Dr. Reid's post on the course blog made me smile, for I have successfully completed all of those tasks.
Last night, a good friend of mine who attends Sarah Lawrence College was perusing my blog. "Wow, you guys do podcasts? What do you do with them after they're recorded?" she wanted to know immediately. "Where are the blogs of other people in your class?"
I directied her to the course blog and explained all of the tenets of the course -- the various blogs, the podcasting, the Wiki, etc. "That's so cool," she said. "I wish we had something like that here."
She's got a point. Not only have we done a substantial amount of work in various forms, but it's all available on the Internet for anyone to view. I think we can be proud of our class's accomplishments, especially as the first group to take this strictly-online version of Writing in Cyberspace. Cortland is in the midst of the cyber evolution of education.
Good work, everyone, and if I don't catch you online, perhaps I'll, I don't know, see you in person or something. :-)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Wikipedia
I've been keeping up with the course Wiki throughout the semester, as evidenced by my angry blog entries in which I wished to battle the website because...I was dumb and forgot to log in, hence not having some work acknowledged.
That said, I was working on a couple of entries yesterday when it dawned on me: This really isn't that bad. Or hard. It's neither, actually. The most difficult part about the Wiki, in fact, is remembering to do it. But other than that, it has not destroyed my soul in any manner. I enjoy having the power to correct other's entries and figure out how to provide the most "accurate" definition. Actually using the Wiki has made me more skeptical about the information I search for on Wikipedia. After all, if hacks like me can post on there, who knows what other information people are posting.
I think a particularly interesting assignment would be for Dr. Reid to ask us to define one term -- the same term -- in our personal blogs. The variance, I'm sure, would be great. Such an exercise would show just how difficult it is to have one authoritative source of information. Wikipedia may not have the final say, but with the evolution of history and science, neither do the academics.
That said, I was working on a couple of entries yesterday when it dawned on me: This really isn't that bad. Or hard. It's neither, actually. The most difficult part about the Wiki, in fact, is remembering to do it. But other than that, it has not destroyed my soul in any manner. I enjoy having the power to correct other's entries and figure out how to provide the most "accurate" definition. Actually using the Wiki has made me more skeptical about the information I search for on Wikipedia. After all, if hacks like me can post on there, who knows what other information people are posting.
I think a particularly interesting assignment would be for Dr. Reid to ask us to define one term -- the same term -- in our personal blogs. The variance, I'm sure, would be great. Such an exercise would show just how difficult it is to have one authoritative source of information. Wikipedia may not have the final say, but with the evolution of history and science, neither do the academics.
Friday, May 4, 2007
NeoVox Articles
The NeoVox assignment was probably one the most obvious examples of "writing in cyberspace" (besides the blogs). I really enjoyed the informality of the articles. We were not restricted to any particular topic besides that our article should pertain in some way to what we've been discussing. There was a good variety in the topics that my classmates chose to write about, and an interesting mix between the technical and the personal.
While I would have liked more feedback on my pieces, I recognize that much of the class is already working hard to stay on task with other online postings. I'm also quite used to the workshop atmosphere of other writing classes, in which everyone is graded on how they respond to their peers. In a way, then, this makes the more informal workshop relaxing -- we can make comments without feeling that we need to overhaul the piece or make up things to correct.
I'm a fan of the "magazine style" of writing -- information mixed with a bit of narrative and perhaps some humor, too. Overall, I'd say that this assignment nicely complemented our other tasks. It's helped me try to synthesize what I feel to be two major questions of the class:
1) What is the meaning of these technological changes on society?
2) How do we adapt and benefit from them to move forward?
While I would have liked more feedback on my pieces, I recognize that much of the class is already working hard to stay on task with other online postings. I'm also quite used to the workshop atmosphere of other writing classes, in which everyone is graded on how they respond to their peers. In a way, then, this makes the more informal workshop relaxing -- we can make comments without feeling that we need to overhaul the piece or make up things to correct.
I'm a fan of the "magazine style" of writing -- information mixed with a bit of narrative and perhaps some humor, too. Overall, I'd say that this assignment nicely complemented our other tasks. It's helped me try to synthesize what I feel to be two major questions of the class:
1) What is the meaning of these technological changes on society?
2) How do we adapt and benefit from them to move forward?
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Final Podcast
Rachel and I convened in G-17, as always, for our final podcast. We've come quite a long way from that first experience. Instead of plotting what we plan to discuss beforehand, one person starts with a statement and the rest of the podcast follows from there. However, we've never scripted our recordings, and I feel that's important; spontaneity is interesting and can actually allow us to come up with connections that we hadn't thought of previously.
The first podcast took several days. We began with a lunch session of planning topics to discuss. Then we had other sessions of figuring out GarageBand, doing the podcast, editing and checking over it, and finally uploading it (and praying that it would safely find a home on iTunesU). Our final podcast took perhaps half of an hour. We said what we wanted to say, cut out the awkward pauses at the beginning and end of the sound clips, added some sweet jingles, and that was that.
The podcasts should definitely remain in this class. Honestly, I enjoyed that we were essentially free to talk about what we wished. I think that Rachel and I did a good job of staying "on task" in relating our discussions to the class. The time limit was the most difficult aspect; we found that we had a good deal to say, but had to limit it. However, the time limit steers the recording from meandering too far. As some classmates have suggested on the course blog, creating a system in which the class has to listen and provide feedback to the podcasts would be useful. This would ensure that everyone listens to each other, and allow people to learn from other's opinions of their podcast.
Is there any sort of career that utilizes podcasting? While I can't exactly imagine corporations throwing money at me so I can produce their podcasts, it sure is fun to do.
The first podcast took several days. We began with a lunch session of planning topics to discuss. Then we had other sessions of figuring out GarageBand, doing the podcast, editing and checking over it, and finally uploading it (and praying that it would safely find a home on iTunesU). Our final podcast took perhaps half of an hour. We said what we wanted to say, cut out the awkward pauses at the beginning and end of the sound clips, added some sweet jingles, and that was that.
The podcasts should definitely remain in this class. Honestly, I enjoyed that we were essentially free to talk about what we wished. I think that Rachel and I did a good job of staying "on task" in relating our discussions to the class. The time limit was the most difficult aspect; we found that we had a good deal to say, but had to limit it. However, the time limit steers the recording from meandering too far. As some classmates have suggested on the course blog, creating a system in which the class has to listen and provide feedback to the podcasts would be useful. This would ensure that everyone listens to each other, and allow people to learn from other's opinions of their podcast.
Is there any sort of career that utilizes podcasting? While I can't exactly imagine corporations throwing money at me so I can produce their podcasts, it sure is fun to do.
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