Blog Assignmen Post #3

Here is your Week 4 blog assignment. This should be posted on your individual blog by Friday, September 16th at 5pm. The title of the post should be "Last Name Blog Post #3". A good blog post will reference discussions from class as well as the assigned readings for that week (and from earlier weeks if applicable). All blog posts should be in complete sentences and show evidence of real thought. It's pretty easy to tell if you wrote it at 4:55pm on Friday. You don't have to answer all of the questions listed under each number, but you should attempt to answer the questions fully. You may write in paragraph essay form, or you can respond to each question listed by number.

This week's blog post will allow you to connect with the claims that Eli Pariser makes in the introduction to his book The Filter Bubble. This post should be between 250 and 500 words (if you go over, that's ok).

1. For the first part of this assignment, think of a phrase, issue, item, etc that is important to you. Some examples may be Virginia Tech, a cause that you are passionate about, a current event, even yourself! Google that term and note what the first three websites. Check out the websites, what are they? Are the websites relevant? What kind of information is presented on the website? Are the first three results similar to each other?

2. Next, ask someone you know to also Google the same term. What are the top three hits for their search? Check out those websites as well and note any differences or similarities. What are the differences between you and the person you asked to Google the term? Are you surprised by the differences or similarities in your search results? Why or why not?

3. Connect this experiment to Pariser's argument. Do you think this individualized search is a good or bad thing? Why or why not? What does this mean for knowledge distribution on the Internet (as in, if the Internet is what we use for research these days, how does personalized search impact our research)? Is the Internet actually a space for free knowledge and exchange of ideas?

Blog Assignment Post #2

Here is your Week 3 blog assignment. This should be posted on your individual blog by Friday, September 9th at 5pm. The title of the post should be "Last Name Blog Post #2". A good blog post will reference discussions from class as well as the assigned readings for that week (and from earlier weeks if applicable). All blog posts should be in complete sentences and show evidence of real thought. It's pretty easy to tell if you wrote it at 4:55pm on Friday. You don't have to answer all of the questions listed under each number, but you should attempt to answer the questions fully. You may write in paragraph essay form, or you can respond to each question listed by number.

This week's blog post allow you to connect our discussions about digital literacies with the readings for this week on education and how the Internet is changing how we think. This post should be between 250 and 500 words (if you go over, that's ok).

1. This week's readings deal with how the Internet is rewiring our brain. Nicholas Carr is concerned that Google is making us stupid because we have shorter attention spans and can't concentrate on reading books, while Virginia Heffernan argues that education needs to change to accommodate the digital native.

Using these two readings, as well as drawing from class discussion and previous articles, what does a 21st century education look like? This is your chance to dream up a school for digital natives. What should the school teach, and what's the purpose? Do you have SOLs? If you were in charge of education, what changes would you make? Consider the buildings, subjects, teachers, assignments, etc. Justify your changes by referencing the Carr or Heffernan pieces. Feel free to argue with either (or both) of these writers. Does Carr have the right idea, or is he completely wrong? Either way, what do you as the digital native being educated want from your education?

Using Rhetoric Exercise

Facebook should be limited to college students who have a .edu email address. Facebook was originally started with this limitation; high school students were not able to sign up for the service and neither were adults who were not in college. This added an extra layer of protection and security to Facebook.

Today Facebook users have to be extremely careful what they post on their profile because unintended people may be able to access the material. If you post pictures of underage drinking or parties, it isn’t just your friends who see it anymore, but also your parents, younger siblings, and future employers. Is it fair that you may not get a job because you went to a party on the weekend? At some schools, you can even face disciplinary action if there is Facebook evidence that you broke the rules. What you do in your free time is your own business as long as you’re smart and safe!

By limiting membership access, Facebook would be more private because we could control content for others who are our own age without fear that the wrong person will see it and cause negative consequences. It also protects younger students who are not yet in college. If anyone can get a Facebook account, younger users can come into contact with predators who may take advantage of them. If Facebook limited its membership rules again, creepy old people would be prohibited from making profiles and younger users would be safer.”

Blog Assignment Post #1

Here is your Week 2 blog assignment. This should be posted on your individual blog by Friday, September 2nd at 5pm. The title of the post should be "Last Name Blog Post #1". A good blog post will reference discussions from class as well as the assigned readings for that week (and from earlier weeks if applicable). All blog posts should be in complete sentences and show evidence of real thought. It's pretty easy to tell if you wrote it at 4:55pm on Friday. You don't have to answer all of the questions listed under each number, but you should attempt to answer the questions fully. You may write in paragraph essay form, or you can respond to each question listed by number.

This week's blog post will help you start writing your digital literacy narrative and make connections between the assigned readings as well as your own personal experience with digital technologies. This post should be between 500 and 750 words (if you go over, that's ok).

1.Write a brief narrative of a defining moment that you remember involving technology. It can be your first computer, a technology class, a moment you felt completely lost with technology, etc. The keyword here is brief (approximately 250 words).

2. Using the readings so far from class (the literacy narrative example in CAVT and Clive Thompson's article "The New Literacy") and the digital literacy examples online, are there any themes or moments explored in these readings that are similar to the experience you just wrote about? Any that are radically different? Be sure to explain what these commonalities or differences are (don't just answer yes or no).

3. What do your experiences and those of other students from the example digital literacy narratives suggest about what it means to be digitally literate? What skills are necessary to be digitally literate? What does it mean to be a digital native?

4. In your response to the previous question, you made some generalizations in order to answer the prompt. What kinds of evidence do you need to support your statements? Are there other moments from your life that provide more support, or are there instances in the readings that you can use to provide evidence?

IBM Chip That Mimics Human Brain

This is the article that I was talking about earlier in class. Feel free to check it out and comment on this blog post if you have any burning thoughts.

IBM Unveils Chip that Mimics Human Brain

Welcome!

This is the class blog for the Fall 2011 VT ENGL 1105 taught by Kaitlin Clinnin at 10:10am.