My apologies in advance for the shorter-than-usual blog post this week. Today was my thirtieth birthday, so I've had a rather busy weekend. Perhaps not surprisingly, the article from this week's lineup that interested me the most was "Preparing for the Next Generation" by Alan J. Porter. This article was not interesting so much because of its convenient brevity (though this was very nice!), but because it discusses an issue which is very topical. On page 20, Porter relates a story of observing his daughter conduct research on Pearl Harbor. He describes how she uses the internet and sites like Wikipedia to find information, as well as online chat applications and other social media to gather the needed information. This part in particular jumped out at me because I've been thinking more and more lately how technology today is almost eliminating the concept of linear thinking. Because books seem to be taking a backseat (in a lot of areas) to more technological means of obtaining knowledge, the need to see the information in a linear fashion (i.e. reading each line of text) seems to be becoming obsolete. By comparison, the internet (including sites like Wikipedia) arrange text in such a way as to facilitate a quicker mode of "reading." I'm not sure that most people looking for information on Wikipedia read the entire article(s), but rather skim, or even jump to the section that contains the needed information. Many sites are set up in this way.
So the question I pose is this: Is technology inadvertently making it more difficult for people to read books?
(Sorry for the lack of comment on the "Wired Bodies in the Wireless Classroom" article. I read it twice over the past few days and still am trying to wrap my mind around it!)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The Social Media Release and Learning With Weblogs
Well, apparently we all learn something new every day. Though I have never really questioned the logic behind this somewhat cliched aphorism, I rarely lend credence to the notion on the weekends. Having said that, I learned a lot from reading the two articles this week: "The Social Media Release as a Corporate Communications Tool for Bloggers" and "Learning With Weblogs: Enhancing Cognitive and Social Knowledge Construction." The both offer what to me were intriguing insights into how the ever-evolving communication technologies are actually changing the ways in which we deliver and receive information of all types.
As with a few others in this class, I must admit that I was completely oblivious to the existence of Social Media Releases (SMRs), but conversely was not surprised to learn that they did exist and that they are all but making the traditional news release obsolete. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of this "new communications tool...on bloggers" (p. 1). One of the research methods used to study this is the Technology Research Model (TAM). This concept was also new to me, so I was fascinated to learn more about it, and how it is being applied to this study. Basically, TAM is " a theory that models how users come to accept and use a technology" (p. 4). The authors note that there are two factors considered in whether users will adopt a technology: perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. The results of this study suggest that "business communicators will need to give increased attention to their use of SMRs in the future" (p. 7). I was not really shocked by this revelation, since SMRs present their information in a much more compelling fashion by enabling the use of pictures, videos, links, and audio files. As technology continues to evolve, web-based communication forums such as blogs and sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter will continue to demonstrate their prowess in arenas other than personal information and social networking.
I found the "Learning With Weblogs" article to be more meaningful to me than the other one because it dealt more with the educational side of blogs, and their efficacy in the classroom. The reading deals a lot with how individuals learn and how technology can benefit them in the learning process. Of particular interest to me was the use of the Constructivist theory of learning which "focuses on learning as a process of knowledge construction by an individual" (p. 3). In other words, students tend to learn better when they discover things on their own, as opposed to hearing about it from an instructor. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I personally find this to be very true. I've often said that the most important thing I've learned from my many years of school is how to teach myself. This is not to say that none of my teachers have taught my anything, but rather that they have all planted seeds with which I could further my knowledge. Ultimately it is always up to me what I end up learning. It would seem, then, that the use of blogging as part of one's academic study is a vital part of that learning process, only to become more critical as time goes on.
I've always considered myself an intelligent person, but constantly lament my lukewarm academic performance through high school, and even into college. But I've stuck with it, either because I'm a glutton for punishment, or because of a constant drive to learn more and better myself through education (and for the most part, through self-education). As stated in my last blog post, I was a little wary of blogging's academic efficacy at first, but in less than a week's time, my view has spun 180 degrees now that I have seen the effects of teaching oneself, collaborating with others, and receiving important information from the instructor, all through the blogosphere. I am highly confident, too, that all educational pursuits will benefit greatly from this type of learning tool.
Here is an interesting video about blogs in education if you have ten minutes to spare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7XiCg_wpzE
As with a few others in this class, I must admit that I was completely oblivious to the existence of Social Media Releases (SMRs), but conversely was not surprised to learn that they did exist and that they are all but making the traditional news release obsolete. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of this "new communications tool...on bloggers" (p. 1). One of the research methods used to study this is the Technology Research Model (TAM). This concept was also new to me, so I was fascinated to learn more about it, and how it is being applied to this study. Basically, TAM is " a theory that models how users come to accept and use a technology" (p. 4). The authors note that there are two factors considered in whether users will adopt a technology: perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. The results of this study suggest that "business communicators will need to give increased attention to their use of SMRs in the future" (p. 7). I was not really shocked by this revelation, since SMRs present their information in a much more compelling fashion by enabling the use of pictures, videos, links, and audio files. As technology continues to evolve, web-based communication forums such as blogs and sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter will continue to demonstrate their prowess in arenas other than personal information and social networking.
I found the "Learning With Weblogs" article to be more meaningful to me than the other one because it dealt more with the educational side of blogs, and their efficacy in the classroom. The reading deals a lot with how individuals learn and how technology can benefit them in the learning process. Of particular interest to me was the use of the Constructivist theory of learning which "focuses on learning as a process of knowledge construction by an individual" (p. 3). In other words, students tend to learn better when they discover things on their own, as opposed to hearing about it from an instructor. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I personally find this to be very true. I've often said that the most important thing I've learned from my many years of school is how to teach myself. This is not to say that none of my teachers have taught my anything, but rather that they have all planted seeds with which I could further my knowledge. Ultimately it is always up to me what I end up learning. It would seem, then, that the use of blogging as part of one's academic study is a vital part of that learning process, only to become more critical as time goes on.
I've always considered myself an intelligent person, but constantly lament my lukewarm academic performance through high school, and even into college. But I've stuck with it, either because I'm a glutton for punishment, or because of a constant drive to learn more and better myself through education (and for the most part, through self-education). As stated in my last blog post, I was a little wary of blogging's academic efficacy at first, but in less than a week's time, my view has spun 180 degrees now that I have seen the effects of teaching oneself, collaborating with others, and receiving important information from the instructor, all through the blogosphere. I am highly confident, too, that all educational pursuits will benefit greatly from this type of learning tool.
Here is an interesting video about blogs in education if you have ten minutes to spare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7XiCg_wpzE
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Academic Blogging as New Literacy
Here goes nothing. In this, my first-ever blog post, I find myself awakening from a technological slumber to find that I have not only been thrown to the proverbial sharks, but that I wish I had been tossed here a long time ago. As much as I enjoy the look of my own words in print, the concept of blogging, for me, has elicited a lukewarm response, particularly as it pertained to academic pursuits. But now, as I tread water in the blogosphere in pursuit of a life raft, I feel compelled to comment on this phenomenon from the perspective of a virgin blogger who nonetheless swims forth with ardor in the hopes of finding a level horizon.
As someone who had yet to consider blogging a legitimate form of communication, I was naturally awestruck by the possibilities once I began investigating its academic merits. To that end, I can fairly confidently assert that I likely would not have given blogging a second thought if these merits had not been introduced to me in the reading "Academic Blogging as New Literacy." The authors describe the social practice of blogging in general and how blogs serve a dual purpose as a "tool for interpersonal communication and mass communication" (p. 169). In this, any type of blogger has the ability to present him or herself ultimately for the purpose of self-discovery. In the collegiate, "publish or perish" environment of modern academia, blogs can provide an outlet for professors to test the scholarly waters and gain valuable insight from colleagues. In addition, this provides the opportunity for them to learn about what others in the field are working on, practically in real-time.
Without mentioning him by name, the authors invoke the work of the late rhetorical theorist Marshall McLuhan by using his "medium is the message" theory to define the scope of blogging. Even before the days of instant information, the medium through which information is transmitted ultimately controls the message itself. This theory has held true through the advent of telephones, television, and the internet, which gave birth to the blog. The authors describe the "nature and the fabric of the text" (p. 182) and how it effects the relationship between the bloggers, active readers, and "blurkers," a portmanteau for blog lurkers who read but rarely interact. The internet is indeed a tightly-woven web of text which enables users of all fancies to use the medium to their eternal benefit.
So is blogging a new literacy? Has this phenomenon regenerated the concept of what it means to communicate? In a word: absolutely. But one could also argue that previous technologies can also stake a claim in changing how a message is disseminated. Marshall McLuhan made this claim in the 1960s and I believe this to be a perennial idea. The article focuses on "academic blogging" but acknowledges the inevitable overlap between "serious and more frivolous discourses" (p.193). From studying this reading, and now from blogging myself for the first time, I am beginning to understand the inherent value in using the medium as both a teaching and learning approach and may find myself doing things for the purpose of blogging about it!
As someone who had yet to consider blogging a legitimate form of communication, I was naturally awestruck by the possibilities once I began investigating its academic merits. To that end, I can fairly confidently assert that I likely would not have given blogging a second thought if these merits had not been introduced to me in the reading "Academic Blogging as New Literacy." The authors describe the social practice of blogging in general and how blogs serve a dual purpose as a "tool for interpersonal communication and mass communication" (p. 169). In this, any type of blogger has the ability to present him or herself ultimately for the purpose of self-discovery. In the collegiate, "publish or perish" environment of modern academia, blogs can provide an outlet for professors to test the scholarly waters and gain valuable insight from colleagues. In addition, this provides the opportunity for them to learn about what others in the field are working on, practically in real-time.
Without mentioning him by name, the authors invoke the work of the late rhetorical theorist Marshall McLuhan by using his "medium is the message" theory to define the scope of blogging. Even before the days of instant information, the medium through which information is transmitted ultimately controls the message itself. This theory has held true through the advent of telephones, television, and the internet, which gave birth to the blog. The authors describe the "nature and the fabric of the text" (p. 182) and how it effects the relationship between the bloggers, active readers, and "blurkers," a portmanteau for blog lurkers who read but rarely interact. The internet is indeed a tightly-woven web of text which enables users of all fancies to use the medium to their eternal benefit.
So is blogging a new literacy? Has this phenomenon regenerated the concept of what it means to communicate? In a word: absolutely. But one could also argue that previous technologies can also stake a claim in changing how a message is disseminated. Marshall McLuhan made this claim in the 1960s and I believe this to be a perennial idea. The article focuses on "academic blogging" but acknowledges the inevitable overlap between "serious and more frivolous discourses" (p.193). From studying this reading, and now from blogging myself for the first time, I am beginning to understand the inherent value in using the medium as both a teaching and learning approach and may find myself doing things for the purpose of blogging about it!
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