third post. I will record dates and time of your posts, so make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. EACH POST MUST BE 150 WORDS OR MORE.
1). Respond to Chapter 2 of the Burkitt text. What did you learn from the article? What did you find interesting or useful? How does what you learned pertain to Social Networking?
2). Respond to the article, Consequences of Online Social Networking. Please highlight 2 or 3 main ideas from the article and discuss them.
3). Respond to the article, The Medium IS the Message. Please discuss 2 or 3 interesting ideas from the article.
Remember to post 3 responses to your colleagues blogs. (As a reminder, comments will only be counted for the current discussion week. I do not go back to past discussion weeks to look for comments. Once a discussion week is over, it's over. So please make sure you are commenting on a relevant blog post. In other words, pay close attention to the post, and date.
Comments - Remember to post ONE comment ON THREE DIFFERENT BLOGS between 12:01am on Monday and 11:59pm on Sunday. This means that you will log onto MY BLOG at: http://comm131p.blogspot.com/ and look under "Student Blogs" to see a list of your colleagues blogs. Click on those blogs, read what was posted for this week and respond. You need to make sure you are responding to only what was discussed THIS WEEK (starting Sunday and ending Saturday of the current week). Comments posted to blogs that were NOT within this week will not be counted for points. Each comment must be a minimum of 100 words.
Note about comments: When you leave a comment on another blog, make sure you are logged into your blogspot account. In other words, you will need to make sure your "Display Name/Alias Name" shows up on the blog you are commenting on. I record the locations, dates and times of your comments. Please keep record of your posts and comments in case there I have questions about where they are located.
Here is what is listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages from D2L for this week. The schedule for the entire semester, and the discussion questions for the entire semester are listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages, respectively. In case you do not want to wait for the "Monday Post", you are more than welcome to get started by looking at those two pages on D2L.
Due this week:
*Read Chapter 2 in the Burkitt text - pages 31-40
*Read the article "Consequences of Online Social Networking" (download and print from D2L)
*Read the article "The Medium IS the Message" (download and print from D2L)
*Participate in the discussion (see questions below)
*Test on D2L - includes all readings so far in the course, including this week's readings.
*Start working on Data-Gathering - downloadable from D2L.
*Connect to my page through Facebook and Twitter if you haven't already.
*Comment on my most recent Facebook status to get connected to your colleagues in the class. Go ahead and "friend' all other students in the class please. Do this ASAP.
Class Discussion:
Answer one question in its entirety in each of your three separate posts, at least 12 hours apart. Please make sure you are creating a NEW POST for each question on your blog. You MUST WAIT at least 12 hours from the first post in order to create a second post. The same is true for the second and third post. I will record dates and time of your posts, so make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. EACH POST MUST BE 150 WORDS OR MORE.
1). Respond to Chapter 2 of the Burkitt text. What did you learn from the article? What did you find interesting or useful? How does what you learned pertain to Social Networking?
2). Respond to the article, Consequences of Online Social Networking. Please highlight 2 or 3 main ideas from the article and discuss them.
3). Respond to the article, The Medium IS the Message. Please discuss 2 or 3 interesting ideas from the article.
Remember to post 3 responses to your colleagues blogs. (As a reminder, comments will only be counted for the current discussion week. I do not go back to past discussion weeks to look for comments. Once a discussion week is over, it's over. So please make sure you are commenting on a relevant blog post. In other words, pay close attention to the post, and date.
Comments - Remember to post ONE comment ON THREE DIFFERENT BLOGS between 12:01am on Monday and 11:59pm on Sunday. This means that you will log onto MY BLOG at: http://comm131p.blogspot.com/ and look under "Student Blogs" to see a list of your colleagues blogs. Click on those blogs, read what was posted for this week and respond. You need to make sure you are responding to only what was discussed THIS WEEK (starting Sunday and ending Saturday of the current week). Comments posted to blogs that were NOT within this week will not be counted for points. Each comment must be a minimum of 100 words.
Note about comments: When you leave a comment on another blog, make sure you are logged into your blogspot account. In other words, you will need to make sure your "Display Name/Alias Name" shows up on the blog you are commenting on. I record the locations, dates and times of your comments. Please keep record of your posts and comments in case there I have questions about where they are located.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Instructor Wrap Up - Be Who You Want to Be - Ellis
From last week's assigned reading........
When someone thinks of 'media', a few things usually come to mind: the internet, and news. Am I right? Rarely do we think about older forms of media, and even more rare do we think of self-representation in newer forms of media. This brings us to the Ellis article.
Be who you want to be: The philosophy of Facebook and the construction of identity
It's interesting to sit back and simply ponder the title of this article, isn't it? Without reading the article, one can wonder how 'they' have constructed themselves on the internet, specifically when it comes to social networking. We have a number of different camps to consider:
1). Those that simply do not engage at all.
2). Those that engage completely, meaning everything on FB is public.
3). Those that engage in social networking but have 'tried' to limit public information (by keeping a close watch on FB's ever changing privacy settings).
4). Those that engage in social networking but have failed to keep up their privacy settings appropriately to block others from seeing what they don't want them to see.
It is my assumption that some people fall into category #3, but unknowingly fall into category #4. In either case, along with #2, we should be concerned with self-representation or our social identity. Here's where Ellis' article becomes quite important to think about.
Ellis starts out the article by talked a bit about identity and social behavior. She then justifies how she will consider FB an example of 'communicative identity'. I have read over many articles of folks losing their jobs because they posted something inappropriate on FB. Folks simply aren't aware of how they portray themselves on the internet. This representation does not stop at social networking, but can be applied to many other areas of media as well.
Here are some quotes from the article with some commentary where appropriate:
pg. 37 "A decreasing level of anonymity brought about through social networking has led to the adoption of different strategies depending on the individual's goal for social interaction. Communication via Facebook is changing the face of social communication on an interpersonal level." There are a few things going on in this quote. I will focus on the phrase, "...different strategies depending on the individual's goal...". It is worth us asking ourselves, "What is my goal with having a FB profile?". Really, what is your goal? Is it to keep in touch with folks from your past/present? Is your goal to keep family in the loop of what is going on in your life? Is FB a replacement for f2f social interaction? A social networking participants, we all have different goals, right? It's worth it to ask yourself why.
pg. 38 "On Facebook we take our own name and seem to be willing to part with our personal information than were previous net generations." (emphasis mine) Yikes! I will let this quote speak for itself.
pg. 39 "Although I really enjoy my Facebook friends and feel a strong connection and a sense of community with many of them, most of the time these people are little more than objects of entertainment." We can debate all day long about FB and 'real friends', etc... but think about this quote for a minute. Are most of your friends on FB entertainment for you? Do they serve as a community? Support? Act as 'real' friends would? Honestly, this can be debated until the cows come home, but the point of this quote is to critically analyze your FB interactions.
pg. 39 "When Facebook users communicate 'what's on [their] mind', of update their status, they are offering a representation of the self or a 'me' based on socialization they have already experienced." Representation of the self is something to critically evaluate - thus the first journal entry in this course.
pg. 39 - Ellis then goes on to explain Mead's three step process. You can read that on your own.
pg. 40 "The idea the Facebook users can no longer differentiate between representation and reality has led to calls for people to go offline. Communication overload has inspired a teen movement of 'switching off':..." I'm sure we can all agree that how we 'represent' ourselves is quite different than who we really are, or 'reality'. Think about how different our social interaction is now then it was perhaps 20 years ago. Folks did not need to worry about how they were representing themselves so much online, though they did have to answer the A/S/L question as Ellis writes on page 38. That was the extent of representation. Now, however, there are a myriad of things to consider when representing yourself online.
So the question remains, how do YOU represent yourself online through social networking? I thought the journal assignment would be an interesting one because folks rarely ask the question How or Why? Critical evaluation of self-representation happens in small micro-bits when we ask ourselves, "Should I put that on FB?" or "Will someone take this the wrong way if I post this to my status update?". We rarely take a look at the whole of our self-representation. This is the very reason for the journal assignment. I want you to look at how you have represented yourself, report on that without changing your Facebook page at this stage, and come to some conclusions. Do you need to change your page? Un-tag some photos? Remove photos? Watch what you are saying on your status updates? Watch your 'side' conversations with folks on FB? It is the evaluation that is going to lead to some eye-opening things. At least that's my hope.
Until then......
The Blogging Prof
Be Who You Want to Be
When someone thinks of 'media', a few things usually come to mind: the internet, and news. Am I right? Rarely do we think about older forms of media, and even more rare do we think of self-representation in newer forms of media. This brings us to the Ellis article.
Be who you want to be: The philosophy of Facebook and the construction of identity
It's interesting to sit back and simply ponder the title of this article, isn't it? Without reading the article, one can wonder how 'they' have constructed themselves on the internet, specifically when it comes to social networking. We have a number of different camps to consider:
1). Those that simply do not engage at all.
2). Those that engage completely, meaning everything on FB is public.
3). Those that engage in social networking but have 'tried' to limit public information (by keeping a close watch on FB's ever changing privacy settings).
4). Those that engage in social networking but have failed to keep up their privacy settings appropriately to block others from seeing what they don't want them to see.
It is my assumption that some people fall into category #3, but unknowingly fall into category #4. In either case, along with #2, we should be concerned with self-representation or our social identity. Here's where Ellis' article becomes quite important to think about.
Ellis starts out the article by talked a bit about identity and social behavior. She then justifies how she will consider FB an example of 'communicative identity'. I have read over many articles of folks losing their jobs because they posted something inappropriate on FB. Folks simply aren't aware of how they portray themselves on the internet. This representation does not stop at social networking, but can be applied to many other areas of media as well.
Here are some quotes from the article with some commentary where appropriate:
pg. 37 "A decreasing level of anonymity brought about through social networking has led to the adoption of different strategies depending on the individual's goal for social interaction. Communication via Facebook is changing the face of social communication on an interpersonal level." There are a few things going on in this quote. I will focus on the phrase, "...different strategies depending on the individual's goal...". It is worth us asking ourselves, "What is my goal with having a FB profile?". Really, what is your goal? Is it to keep in touch with folks from your past/present? Is your goal to keep family in the loop of what is going on in your life? Is FB a replacement for f2f social interaction? A social networking participants, we all have different goals, right? It's worth it to ask yourself why.
pg. 38 "On Facebook we take our own name and seem to be willing to part with our personal information than were previous net generations." (emphasis mine) Yikes! I will let this quote speak for itself.
pg. 39 "Although I really enjoy my Facebook friends and feel a strong connection and a sense of community with many of them, most of the time these people are little more than objects of entertainment." We can debate all day long about FB and 'real friends', etc... but think about this quote for a minute. Are most of your friends on FB entertainment for you? Do they serve as a community? Support? Act as 'real' friends would? Honestly, this can be debated until the cows come home, but the point of this quote is to critically analyze your FB interactions.
pg. 39 "When Facebook users communicate 'what's on [their] mind', of update their status, they are offering a representation of the self or a 'me' based on socialization they have already experienced." Representation of the self is something to critically evaluate - thus the first journal entry in this course.
pg. 39 - Ellis then goes on to explain Mead's three step process. You can read that on your own.
pg. 40 "The idea the Facebook users can no longer differentiate between representation and reality has led to calls for people to go offline. Communication overload has inspired a teen movement of 'switching off':..." I'm sure we can all agree that how we 'represent' ourselves is quite different than who we really are, or 'reality'. Think about how different our social interaction is now then it was perhaps 20 years ago. Folks did not need to worry about how they were representing themselves so much online, though they did have to answer the A/S/L question as Ellis writes on page 38. That was the extent of representation. Now, however, there are a myriad of things to consider when representing yourself online.
So the question remains, how do YOU represent yourself online through social networking? I thought the journal assignment would be an interesting one because folks rarely ask the question How or Why? Critical evaluation of self-representation happens in small micro-bits when we ask ourselves, "Should I put that on FB?" or "Will someone take this the wrong way if I post this to my status update?". We rarely take a look at the whole of our self-representation. This is the very reason for the journal assignment. I want you to look at how you have represented yourself, report on that without changing your Facebook page at this stage, and come to some conclusions. Do you need to change your page? Un-tag some photos? Remove photos? Watch what you are saying on your status updates? Watch your 'side' conversations with folks on FB? It is the evaluation that is going to lead to some eye-opening things. At least that's my hope.
Until then......
The Blogging Prof
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Facebook and Twitter
Hello Class,
One of the objectives this week is to connect to my Facebook page, and the Comm 131P Twitter page. Since this is a "Practice" course, we should be engaging in New Media everyday, but I understand that engaging everyday might be a bit much for some, so I will remind each of you to engage multiple times a week. Future assignments in this course will require you to analyze your involvement in New Media, as well as analyze other folks involvement in New Media by observation. In order to objectively look at how we use New Media resources, we must engage in them. As the semester moves forward, there may be questions about your involvement with Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc... so it is essential that you engage in these things.
If you do not have a Facebook and Twitter page, please sign up for both and follow me/friend me. You can find me by using the following:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Comm131P
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Please connect to me through these two avenues by Sunday evening. I will log on often to update both, so to 'be in the know', make sure you are following me and keeping up with me and your classmates.
I hope you all have a fabulous day!
:)
Carol
One of the objectives this week is to connect to my Facebook page, and the Comm 131P Twitter page. Since this is a "Practice" course, we should be engaging in New Media everyday, but I understand that engaging everyday might be a bit much for some, so I will remind each of you to engage multiple times a week. Future assignments in this course will require you to analyze your involvement in New Media, as well as analyze other folks involvement in New Media by observation. In order to objectively look at how we use New Media resources, we must engage in them. As the semester moves forward, there may be questions about your involvement with Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc... so it is essential that you engage in these things.
If you do not have a Facebook and Twitter page, please sign up for both and follow me/friend me. You can find me by using the following:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Comm131P
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Please connect to me through these two avenues by Sunday evening. I will log on often to update both, so to 'be in the know', make sure you are following me and keeping up with me and your classmates.
I hope you all have a fabulous day!
:)
Carol
Instructor Wrap Up - The Quality of Online Social Relationships
What a neat article! When I read through this the first time, I felt like there were some relevant things for the class to learn.
As we move towards more and more media, issues about the quality of online relationships will always be talked about. This article is no exception! I will give a brief wrap-up of this article, posing some questions for you all to think about.
Page 2: "The evidence is clear that interpersonal communication is an important use of the Internet, if not its most important use." Is this still the case? This article was written in the year 2000, so take that into consideration when making your decision if interpersonal communication is the MOST important use. How does this idea relate to Facebook? How interpersonal is FB?
Page 3: "However, when asked to compare their online friends with others from their offline life, respondents felt less close to those they met online." Wow - interesting! With the advent of online dating websites, online gaming (which the article does address a bit), I wonder what folks who participate in those things would say?
Page 3: "The impact of the Internet is likely to be very different if it supplements communication with already established friends and family or if, instead, it substitutes for more traditional communication and traditional social ties." I think this sentence is key to our class, and the analysis of FB. Would you agree?
Page 9 - the section titled, "Comparing Internet versus non-Internet social partners" was highly interesting. You should read through that section pretty carefully to get the full affect of what that section is getting at. How does this relate to our current use of social networking websites?
Page 12: "In either case, by using email they are not getting as much social benefit as they could from their communication activity." This is important to remember as we move forward with different types of media. Do you think that engaging in media, as a supplement to F2F (face-to-face) relationships can go too far? If so, what is too far? Is it different for every person?
Page 13: This section refers mainly to online groups (listservs), but can apply to a number of other applications when we really look at the function of the medium. A quote directly from this page states, "Are active, tightly knit electronic groups, in which people from personal relationships and develop a sense of belonging, the norm or are the cases reported in the literature interesting exceptions?" Read through this section to get a clear picture of what the authors are referring to.
Page 14 points out that listservs are not like traditional small groups. For those that have taken small group communication, I'm sure you can figure out why.
Page 19 - Conclusions: This section obviously summarizes the findings the paper has covered. Try not to skip directly to the conclusion section to save time. This article has some relevant information that we can use, even in our media advances today with social networking websites, such as FB.
As you can see from this article, social interaction online or F2F is quite complex. There are many things to consider when trying to assess the quality of online social relationships in different types of online settings. Could one argue that Facebook has made social interactions more fulfilling to some? Perhaps. What do you think?
As we move towards more and more media, issues about the quality of online relationships will always be talked about. This article is no exception! I will give a brief wrap-up of this article, posing some questions for you all to think about.
Page 2: "The evidence is clear that interpersonal communication is an important use of the Internet, if not its most important use." Is this still the case? This article was written in the year 2000, so take that into consideration when making your decision if interpersonal communication is the MOST important use. How does this idea relate to Facebook? How interpersonal is FB?
Page 3: "However, when asked to compare their online friends with others from their offline life, respondents felt less close to those they met online." Wow - interesting! With the advent of online dating websites, online gaming (which the article does address a bit), I wonder what folks who participate in those things would say?
Page 3: "The impact of the Internet is likely to be very different if it supplements communication with already established friends and family or if, instead, it substitutes for more traditional communication and traditional social ties." I think this sentence is key to our class, and the analysis of FB. Would you agree?
Page 9 - the section titled, "Comparing Internet versus non-Internet social partners" was highly interesting. You should read through that section pretty carefully to get the full affect of what that section is getting at. How does this relate to our current use of social networking websites?
Page 12: "In either case, by using email they are not getting as much social benefit as they could from their communication activity." This is important to remember as we move forward with different types of media. Do you think that engaging in media, as a supplement to F2F (face-to-face) relationships can go too far? If so, what is too far? Is it different for every person?
Page 13: This section refers mainly to online groups (listservs), but can apply to a number of other applications when we really look at the function of the medium. A quote directly from this page states, "Are active, tightly knit electronic groups, in which people from personal relationships and develop a sense of belonging, the norm or are the cases reported in the literature interesting exceptions?" Read through this section to get a clear picture of what the authors are referring to.
Page 14 points out that listservs are not like traditional small groups. For those that have taken small group communication, I'm sure you can figure out why.
Page 19 - Conclusions: This section obviously summarizes the findings the paper has covered. Try not to skip directly to the conclusion section to save time. This article has some relevant information that we can use, even in our media advances today with social networking websites, such as FB.
As you can see from this article, social interaction online or F2F is quite complex. There are many things to consider when trying to assess the quality of online social relationships in different types of online settings. Could one argue that Facebook has made social interactions more fulfilling to some? Perhaps. What do you think?
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Instructor Wrap Up - Man-Computer Symbiosis - Licklider
Pre-Wrap Up Note: When deciding on what to focus on in this course, I chatted with a few people from the department as well as a few outside of the department. One of the things that consistently came up was the idea of self-representation on the internet, among other things. In your readings last week, specifically the article Be Who You Want to Be, you can see that this will be a focus of the class. If you haven't already, please go back and read the articles I assigned for last week.
In this class we will focus on a few things:
1). Self representation on the internet
2). Social Selves
3). How media has taken shape over the last 40-50 years (thus some older readings are in order)
4). Different types of media (blogging, twitter, facebook, you tube, etc...)
5). Philosophical ideas of media (McLuhan.....anyone......anyone......Bueller......)
So as you can see by the focus of the class we will be taken in many different directions over the course of the class. Hold on tight, you're in for a fun and exciting ride.
Switching gears: Every week I will post an Instructor Wrap Up to my blog. Sometimes it will be earlier in the week, sometimes it will be a bit later in the week. However, I will talk about a good majority of the articles required, by posting to my blog. So please check my blog often for updates.
I will admit it early on in the class - I'm a bit of a geek! Yep, that's right, I'm geeking out about the Licklider article. There are so many things I would love to discuss with each of you, and these are the times I wish I taught f2f classes. However, I am particularly glad this class is online due to the nature of the subject.
Without further ado, I will geek out on you a bit about the Licklider article.
At first glance, one can assess the Licklider article as dry, boring or outdated. I beg to differ. Considering the year that the article was written, this guy was far ahead of the times. First off, in the introduction, the editors give some detail about Licklider and his accomplishments.
The article starts out by talking a bit about the idea of symbiosis. Early on it talks about how a fig tree can only be pollinated by a specific insect (Blastophaga grossorun), and that symbiosis is, "living together in intimate association, or even close union, of two dissimilar organisms". The article then goes on to explain the difference between the "Mechanically Extended Man" and "Artificial Intelligence" - very interesting stuff!
Licklider then goes on to explain what the objective is of man-computer symbiosis. There are two ideas that Licklider explains. He then covers the idea for Real-Time Thinking, which was an interesting idea. Apparently in 1957 Licklider conducted a personal experiment and recorded what he did (noted as a 'moderately technical person') during the hours he regarded as 'devoted to work'.
He then covers 'Separable Functions....', and 'Prerequisites for Realization of Man-Computer Symbiosis". The latter is where I want to camp for a little while. In this section there are a number of interesting ideas, ones that I found amusing, interesting, and downright amazing, considering the time it was written. Keep in mind that this article was written 50 years ago. How far have we come since then? And how far do we still have to go to fulfill the ideas presented in this paper?
I had an interesting conversation with my husband about sections 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5. I won't bore you with all the details, but I will highlight some.
5.2 - "When we start to think of storing any appreciable fraction of a technical literature in computer memory, we run into billions of bits and, unless things change markedly, billions of dollars". Let's think of a typical computer we use today, or perhaps an iPhone. These devices can store billions of bits, yet comparatively, we pay very little for them. Things have come a long way in 50 years! It makes me think about where technology and media will be in another 10, 20, or even 50 years. The possibilities are limitless.
Licklider goes on to talk about books. I found this section amusing for obvious reasons, but what struck me the most was the phrase, "Books are among the most beautifully engineered, and human-engineered, components in existence...". Think about that phrase for just a second. Think about the implications of that. Wow! I'm almost speechless.......almost.
Section 5.4 highlights the language problem between man and computers. This language problem still exists today. But the most interesting aspect of this was when Licklider noted that there is a huge difference between human languages and computer languages. While chatting about this article, I mentioned how ironic it is that computer speak such a different language, yet humans are the ones who give computers the language to speak. I can go on and on about this, but I will stop there!
Section 5.5 goes on to discuss Input and Output Equipment. This section was, by far, the most entertaining to me. There are so many things I would love to talk to you all about such as:
*"Nowhere, to my knowledge, however, is there anything approaching the flexibility and convenience of the pencil and doodle pad or the chalk and blackboard used by men in technical discussion."
*"How desirable and how feasible is speech communication between human operators and computing machines?" (pg.80).
*"Yet there is continuing interest in the idea of talking with computing machines." (pg. 80).
*"It seems reasonable, therefore, for computer specialists to be the ones who interact directly with computers in business offices".
I can go on and have hours of discussion about this article. I was initially drawn in by the idea of symbiosis between man and computer, but found many more interesting sub-ideas contained within the article. I truly hope you all had a good time reading the article and have taken just a bit of time to ponder what Licklider foresaw. There are many wonderful aspects that you can discuss in your blog post this week about Licklider, and I can't wait to see what you all come up with!
Look out for another post later this week about the other required article for this week's discussion.
Until then, The Blogging Prof (a.k.a. geek), signing off!
In this class we will focus on a few things:
1). Self representation on the internet
2). Social Selves
3). How media has taken shape over the last 40-50 years (thus some older readings are in order)
4). Different types of media (blogging, twitter, facebook, you tube, etc...)
5). Philosophical ideas of media (McLuhan.....anyone......anyone......Bueller......)
So as you can see by the focus of the class we will be taken in many different directions over the course of the class. Hold on tight, you're in for a fun and exciting ride.
Switching gears: Every week I will post an Instructor Wrap Up to my blog. Sometimes it will be earlier in the week, sometimes it will be a bit later in the week. However, I will talk about a good majority of the articles required, by posting to my blog. So please check my blog often for updates.
I will admit it early on in the class - I'm a bit of a geek! Yep, that's right, I'm geeking out about the Licklider article. There are so many things I would love to discuss with each of you, and these are the times I wish I taught f2f classes. However, I am particularly glad this class is online due to the nature of the subject.
Without further ado, I will geek out on you a bit about the Licklider article.
At first glance, one can assess the Licklider article as dry, boring or outdated. I beg to differ. Considering the year that the article was written, this guy was far ahead of the times. First off, in the introduction, the editors give some detail about Licklider and his accomplishments.
The article starts out by talking a bit about the idea of symbiosis. Early on it talks about how a fig tree can only be pollinated by a specific insect (Blastophaga grossorun), and that symbiosis is, "living together in intimate association, or even close union, of two dissimilar organisms". The article then goes on to explain the difference between the "Mechanically Extended Man" and "Artificial Intelligence" - very interesting stuff!
Licklider then goes on to explain what the objective is of man-computer symbiosis. There are two ideas that Licklider explains. He then covers the idea for Real-Time Thinking, which was an interesting idea. Apparently in 1957 Licklider conducted a personal experiment and recorded what he did (noted as a 'moderately technical person') during the hours he regarded as 'devoted to work'.
He then covers 'Separable Functions....', and 'Prerequisites for Realization of Man-Computer Symbiosis". The latter is where I want to camp for a little while. In this section there are a number of interesting ideas, ones that I found amusing, interesting, and downright amazing, considering the time it was written. Keep in mind that this article was written 50 years ago. How far have we come since then? And how far do we still have to go to fulfill the ideas presented in this paper?
I had an interesting conversation with my husband about sections 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5. I won't bore you with all the details, but I will highlight some.
5.2 - "When we start to think of storing any appreciable fraction of a technical literature in computer memory, we run into billions of bits and, unless things change markedly, billions of dollars". Let's think of a typical computer we use today, or perhaps an iPhone. These devices can store billions of bits, yet comparatively, we pay very little for them. Things have come a long way in 50 years! It makes me think about where technology and media will be in another 10, 20, or even 50 years. The possibilities are limitless.
Licklider goes on to talk about books. I found this section amusing for obvious reasons, but what struck me the most was the phrase, "Books are among the most beautifully engineered, and human-engineered, components in existence...". Think about that phrase for just a second. Think about the implications of that. Wow! I'm almost speechless.......almost.
Section 5.4 highlights the language problem between man and computers. This language problem still exists today. But the most interesting aspect of this was when Licklider noted that there is a huge difference between human languages and computer languages. While chatting about this article, I mentioned how ironic it is that computer speak such a different language, yet humans are the ones who give computers the language to speak. I can go on and on about this, but I will stop there!
Section 5.5 goes on to discuss Input and Output Equipment. This section was, by far, the most entertaining to me. There are so many things I would love to talk to you all about such as:
*"Nowhere, to my knowledge, however, is there anything approaching the flexibility and convenience of the pencil and doodle pad or the chalk and blackboard used by men in technical discussion."
*"How desirable and how feasible is speech communication between human operators and computing machines?" (pg.80).
*"Yet there is continuing interest in the idea of talking with computing machines." (pg. 80).
*"It seems reasonable, therefore, for computer specialists to be the ones who interact directly with computers in business offices".
I can go on and have hours of discussion about this article. I was initially drawn in by the idea of symbiosis between man and computer, but found many more interesting sub-ideas contained within the article. I truly hope you all had a good time reading the article and have taken just a bit of time to ponder what Licklider foresaw. There are many wonderful aspects that you can discuss in your blog post this week about Licklider, and I can't wait to see what you all come up with!
Look out for another post later this week about the other required article for this week's discussion.
Until then, The Blogging Prof (a.k.a. geek), signing off!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
FAQ
Some of you have emailed me with questions and I thought it would be helpful if the entire class saw the answers. Here you go:
1). Q- Do I have to post on 3 different blogs? Or can I post two or three times on the same blog as long as they are different posts?
A- You should comment on 3 different blogs if possible, but will not be deducted points for commenting on the same blog..
2). Q- How do you keep track of our posts and comments?
A- I keep track of every post and comment on a spreadsheet every week we have a discussion. Each post you make on your blog will have a date and time stamp and I keep track of them to make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. Then, I check all comments made for that week. I will record the location of your comments.
3). Q- If I comment on someones post from last week, will I get credit?
A- No, I only check the blog posts for that week. Make sure you are checking the dates of the posts you are commenting on and of course, the content of the question to make sure it is an appropriate post.
4). Q- Do comments have to be at least 100 words?
A- Yes, while posts require 150 words, comments need to be at least 100 words. I do word counts on all posts and comments to make sure you are reaching the word minimum. Of course you can post more than the minimum amount of words required, but please meet the minimum.
5). Q- Should I keep track of the location of my comments?
A- Yes. Please keep track of comments and locations in case there is a discrepancy in recording or grading.
6). Q- What do I post as a comment?
A- Whatever you'd like as long as it has to do with the content of the post and related to the question I have asked. You can agree, disagree, add to the comment, ask thoughtful questions to the poster,give feedback, etc.... The comment content is up to you as long as it relates to course material, and of course the post itself.
7). Q- If I comment back to someone on my blog, do I get credit for it?
A- In short, no. You will only get credit for your three posts and three comments on other people's blogs. However, when someone asks you a question face to face, do you ignore them or give them the courtesy of an answer?
8). Q- How do you grade posts?
A- Content, answering the question in full, expressed thoughtfulness of course content and of course word count.
9). Q- Can I post to my blog and comment at the same time?
A- Yes. You only need to worry about posting 12 hours apart on YOUR blog. You can comment anytime as long as it is within our discussion week (12:01am on Monday through 11:59pm on Sunday). You can post to your blog and then comment at the same time.....or you can do all three comments at the same time. As long as the posts on your blog are 12 hours apart, go ahead and make three comments on three different blogs at any point during our discussion week. Make sure you comment on a qualifying post on the other persons blog. This means you must comment on a post that was made during the current discussion week.
1). Q- Do I have to post on 3 different blogs? Or can I post two or three times on the same blog as long as they are different posts?
A- You should comment on 3 different blogs if possible, but will not be deducted points for commenting on the same blog..
2). Q- How do you keep track of our posts and comments?
A- I keep track of every post and comment on a spreadsheet every week we have a discussion. Each post you make on your blog will have a date and time stamp and I keep track of them to make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. Then, I check all comments made for that week. I will record the location of your comments.
3). Q- If I comment on someones post from last week, will I get credit?
A- No, I only check the blog posts for that week. Make sure you are checking the dates of the posts you are commenting on and of course, the content of the question to make sure it is an appropriate post.
4). Q- Do comments have to be at least 100 words?
A- Yes, while posts require 150 words, comments need to be at least 100 words. I do word counts on all posts and comments to make sure you are reaching the word minimum. Of course you can post more than the minimum amount of words required, but please meet the minimum.
5). Q- Should I keep track of the location of my comments?
A- Yes. Please keep track of comments and locations in case there is a discrepancy in recording or grading.
6). Q- What do I post as a comment?
A- Whatever you'd like as long as it has to do with the content of the post and related to the question I have asked. You can agree, disagree, add to the comment, ask thoughtful questions to the poster,give feedback, etc.... The comment content is up to you as long as it relates to course material, and of course the post itself.
7). Q- If I comment back to someone on my blog, do I get credit for it?
A- In short, no. You will only get credit for your three posts and three comments on other people's blogs. However, when someone asks you a question face to face, do you ignore them or give them the courtesy of an answer?
8). Q- How do you grade posts?
A- Content, answering the question in full, expressed thoughtfulness of course content and of course word count.
9). Q- Can I post to my blog and comment at the same time?
A- Yes. You only need to worry about posting 12 hours apart on YOUR blog. You can comment anytime as long as it is within our discussion week (12:01am on Monday through 11:59pm on Sunday). You can post to your blog and then comment at the same time.....or you can do all three comments at the same time. As long as the posts on your blog are 12 hours apart, go ahead and make three comments on three different blogs at any point during our discussion week. Make sure you comment on a qualifying post on the other persons blog. This means you must comment on a post that was made during the current discussion week.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Week of June 12 - 18
Hello Folks!
Here is what is listed on the Participation Page from D2L for this week. The schedule for the entire semester, and the discussion questions for the entire semester are listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages, respectively. In case you do not want to wait for the "Monday Post", you are more than welcome to get started by looking at those two pages on D2L.
If you haven't already, please get to know the materials well, that I have uploaded to D2L. It is recommended that you keep a binder for this class, and print out the materials on D2L so you can have them close to you at all times.
Due this week:
*Read Chapter 1 (Burkitt text): Society and the Self (pages 1-15 & 22-27 only).
*Read the article "Quality of Online Social Relationships" (download and print from D2L)
*Read the article "Man Computer Symbiosis" (download and print from D2L)
*Participate in the discussion (see questions below)
*Connect to my page through Facebook (info. will be sent in an email early this week)
*Connect to the Comm 131P Twitter Page (info. will be sent in an email early this week)
Class Discussion:
Answer one question in its entirety in each of your three separate posts, at least 12 hours apart. Please make sure you are creating a NEW POST for each question on your blog. You MUST WAIT at least 12 hours from the first post in order to create a second post. The same is true for the second and third post. I will record dates and time of your posts, so make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. EACH POST MUST BE 150 WORDS OR MORE. Each post to your blog is worth 6 points.
1). Respond to the Burkitt text, Chapter 1. What did you learn from the chapter? What did you find interesting or useful? And most importantly, HOW did the ideas relate to social media, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Pinterest, etc.....? (We will use the Burkitt text as a means to interpret how we create 'social selves' through social media. So it is recommended that you read the text with social media in mind.) This will relate to our first assignment in the class.
2). Respond to the article, Quality of Online Social Relationships. Please highlight 2 or 3 main ideas from the article and discuss them.
3). Respond to the article, Man Computer Symbiosis. Please discuss 2 or 3 interesting ideas from the article.
Remember to post 3 responses to your colleagues blogs. (As a reminder, comments will only be counted for the current discussion week. I do not go back to past discussion weeks to look for comments. Once a discussion week is over, it's over. So please make sure you are commenting on a relevant blog post. In other words, pay close attention to the post, and date.
In case there is any confusion, here is how you create a new post:
*Log into your blogger account
*Click "New Post"
*Type a Title
*Type your post into the big box
*Click "Publish Post"
If you do not Publish Post, your post will not become public.
For the upcoming discussion week, you will do the same thing for each question I pose, but you will write and publish your posts at least 12 hours apart. (See the "Participation Page" on D2L for more detail about participation in this course).
Comments - Remember to post ONE comment ON THREE DIFFERENT BLOGS between 12:01am on Monday and 11:59pm on Sunday. This means that you will log onto MY BLOG at: http://comm131p.blogspot.com/ and look under "Student Blogs" to see a list of your colleagues blogs. Click on those blogs, read what was posted for this week and respond. You need to make sure you are responding to only what was discussed THIS WEEK (starting Sunday and ending Saturday of the current week). Comments posted to blogs that were NOT within this week will not be counted for points. Each comment must be a minimum of 100 words.
Note about comments: When you leave a comment on another blog, make sure you are logged into your blogspot account. In other words, you will need to make sure your "Display Name/Alias Name" shows up on the blog you are commenting on. I record the locations, dates and times of your comments. Please keep record of your posts and comments in case there I have questions about where they are located.
I will be checking my email on and off today, so email me with any questions.
Here is what is listed on the Participation Page from D2L for this week. The schedule for the entire semester, and the discussion questions for the entire semester are listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages, respectively. In case you do not want to wait for the "Monday Post", you are more than welcome to get started by looking at those two pages on D2L.
If you haven't already, please get to know the materials well, that I have uploaded to D2L. It is recommended that you keep a binder for this class, and print out the materials on D2L so you can have them close to you at all times.
Due this week:
*Read Chapter 1 (Burkitt text): Society and the Self (pages 1-15 & 22-27 only).
*Read the article "Quality of Online Social Relationships" (download and print from D2L)
*Read the article "Man Computer Symbiosis" (download and print from D2L)
*Participate in the discussion (see questions below)
*Connect to my page through Facebook (info. will be sent in an email early this week)
*Connect to the Comm 131P Twitter Page (info. will be sent in an email early this week)
Class Discussion:
Answer one question in its entirety in each of your three separate posts, at least 12 hours apart. Please make sure you are creating a NEW POST for each question on your blog. You MUST WAIT at least 12 hours from the first post in order to create a second post. The same is true for the second and third post. I will record dates and time of your posts, so make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. EACH POST MUST BE 150 WORDS OR MORE. Each post to your blog is worth 6 points.
1). Respond to the Burkitt text, Chapter 1. What did you learn from the chapter? What did you find interesting or useful? And most importantly, HOW did the ideas relate to social media, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Pinterest, etc.....? (We will use the Burkitt text as a means to interpret how we create 'social selves' through social media. So it is recommended that you read the text with social media in mind.) This will relate to our first assignment in the class.
2). Respond to the article, Quality of Online Social Relationships. Please highlight 2 or 3 main ideas from the article and discuss them.
3). Respond to the article, Man Computer Symbiosis. Please discuss 2 or 3 interesting ideas from the article.
Remember to post 3 responses to your colleagues blogs. (As a reminder, comments will only be counted for the current discussion week. I do not go back to past discussion weeks to look for comments. Once a discussion week is over, it's over. So please make sure you are commenting on a relevant blog post. In other words, pay close attention to the post, and date.
In case there is any confusion, here is how you create a new post:
*Log into your blogger account
*Click "New Post"
*Type a Title
*Type your post into the big box
*Click "Publish Post"
If you do not Publish Post, your post will not become public.
For the upcoming discussion week, you will do the same thing for each question I pose, but you will write and publish your posts at least 12 hours apart. (See the "Participation Page" on D2L for more detail about participation in this course).
Comments - Remember to post ONE comment ON THREE DIFFERENT BLOGS between 12:01am on Monday and 11:59pm on Sunday. This means that you will log onto MY BLOG at: http://comm131p.blogspot.com/ and look under "Student Blogs" to see a list of your colleagues blogs. Click on those blogs, read what was posted for this week and respond. You need to make sure you are responding to only what was discussed THIS WEEK (starting Sunday and ending Saturday of the current week). Comments posted to blogs that were NOT within this week will not be counted for points. Each comment must be a minimum of 100 words.
Note about comments: When you leave a comment on another blog, make sure you are logged into your blogspot account. In other words, you will need to make sure your "Display Name/Alias Name" shows up on the blog you are commenting on. I record the locations, dates and times of your comments. Please keep record of your posts and comments in case there I have questions about where they are located.
I will be checking my email on and off today, so email me with any questions.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Practice Quiz
Hello Fabulous Students,
I have received a few emails about the practice quiz that is on the Schedule and Syllabus. Don't worry about taking the Practice Quiz. This is an assignment I usually give students during a normal semester (when I have 200 online students to manage), to encourage students to read through the materials on D2L. However, during the summer session I find that students are a bit more 'on the ball' with reading through materials and such.
As long as you complete everything else that I have outlined for the week (especially the readings), you're doing great.
As always, email me with any questions you might have about the class. I'm only teaching 3 summer classes and therefore have quite a bit of time for each student. Don't be shy - if you want to chat with me for any reason, we can chat during office hours on Yahoo Messenger, through email, and of course I'm always happy to give you a call to chat.
:)
The Blogging Prof.
I have received a few emails about the practice quiz that is on the Schedule and Syllabus. Don't worry about taking the Practice Quiz. This is an assignment I usually give students during a normal semester (when I have 200 online students to manage), to encourage students to read through the materials on D2L. However, during the summer session I find that students are a bit more 'on the ball' with reading through materials and such.
As long as you complete everything else that I have outlined for the week (especially the readings), you're doing great.
As always, email me with any questions you might have about the class. I'm only teaching 3 summer classes and therefore have quite a bit of time for each student. Don't be shy - if you want to chat with me for any reason, we can chat during office hours on Yahoo Messenger, through email, and of course I'm always happy to give you a call to chat.
:)
The Blogging Prof.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Textbook Questions
Hello Folks,
Just in case there is any ambiguity about the course textbook, I wanted to clarify things a bit. The only textbook we will use for this semester is a book called Social Selves by Ian Burkitt. This book cannot be found at the SJSU bookstore. It was a last minute addition to the class, and by last minute, I decided on June 3rd to use this book after debating for months, so using online booksellers would be best (and cheaper I might add). You can also find it HERE, HERE and HERE.
I used a book called The New Media Reader during the Fall 2010 semester. Students really liked most of the assigned readings, but we used less than half of the book. The book covered 'new media' starting in the 1940's, and covered new media ideas until the late 1990's. While students liked most of the readings, there were a few that were incredibly difficult. I took the feedback from students last semester, complied a list of their favorite readings, then added a number of other applicable readings, and voila, we have a list of readings for the current semester.
I decided to simply upload all of the readings, rather than putting a 'reader' together for a few reasons. The most compelling reasons were cost and access. While readers are much less expensive than a textbook, I felt that students would be able to make their own decision about printing out readings, or not. Thus, all course readings (except for the Burkitt text) are available on D2L, and can be printed at your leisure.
I hope this decision serves you, as the student, well!
Let me know if you have any questions about this, or about anything else in the class.
Just in case there is any ambiguity about the course textbook, I wanted to clarify things a bit. The only textbook we will use for this semester is a book called Social Selves by Ian Burkitt. This book cannot be found at the SJSU bookstore. It was a last minute addition to the class, and by last minute, I decided on June 3rd to use this book after debating for months, so using online booksellers would be best (and cheaper I might add). You can also find it HERE, HERE and HERE.
I used a book called The New Media Reader during the Fall 2010 semester. Students really liked most of the assigned readings, but we used less than half of the book. The book covered 'new media' starting in the 1940's, and covered new media ideas until the late 1990's. While students liked most of the readings, there were a few that were incredibly difficult. I took the feedback from students last semester, complied a list of their favorite readings, then added a number of other applicable readings, and voila, we have a list of readings for the current semester.
I decided to simply upload all of the readings, rather than putting a 'reader' together for a few reasons. The most compelling reasons were cost and access. While readers are much less expensive than a textbook, I felt that students would be able to make their own decision about printing out readings, or not. Thus, all course readings (except for the Burkitt text) are available on D2L, and can be printed at your leisure.
I hope this decision serves you, as the student, well!
Let me know if you have any questions about this, or about anything else in the class.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Week of June 4-10
I post to my blog numerous times each week, the first of which will likely be on Monday mornings. The Monday morning blog post will contain everything that is due for that week, and will also contain some reminders. Since Monday marked the first day of our week, here is the 'official' post for this week. Please read all blog posts so far and make sure you follow any instructions I have posted here. At the start of the semester there are usually repetitive questions students have and my blog is a good place to get some answers.
Here is what's due for this week as listed on the Schedule Page and Participation Page on D2L:
1). Log onto D2L and start with the "Getting Started" page. Follow instructions on that page to get started in the course.
2). Due Date #1 - email instructor by Sunday, June 10th at 11:59pm with the following (as noted on the "Getting Started Page" on D2L):
*Name
*Alias Name you have chosen for the semester
*Include a link to your blogspot webpage
*Phone number
3). Post to your blog an introductory post by Sunday, June 10th at 11:59pm (preferably earlier). In this first post you should introduce yourself to the class. Talk a little about your 'communication experience', and let us know what you hope to get out of this course. Also talk a bit about your experience with online classes, and perhaps let us know what some of your interests are so we can get to know you better.
4). Read the following articles (available on D2L): Be Who You Want to Be & The Written Word: From Printing to the Internet
5). Review all pages on D2L, and get to know the class by reading everything under "Content" on D2L. This will give you a clear picture/overview of the class and what is expected of you.
6). Review the Syllabus including the Late Work policy. I am strict about deadlines, so get to know the deadlines in this course well.
7). Review the Schedule Page and Participation Page in depth.
8). Read over the Netiquette Homepage (including links) and Learn the Net: Netiquette.
Reminder #1 - I hold office hours on Tuesday's from 9:30am to 11:30am on Yahoo Messenger. This means that while I am working I keep Yahoo Messenger open. If you see me available that means I'm available to chat in real time, even at 2am, if I'm logged on. Go ahead and pop in if you'd like to chat with me. If you do chat, please follow normal pleasantries by using a greeting at the start of the conversation and a closing salutation at the end of the conversation. Many students have gotten into the habit of abruptly logging on and off without a word that the conversation is over.
Reminder #2 - Typical weeks run from Monday morning at 12:01am to Sunday night at 11:59pm. Again, I'm a stickler about deadlines so get to know them well!
Reminder #3 - A great thing about taking an online class with me is that everything for the semester has been prepped ahead of time. By reviewing ALL course material under "Content" on D2L, you will know what's due every single week of the semester. If anything changes, I will post to my blog, and/or send out a mass email to the class.
I will likely post again later or tomorrow. Until then.......
The Blogging Prof signing off!
Here is what's due for this week as listed on the Schedule Page and Participation Page on D2L:
1). Log onto D2L and start with the "Getting Started" page. Follow instructions on that page to get started in the course.
2). Due Date #1 - email instructor by Sunday, June 10th at 11:59pm with the following (as noted on the "Getting Started Page" on D2L):
*Name
*Alias Name you have chosen for the semester
*Include a link to your blogspot webpage
*Phone number
3). Post to your blog an introductory post by Sunday, June 10th at 11:59pm (preferably earlier). In this first post you should introduce yourself to the class. Talk a little about your 'communication experience', and let us know what you hope to get out of this course. Also talk a bit about your experience with online classes, and perhaps let us know what some of your interests are so we can get to know you better.
4). Read the following articles (available on D2L): Be Who You Want to Be & The Written Word: From Printing to the Internet
5). Review all pages on D2L, and get to know the class by reading everything under "Content" on D2L. This will give you a clear picture/overview of the class and what is expected of you.
6). Review the Syllabus including the Late Work policy. I am strict about deadlines, so get to know the deadlines in this course well.
7). Review the Schedule Page and Participation Page in depth.
8). Read over the Netiquette Homepage (including links) and Learn the Net: Netiquette.
Reminder #1 - I hold office hours on Tuesday's from 9:30am to 11:30am on Yahoo Messenger. This means that while I am working I keep Yahoo Messenger open. If you see me available that means I'm available to chat in real time, even at 2am, if I'm logged on. Go ahead and pop in if you'd like to chat with me. If you do chat, please follow normal pleasantries by using a greeting at the start of the conversation and a closing salutation at the end of the conversation. Many students have gotten into the habit of abruptly logging on and off without a word that the conversation is over.
Reminder #2 - Typical weeks run from Monday morning at 12:01am to Sunday night at 11:59pm. Again, I'm a stickler about deadlines so get to know them well!
Reminder #3 - A great thing about taking an online class with me is that everything for the semester has been prepped ahead of time. By reviewing ALL course material under "Content" on D2L, you will know what's due every single week of the semester. If anything changes, I will post to my blog, and/or send out a mass email to the class.
I will likely post again later or tomorrow. Until then.......
The Blogging Prof signing off!
How to Contact Your Instructor
Hello Folks!
As you are getting established in the class, I will direct you to a few things. The first being how you contact me. If you haven't already, please review the entire syllabus. The syllabus can be downloaded from D2L. After you log into D2L, enter the class. Then click on "Content". Once you are in the "Content" tab, you can see all of the materials I have uploaded for the course. Please download the syllabus and read it thoroughly.
You can contact me a few ways:
1). I normally hold office hours on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 9:30am to 11:30am (summer hours are different, so check the syllabus for an update). You can contact me in 'real time' through Yahoo Messenger. See photo below for an example of where to find my listed office hours (this is not a current syllabus picture):
2). During office hours I am readily available through email. I check my email often during office hours, because hey, I'm on my computer anyway, right? :)
3). Appointment: We can always chat over the phone by setting up an appointment ahead of time. I can also chat almost immediately during my office hours. Some students are intimidated by chatting with their professor over the phone. However, I assure you that I chat with students over the phone every semester, so it's common practice for me.
Check back later for another post to my blog.
As you are getting established in the class, I will direct you to a few things. The first being how you contact me. If you haven't already, please review the entire syllabus. The syllabus can be downloaded from D2L. After you log into D2L, enter the class. Then click on "Content". Once you are in the "Content" tab, you can see all of the materials I have uploaded for the course. Please download the syllabus and read it thoroughly.
You can contact me a few ways:
1). I normally hold office hours on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 9:30am to 11:30am (summer hours are different, so check the syllabus for an update). You can contact me in 'real time' through Yahoo Messenger. See photo below for an example of where to find my listed office hours (this is not a current syllabus picture):
2). During office hours I am readily available through email. I check my email often during office hours, because hey, I'm on my computer anyway, right? :)
3). Appointment: We can always chat over the phone by setting up an appointment ahead of time. I can also chat almost immediately during my office hours. Some students are intimidated by chatting with their professor over the phone. However, I assure you that I chat with students over the phone every semester, so it's common practice for me.
Check back later for another post to my blog.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Getting Started and Other Info.
Hello Class! Allow me to extend an official Welcome to Comm 131P!!!
To get started in this course, please take the following steps:
1). Review the Desire2Learn website. You can look at my preview post below, to guide you on how to get started in D2L. Review all pages on D2L and get to know the class well. (D2L should have opened up for you this morning).
2). Read over the "Getting Started" page straightaway, and everything else under the "Getting Started" section. This section will direct you on what things you need to do to get started in the course.
3). Create a blogspot webpage @ www.blogger.com. When you do this, please create a new post immediately by introducing yourself to me and your classmates. If you create a blogspot webpage but do not immediately post, blogspot may flag your page and you may be locked out. So create the blog and post ASAP. (Directions about "How to Create a Blog" are under the "Getting Started" section of D2L). You can also review THIS WEBSITE, which is a "getting started guide" to blogger.
4). When creating a blog, make sure to choose an alias that is different than your name. You also need to follow these steps to make sure your Display Name is the same as the Alias Name you send me. *Create your blog. *Once your blog is created, go into your Dashboard. *Once in your Dashboard, click on "Edit Profile". *Look halfway down the page and make sure your Display Name is the same as the Alias Name you have chosen. (This info is on the "How to Create a Blog" page, under the "Getting Started" section).
The Alias you choose is the name your colleagues will use for you. So, if you choose a name like "Pookie" as your alias, you will be known in this class as "Pookie".
5). Email me at comm131p at gmail dot com with your Name, Email Address that you check often, your Alias Name, and a contact phone number - preferably a cell#.
6). Download Yahoo Messenger and add me as a friend: carolperezcommclass I will be holding most, if not all of my office hours online. You can chat with me at any time during my office hours, or anytime you see me online. I do not use Yahoo Messenger for personal use, so anytime I am logged on (which might be quite often), feel free to message me with any questions you might have.
7). Technical Support for Students having trouble logging into D2L:
For students have problems using D2L (eg. unable to log in, need password re-set, etc.), please contact San Jose State University's Informational Technology Support Services (ITSS) at 408-924-2377, or email at helpdesk@sjsu.edu ITSS is located on the first floor of the Academic Success Center in Clark Hall, so students can speak with someone in-person if they so desire. This note was sent to me directly from SJSU.
From what I recall last semester, if you are having problems logging in to D2L, please call the help desk during normal hours, as sending them an email may take a day or two to respond.
I will update my blog again soon. Until then, have a fabulous day!
To get started in this course, please take the following steps:
1). Review the Desire2Learn website. You can look at my preview post below, to guide you on how to get started in D2L. Review all pages on D2L and get to know the class well. (D2L should have opened up for you this morning).
2). Read over the "Getting Started" page straightaway, and everything else under the "Getting Started" section. This section will direct you on what things you need to do to get started in the course.
3). Create a blogspot webpage @ www.blogger.com. When you do this, please create a new post immediately by introducing yourself to me and your classmates. If you create a blogspot webpage but do not immediately post, blogspot may flag your page and you may be locked out. So create the blog and post ASAP. (Directions about "How to Create a Blog" are under the "Getting Started" section of D2L). You can also review THIS WEBSITE, which is a "getting started guide" to blogger.
4). When creating a blog, make sure to choose an alias that is different than your name. You also need to follow these steps to make sure your Display Name is the same as the Alias Name you send me. *Create your blog. *Once your blog is created, go into your Dashboard. *Once in your Dashboard, click on "Edit Profile". *Look halfway down the page and make sure your Display Name is the same as the Alias Name you have chosen. (This info is on the "How to Create a Blog" page, under the "Getting Started" section).
The Alias you choose is the name your colleagues will use for you. So, if you choose a name like "Pookie" as your alias, you will be known in this class as "Pookie".
5). Email me at comm131p at gmail dot com with your Name, Email Address that you check often, your Alias Name, and a contact phone number - preferably a cell#.
6). Download Yahoo Messenger and add me as a friend: carolperezcommclass I will be holding most, if not all of my office hours online. You can chat with me at any time during my office hours, or anytime you see me online. I do not use Yahoo Messenger for personal use, so anytime I am logged on (which might be quite often), feel free to message me with any questions you might have.
7). Technical Support for Students having trouble logging into D2L:
For students have problems using D2L (eg. unable to log in, need password re-set, etc.), please contact San Jose State University's Informational Technology Support Services (ITSS) at 408-924-2377, or email at helpdesk@sjsu.edu ITSS is located on the first floor of the Academic Success Center in Clark Hall, so students can speak with someone in-person if they so desire. This note was sent to me directly from SJSU.
From what I recall last semester, if you are having problems logging in to D2L, please call the help desk during normal hours, as sending them an email may take a day or two to respond.
I will update my blog again soon. Until then, have a fabulous day!
New Blog Interface vs. Old Blog Interface
Hello Students,
As you are getting established in the class, I wanted to bring something to your attention about the Blogger (blogspot) interface. Many of you, if you have never used blogger before, are working under the "New Blog Interface". See picture below - click on the picture to enlarge it:
Red Arrow - if you click this, you will create a whole new blog. Please do not use this button, otherwise you will create a whole new blog instead of a NEW POST.
Orange Arrow - To create a new post you should click the orange arrow. When you log into your blog 3 times a week, this is what you will click.
Purple Arrow - this is to "View" your blog and all of your posts as others would see your blog. You should use this to make sure your posts appear to other people.
Blue Arrow - a drop down menu will appear. See picture below:
Clicking it will bring down a drop down menu that will give you options to navigate your blog.
Green Arrow - this little sprocket is pretty important!!! If you click on this little sprocket, another drop down menu will appear. There are 6 options in this menu. Option #5 says "Old Blogger Interface". I would suggest using the old blogger interface for easiness of use. The old interface is much more user friendly, so if you are unfamiliar with blogger, or blogging in general, I would suggest using the old interface. If you DO decide to make that switch, you will then see the picture below.
When using the old blogger interface, once you log on you will see the above picture.
Purple Arrow - 3 times a week you will log into your blog and create a NEW POST. This means that you are going to create a new post to your blog, where you can answer one of the discussion questions for a given week.
Green Arrow - This is the design button where you can change the look of your blog. I would suggest that you AVOID using the "Dynamic Views" design. It can create some issues for folks that read your blog.
Red Arrow - if you click this, you will create a whole new blog. Please do not use this button, otherwise you will create a whole new blog instead of a NEW POST.
Yellow Arrow - clicking this while navigating through blogger will take you back to your Dashboard (which is what we are already looking at).
Email me with any questions you might have about blogger, the new interface or the old interface.
As you are getting established in the class, I wanted to bring something to your attention about the Blogger (blogspot) interface. Many of you, if you have never used blogger before, are working under the "New Blog Interface". See picture below - click on the picture to enlarge it:
Red Arrow - if you click this, you will create a whole new blog. Please do not use this button, otherwise you will create a whole new blog instead of a NEW POST.
Orange Arrow - To create a new post you should click the orange arrow. When you log into your blog 3 times a week, this is what you will click.
Purple Arrow - this is to "View" your blog and all of your posts as others would see your blog. You should use this to make sure your posts appear to other people.
Blue Arrow - a drop down menu will appear. See picture below:
Green Arrow - this little sprocket is pretty important!!! If you click on this little sprocket, another drop down menu will appear. There are 6 options in this menu. Option #5 says "Old Blogger Interface". I would suggest using the old blogger interface for easiness of use. The old interface is much more user friendly, so if you are unfamiliar with blogger, or blogging in general, I would suggest using the old interface. If you DO decide to make that switch, you will then see the picture below.
When using the old blogger interface, once you log on you will see the above picture.
Purple Arrow - 3 times a week you will log into your blog and create a NEW POST. This means that you are going to create a new post to your blog, where you can answer one of the discussion questions for a given week.
Green Arrow - This is the design button where you can change the look of your blog. I would suggest that you AVOID using the "Dynamic Views" design. It can create some issues for folks that read your blog.
Red Arrow - if you click this, you will create a whole new blog. Please do not use this button, otherwise you will create a whole new blog instead of a NEW POST.
Yellow Arrow - clicking this while navigating through blogger will take you back to your Dashboard (which is what we are already looking at).
Email me with any questions you might have about blogger, the new interface or the old interface.
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