Columbine

I don’t fully agree with the idea that technology is to blame for what happened at Columbine in 1999, as what is trying to come across in The Dark Night of the Soul article.  I also, find it ridiculous that people think the schools need to do more.  Don’t get me wrong, I think the school should do their best to be aware of each child and their individual needs, but I have to ask where are the parents?  They have become like absentee landlords when it comes to raising their children.  They expect the school system to provide all of the education curricular and non-curricular and emotional support as well.  I find it hard to believe that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s parents had no idea not even an inclination that something was amiss with their children.  Obviously they were clueless because they were not present in their child’s lives.  I think parents have forgotten that it is a 24/7 365 day job, and that they can’t rely on their children to tell the truth 100% of the time or to bring home their report card.  Parents should be involved with their children to the point where they know their friends, their teachers personally not just by name.  I think that the Internet has come a long way since it first came onto the scene in 1994.  The Internet that maybe was once an isolation from people is not connecting more and more people.  And while people are reading less textual information in the form of paper, people are reading and gathering more information today than was ever possible 20 years ago.  I also disagree with the statement that maybe if Harris and Klebold read more and talked about what they were reading this would of been avoided.  What about the thousands of “flagged books” like Hitler’s Mien Kampf?  I don’t believe the ideas in that book would have prevented this tragedy.  And furthermore, they did read and write in school and out and why did no one read what they had written?  I think the only way to stop tragedies like this from happening in the future is that parents and people need to be personally involved with one another, no longer can people have the attitude of “it’s not my business”.  People and communities need to come together and look out for one another.

Virtual Lives… are they okay??

I just need to say that I think it is so odd that people are able to live “second lives” through the virtual world. The first article I read was Joshua Davis’ “The Secret World of Lonelygirl”. I thought this reading was quite interesting. I had never heard of Lonelygirl15 until this class, and when our professor first mentioned her I just figured she was a real girl who created video blogs about her life. Who would have thought that Bree was not real?!? How is it okay for a person to live a double life? Is it ethical? Obviously Bree is not as bad as Mr. Bungle was from Julia Dibbell’s “A Rape in Cyberspace”, but it is still a little out there; I guess people do it all the time in the real world, like men who have 3 different wives who all live in different countries.

Now, back to the Lonelygirl15 article… I think the producers of this internet series are geniuses because in who knows how many years, the internet will probably be the only source of entertainment (we should call it “intertainment”…maybe I should copyright that). They have so much passion for the series, and that is what people need if they want to accomplish something. I’m sure they did not think when they first came up with this idea that a steady 300,000 people would be viewing the videos of Bree every week. If they stick to it, they may be the first to start the multi-million dollar, possibly billion like Zuckerberg, internet entertainment series.

Julia Dibbell’s “A Rape in Cyberspace” made me pretty speechless. Just the way everyone went about punishing this guy. My point of view is that something more should have been done, like an actual sentence; but then again this all happened in the cyber-world. I’m still weirded out by this whole second life concept. I could never imagine creating an account…I am quite content with my real life, thank you very much.

 

How does everyone else feel about this???

Technological Literacy??

I am somewhat skeptical of Cythia Selfe’s entire piece, “Literacy and Technology Linked: The National Project to Expand Technological Literacy”, but to prove my point I will pull a passage and explain my reasoning.

Black employees are less likely than white employees to use a range of computer applications in their workplace environment. Employees who have not graduated from high school are less likely to use a range of computer applications than are employees who have a high school diploma or have some college experience…In other words, the poorer and the less educated Americans are in the country…the less likely they are to have access to computers and to high-paying, high-tech jobs.

I agree with this statement, but why are we looking at this data as if everyone is literate in general? Do these “poorer and less educated” people possess basic literacy knowledge? I just do not understand why we are worrying about everyone being technologically literate when probably more than one-third of Americans are not literate in general. Do not get me wrong, I am all for technological literacy because the world is headed for a future of only computers and technology, but for now I think we should be focusing on getting everyone’s literacy skills where they needs to be. People who are literate do not realize how hard it is for some to become literate, and these highly-literate people are the ones who are pushing for technological literacy.

I guess what I want to say is that we need to choose one form of literacy or the other. Right now, technological literacy is not something every person needs to have, but obviously as advancements are created it is going to be more necessary. As a prospective teacher, I think I would rather my students be on the same literacy level before I try and push them to become technologically literate. Do you think it is okay for people to not be generally literate, but technologically literate??? Will these people be able to function in society??

Writing Spaces and Remediation

Three writing spaces that I use most frequently are notebook paper for taking notes in classes, my cellphone for text messaging, and the computer, which prints my writing on to computer paper. Notebook paper is used mostly to take notes, jot down important information, or just to sketch on. I like to use notebook paper to take notes on in all of my classes. This type of paper is usually white or canary yellow and consists of multiple lines for linear accuracy when writing; it also is easy to erase on. I feel that notebook paper is unique because you can keep it for years and always go back to it if you need to. I also think it is unique because it allows you to use your own personal handwriting, unlike a computer. The physicality of writing on notebook paper is more personal and beneficial to me because I learn and take in information better if I am actually writing notes in class; if I don’t, I feel like I may miss something significant.

I hate to admit it, but sometimes I would rather communicate with people on my cell phone through text messaging rather than actually speaking with them. Text messaging consists of using the number keys on a cell phone to create words. Once you have created what you want to say, you send it to the designated person’s number, and they receive the message on their cell phone within a matter of seconds. Some are experts at text messaging and some are just beginners. Text messaging is something that takes time getting used to, but the process is easy to figure out. To me, text messaging on a cell phone is unique because it allows you to avoid actually talking to someone if you do not want to. Text messaging is also convenient if you are in an environment where you can not talk on a cell phone, such as an office or a library.

When writing papers for classes I like to do the whole process on the computer. The first computer was not invented as a “word processor”, but as a means to perform mathematical calculations. Currently, the computer is mostly used as a tool for writing and as a form of entertainment through the internet. The computer is unique because it provides an organized way of putting one’s ideas down on “paper”. It also makes for a more professional look. As with notebook paper, a person can easily go back to retrieve information if it was saved in the system.

As defined by Bolter, “remediation is when a newer medium takes the place of another one, borrowing and reorganizing the characteristics of writing in the older medium and reforming its cultural space” (23). Remediation occurred when codex, which was made out of papyrus or parchment, was upgraded to notebook paper. Notebook paper was the newer medium taking the place of the older medium, codex. It used the same concepts of codex, but was an upgraded form of the writing space. The computer was a remediation of the notebook paper as well as the typewriter. The computer took the same concepts of paper and the typewriter in the idea that it assisted in writing information down, and in the typewriters case, it wrote it down in a more organized and professional manner. Like Bolter says these writing spaces are all similar in the fact that they all were technology advancements at one point in history or another. Also, they all assisted in the creation of the “next best thing”.

-Sarah Fry