Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Camille's Life In The Digital Age
As mentioned before, I have a dualistic personality. On one hand I am very extroverted and on the other I have seriously given thought to designing a Tshirt that says "Doh Bodda Me!" -Don't Bother Me-...except I don't wear tshirts except to sleep in ever so often. But still this rather polarised way of operating has had significant impact on my relationships with people. From boyfriends to friends to family to acquaintances, they all grow terribly confused to find me availing and open, the life of the party and inviting one day to haughty, introspective, uncommunicative and impatient on the day following. Facebook has gone a long way to solving this dilemma for me.
Forgive the informercial tone, for I'm not plugging Facbook which isn't paying me for this feature, though it could well afford to...*insert the familiar why-am-I-not-business-minded-in-addition-to-being-a-storyteller regret that rears its head every now and again that wonders why on earth did I not think of this concept enabling me to return home and retire RICH here*
But back to Facebook. Seriously, this site allows me to keep in touch with a host of people: friends from kindergarten, Primary School, High School, undergrad, both my graduate school programmes, and my certificate course at Columbia University, with my Trini party crew, my fellow political protesters, and cool professors etc etc etc. But, and this is the fabulous element, Facebook enables me to do so without feeling imposed upon, overly accessed and available, drained of my energy etc.
With FB, I do not always have to be on the phone in order to keep in touch with this myriad bunch. The phone is no longer the only or primary means by which we keep in touch, thus my time is my own. I retain my space and energy and I still check in -- but on my time -- thus never appearing rude or dismissive. And actually I find that this site is an even better way to know the people in one's lives...which enables better relationships between us all.
People use FB as their diaries, as their place of venting, as their social planner, as their transcript etc. Just by checking someone's page I get to know how their day is going, what they've been up to, what new programme they're entering, which job they're leaving, who they're now dating, whose marriage is failing...yes it satisfies the voyeuristic in us all as well :-) But honestly, it makes communication when we do meet up to lime/hang out, party, for dinner and drinks, for meetings, in class etc that much quicker...we've already covered the bases and are up to speed.
Plus, as I've gotten older I've learnt how to stratify "friends"...in my teens and early twenties I'd grieve that this person wasn't that or the other. Now I've grown very comfortable with having the very few in a strong intimate circle and then the party group, the academic group etc. Fb allows me to manage these groups without being too estranged or too inauthentically communicative with others relegated to lower rungs in the friendship realm. Basically I get to have my cake and eat it too. I like knowing lots of people but I am very reserved as well.
Plus, FB allows me to take advantage of my favourite form of communication: writing. As a child (I sometimes still do...I was so tempted to buy a quill etc at Barnes and Noble just last week) I used to wish I was born in the letter-writing age -- being a huge Jane Austen and Frances Burney reader only exacerbates such-- but I've come to realise that society has come full circle...we're back to writing again...which is just as I'd have it...though I wish guys would pen some Captain Frederick of Persuasion sort of notes as opposed to pm's on Facebook wondering if you'd like to "hook up"...but hey you take the good with the bad :-)
Last paragraph on Facebook, because seriously I'm writing this at the job that does pay me while Fb doesn't: Fb covers a good many of my web needs. It's the reason I don't have a blog to some extent. I already discuss my moods and state of mind and happenings in my life via notes and status updates etc. Moreover, I get the news on FB. -- I very hardly watch the news per se (don't have that kind of time to discuss why not) and with FB there is little need to. My friends and I share similar interests and they post stories (as do I) about the news in which we are interested...it's like an RSS feed; everything's on the homepage...and thus we all stay informed.
And lastly, in the interest of space and time, I get my reviews on FB....let a new movie, gadget, law come out and my friends not comment on it: never happen. It's an honest way to get feedback on a great many items and ideas in this age in which we live.
Of course, though, I do laugh at myself and my fellow FB junkies when truth-hitting clips such as these come out...but the fact remains, despite such, I haven't disabled my account yet, and as I continue to regulate my privacy and my usage to fit my needs, I have no intention of doing so anytime soon.
Now returning to something I mentioned earlier: reviews.
I am a real researcher at heart. This predisposition, predilection and skill has served me well during my non-creative writing literature courses and those others that required academic papers etc. And while I am quite grateful that those days are over, I still conduct necessary research for my creative writing as well and for my own interests. Please know that before I purchase an ipod, a camera, a trip, a new cosmetic product, a new anything I am on the web for weeks reading reviews. This is one of the best things about the web, fuh real!!! From Amazon to C-net to consumerreports.com to citysearch to blogs and many many others, I check out the data on everything. I get feedback on clubs, restaurants, movies, professors (ratemyprofessors.com) etc. I don't like wasting time --I'm impatient--, I don't like making mistakes, I don't like spending money on nonsense and I like things to cater to me. As such I seek out that which works for me. I go to Amazon and Shelfari and find other readers of Caribbean novels to get recommendations and reviews and then to join in after I've read a book myself. I go to Rottentomatoes and others for current movies and Netflix for my Bollywood films, though I'd pretty much rent anything with Sharukh Khan in it, and I go toIslandmix.com to find out which are the best Trini fetes going on, cuz God forbid I get stuck in a lame or undesirable party. Thus the ability to basically preview everything beforehand makes me a very happy little shopper :-)
Now, the last of my digital age loves (because if I must be really honest with myself, which this class had forced and facilitated, as regards computer technology I have no complaints, I truly love it...yeah children watching porn and all that, but didn't they used to sneak Playboys anyway...as in that time, the same applies now: it's up to parents etc to enforce restrictions...I say that as a non-parent, but still...) I am going to cite my ability to better handle my money online.
I bank online. I mean I really do. I have a penchant for being able to justify any purchase...not really big on deferring gratification...and if I have the money I will spend it. In order to prevent such, I go to my Chase account online and move my money to INGDirect online where it is inaccessible (I don't even know where it goes...where are their offices anyway? hmmmm). If and when I need it again, I have to transfer it and wait two days for it to get to my checking account, with the exception of holidays etc which takes longer. This lack of immediacy works wonders for my ability to budget, save and account for funds for various needs. I also pay my bills online at once, and shop for bigger items online as well. Hereby, I see my money. I can use it, manipulate it etc, without touching it. It never goes through my hand and thus it is free to work independent of my "but, I must have this..." impulses. I get to sit on my MAC, use the claculator widget, make my budget, move the money accordingly and give myself a happy shopping allowance. This banking feature allows me to realistically account for my tendencies and to behave responsibly yet. I love it.
Aside from my PS. that -- though many people cast derision upon such behaviour without realising that that times it serves a greater good -- the internet facilitates email break ups, here ends my tribute to living in the digital age. I remember the day (the memoirist in me) my mother took me to an Expo in The National Stadium when I was about six years old and I first saw a computer. I didn't strayed from that tent for the whole day despite every desperate attempt to lure me from it. I fell in love with the computer then... and I am still in love with its functions now. It's not my profession, but it greatly serves my passions...(do I even need to make mention of the fact that all of my writing pieces are stored on my MAC and can hereby be easily accessed and revised etc? Nah, didn't think so).
:-) Camille
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Bertha's- Final Reflection
Before this class
How do I even begin, I hate to sound a little corny, ok a lot corny but there are some things in life that I believe present themselves to you for a reason much bigger than intended at first. I’m a graduating senior, in fact this is my last class both for my general and English major requirements. I needed to fulfill this requirement as soon possible. As many of you know, the summer courses at CCNY are limited, and due to scheduling conflicts I was not able to register for the only course I could take this summer. After a couple of disappointing visits to the English department I was bummed, it seemed that I was going have to fulfill this requirement in the fall. However, on a final attempt less than a week before this class began, I was given some hope. There was one other class that I could take, it fit my schedule, fulfilled the requirement, and from what they can see there was one opening. I was delighted to learn this, specially when Professor Peele was nice enough to let me in his class, and the rest is digital history as they say. Soon thereafter I began this course eager to learn anything I could on the digital world, specially from an English language perspective. Well, needless to say I was in for big a surprise. Not only would I challenge my views on language and literature, the use/ purpose of these new technologies, but exactly where did I stand in this growing digital world.
First of all, I seemed to have always kept a distance between verbal and visual language. Visual discourse was not really literature in my mind, and I kept my real love for the written word tucked away on dry land. Surely it could not be out in cyberspace. Obviously, this was a biased of mine, specifically of the kind Porter speaks of in his article “ Visualizing English”. But sooner than later I began to realize they need not be exclusive. The visual and the verbal do meet, and if we are literate in the various forms of web/ digital authoring tools we have more choices to tell our stories. In fact design has always been part of writing, as we pointed out in class. The way I portray language is always considered designed, depending on what and who I'm writing to my choices of formatting, spacing and even fonts I use are considered.The most important aspect of this transformation was when I began to realize that all the reasons I loved literature and the written language remained in the new platforms of the visual and verbal coming together, as Stroupe suggests. Peruvian writers Mario Vargas Llosa wrote in an essay “ The early obituary of the book” that literature and writing “ has been, and will continue to be, as long as it exists, one of the common denominators of human experience through which human beings may recognize themselves and converse with each other, no matter how different their professions, their life plans, their geographical and cultural locations, their personal circumstances. “, something I believe is carried over into the new forms of digital writing.
There is a lot of garbage out there in cyberspace, but there is also amazing pieces of digital rhetoric where writers have worked really hard at creating their works. Not only do writers rely on their writing skills to become web authors, but have also probably slaved over the format, the color, hyperlinks, pictures and even videos included in their visual stories, at least I know I have. In many respects, visual rhetoric is clearly harder than just writing for a static piece of paper, since it requires such a varied set of skills. Not taking digital writing on the web seriously because of all the bad writing out there is like not reading a book, because of all bad romance novels at supermarket checkouts. I have a lot more respect for writers putting themselves out there, and utilizing all these new digital tools. My respects to all those with great looking blogs and articles it’s not easy, we are all still learning and with new technologies coming out everyday we probably never stop. On the other hand, our other option is being left “out of the revolution “ as porter suggest. This is not an option for me, I have a great deal to learn and I want to participate along with millions of others I’m bored of being an observer and I look forward to being a prosumer.
Moreover, I have learned a great deal from all my classmates. I was fascinated to hear their stories on how they have incorporated technology in their personal and professional lives, but also I was glad to feel we shared a great deal of the same frustrations with new technology. Furthermore, it's exciting and empowering to have experimented with so many new digital tools, some are extremely useful like diggs and igoogle and can only make my web experience more efficient. Other tools and platforms like twitter, youtube and imovie will come in very handy in my desire to be a prosumer. I plan to use these tools both in my personal and academic life. In addition, I have found a very rewarding and useful purpose for all things digital. I am convinced that I can make a difference in the lives of others with the help fo new media. The internet is a powerful source for online activism, but it also heightens the power to bring people together in person.
Lastly this class has also given me more confidence to share my voice. I had overcome being exposed to other people’s opinion of my writing in workshop classes, but publishing my thoughts out on the web for anyone to see and respond to was very different. I fought hard to overcome it, and a couple of weeks into class I was posting regularly. I now have a blog on tmblr which I plan to keep up once in a while, so I guess you can say I'm cured.
Thanks everyone I really enjoined your presentations and I was inspired by all your creative choices. Deb your piece was very captivating specially the audio part with the black and white text scrolling on the screen, Erienne your piece showed me how poetry can be even more emotional when it combines audio, video and text.
Gracias,
Bertha Arenas
After this class
How do I even begin, I hate to sound a little corny, ok a lot corny but there are some things in life that I believe present themselves to you for a reason much bigger than intended at first. I’m a graduating senior, in fact this is my last class both for my general and English major requirements. I needed to fulfill this requirement as soon possible. As many of you know, the summer courses at CCNY are limited, and due to scheduling conflicts I was not able to register for the only course I could take this summer. After a couple of disappointing visits to the English department I was bummed, it seemed that I was going have to fulfill this requirement in the fall. However, on a final attempt less than a week before this class began, I was given some hope. There was one other class that I could take, it fit my schedule, fulfilled the requirement, and from what they can see there was one opening. I was delighted to learn this, specially when Professor Peele was nice enough to let me in his class, and the rest is digital history as they say. Soon thereafter I began this course eager to learn anything I could on the digital world, specially from an English language perspective. Well, needless to say I was in for big a surprise. Not only would I challenge my views on language and literature, the use/ purpose of these new technologies, but exactly where did I stand in this growing digital world.
First of all, I seemed to have always kept a distance between verbal and visual language. Visual discourse was not really literature in my mind, and I kept my real love for the written word tucked away on dry land. Surely it could not be out in cyberspace. Obviously, this was a biased of mine, specifically of the kind Porter speaks of in his article “ Visualizing English”. But sooner than later I began to realize they need not be exclusive. The visual and the verbal do meet, and if we are literate in the various forms of web/ digital authoring tools we have more choices to tell our stories. In fact design has always been part of writing, as we pointed out in class. The way I portray language is always considered designed, depending on what and who I'm writing to my choices of formatting, spacing and even fonts I use are considered.The most important aspect of this transformation was when I began to realize that all the reasons I loved literature and the written language remained in the new platforms of the visual and verbal coming together, as Stroupe suggests. Peruvian writers Mario Vargas Llosa wrote in an essay “ The early obituary of the book” that literature and writing “ has been, and will continue to be, as long as it exists, one of the common denominators of human experience through which human beings may recognize themselves and converse with each other, no matter how different their professions, their life plans, their geographical and cultural locations, their personal circumstances. “, something I believe is carried over into the new forms of digital writing.
There is a lot of garbage out there in cyberspace, but there is also amazing pieces of digital rhetoric where writers have worked really hard at creating their works. Not only do writers rely on their writing skills to become web authors, but have also probably slaved over the format, the color, hyperlinks, pictures and even videos included in their visual stories, at least I know I have. In many respects, visual rhetoric is clearly harder than just writing for a static piece of paper, since it requires such a varied set of skills. Not taking digital writing on the web seriously because of all the bad writing out there is like not reading a book, because of all bad romance novels at supermarket checkouts. I have a lot more respect for writers putting themselves out there, and utilizing all these new digital tools. My respects to all those with great looking blogs and articles it’s not easy, we are all still learning and with new technologies coming out everyday we probably never stop. On the other hand, our other option is being left “out of the revolution “ as porter suggest. This is not an option for me, I have a great deal to learn and I want to participate along with millions of others I’m bored of being an observer and I look forward to being a prosumer.
Moreover, I have learned a great deal from all my classmates. I was fascinated to hear their stories on how they have incorporated technology in their personal and professional lives, but also I was glad to feel we shared a great deal of the same frustrations with new technology. Furthermore, it's exciting and empowering to have experimented with so many new digital tools, some are extremely useful like diggs and igoogle and can only make my web experience more efficient. Other tools and platforms like twitter, youtube and imovie will come in very handy in my desire to be a prosumer. I plan to use these tools both in my personal and academic life. In addition, I have found a very rewarding and useful purpose for all things digital. I am convinced that I can make a difference in the lives of others with the help fo new media. The internet is a powerful source for online activism, but it also heightens the power to bring people together in person.
Lastly this class has also given me more confidence to share my voice. I had overcome being exposed to other people’s opinion of my writing in workshop classes, but publishing my thoughts out on the web for anyone to see and respond to was very different. I fought hard to overcome it, and a couple of weeks into class I was posting regularly. I now have a blog on tmblr which I plan to keep up once in a while, so I guess you can say I'm cured.
Thanks everyone I really enjoined your presentations and I was inspired by all your creative choices. Deb your piece was very captivating specially the audio part with the black and white text scrolling on the screen, Erienne your piece showed me how poetry can be even more emotional when it combines audio, video and text.
Gracias,
Bertha Arenas
After this class
Ana's Final Reflection
As I reflect on the knowledge that I have ascertained by being a student in this class, I can proudly say that I am a more rounded person when it comes to digital texts. In my field of study texts are very conventional and not innovative. What is being said is more important than how it is being said. Before the course I was not familiar with Prezi, Wordle, or Jing. I have since then become a big fan of Prezi and Jing; I have incorporated them into my daily work life and am teaching my co-workers how to use it as well. Learning is something that not everyone ascertains in the same way, for example, in this class I have learned more about technology then I have learned in four years of college. Had I known about some of these applications previously, I would have incorporated them into my academic presentations.
My view of text was very linear, if the text did not form part of a book then reading that text or contemplating it was optional and not mandatory. Digital Literacy assists users in the developing critical thinking skills that may not otherwise flourish with conventional methods. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society. Digital Literacy incorporates all the above plus the ability to create, comprehend, edit, and utilize digital technologies presented through multiple formats to satisfy an intended purpose.
What does this mean as students of digital literacy we have the obligation to pass it along, whether in the classroom, in the work force or at home. If I had to describe myself post this course, I would say that I am digitally re-literate. I added the above video, so the teachers of today and tomorrow can better visualize and understand that digital media affects us all, the young and the old.
I ended up taking this class because another course that I was suppose to take got canceled. I am truly grateful that happened. This class was a blessing in disguise.
Viewing Camille's Videos
ISIS...I really enjoyed using Garage Band and iMovie too in making this video.
I even had fun using a *gasp* PC and making my photostory.
Neither of these are perfect but they are the beginning of something new and wonderful. Cheers to creating outside the comfort zone! :-)
Camille
I even had fun using a *gasp* PC and making my photostory.
Neither of these are perfect but they are the beginning of something new and wonderful. Cheers to creating outside the comfort zone! :-)
Camille
Ms.Red's Reflection
Farewell, ladies and gentlemen...Don't Cry For Me (Argentina)...couldn't help it :-) though It's so hard to say goodbye *tear*
Because, really, I thought we'd go to the end of the road :-(
Okay, but seriously...while we/I won't be returning to the freezing computer lab every Tuesday and Thursday, what I have learnt therein will go with me...and that's the hallmark of a good class.
Personally, I wish that I was less tired from the first summer class I took and from personal matters (emergencies arise at the worst times, don't they?), but I yet feel that this critical practice class has had and will have a definitive effect on my writing.
I did not come to this class expecting to learn how to be an IT technician (I hear they have to wear monkey suits everyday, ewww...and isn't that line of employ undergoing serious retrenchment in this recession, hmmm, so much for "get a stable computer job" lol), I registered for it in hopes that it would teach me new tools to enhance my writing and ways to market myself as a writer. It all comes back to writing...my writing.
As such, I have learnt that, as per my fourth attempt to create a blog, I am simply not a blogger. Sorry, there is no overcoming this. What I have learnt, however, is that there are quite a few blogs that I enjoy following rather (welcome to the 21st century, me...yaaaay!) and how to add them to an RSS feed and to make my life easier by having them all in one place. I've learnt how to link pictures to my pieces, how to resize and to redefine their tone according to my liking; how to play with my words in font, colour, configuration and code; how to think outside the box (thanks Prezi), what a rich playground the internet is (props to Stumble) and how to, most importantly, embrace change.
As a Gemini, I have two personalities and personas (well more than two, but for the sake of simplicity nuh) and these two vie as relates to the idealistic, romantic, 'rural' etc versus the technological. As such, while I use Facebook...a lot... I have battled that this "ought not to be" the way this world communicates, while I like giving quick, easy updates about myself, I have declared that Twitter represents and reflects a dysfunctional, self-promotional, egocentric etc way of being in the world that is better suited to teens tragically fallen victim to being raised in "The Real World" era. Now I have reconciled myself to my enjoyment of these mediums and embrace them in recognition of that which they positively enable, including my ability to gather more information and to communicate more widely. These forms need not be the fall out of disconnection but can, as learnt via practice and the (at times too lengthy) articles that espoused such, be better facilitators of connection...which is what writing is all about....so full circle back to my reason for being, and for taking this class :-)
But the biggest benefit of all to me...aside from meeting some very cool, and some very interesting characters (ahhh, the joys of being in a Fine Arts programme where commune "the personalities"), was the final project...and how fitting that it should be the arbiter of 20% of our grade ;-) But this is not about a grade for me...I'm a genius, a letter holds no impact upon such. What it is about is the fact that I got to be pushed into venturing further in the development of my craft. While it was a hurried and harried process, the knowledge that I acquired in making my video was sooooo worth it. Ooooh, if I didn't love my MAC before I so do now :-) Garage Band has changed my life. I shall be recording my poems et al by this means for a long time hereafter. I am looking forward, too, to shooting my own video and playing with the footage as per the tools attained in this class and to making my little iMovies, yaaaay. I'm excited!..and thrilled thus that I subjected myself and my summer to this concentrated, compact class that allowed me to do something I've always wanted to do...(isn't that the case with us all though?; we took like ducks to water to that which we had always planned on doing anyway...shout out to you subversive whimsies and your ardent blogging, lol)...So here's to more (and better developed)
oral/video presentations of my writing that may or may not be posted on Youtube hereafter...but at least I know how to should I choose too :-)
So if you do Stumble across my movies enjoy, send me a Tweet and remember I'm an artist and sensitive about my sh!t (Erykah Badu, Tyrone...in case you didn't know), lol...
Enjoy the rest of your summer, all...we've earned it.
Camille
Deborah's Final Reflection (Great Class--Thanks to All)
My mind jumbled with virtual matter from a month long trek through cyberspace. The discourse of educators on the page, screen and in class have enhanced my perspective. I have often searched for the source of what appears to me as cultural dysfunction. My concerns about our "education" system have been confirmed by Jessie and Humaria sharing their classroom and board of Ed. experiences, as well as Thierry's presentation. It seems "No Child Left Behind" concerned with the child is neglecting thousands of children and misdirecting important resources. Is this the fault of over theorizing not put into practical applications? Is the focus on digital literacy creating not just a divide but a chasm and ever growing under-class?
Berth's presentation was inspirational. I had worked with children of abuse volunteering in the NY Foundling Hospital but through Tweeter and social networking I maybe able to put my time to more effective use. It seems to me that the print/digital discourse is premature, and somewhat elitist unless it benefits society as a whole from the bottom up. Bertha appears to have hit on an accessible solution.
Bakhtin is top on my reading list for this month between classes. Although, I have referred to The Dialogic Imagination and have been familiarized with Bakhtin's discourse on literature through other sources, Stroupe's essay has whet my desire for a direct encounter with Baktin. Until we are conscious of how the language we employ reinforces cultural bias--until we question our rhetorical choices not from our closed perspective but within their cultural context the chasm will grow. Doesn't conscious interaction in each infinitesimal encounter make the greatest impact? Won't understanding the source of our biases unconscious seepage into our daily encounters and language do at least as much good as volunteering our time and money? And isn't social networking, as Bertha has pointed out, one tweet a day effortless?
I don't know how much use I will make of my newly acquired digital tool literacy, however my interaction with the page is informed and this will inform my writing. I do know Digital Literacies, (readings, responses, tools, projects) Professor Peele and the other class members have been invaluable to my cultural and human comprehension. Aren't new levels of awareness the most useful literacy?
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Stacy-Ann's Reflection
Coming from an online marketing background, I was truly intrigued with and content to see that the English department at City College offered a digital literacy course because most institutions are well behind the digital curve.
Prior to taking the course, I had many expectations. I imagined that we’d touch on the history of the web and how it has impacted our world. And, we did. I expected that we’d talk about social media entities like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and MySpace because they are the most prominent digital tools. And, we have. I also expected that we’d spend the rest of the course focused on how to teach using these tools while discussing tools like blackboard and discovering other teaching or education specific digital resources. We did a little of this.
Although I was introduced to several new digital tools like Jing, Wordle, WordPress, and Prezi, I was hoping to also learn about education specific digital tools. Still, what I learned about the tools mentioned was…amazing. It’s surprising how much I have used these tools since their introduction to. I have also shared them with my former co-workers in online advertising. All of hem were amazed at these tools and have adopted one or more into their daily work routine. However, Jing has been the “star player” because in online marketing many screenshots (computer screenshots) are taken for client presentations. For example, when a campaign launches, screenshots of the online ads (on various sites) are taken and send to the client in a PowerPoint presentation as proof the campaign has launched.
What has impacted me most in this course is the realization that it is impossible for there to be a “digital guru” because the web is so vast and expansive. A new application, website, or digital product is being create every minute of each day. We can only begin to scratch the surface of the digital relm with the assistance of computer based programs like search engines (i.e., Google, Yahoo, Bing, AOl) or plug-in tools like “Stumble Upon” and through subscribing to RSS feeds. Although I feel besieged by the vastness of digital life, I have become obsessed with Stumble Upon. Everyday I spend time on it and find a new site to add to my list of favorite links. Taking this course has been eye opening as well as over whelming. There is so much available in the digital space, but it’s up to the digital user to figure out what is essential to their life, interest, work, education, etc.
I was also impacted by the idea that everything we do online is a form of composition. The fonts and colors and images and videos we use to tell a story are all part of composition. I used to only think of this is digital communication, and outside of blogs and online newspapers, I didn’t consider the design of a website as composition. I am now able to see the two as one, working together to create the look, feel, story...
The final project was a "blast" that took me out me comfort zone. I have a MacBook and I hardly get to explore all its features and programs because I have never had a real reason, project, or deadline. Now that I am more comfortable with iMovie, for instance, I'll be able to create more videos. I'm actually going to work on two videos: one in the coming week to post on the Facebook page of my church youth group and the other at the end of August documenting my mission trip to Chiapas, Mexico.
The whole process revitalized my love for the arts and kindled a new passion for the digital arts. I have been wanting to complete a graphic and computer design certificate program at FIT, but perhaps I'll look into an MFA program that combines technology and creative writing. These are two areas of interest in my life. I'd love to be able to design my own website, book covers, business cards, etc. I'd also like to explore documentary film making and fiction writing. For these to overlap, I realize I'd need to pursue an individualized study graduate program. This could all be wishful thinking. But, until I decide what to do, I can always fiddle with different programs and go through the "discovery process" involved when exploring new media.
Appreciating, enjoying, learning, and growing from the digital discovery process is what I have taken away from this course.
The final project was a "blast" that took me out me comfort zone. I have a MacBook and I hardly get to explore all its features and programs because I have never had a real reason, project, or deadline. Now that I am more comfortable with iMovie, for instance, I'll be able to create more videos. I'm actually going to work on two videos: one in the coming week to post on the Facebook page of my church youth group and the other at the end of August documenting my mission trip to Chiapas, Mexico.
The whole process revitalized my love for the arts and kindled a new passion for the digital arts. I have been wanting to complete a graphic and computer design certificate program at FIT, but perhaps I'll look into an MFA program that combines technology and creative writing. These are two areas of interest in my life. I'd love to be able to design my own website, book covers, business cards, etc. I'd also like to explore documentary film making and fiction writing. For these to overlap, I realize I'd need to pursue an individualized study graduate program. This could all be wishful thinking. But, until I decide what to do, I can always fiddle with different programs and go through the "discovery process" involved when exploring new media.
Appreciating, enjoying, learning, and growing from the digital discovery process is what I have taken away from this course.
Life in the Digital Age
Life in the Digital Age
There are a lot of wacky and wonderful things about living in a Digital Age. For this assignment, we were asked to choose three, so in no particular order:
1.) Blogs about TV shows
I don't know when this happened exactly, but watching my favorite shows has become a truly communal experience. I used to watch TV at home and then maybe if it was a season finale with a great cliffhanger, talk about it the next day with friends.
But now, for my very favorite shows (LOST, Friday Night Lights, Project Runway, The Office, 30 Rock), the experience is not complete unless I read BLOGS and RECAPS with viewer comments the next morning. I don't really understand why this is so important to me since recaps tell me what I already know because I watched it myself (!!!) but honestly I can't concentrate the next day if I don't check the blogs to see if other people were as angry/shocked/confused/amused as I was.
My favorite TV blogs are What's Alan Watching... TV Watch on EW.com.... and the uber-snarky and hilarious Television Without Pity. When I read these blogs, I giggle and snort or get misty-eyed and emotional all over again. Perhaps weird, but true.
2.) Digital junk mail
My least favorite thing about living in a digital age is the way I get bombarded with junk mail about erectile dysfunction.
There are a lot of wacky and wonderful things about living in a Digital Age. For this assignment, we were asked to choose three, so in no particular order:
1.) Blogs about TV shows
I don't know when this happened exactly, but watching my favorite shows has become a truly communal experience. I used to watch TV at home and then maybe if it was a season finale with a great cliffhanger, talk about it the next day with friends.
But now, for my very favorite shows (LOST, Friday Night Lights, Project Runway, The Office, 30 Rock), the experience is not complete unless I read BLOGS and RECAPS with viewer comments the next morning. I don't really understand why this is so important to me since recaps tell me what I already know because I watched it myself (!!!) but honestly I can't concentrate the next day if I don't check the blogs to see if other people were as angry/shocked/confused/amused as I was.
My favorite TV blogs are What's Alan Watching... TV Watch on EW.com.... and the uber-snarky and hilarious Television Without Pity. When I read these blogs, I giggle and snort or get misty-eyed and emotional all over again. Perhaps weird, but true.
2.) Digital junk mail
My least favorite thing about living in a digital age is the way I get bombarded with junk mail about erectile dysfunction.
I don't understand how websites like Google can track my buying habits and favorite stores, but they can't figure out that I don't want or need Viagra.
3.) The ability to spell
Basically, it's gone. I used to take pride in my p-r-e-t-e-r-n-a-t-u-r-a-l spelling ability, but in this digital age, spelling skill is like an
a-p-p-e-n-d-i-x. You don't need it! Thanks to spell-check on the computer, no one knows that I am a champion speller unless I tell them. It's very unseemly to brag, but really, now you have to because it's not immediately apparent :)
Spelling should be stressful, like this:
3.) The ability to spell
Basically, it's gone. I used to take pride in my p-r-e-t-e-r-n-a-t-u-r-a-l spelling ability, but in this digital age, spelling skill is like an
a-p-p-e-n-d-i-x. You don't need it! Thanks to spell-check on the computer, no one knows that I am a champion speller unless I tell them. It's very unseemly to brag, but really, now you have to because it's not immediately apparent :)
Spelling should be stressful, like this:
Stacy-Ann's Final Project: "Search Marketing Basics"
This is my final project video. It discusses the basics of online search marketing in under 6 minutes. To create it I used the following digital tools:
1. iPhone (4) with iMovie built in app to record classmates
2. iPhone voice recorder app to record narration
3. Jing to capture images from Google
4. Google search to gather information and provide examples
5. iMovie on my computer to edit all the pieces (images, sound, video, etc.)
6. iTunes music library
1. iPhone (4) with iMovie built in app to record classmates
2. iPhone voice recorder app to record narration
3. Jing to capture images from Google
4. Google search to gather information and provide examples
5. iMovie on my computer to edit all the pieces (images, sound, video, etc.)
6. iTunes music library
Enjoy,
~Stace
Erienne's Final Reflection
I have to say that this is by far one of the best courses and most favorite that I have taken in my entire college career, especially because of its major relevancy in my everyday life and aspirations. I could not have taken Digital Literacies at a more opportune time, given the stage of my publishing and writing career that I am currently working toward with web applications and authoring.
I really appreciate the overall mission of this class, which united proficient users and newcomers alike. Even moreso, the class material and assignments definitely encouraged and challenged the interaction of technology (stereoptypes, theories and assumptions), socially and purposefully, commercially and intellectually, granting one one of the most earnest convictions of visual and verbal engagement via digital assessment.
Engaging with social media for class discussion was a great reinforcement of my daily work schedule, where I use Twitter, Facebook profile and fan pages, blogs, and YouTube for promotional materials. I really enjoyed refreshing my mind with these applications and platforms, significantly with the reading/viewing assignments that introduced the metaphor of the text via page layout and metaphor of the cinema via screen organization. These analytical concepts completely expanded on my own experiences and conflicts of writing for the web, where traditional notions are remediated with modern layering and elaboration of text, as per Stroupe, and relationships between image and text are forged, transformed, and destroyed. Because time is a critical dimension of digital writing as it closely pertains to information unfolding over time and space, linear order becomes based on the discretion of the writer and design becomes a facilitator of composition.
Aside from brushing up on previously acquired skills, which I exercise professionally but personally as well for own freelance projects, I am so grateful for learning about new internet browser gadgets as StumbleUpon, which I have every intention of using just to navigate and indulge in my interests n my free time and for Zotero, which I can utilize for annotating and archiving my web research into one collective unit. I am enthralled about all the knowledge and actual use I have gained with downloadable programs like Jing, Windows Movie Maker (though I always had this pre-installed,I never used), Digital PhotoStory, Wix, Animoto, and Prezi. These applications I guarantee to incorporate into my poetry brainstorming processes and creative representations for new material and even for breathing life into old drafts; I want to continue working with visual poetics and playing with physical form and delivery through the supplemental aid of photographs, audio and video components.
I want to thank Professor Peele for being so informative, helpful and cooperative with me this summer. I am incredibly inspired! It was hugely fulfilling to be able to share my passions and obsessions and have them translate to the computer screen.
Summer at Grace, Final Project
This is my final project for Digital Literacies. I present a virtual tour of a typical sultry summer morning at Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights -- home church for over 30 years and my next door neighbor.
A Digitally Illiterate Jing
I must warn you... You should only watch my Jing video if you have the power to withstand being hypnotized into buying $600 shoes... I'd love to see the HTML code for this!
Another Take on the eBook Debate
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-carnoy/top-10-reasons-hardbacks_b_656281.html
Jessie's Final Reflection
Prior to taking this class, I had wanted to become more digitally literate. I read blogs on a daily basis, watched youtube videos and marveled at websites, certain that one day I would learn new programs and venture into the world of writing online. However, I pushed the idea of establishing a presence online to the back of my mind, hid it somewhere behind my goal to learn a new language, or take a painting class just for fun. After the first class and our discussion regarding consuming material on the internet, versus creating material, I decided that I would try as best I could to commit to learning as much as possible and minimize my frustration while doing so as best possible. Immediately, I created the following accounts: facebook, twitter, gmail, along with signing up for various other programs such as Jing.
I created a blog: Subversive Whimsies, which I continue to update and use on a daily basis. I came up with the idea of not only sharing my own thoughts and photos, but of also interviewing fellow bloggers whom I've read online over the past year or so, and I posted my first interview with Celestine Chua of the Personal Excellence Blog last week. I've really enjoyed keeping up the blog; it's inspired me to take more photographs, and it allows me to speak about places I've went or events that have happened, and then my friends can view it online. Creating a facebook account was another new medium for me to connect with friends. I actually wound up reconnecting with my best friend from high school, and since, we've hung out twice, and plan to maintain our friendship.
I feel like there's been a shift in my attitude in how I regard the creating online, in the sense that I no longer fear it; in just one month, I've gone from thinking it was too difficult to use various programs or mediums online, to realizing that I can just experiment and figure everything out. It doesn't seem as daunting, and it makes me want to go even further, such as learning how to create websites, or learn even more challenging programs. It's great for me to think that in such a short period, I've learned Jing, Photostory, Vimeo, how to redesign on Blogger, how to create and post on a wiki, how to play with images; I've discovered fantastic websites, such as picnik for resizing photos, or prezi for making mindmaps and presentations, and the best part of it all is that I no longer feel like an apathetic consumer, merely sitting back and taking in the work of others; I feel like a contributor.
Becoming more digitally literate throughout this course has boosted my confidence when it comes to the internet, as well as technology. In addition to creating a blog, I decided to splurge and buy a new laptop (I've had a desktop for six years), so that I could use it when I travel to Philadelphia, or to work. I bought a new digital camera, and have been uploading photos on a regular basis. I learned how to use my sister's camera, as well as the intricate differences between an SD card and using a tape. I learned how to use Final Cut Pro, as well as how to rip a DVD in order to upload it online. I am eager to follow up with my new skill set; I am eager to expand my knowledge of online programs and to be a creative prosumer.
I really enjoyed the design aspect of the class: picking out fonts, colors, borders, playing with photos, figuring out how to make a blog look good, playing with music and editing. I feel newly immersed in languge as a visual medium, where as a writer, before I didn't think about it so much as one; I was content sitting on the floor with my piles of journals, scribbling away with pens and pencils. I am looking forward to learning even more, continuing my blog, and learning how to develp a website in the future. Now, that I have jumped in the pool and splashed around a bit, I realize it's not as difficult as I previously deemed it, to keep my head afloat.
I created a blog: Subversive Whimsies, which I continue to update and use on a daily basis. I came up with the idea of not only sharing my own thoughts and photos, but of also interviewing fellow bloggers whom I've read online over the past year or so, and I posted my first interview with Celestine Chua of the Personal Excellence Blog last week. I've really enjoyed keeping up the blog; it's inspired me to take more photographs, and it allows me to speak about places I've went or events that have happened, and then my friends can view it online. Creating a facebook account was another new medium for me to connect with friends. I actually wound up reconnecting with my best friend from high school, and since, we've hung out twice, and plan to maintain our friendship.
I feel like there's been a shift in my attitude in how I regard the creating online, in the sense that I no longer fear it; in just one month, I've gone from thinking it was too difficult to use various programs or mediums online, to realizing that I can just experiment and figure everything out. It doesn't seem as daunting, and it makes me want to go even further, such as learning how to create websites, or learn even more challenging programs. It's great for me to think that in such a short period, I've learned Jing, Photostory, Vimeo, how to redesign on Blogger, how to create and post on a wiki, how to play with images; I've discovered fantastic websites, such as picnik for resizing photos, or prezi for making mindmaps and presentations, and the best part of it all is that I no longer feel like an apathetic consumer, merely sitting back and taking in the work of others; I feel like a contributor.
Becoming more digitally literate throughout this course has boosted my confidence when it comes to the internet, as well as technology. In addition to creating a blog, I decided to splurge and buy a new laptop (I've had a desktop for six years), so that I could use it when I travel to Philadelphia, or to work. I bought a new digital camera, and have been uploading photos on a regular basis. I learned how to use my sister's camera, as well as the intricate differences between an SD card and using a tape. I learned how to use Final Cut Pro, as well as how to rip a DVD in order to upload it online. I am eager to follow up with my new skill set; I am eager to expand my knowledge of online programs and to be a creative prosumer.
I really enjoyed the design aspect of the class: picking out fonts, colors, borders, playing with photos, figuring out how to make a blog look good, playing with music and editing. I feel newly immersed in languge as a visual medium, where as a writer, before I didn't think about it so much as one; I was content sitting on the floor with my piles of journals, scribbling away with pens and pencils. I am looking forward to learning even more, continuing my blog, and learning how to develp a website in the future. Now, that I have jumped in the pool and splashed around a bit, I realize it's not as difficult as I previously deemed it, to keep my head afloat.