Thursday, August 30, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Hyperliterature Exchange
I came across this site recently. (Click on the title for the link.) It has some interesting articles, but more useful, I think, is going to the sites the articles are reviewing. There's one called "Picture This...", which seems like it might produce a fruitful lesson. There's some other interesting stuff on online comics, etc...
KW
KW
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
books.google.com
Maybe you know about this already, but Google is trying to scan every book ever published, in order to create a comprehensive, universal digital library. This brings up all kinds of questions--about ownership, copyright laws, research, the book as an object, etc...
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/02/05/070205fa_fact_toobin
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/02/05/070205fa_fact_toobin
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
"We are the web"?
I might be reiterating what everyone already knows, but here's the link to the "We Are the Web" article that's featured on "The Machine is Us/ing Us." It historicizes the rise of Web 2.0 and predicts the next step in the web's evolution, which might potentially stimulate some interesting discussion.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/tech.html
Turning to old-fashioned printed material, Ellen Ullman's "The Museum of Me," published in Harper's (May 2000) is a counter-argument to the "Time Person of the Year: You"/"We Are the Web" train of thought. Instead of creating a human network, she argues that the Internet is really an asocial space and even suggests that it widens the rift between the haves and the have-nots. It's a rather conservative take on Internet culture, but it provoked some insightful responses from my students, who were divided on her opinion. Strangely enough, said issue is uploaded onto EBSCO but this particular article is missing. I've uploaded the file, scanned from a reader, into our Google groups page. Tried to link it here, but can't figure out how.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/tech.html
Turning to old-fashioned printed material, Ellen Ullman's "The Museum of Me," published in Harper's (May 2000) is a counter-argument to the "Time Person of the Year: You"/"We Are the Web" train of thought. Instead of creating a human network, she argues that the Internet is really an asocial space and even suggests that it widens the rift between the haves and the have-nots. It's a rather conservative take on Internet culture, but it provoked some insightful responses from my students, who were divided on her opinion. Strangely enough, said issue is uploaded onto EBSCO but this particular article is missing. I've uploaded the file, scanned from a reader, into our Google groups page. Tried to link it here, but can't figure out how.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Baudrillard's enonce
I am feeling the death of this man and the era of thought through
which he chuckled and slammed the surface of things in our faces so
hard so that we might start also with what is already over-exposed as
surface rather than only tell the stories of what might be hidden in
our imagined geometry of volumaic depths and political conspiracy.
When I was first consciously learning theory (yes-there was/is always
that horrid and actual time of immediate acquisition of art, craft,
practice, and worse/best, the learning curve that does begin but never
ends), Baudrillard was among my primers. And with Deleuze and Derrida
now also quite gone, as Danielewki likes to write, and among others
that one might also elegize (sp?), a moment of thought has/is
generatively produced beyond itself. And the actuality of this
"French School's" passing would seem an imperative to articulate the
vacuole between here and there.
This is me, sentimental, definitely, maybe nostalgaic (though I
seriously doubt it), and feeling a bit inadequate right this minute to
the ongoing and necessary experimentation without the lovely pulls of
thought that moved the "French" moment so fast and with such
complexity. So showing my early '90's generational slip hanging
beneath my skirt.
Everything looks like a blog now. I guess I should and have started there.
Mischievously and sappily yours,
Jamie
From Nick Ruiz III:
With utmost respect to the recent event of Jean
Baudrillard's death, we consider the futures of
thought. This idea he addressed in one of his last
and recent essays:
"The whole problem is one of abandoning a style of
critical thought that is the very essence of our
theoretical culture, but that in some sense comes
under the head of a prior history and life; of
carrying out, just as we have carried out a
deterministic analysis of a deterministic society, an
indeterministic analysis of an indeterministic
society, a society that is fractal, random,
exponential, one of critical mass and extreme
phenomena, wholly dominated by relations of
uncertainty."
We consider factions of thought, and refractions of
perspective, never to be seduced by the solicitous
rationalizations of the real.
which he chuckled and slammed the surface of things in our faces so
hard so that we might start also with what is already over-exposed as
surface rather than only tell the stories of what might be hidden in
our imagined geometry of volumaic depths and political conspiracy.
When I was first consciously learning theory (yes-there was/is always
that horrid and actual time of immediate acquisition of art, craft,
practice, and worse/best, the learning curve that does begin but never
ends), Baudrillard was among my primers. And with Deleuze and Derrida
now also quite gone, as Danielewki likes to write, and among others
that one might also elegize (sp?), a moment of thought has/is
generatively produced beyond itself. And the actuality of this
"French School's" passing would seem an imperative to articulate the
vacuole between here and there.
This is me, sentimental, definitely, maybe nostalgaic (though I
seriously doubt it), and feeling a bit inadequate right this minute to
the ongoing and necessary experimentation without the lovely pulls of
thought that moved the "French" moment so fast and with such
complexity. So showing my early '90's generational slip hanging
beneath my skirt.
Everything looks like a blog now. I guess I should and have started there.
Mischievously and sappily yours,
Jamie
From Nick Ruiz III:
With utmost respect to the recent event of Jean
Baudrillard's death, we consider the futures of
thought. This idea he addressed in one of his last
and recent essays:
"The whole problem is one of abandoning a style of
critical thought that is the very essence of our
theoretical culture, but that in some sense comes
under the head of a prior history and life; of
carrying out, just as we have carried out a
deterministic analysis of a deterministic society, an
indeterministic analysis of an indeterministic
society, a society that is fractal, random,
exponential, one of critical mass and extreme
phenomena, wholly dominated by relations of
uncertainty."
We consider factions of thought, and refractions of
perspective, never to be seduced by the solicitous
rationalizations of the real.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Shift Happens
I decided to take down the "Introducing...the book" video since YouTube took it down. But here's another video a student just sent me that nicely illustrates the kinds of rapid changes our world is undergoing due to accelerated advances in technology and rapid information distribution. Just try to block out The Last of the Mohicans theme song (such a strange music choice!).
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Thought this might be interesting/useful...
My student sent this to me after a discussion of navigation:
NYTimes.com
Guest Columnist
‘Ulysses’ Without Guilt
By STACY SCHIFF
There are two ways to approach our cultural crossroads. You can either wring your hands and lament — as an eloquent school librarian did recently in The Washington Post — that literacy today has less to do with Wordsworth or Faulkner and more to do with “how we find our way through the digital forest of information overload.” Or you can be a sport about it, slip your earbuds back in and pick up a copy of Pierre Bayard’s best-selling “How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read.”
There is one catch: Professor Bayard writes in French. Of course, that hardly matters as, by definition, you’re not going to crack the spine.
To summarize: Don’t be put off by your ignorance. Let your subconscious do the talking. Remember that text matters less than context. A 52-year-old professor of literature and a psychoanalyst, Mr. Bayard has got this far without ever having picked up “Oliver Twist” or finished “Ulysses.” He remains guilt-free on both counts. In his view, to engage with one book is to forgo the acquaintance of many others. Reword that slightly, and you have the battle cry of half the men I dated.
You could argue that the French have something of a tradition of talking through their hats. And certainly Professor Bayard’s feel-good book counts as recompense. After having been bludgeoned by the unbearable lightness of French women, it’s high time we were consoled by the exemplary liteness of French men. All the same, the technique is familiar. It’s one some of us mastered as undergraduates.
Should Professor Bayard’s measures seem radical, you can meet him halfway: treat yourself to a copy of P. J. O’Rourke’s “On ‘The Wealth of Nations,’ ” among the first in a series on the great books, or, as Mr. O’Rourke terms them, “Works Which Let’s Admit You’ll Never Read the Whole Of.” You can tackle 900 pages of Smith, or you can be tickled by 240 pages of O’Rourke. I agree; it’s no contest. Especially since no one has read Smith in his entirety since 1776, when there was nothing going on anyway.
Also this spring Weidenfeld & Nicolson, the British publisher, will issue “compact” versions of the classics. (Starved though we are for a thin Thackeray in 30 days, we remain fussy about language. “Abridged” is for children. “Compact” is for adults.) Have you not noticed there is too much rambling in “Anna Karenina” and “Mill on the Floss”? And to think I worried about the Monarch Notes people when Wikipedia came along.
Say what you will about Professor Bayard, he forces us to confront a paradox of our age. By one estimate, 27 novels are published every day in
Recently Cathleen Black, president of Hearst Magazines, urged a group of publishing executives to think of their audience as consumers rather than readers. She’s onto something: arguably the very definition of reading has changed. So Google asserts in defending its right to scan copyrighted materials. The process of digitizing books transforms them, the company contends, into something else; our engagement with a text is different when we call it up online. We are no longer reading. We’re searching — a function that conveniently did not exist when the concept of copyright was established.
All of which sent me back to the king of content-free reading, the Ur-blogger. There was to be no tough sledding for this consumer, who never bit his nails over Aristotle. Among distracted readers he has no equal; as disjointed, derivative writers go, he is a man for our times. Five centuries ago he pioneered Mr. Bayard’s reviewing technique: Leave the book under discussion unopened before you. Then write about yourself.
At the outset he warned his reader not to waste his time with the scribblings to follow. Who knows where we go from here. We may well produce another Montaigne.
Stacy Schiff is the author, most recently, of “A Great Improvisation:
Friday, February 09, 2007
Terrific Bibliographic site for cyberculture studies
Hi all,
This is a terrific source for new publications and reviews of scholarly work on digital cultures. Reviews in many cases include author responses. Enjoy.
http://rccs.usfca.edu/booklist.asp
jamie
This is a terrific source for new publications and reviews of scholarly work on digital cultures. Reviews in many cases include author responses. Enjoy.
http://rccs.usfca.edu/booklist.asp
jamie
Mojiti: YouTube + Wiki
Hi all,
so after viewing the video that Karen posted, I followed its production back to yet another video service: http://mojiti.com/
this one is cool bc it allows viewers to comment on top of the video...collectivizing the product and response. my sense is that this might be a great tool to use for peer feedback...I'll try it and let you all know.
jamie
so after viewing the video that Karen posted, I followed its production back to yet another video service: http://mojiti.com/
this one is cool bc it allows viewers to comment on top of the video...collectivizing the product and response. my sense is that this might be a great tool to use for peer feedback...I'll try it and let you all know.
jamie
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
a few blog-related items
Hello Hello.
A few notes on blogs and their possibilities:
Screen Dump was a UK 'film festival' of works lifted from YouTube and other online videoblogs. (I wonder what kind of permissions they got from the makers.)
Here's some language from one of the organizers, posted on an experimental film listserv:
"This was partly driven by the observation that many of the first personal teenage bedroom videos posted on YouTube structurally but presumably unwittingly resemble the kind of videowork previously the domain of film and video artists...also...YouTube as resembling a kind of online open screening, an accessible and 'democratic' screening space. Another intriguing aspect was the possibility of taking the videos from the web browser to being projected 'full size' in a more conventional screening format in a more conventional screening space set up."
Info: http://www.cogcollective.co.uk/november/index.html
The program has now been recreated online and can be viewed at:
http://cogcollective.blogspot.com/2006/12/screen-dump-videos.html
In addition, here's an online curation of blog art:
http://blog-art.blogspot.com/
A few notes on blogs and their possibilities:
Screen Dump was a UK 'film festival' of works lifted from YouTube and other online videoblogs. (I wonder what kind of permissions they got from the makers.)
Here's some language from one of the organizers, posted on an experimental film listserv:
"This was partly driven by the observation that many of the first personal teenage bedroom videos posted on YouTube structurally but presumably unwittingly resemble the kind of videowork previously the domain of film and video artists...also...YouTube as resembling a kind of online open screening, an accessible and 'democratic' screening space. Another intriguing aspect was the possibility of taking the videos from the web browser to being projected 'full size' in a more conventional screening format in a more conventional screening space set up."
Info: http://www.cogcollective.co.uk/november/index.html
The program has now been recreated online and can be viewed at:
http://cogcollective.blogspot.com/2006/12/screen-dump-videos.html
In addition, here's an online curation of blog art:
http://blog-art.blogspot.com/
more links (and how to keep track of them)
Here are a few links to material that might be useful:
1. Postsecret blog. An online community art project of sorts wherein anonymous people snail mail postcards revealing their secrets to the site's creator, who publishes a selection every week. The project has been so succesful that its been curated as exhibitions in galleries across the U.S., as well as converted into book form. As most of the featured postcards are a collage of text and image, I'm creating an assignment wherein students will each make a secret postcard, exchange it with one another without knowing its author, and complete a description/analysis writing exercise. Click here for audio clips of NPR interviews with the site creator, Frank Warren.
2. Gold-farming. A gold-farmer is an MMPORG player who "harvests" virtual objects that are useful within a game and sells them in exchange for real money, usually via Ebay. A gold-farmer is different from other game players in that s/he is repeating a particular move within a game to acquire a certain object for the primary purpose of making a cash earning. While there are individuals who run these services independently, the issue came to public attention when organizations were set up to provide these services, often paying low wages to its staff for long work hours. The bulk of these organizations are located in China, although the gold-farming industry is also exists in other "third-world" countries. This NYTimes article is a good introductory piece to the issue. A PhD student in UC San Diego is making a documentary of the issue. The preview, broadcast on Youtube, can be found here. Finally, this article, academic in nature, discusses the racialized narrative of the gold-farming issue.
3. Forgotten-NY. A website about no-longer existing or obscure landmarks/sites throughout the five boroughs. Potentially useful as a resource for the Neighborhood assignment, but I think it is especially fascinating given that the website creates a "space" for what is no longer materially there.
Conversely, thanks to advances in graphic design, we are growing more familiar with virtual models that help us envision what a certain place might possibly look like in the future. This Wired article illustrates this. Interestingly, parts of NYC are experiencing a proliferation of new luxury condominiums, as some of us can attest to in the neighborhoods we live. These condo units often find buyers before the structure is in place, and this technology is a widely used marketing tool that allows developers/agents to give a "virtual tour" of a product not yet completely in existence, for which people are willing to pay obscene amounts of money.
Finally, I've recently set up a del.icio.us account, a social bookmarking web service which is similar to the feature on your web browser, only its available to others. You can also create a network or community of. I'm still experimenting with it, but from what I gather, bookmarks are grouped according to tags. As such, I've labelled web sites that I've come across that might be useful for our course as "cyber110." I'm not implementing it in my teaching this semester, but I can see something like that as being a great tool for teaching web research, organizing, annotating and summarizing (there's a space where you're required to post a 'description' of the site you're bookmarking. Click here to access my del.icio.us account.
1. Postsecret blog. An online community art project of sorts wherein anonymous people snail mail postcards revealing their secrets to the site's creator, who publishes a selection every week. The project has been so succesful that its been curated as exhibitions in galleries across the U.S., as well as converted into book form. As most of the featured postcards are a collage of text and image, I'm creating an assignment wherein students will each make a secret postcard, exchange it with one another without knowing its author, and complete a description/analysis writing exercise. Click here for audio clips of NPR interviews with the site creator, Frank Warren.
2. Gold-farming. A gold-farmer is an MMPORG player who "harvests" virtual objects that are useful within a game and sells them in exchange for real money, usually via Ebay. A gold-farmer is different from other game players in that s/he is repeating a particular move within a game to acquire a certain object for the primary purpose of making a cash earning. While there are individuals who run these services independently, the issue came to public attention when organizations were set up to provide these services, often paying low wages to its staff for long work hours. The bulk of these organizations are located in China, although the gold-farming industry is also exists in other "third-world" countries. This NYTimes article is a good introductory piece to the issue. A PhD student in UC San Diego is making a documentary of the issue. The preview, broadcast on Youtube, can be found here. Finally, this article, academic in nature, discusses the racialized narrative of the gold-farming issue.
3. Forgotten-NY. A website about no-longer existing or obscure landmarks/sites throughout the five boroughs. Potentially useful as a resource for the Neighborhood assignment, but I think it is especially fascinating given that the website creates a "space" for what is no longer materially there.
Conversely, thanks to advances in graphic design, we are growing more familiar with virtual models that help us envision what a certain place might possibly look like in the future. This Wired article illustrates this. Interestingly, parts of NYC are experiencing a proliferation of new luxury condominiums, as some of us can attest to in the neighborhoods we live. These condo units often find buyers before the structure is in place, and this technology is a widely used marketing tool that allows developers/agents to give a "virtual tour" of a product not yet completely in existence, for which people are willing to pay obscene amounts of money.
Finally, I've recently set up a del.icio.us account, a social bookmarking web service which is similar to the feature on your web browser, only its available to others. You can also create a network or community of. I'm still experimenting with it, but from what I gather, bookmarks are grouped according to tags. As such, I've labelled web sites that I've come across that might be useful for our course as "cyber110." I'm not implementing it in my teaching this semester, but I can see something like that as being a great tool for teaching web research, organizing, annotating and summarizing (there's a space where you're required to post a 'description' of the site you're bookmarking. Click here to access my del.icio.us account.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The Medium Is the Message
For those of you planning on using some of Marshall McLuhan's theories on global villages and the effects of digital technology and visual culture, this is a concise essay that distills some of his ideas into very clear, easily understood language.
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html
outside.in
I just found this site called outside.in that is a collection site for stories, news, blogs, etc. according to neighborhood. Might be a good tool to use with the neighborhood exercise you have discussed? Students could link their blog posts about their neighborhoods to this site, which gets into the idea of expanding one's reach in the digital realm, issues of navigation, etc.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Research sites
I'm getting a lot of these links from a helpful librarian friend. The previous post focused mostly on nations.
Here's a good site for particularized research engines:
Online Education Database (Also called Research Beyond Google.)
The Citation Machine: A Good Tool for Teaching Citation Online... (Or a shortcut?)
The Innovation Lab "The Nordic observation post for the technologies of the future"
and Media Education for the 21st Century: This has to do with a MacArthur project related to the title.
Henry Jenkins, a media education guy (?) has a blog with potentially useful stuff. (The most recent post is "Broadway Meets Reality TV"
Linking is fun! (I discovered it can't be done on my Safari Browser. I had to download FireFox. Internet Explorer should work too.)
Here's a good site for particularized research engines:
Online Education Database (Also called Research Beyond Google.)
The Citation Machine: A Good Tool for Teaching Citation Online... (Or a shortcut?)
The Innovation Lab "The Nordic observation post for the technologies of the future"
and Media Education for the 21st Century: This has to do with a MacArthur project related to the title.
Henry Jenkins, a media education guy (?) has a blog with potentially useful stuff. (The most recent post is "Broadway Meets Reality TV"
Linking is fun! (I discovered it can't be done on my Safari Browser. I had to download FireFox. Internet Explorer should work too.)
More sites for teaching
For statistical information and interesting facts:
Columbia International Affairs Online: http://www.ciaonet.org/
Nation Master for studying a country's stats in depth: NationMaster.com
Published by the U.N. on human development: Human Development Index
The Happy Planet Index (happiness based on ecology?)
BBC's article on above.
I haven't tried it out yet, but GapMinder has free software for making various graphs and charts to plot statistics.
Columbia International Affairs Online: http://www.ciaonet.org/
Nation Master for studying a country's stats in depth: NationMaster.com
Published by the U.N. on human development: Human Development Index
The Happy Planet Index (happiness based on ecology?)
BBC's article on above.
I haven't tried it out yet, but GapMinder has free software for making various graphs and charts to plot statistics.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
syllabus meeting next week II
UPDATE: In terms of the meeting, let's plan to meet next Friday at 2pm at QC in KP708.
Let's also plan to have a bit of show-and-tell with blog, myspace, etc set-ups for our classes. It would be great if we might all send out (and accept!) these links and invitations to one another's writing platforms in advance. any other thoughts or concerns that folk would like included?
Let's also plan to have a bit of show-and-tell with blog, myspace, etc set-ups for our classes. It would be great if we might all send out (and accept!) these links and invitations to one another's writing platforms in advance. any other thoughts or concerns that folk would like included?
DEPT laptop? Minimacs? What's available now?
Thanks for your email, Karen. We are in the middle of the purchase of the minimacs.... Translation: they will arrive during the semester but not at the beginning. So I recommend two options rather than the department laptop (though this is always an option). 1) Your own laptop...nothing more user friendly or available; or 2) Put in a regular AV request for a laptop for every class...this also amps up their demand, which in turn, makes an administrative case for more hardware and smart classrooms.
And remember that if you do wish to use the dept. laptop, sign up now, and check in with Ximena and Kim in terms of the schedule. Also...return in promptly for the next user. there are 10mins between our classes on the scheduling matrix, which means that you must return it in time for the next person to pick it up and get to class. so if you know who comes before and after you and where their classrooms are, crises can be avoided.
And remember that if you do wish to use the dept. laptop, sign up now, and check in with Ximena and Kim in terms of the schedule. Also...return in promptly for the next user. there are 10mins between our classes on the scheduling matrix, which means that you must return it in time for the next person to pick it up and get to class. so if you know who comes before and after you and where their classrooms are, crises can be avoided.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
syllabus meeting next week
Hi all, I'd like to plan a syllabus meeting for next week on Tues., Wed. or Thurs...preferences for the meeting?
UPDATE: In terms of the meeting, let's plan to meet next Friday at 2pm at QC in KP708.
UPDATE: In terms of the meeting, let's plan to meet next Friday at 2pm at QC in KP708.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Essays about objects
Hi all,
I'm able to post again. So, here's the question I asked in my comment to Jrc's post: Are any of you planning to assign articles discussing the digital objects you examine? For example, a critical essay on YouTube or MySpace. And if so, do you have suggestions?
These are the forums I'm planning to use, and the ways I'm planning to use them:
Our class blog: You will be expected to either post or comment on someone else’s posts at least twice a week. Each week two people will volunteer to create a post commenting on the assigned readings and/or projects and everyone else in the class will be expected to comment in response.
MySpace: Everyone in the class is expected to have a MySpace account. If you have a pre-exisiting account, you are welcome to use it or create a new one. Your MySpace page will function as your journal and as a means for us to connect as a class on-line.
Blackboard and Discussion Board: On blackboard you will find the class syllabus, all class documents, information about assignments, and important links. You will also be expected to contribute to the Discussion Board, which will be used for the pragmatic and technical components of the class. Please check blackboard several times a week to keep up with announcements. (Or I may use MySpace for announcements-- haven't decided.)
Microsoft Word: Everyone is expected to submit papers in Microsoft word. Papers will be submitted by handing in your flash drive. Throughout the semester we will experiment with how to link texts, import images, and implement the various nifty features of Word. You should create a class folder in Word that will contain all your documents. Do not discard anything you write for this class. You may want to use it in revised form for your final portfolio.
The above is from the rough draft of my syllabus; if any of you would like to see it, please let me know and I'll email it.
Thanks,
KW
I'm able to post again. So, here's the question I asked in my comment to Jrc's post: Are any of you planning to assign articles discussing the digital objects you examine? For example, a critical essay on YouTube or MySpace. And if so, do you have suggestions?
These are the forums I'm planning to use, and the ways I'm planning to use them:
Our class blog: You will be expected to either post or comment on someone else’s posts at least twice a week. Each week two people will volunteer to create a post commenting on the assigned readings and/or projects and everyone else in the class will be expected to comment in response.
MySpace: Everyone in the class is expected to have a MySpace account. If you have a pre-exisiting account, you are welcome to use it or create a new one. Your MySpace page will function as your journal and as a means for us to connect as a class on-line.
Blackboard and Discussion Board: On blackboard you will find the class syllabus, all class documents, information about assignments, and important links. You will also be expected to contribute to the Discussion Board, which will be used for the pragmatic and technical components of the class. Please check blackboard several times a week to keep up with announcements. (Or I may use MySpace for announcements-- haven't decided.)
Microsoft Word: Everyone is expected to submit papers in Microsoft word. Papers will be submitted by handing in your flash drive. Throughout the semester we will experiment with how to link texts, import images, and implement the various nifty features of Word. You should create a class folder in Word that will contain all your documents. Do not discard anything you write for this class. You may want to use it in revised form for your final portfolio.
The above is from the rough draft of my syllabus; if any of you would like to see it, please let me know and I'll email it.
Thanks,
KW
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Cyber 110 and Myspace
A few thoughts on my evolving plans for Cyber 110 this spring regarding myspace. (I plan to post other thoughts on a separate entry.)
1. I'm going to have all the the students either create alternative "student" profiles or create their first profiles for the site. Then we're all going to "friend" each other, and put up pics :). The "interface" for the course has our faces, and we will all "see" each other in the same place, which is more pleasing than blackboard.
2. I'm going to assign a time to instant message "chat" with them once a month, just one on one with me, in order to assess their perspectives and comments and questions about the course.
3. I'm going to require that the students post a new blog every week. I'm going to post the requirements for the entries on my page, as my own "blogs," but which will really be a message board to the students. Each week, the students will write the equivelent of at least a page, and then they will also revise their blog from the previous week in terms of sentence structure. This will allow them the opportunity to "draft" one week (and focus on production and writing) and then "tighten" the following week. This will also get them in the habit of revision, and hopefully after a few weeks they'll notice how their thinking itself evolves, and thus understand somewhat organically the necessity for revision.
4. I'm going to do group chats, if possible, through the myspace instant message. I'm going to try and do this instead of Google, which needs Windows as far as I can tell.
5. I'm going to also assign students to respond to each other's weekly posts. They will simply respond to something -- one or two things, in one concise and reflective paragraph -- that someone else wrote. It will not have to be as long as the blog they themselves write.
6. I'm going to use Blackboard primarily for course readings that need to be scanned. I have to admit, I'm trying to re-think scanning anything at all. It doesn't look right, somehow, to see paper online. One needs the words glowing. The majority of the course communication will be on myspace. I think this site works fairly well for this.
7. I'm excited about the possibilities of combining a "social" space with an "intellectual" space. I'm hoping that they will inform each other; in other words, that their "work" will seem "funner" and their play will grow more reflective. Like the text message assignment, I see my role here in part as one that merges or combines their impulses to communicate with certain organizational skills and analytical reflections. But I must go to them, to where they are -- and even if myspace is a bit old school, it works a helluva lot better than blackboard.
8. Over this break, I've experimented myself with keeping a blog on myspace. I've finally understood a lot more of what I suppose I've been teaching, as far as what the internet does to complicate or even reinforce identity, persona, the concept of the avatar. In the pulse of experimentation, I'm going to consider keeping my other myspace profile public, which it is currently. I think I can "own" it and still work my class; or, I think I can make my personal life work with my professional one, even if my personal one is somewhat constructed and organized around a kind of persona, a style of expression, something not quite me as "professor." I'm asking the students to do it, as students and as -- adults? -- and I think there's an element of practicing what I preach. I write a lot, I revise, I do analysis, I write about texts, I write in the first person personal -- all things I want them to master. Some of the entires are a little out of left field, though...one little suggestion from Duncan and Jamie might prod me into privacy. (I'll say this, though, the reader count is fairly astonishing. I have something like 30 friends and I get nearly 10-15 readers on the blog a day -- I started this thing at Christmas, and it just climbs, it's well well over 500 since Christmas!. I don't know why this is, but it's fascinating.)
At the same time, I'm NOT going to advertise that blog to the students, and I'm going to keep that myspace profile separate from the one that I use to interact with students. Compare: www.myspace.com/justinrogerscooper to www.myspace.com/jrcqueens .
What do you guys think?
1. I'm going to have all the the students either create alternative "student" profiles or create their first profiles for the site. Then we're all going to "friend" each other, and put up pics :). The "interface" for the course has our faces, and we will all "see" each other in the same place, which is more pleasing than blackboard.
2. I'm going to assign a time to instant message "chat" with them once a month, just one on one with me, in order to assess their perspectives and comments and questions about the course.
3. I'm going to require that the students post a new blog every week. I'm going to post the requirements for the entries on my page, as my own "blogs," but which will really be a message board to the students. Each week, the students will write the equivelent of at least a page, and then they will also revise their blog from the previous week in terms of sentence structure. This will allow them the opportunity to "draft" one week (and focus on production and writing) and then "tighten" the following week. This will also get them in the habit of revision, and hopefully after a few weeks they'll notice how their thinking itself evolves, and thus understand somewhat organically the necessity for revision.
4. I'm going to do group chats, if possible, through the myspace instant message. I'm going to try and do this instead of Google, which needs Windows as far as I can tell.
5. I'm going to also assign students to respond to each other's weekly posts. They will simply respond to something -- one or two things, in one concise and reflective paragraph -- that someone else wrote. It will not have to be as long as the blog they themselves write.
6. I'm going to use Blackboard primarily for course readings that need to be scanned. I have to admit, I'm trying to re-think scanning anything at all. It doesn't look right, somehow, to see paper online. One needs the words glowing. The majority of the course communication will be on myspace. I think this site works fairly well for this.
7. I'm excited about the possibilities of combining a "social" space with an "intellectual" space. I'm hoping that they will inform each other; in other words, that their "work" will seem "funner" and their play will grow more reflective. Like the text message assignment, I see my role here in part as one that merges or combines their impulses to communicate with certain organizational skills and analytical reflections. But I must go to them, to where they are -- and even if myspace is a bit old school, it works a helluva lot better than blackboard.
8. Over this break, I've experimented myself with keeping a blog on myspace. I've finally understood a lot more of what I suppose I've been teaching, as far as what the internet does to complicate or even reinforce identity, persona, the concept of the avatar. In the pulse of experimentation, I'm going to consider keeping my other myspace profile public, which it is currently. I think I can "own" it and still work my class; or, I think I can make my personal life work with my professional one, even if my personal one is somewhat constructed and organized around a kind of persona, a style of expression, something not quite me as "professor." I'm asking the students to do it, as students and as -- adults? -- and I think there's an element of practicing what I preach. I write a lot, I revise, I do analysis, I write about texts, I write in the first person personal -- all things I want them to master. Some of the entires are a little out of left field, though...one little suggestion from Duncan and Jamie might prod me into privacy. (I'll say this, though, the reader count is fairly astonishing. I have something like 30 friends and I get nearly 10-15 readers on the blog a day -- I started this thing at Christmas, and it just climbs, it's well well over 500 since Christmas!. I don't know why this is, but it's fascinating.)
At the same time, I'm NOT going to advertise that blog to the students, and I'm going to keep that myspace profile separate from the one that I use to interact with students. Compare: www.myspace.com/justinrogerscooper to www.myspace.com/jrcqueens .
What do you guys think?
Monday, January 15, 2007
A few more things...
More interesting things to peak at:
http://turbulence.org/works/html_butoh
http://www.multiplicity.it/#
http://writerresponsetheory.org/wordpress/2007/01/07/snap-preview-art/
and of course, if you haven't already checked out the biggest "scandal" or most "talked about" "channel" on Youtube.com --Lonelygirl15, then you can go to youtube, myspace or to the lg15* url:
http://www.youtube.com/lonelygirl15
http://www.myspace.com/lonelygurl15
http://www.lonelygirl15.com/?p=150&play=1
Would love to hear from you all as well...soon.
j
http://turbulence.org/works/html_butoh
http://www.multiplicity.it/#
http://writerresponsetheory.org/wordpress/2007/01/07/snap-preview-art/
and of course, if you haven't already checked out the biggest "scandal" or most "talked about" "channel" on Youtube.com --Lonelygirl15, then you can go to youtube, myspace or to the lg15* url:
http://www.youtube.com/lonelygirl15
http://www.myspace.com/lonelygurl15
http://www.lonelygirl15.com/?p=150&play=1
Would love to hear from you all as well...soon.
j
Friday, January 12, 2007
Google, gmail and Blogspot.com
Have all incorporated...this means integrated features that make using gmail (& chat presumably) and blogger together an easy process...i am going to experiment now.
something to consider amongst ourselves is the techpendulum tendencies toward expansion and individuation and condensation and multi-featuring. We are obviously in a trend toward the condensed and multiply featured user object.
would love to hear from us all...j
something to consider amongst ourselves is the techpendulum tendencies toward expansion and individuation and condensation and multi-featuring. We are obviously in a trend toward the condensed and multiply featured user object.
would love to hear from us all...j
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Sourcing Digital Texts
Hi all,
so...here are some thoughts/places for readings for the syllabus and for us to explore:
http://www.altx.com/ Mark Amerika's online collect
http://www.eastgate.com/ReadingRoom.html the original publisher of hypertext lit.
http://english.ttu.edu/Kairos/ a great journal bc also concerned with Comp, Tech & pedagogy
http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/mainpages/tirwebhome.htm the journal for such e-literati-ish things
Also, to create a link on blog...1)highlight the desired text; 2)hit control+shift+a; and 3) enter URL
Looking forward to discoveries & syllabus ideas from all.
be well, jamie
so...here are some thoughts/places for readings for the syllabus and for us to explore:
http://www.altx.com/ Mark Amerika's online collect
http://www.eastgate.com/ReadingRoom.html the original publisher of hypertext lit.
http://english.ttu.edu/Kairos/ a great journal bc also concerned with Comp, Tech & pedagogy
http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/mainpages/tirwebhome.htm the journal for such e-literati-ish things
Also, to create a link on blog...1)highlight the desired text; 2)hit control+shift+a; and 3) enter URL
Looking forward to discoveries & syllabus ideas from all.
be well, jamie
Monday, January 08, 2007
Second Life
A friend recently told me about this site, Second Life, where people create alternate identities for themselves. It seems to be like a game, but not. Wikipedia has an informative article about it (apparently there are 2 million users). Is anyone familiar with it? I thought it might make for an interesting class discussion/assignment, but I haven't looked through the site yet.
CFP on Digital Archiving
Digital Archiving
This call for papers is for a proposed panel to be
held at (dis)junctions 2007: Malappropriation Nation
at the University of California Riverside’s 14th
Annual Humanities Graduate Conference on April 6-7,
2007.
Contributors are invited to submit critical works on
digital archiving. These papers can examine the roles
new media and new technologies play in the archiving
of literary texts. How does the translation of a text
from print culture into the digital realm effect its
reading and reception? How does it allow for a
re-imagining of the text? How does digital archiving
create a new mode of access to texts? What are the
tensions around the creation of such archives?
Abstracts of 250-300 words should be e-mailed to
helen.lovejoy@sbcglobal.net by January 5, 2007 (text
in the body of the message; please no attachments).
For more information, please visit the website at
http://english.ucr.edu/gsea/disjunctions/
==========================================================
From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://cfp.english.upenn.edu
or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj@english.upenn.edu
==========================================================
This call for papers is for a proposed panel to be
held at (dis)junctions 2007: Malappropriation Nation
at the University of California Riverside’s 14th
Annual Humanities Graduate Conference on April 6-7,
2007.
Contributors are invited to submit critical works on
digital archiving. These papers can examine the roles
new media and new technologies play in the archiving
of literary texts. How does the translation of a text
from print culture into the digital realm effect its
reading and reception? How does it allow for a
re-imagining of the text? How does digital archiving
create a new mode of access to texts? What are the
tensions around the creation of such archives?
Abstracts of 250-300 words should be e-mailed to
helen.lovejoy@sbcglobal.net by January 5, 2007 (text
in the body of the message; please no attachments).
For more information, please visit the website at
http://english.ucr.edu/gsea/disjunctions/
==========================================================
From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://cfp.english.upenn.edu
or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj@english.upenn.edu
==========================================================
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