OK, so the blog title will only make sense (probably) to people of my generation. This is another of those assignments that I really like to read. It's fun to read when people are surprised that older generations are internet savvy. There are always surprises out there.
So, I'd be in the middle generation of the assignment (sadly, for me, well, not really, I kinda like where I'm at). Anyway, ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you I'm a computer idiot. That might be a little extreme. I just do bad things to computers. I have a magnetic personality...literally. I can't keep hotel room cards in my pocket because by the time I get to the room it's de-magnatized. Whenever we get new computers at school, the IT people know that if there's something bad happening in the bunch it will happen with my computer. All of this is ironic because my oldest brother is like the king of computers. In the early 1970s, he was running one of the most important computers at Johns Hopkins University. He was in on the early Bell Labs group that created things like Unix and the C language. The coolest thing ever was that he got to work with Neil Young, even got invited to spend time at his ranch. He's literally a computer genius. Me, not so much. Yet, because of my job, and I don't know, things like an online class, I've become pretty proficient with the internet.
I'm on the internet a lot. Checking email, Facebook, the celebrity gossip sites (OK, so a couple years ago I was teaching The Rhetoric of Popular Culture and I would start each class with the celebrity gossip of the day...as a result, I got addicted to TMZ...I wonder if there's a patch for that???), Pittsburgh Penguin and Steeler sites, my stocks, all kinds of things occupy a lot of wasted time. I was on sabbatical for Fall and Winter term this year. To fully understand, you need to know that I live in a cabin in the woods in Monroe...a town of 620 people. I live in the suburbs of Monroe. During my sabbatical my friends called me the forest recluse. Now, by nature, I'm a loner. I amuse myself...no, really, I make myself laugh. My best friend, who I have very little in common with, and I have agreed that the thing that binds us - above all else - is that we make ourselves laugh and since we have the same sense of humor make each other laugh. So, during my sabbatical, I tried to leave my house as little as possible and begged off on invitations to dinner, lunch, movies, etc. as much as I could. The thing is I was still in contact with people because I had the internet. Of course, I eventually had to turn the internet portion of my computer off so I got actual work done.
I think that's my biggest concern about the younger generations. Because I've lived life without the internet, I know how much I get done when it's off. But I'm not sure how much people who have grown up with the internet appreciate the other options in life. I wondered, though, if I didn't have the internet if I would have been so eager to beg off on face-to-face interaction. Still, the interactions of face-to-face far exceed the interactions of mediated communication. About a year ago, I reconnected with a great friend of mine from college on Facebook. We had about two exchanges on FB and then we called each other and talked for a couple of hours. On his birthday, I called him instead of just leaving a little quip on his FB page. He told me how much it meant that I picked up the phone. Obviously, he's in my generation. But, even us oldies have come to expect the abbreviated, impersonal quick note on FB. Sad, really.
So, yes, technologies has its blessings and its curses. The hard part is that to really understand either you have to have something to compare it to. How do you know happiness if you've never known despair? How do you know the pleasures of reconnecting with an old friend if you've always been in superficial contact? Hmmm, food for thought.
Dr. Goodnow
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Catching Up
Hi Y'all!
So, I have to catch up for a couple of weeks. Last week my internet was all out of whack! Sorry I didn't get all of your assignments graded until Sunday. I think it's fixed for good now. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I want to first talk about the letters assignment. That is my favorite assignment EVER! I try to incorporate that assignment in any class that I can.
I love the assignment because I think it does a couple of things. First, I think it reinforces the idea that internet communication definitely creates a different feeling than more traditional forms of communication. Too often I think we choose the easier, more convenient form of communication regardless of the appropriateness of the medium. I remember hearing that Tori Spelling heard about her father's death over a text message. Now, why on earth wouldn't you call somebody with that kind of news? Even if you assumed the person knew, wouldn't you want to express your sympathies in a more personal manner. A number of you have written that you either know of or experienced yourself a break-up with a significant other through a text message. Wow, what a cowardly way out. I think Wood and Smith and Postman have it correct that we need to remember that there are people, real living, thinking, feeling human beings on the other side of the technology. When I was in grad school, I was living in Boston and my then boyfriend was living in Western Pennsylvania. We had made an agreement before I moved that if either one of us wanted to break up we couldn't do it over the phone. We had to do it in person. I don't remember why we made the agreement; I think we just wanted to make sure that we didn't take the easy way out. There were a couple of times when one of us wanted to break up so we set up a time to see the other person. Of course, we'd see each other and nixed the break-up plans. We later got married and divorced. Maybe taking the easy way out would have been better! Probably not. But imagine if we would have had text messaging. I shudder to think.
The second reason why I love this assignment is because in a world that is growing increasingly uncivil, we don't take the time to show a little gratitude and kindness. A hand written letter, as some of you pointed out, is something that you can keep and cherish. The top drawer of my office at school is where I keep thank you notes from students. Y'know, when I'm feeling down and feeling like a crappy teacher, I open the drawer and pick out a couple of the notes and am reminded that I'm not all bad. I try to follow my own assignment and write a letter to someone who has helped me over the years. This year, I wrote a card to the chair of my undergrad department. I gave it to her at a conference and told her to read it later. I didn't hear from her for a couple of weeks. She was blown away. It was a little disconcerting when I didn't hear from her right away. I thought maybe she had forgotten to read it. But getting her email (yeah, she responded via email) made my day. We get so used to instant responses that we don't have the patience for a delayed reply. What a shame. Sometimes the best things take a little time.
I hope your experiences writing the letters were positive and I hope you'll take the time every now and then to not just shoot someone an email, but make the time and take the effort to actually write a note, card or a letter to say thanks. It does make a difference. Over the past few years, I've had a couple of nephews come visit me from various parts of the country. They always write thank you notes. Well, some kind of thank you. I can tell you that I've got all of the notes, none of the emails. It's just not the same thing - printing off an email.
On another topic, I wanted to tell you about a book I read last week - when my internet was down. It's called The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to your Brain by Nicholas Carr. It's a great read. The book talks about how technology has changed the wiring of our brains over time. The essential argument of the book is that internet reading - the skimming that we typically do when we read things on the internet - short circuits our ability to engage in deep thinking. This means that our ability to make connections and be creative in our thinking. So, often we think we don't really need to know things because we can just google it (there's a whole chapter on Google). Carr argues that in order to make information useful we have to have already encoded other information in long term memory. Otherwise, the information just gets deleted as short term memory gets deleted. This makes absolute sense to me. If we don't encode information about the Great Depression, the current recession seems like something new. Consequently, we end up trying to reinvent the wheel. Anyway, the book is really interesting and I encourage you all to read it.
Well, I guess that's all I'll write for now. Have a great week!
Dr. Goodnow
So, I have to catch up for a couple of weeks. Last week my internet was all out of whack! Sorry I didn't get all of your assignments graded until Sunday. I think it's fixed for good now. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I want to first talk about the letters assignment. That is my favorite assignment EVER! I try to incorporate that assignment in any class that I can.
I love the assignment because I think it does a couple of things. First, I think it reinforces the idea that internet communication definitely creates a different feeling than more traditional forms of communication. Too often I think we choose the easier, more convenient form of communication regardless of the appropriateness of the medium. I remember hearing that Tori Spelling heard about her father's death over a text message. Now, why on earth wouldn't you call somebody with that kind of news? Even if you assumed the person knew, wouldn't you want to express your sympathies in a more personal manner. A number of you have written that you either know of or experienced yourself a break-up with a significant other through a text message. Wow, what a cowardly way out. I think Wood and Smith and Postman have it correct that we need to remember that there are people, real living, thinking, feeling human beings on the other side of the technology. When I was in grad school, I was living in Boston and my then boyfriend was living in Western Pennsylvania. We had made an agreement before I moved that if either one of us wanted to break up we couldn't do it over the phone. We had to do it in person. I don't remember why we made the agreement; I think we just wanted to make sure that we didn't take the easy way out. There were a couple of times when one of us wanted to break up so we set up a time to see the other person. Of course, we'd see each other and nixed the break-up plans. We later got married and divorced. Maybe taking the easy way out would have been better! Probably not. But imagine if we would have had text messaging. I shudder to think.
The second reason why I love this assignment is because in a world that is growing increasingly uncivil, we don't take the time to show a little gratitude and kindness. A hand written letter, as some of you pointed out, is something that you can keep and cherish. The top drawer of my office at school is where I keep thank you notes from students. Y'know, when I'm feeling down and feeling like a crappy teacher, I open the drawer and pick out a couple of the notes and am reminded that I'm not all bad. I try to follow my own assignment and write a letter to someone who has helped me over the years. This year, I wrote a card to the chair of my undergrad department. I gave it to her at a conference and told her to read it later. I didn't hear from her for a couple of weeks. She was blown away. It was a little disconcerting when I didn't hear from her right away. I thought maybe she had forgotten to read it. But getting her email (yeah, she responded via email) made my day. We get so used to instant responses that we don't have the patience for a delayed reply. What a shame. Sometimes the best things take a little time.
I hope your experiences writing the letters were positive and I hope you'll take the time every now and then to not just shoot someone an email, but make the time and take the effort to actually write a note, card or a letter to say thanks. It does make a difference. Over the past few years, I've had a couple of nephews come visit me from various parts of the country. They always write thank you notes. Well, some kind of thank you. I can tell you that I've got all of the notes, none of the emails. It's just not the same thing - printing off an email.
On another topic, I wanted to tell you about a book I read last week - when my internet was down. It's called The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to your Brain by Nicholas Carr. It's a great read. The book talks about how technology has changed the wiring of our brains over time. The essential argument of the book is that internet reading - the skimming that we typically do when we read things on the internet - short circuits our ability to engage in deep thinking. This means that our ability to make connections and be creative in our thinking. So, often we think we don't really need to know things because we can just google it (there's a whole chapter on Google). Carr argues that in order to make information useful we have to have already encoded other information in long term memory. Otherwise, the information just gets deleted as short term memory gets deleted. This makes absolute sense to me. If we don't encode information about the Great Depression, the current recession seems like something new. Consequently, we end up trying to reinvent the wheel. Anyway, the book is really interesting and I encourage you all to read it.
Well, I guess that's all I'll write for now. Have a great week!
Dr. Goodnow
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Showing Face
Hi all,
Sorry I didn't do a post last week, I was having a major crisis with a book I'm working on and was lucky to get your work graded. Anyway, let's talk about Facebook. Your posts about Facebook and Myspace were interesting. Facebook has its good and bad points. I never really understood Myspace, so I never used it. I'm old, so it took me a while to break down and get a Facebook page. But I'm really glad I did. I've reconnected with a lot of friends from grade school, high school, college, grad school and my first teaching job. Pretty cool. Just the other day I got a friend request from someone I hadn't seen seen about fifth grade. Too funny.
But that brings up an interesting point, I hadn't thought about Michelle (my recently reacquainted friend) since probably 7th grade. This whole Facebook phenomenon is curious. I mean, I hadn't thought about this person in decades, literally. So, why would I want to get reacquainted? If she were really important to me, wouldn't I have stayed in touch? Why this need to reconnect now? Of course, there are people that I've tried to find but have been unsuccessful until Facebook came along. And so, for those people, it's been great. In fact, my best friend and I go back for our college homecoming every few years, We went two years ago because my nephew was going to school there. But we rarely see any of our friends. But with Facebook, we've reconnected with a bunch of people so many of us are going to homecoming in the Fall. There was one woman that we knew that we really couldn't stand and she friended us on Facebook. She looked completely different...I didn't recognize her. I thought maybe she had changed personalities as well. Another friend of ours reconnected on Facebook and ended up going to Vegas with her. Our friend was ready to go home after 12 hours. She hadn't changed. OY! I guess my point is, we connect with people on Facebook that we probably wouldn't have any desire to maintain a relationship with offline.
This leads to the idea that online communication and technology in general can lead us to have a plethora of relationships that take time away from having more in depth relationships. It's quantity versus quality. Afina wrote in her blog that Facebook leads to egocentrism. I agree. Why does anyone need to share with the world that they can't decide between Lean Cuisine pasta or pizza for dinner? I mean, do I know or understand you any better because I know about your culinary indecision? Does writing about this indecision and putting it out there for the world to see make you feel like you are important or that people care? Really??? It really drives me crazy when people write in their status updates that they're going to bed. Just go. I'm not really sure what I need to read that people are doing...in fact, I'm not really sure I need to read status updates at all. But I do. What is wrong with me? Perhaps it's the voyeur in me.
A couple of people mentioned that status updates are all about people sharing how great their life is. I agree. And maybe that's the answer to my above question. Maybe these sites are all about competition. I see how your life is and I compare mine. If the most exciting thing that you have to post is your cooking quandry, my life is way better. But, perhaps those little daily decisions are more honest than the "I have a perfect life" updates. I have a friend who posts every couple of days about her children's accomplishments, her latest acquisitions, her husband's latest doting deeds, her amazing job, and anything else that would make Elvis envious. But I also know that that's not the whole picture. There are downsides...big downsides. But these aren't discussed. I know about the downsides because I see more of the whole person. We talk on the phone, share cards and see each other face-to-face. I don't compare my life to hers; I don't need to as she's my friend, my real friend. Maybe I'm just a surface, competitive person but when I read either the every three minutes posts about the mundane or the every couple of day perfect post, I know that there's more to the story and I make judgments. Maybe that's why I don't do status updates, people can't compare what they don't know.
I do have to admit that I post status updates when I'm doing something really cool. I think I've posted four status updates in the last year...going to Germany, got Oktoberfest thumb, going to the Caribbean, going to China. Yeah, I'm one of those obnoxious people, rubbing it in how great my life is, getting to travel around the world. I kind of want to do an experiment along these lines. I don't think I've ever read a post where someone said, "had an awful day, really screwed up big...all my fault." I want to post something like that, just to see what people would say. I'm betting people would say, "Oh, I'm sure it wasn't your fault...it probably wasn't as bad as you think." Sure, they'd say that in real life, but I could talk it out and see things from a different perspective or make them see if from a different perspective. When people write about bad things that happen to them (not that they caused but happened to them), I'm thinking they want sympathy and support not honest assessment.
I guess that's what these social networking sites do; they allow us to be bolstered by garnering support, presenting the self we want the world to see, and/or deflecting reality. Kenneth Burke, a rhetorical theorist, suggests (among many theorists) that language shapes our world. By crafting the worldview that others see in regard to ourselves, we can craft our own world. The internet allows us to create this other world that may or may not reflect life outside of cyberspace. Cyberspace is really just a language construct. And because we can manipulate words, we can manipulate our world. Hmmm, that's deep. If we have these tools of construction what's so wrong about using them? Maybe it's a way to feel better about the strange culture we've created where face-to-face communication may go by the wayside, as in Wall-E. We live in a culture where fast and easy is the norm, where saying please and thank you are no longer expected, where grammar and spelling are an inconvenience. Maybe in this culture, creating a world where you don't have to work at following norms becomes a more comfortable space to just be.
OK, I think I'm just rambling now. Please share your thoughts.
Dr. Goodnow
Sorry I didn't do a post last week, I was having a major crisis with a book I'm working on and was lucky to get your work graded. Anyway, let's talk about Facebook. Your posts about Facebook and Myspace were interesting. Facebook has its good and bad points. I never really understood Myspace, so I never used it. I'm old, so it took me a while to break down and get a Facebook page. But I'm really glad I did. I've reconnected with a lot of friends from grade school, high school, college, grad school and my first teaching job. Pretty cool. Just the other day I got a friend request from someone I hadn't seen seen about fifth grade. Too funny.
But that brings up an interesting point, I hadn't thought about Michelle (my recently reacquainted friend) since probably 7th grade. This whole Facebook phenomenon is curious. I mean, I hadn't thought about this person in decades, literally. So, why would I want to get reacquainted? If she were really important to me, wouldn't I have stayed in touch? Why this need to reconnect now? Of course, there are people that I've tried to find but have been unsuccessful until Facebook came along. And so, for those people, it's been great. In fact, my best friend and I go back for our college homecoming every few years, We went two years ago because my nephew was going to school there. But we rarely see any of our friends. But with Facebook, we've reconnected with a bunch of people so many of us are going to homecoming in the Fall. There was one woman that we knew that we really couldn't stand and she friended us on Facebook. She looked completely different...I didn't recognize her. I thought maybe she had changed personalities as well. Another friend of ours reconnected on Facebook and ended up going to Vegas with her. Our friend was ready to go home after 12 hours. She hadn't changed. OY! I guess my point is, we connect with people on Facebook that we probably wouldn't have any desire to maintain a relationship with offline.
This leads to the idea that online communication and technology in general can lead us to have a plethora of relationships that take time away from having more in depth relationships. It's quantity versus quality. Afina wrote in her blog that Facebook leads to egocentrism. I agree. Why does anyone need to share with the world that they can't decide between Lean Cuisine pasta or pizza for dinner? I mean, do I know or understand you any better because I know about your culinary indecision? Does writing about this indecision and putting it out there for the world to see make you feel like you are important or that people care? Really??? It really drives me crazy when people write in their status updates that they're going to bed. Just go. I'm not really sure what I need to read that people are doing...in fact, I'm not really sure I need to read status updates at all. But I do. What is wrong with me? Perhaps it's the voyeur in me.
A couple of people mentioned that status updates are all about people sharing how great their life is. I agree. And maybe that's the answer to my above question. Maybe these sites are all about competition. I see how your life is and I compare mine. If the most exciting thing that you have to post is your cooking quandry, my life is way better. But, perhaps those little daily decisions are more honest than the "I have a perfect life" updates. I have a friend who posts every couple of days about her children's accomplishments, her latest acquisitions, her husband's latest doting deeds, her amazing job, and anything else that would make Elvis envious. But I also know that that's not the whole picture. There are downsides...big downsides. But these aren't discussed. I know about the downsides because I see more of the whole person. We talk on the phone, share cards and see each other face-to-face. I don't compare my life to hers; I don't need to as she's my friend, my real friend. Maybe I'm just a surface, competitive person but when I read either the every three minutes posts about the mundane or the every couple of day perfect post, I know that there's more to the story and I make judgments. Maybe that's why I don't do status updates, people can't compare what they don't know.
I do have to admit that I post status updates when I'm doing something really cool. I think I've posted four status updates in the last year...going to Germany, got Oktoberfest thumb, going to the Caribbean, going to China. Yeah, I'm one of those obnoxious people, rubbing it in how great my life is, getting to travel around the world. I kind of want to do an experiment along these lines. I don't think I've ever read a post where someone said, "had an awful day, really screwed up big...all my fault." I want to post something like that, just to see what people would say. I'm betting people would say, "Oh, I'm sure it wasn't your fault...it probably wasn't as bad as you think." Sure, they'd say that in real life, but I could talk it out and see things from a different perspective or make them see if from a different perspective. When people write about bad things that happen to them (not that they caused but happened to them), I'm thinking they want sympathy and support not honest assessment.
I guess that's what these social networking sites do; they allow us to be bolstered by garnering support, presenting the self we want the world to see, and/or deflecting reality. Kenneth Burke, a rhetorical theorist, suggests (among many theorists) that language shapes our world. By crafting the worldview that others see in regard to ourselves, we can craft our own world. The internet allows us to create this other world that may or may not reflect life outside of cyberspace. Cyberspace is really just a language construct. And because we can manipulate words, we can manipulate our world. Hmmm, that's deep. If we have these tools of construction what's so wrong about using them? Maybe it's a way to feel better about the strange culture we've created where face-to-face communication may go by the wayside, as in Wall-E. We live in a culture where fast and easy is the norm, where saying please and thank you are no longer expected, where grammar and spelling are an inconvenience. Maybe in this culture, creating a world where you don't have to work at following norms becomes a more comfortable space to just be.
OK, I think I'm just rambling now. Please share your thoughts.
Dr. Goodnow
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Abstinence!
Hello Everyone!
I hope you had a good time abstaining from the internet...if only for a short time. I love reading your posts about your experiences. They crack me up! Someone wrote in their blog that 20 or thirty years ago we didn't have the internet. I laughed and thought they were way off base. But then I realize that it's been at least 15 or 16 years since it became pretty popular. WOW...how time flies. When I first came to OSU in 1993, I got my first email account and a couple years later the internet was well on its way. Things have changed. It's amazing how dependent we've become on this little thing called technology in such a short time. But the question that we have to ask, and many of you did, is this all really that necessary?
I was on sabbatical for Fall and Winter terms of this year. I wasted so much time doing NOTHING on the net. I finally had to turn my wireless off, just so I could do real work. The thing is, I love traveling when I don't have the internet. I purposefully rarely bring my laptop and just tell people I'm going to be out of touch for a while. I went to St. Kitt's in the West Indies in January with my sister ML, her husband Bill and her best friend BA. This was vacation. But BA and ML were on their laptops doing work at least a couple hours a day. Bill and I were on the beach, enjoying the down time. That's the thing with technology. We think it makes things more convenient and easier. But perhaps, it's too easy and convenient. Before the internet, my sister never would have been able to work on vacation. Now, not only could she but she was expected to work. With cell phones and computers we're expected to be reachable 24/7. That's crazy!
It's always funny when I get back from a trip and I eagerly turn on my computer to see what I've missed on email and Facebook. Usually, it turns out I haven't missed much. Emails are generally just loaded with more stuff I've got to catch up on and Facebook is just useless information that I could definitely live without. Yet, I still tenaciously open both first thing in the morning and throughout the day. I wonder if I'm using the technology or its using me? Sometimes I look at my dogs and I'm envious. They don't worry about what other people are doing. They worry about themselves, each other, me, the cats and when the next meal is. When they see their friends they just play in the moment. They aren't preoccupied with what Cage, Charlie, Trog and Pirate are doing right now. They don't care! Why should they? Oh, to be a dog!
Instead, we humans have found this "tool" to help ease us through life. But I wonder how much it eases us through a life that is lacking...lacking in human contact, real interaction, physical exercise, and the like. Yeah, there are benefits. I keep in contact with more people but it also distracts me from some important things. Wow, this is maudlin. I love the internet, I really do. This class just always makes me reflect. Oh, well. As Postman says, technology has good and bad. I guess the key is to realize this and make choices with this in mind.
Dr. Goodnow
I hope you had a good time abstaining from the internet...if only for a short time. I love reading your posts about your experiences. They crack me up! Someone wrote in their blog that 20 or thirty years ago we didn't have the internet. I laughed and thought they were way off base. But then I realize that it's been at least 15 or 16 years since it became pretty popular. WOW...how time flies. When I first came to OSU in 1993, I got my first email account and a couple years later the internet was well on its way. Things have changed. It's amazing how dependent we've become on this little thing called technology in such a short time. But the question that we have to ask, and many of you did, is this all really that necessary?
I was on sabbatical for Fall and Winter terms of this year. I wasted so much time doing NOTHING on the net. I finally had to turn my wireless off, just so I could do real work. The thing is, I love traveling when I don't have the internet. I purposefully rarely bring my laptop and just tell people I'm going to be out of touch for a while. I went to St. Kitt's in the West Indies in January with my sister ML, her husband Bill and her best friend BA. This was vacation. But BA and ML were on their laptops doing work at least a couple hours a day. Bill and I were on the beach, enjoying the down time. That's the thing with technology. We think it makes things more convenient and easier. But perhaps, it's too easy and convenient. Before the internet, my sister never would have been able to work on vacation. Now, not only could she but she was expected to work. With cell phones and computers we're expected to be reachable 24/7. That's crazy!
It's always funny when I get back from a trip and I eagerly turn on my computer to see what I've missed on email and Facebook. Usually, it turns out I haven't missed much. Emails are generally just loaded with more stuff I've got to catch up on and Facebook is just useless information that I could definitely live without. Yet, I still tenaciously open both first thing in the morning and throughout the day. I wonder if I'm using the technology or its using me? Sometimes I look at my dogs and I'm envious. They don't worry about what other people are doing. They worry about themselves, each other, me, the cats and when the next meal is. When they see their friends they just play in the moment. They aren't preoccupied with what Cage, Charlie, Trog and Pirate are doing right now. They don't care! Why should they? Oh, to be a dog!
Instead, we humans have found this "tool" to help ease us through life. But I wonder how much it eases us through a life that is lacking...lacking in human contact, real interaction, physical exercise, and the like. Yeah, there are benefits. I keep in contact with more people but it also distracts me from some important things. Wow, this is maudlin. I love the internet, I really do. This class just always makes me reflect. Oh, well. As Postman says, technology has good and bad. I guess the key is to realize this and make choices with this in mind.
Dr. Goodnow
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Welcome!
Hi all!
Welcome to COMM 385, Communication, Culture and Cyberspace. I'll be writing blog entries throughout the course. Mostly, they'll just be my own rants that life or your blogs inspire.
For this first one, I just want to talk a little bit about the course. The class is designed to give you both experiences and readings about the topic at hand. I may change one of the assignments but I'll give you plenty of notice if I decide to do that. Just remember that you need to keep on top of the assignments and readings. They're due on Sundays. So, you've got a whole week to get them done. For the first assignment, you actually have until Monday rather than Sunday so that you'll have the whole weekend to do the assignment.
I want to comment on the books. The Wood and Smith book is dated. I admit that. The problem is there isn't any other text that really deals with communication theory. So, I'm kinda stuck with it. I've thought about doing a reading packet but most articles that I would use are written in a scholarly fashion that may not get to the issues at hand. So, please bear with the Wood and Smith book and appreciate it for what it offers. As for the Postman book, I love Neil Postman. Yes, it, too, is dated. But his thoughts are even more relevant as technology becomes more and more prevalent in our lives. So, again, take from it what the book offers.
I hope you'll enjoy this class and gain a new appreciation for the place and influence that technology plays in all of our lives. Feel free to comment on my blog posts. Just remember to fulfill the assignments, you need to comment on your classmates' blogs as well!
Here's to a great term! (Clinks imaginary glass)
Dr. Goodnow
Welcome to COMM 385, Communication, Culture and Cyberspace. I'll be writing blog entries throughout the course. Mostly, they'll just be my own rants that life or your blogs inspire.
For this first one, I just want to talk a little bit about the course. The class is designed to give you both experiences and readings about the topic at hand. I may change one of the assignments but I'll give you plenty of notice if I decide to do that. Just remember that you need to keep on top of the assignments and readings. They're due on Sundays. So, you've got a whole week to get them done. For the first assignment, you actually have until Monday rather than Sunday so that you'll have the whole weekend to do the assignment.
I want to comment on the books. The Wood and Smith book is dated. I admit that. The problem is there isn't any other text that really deals with communication theory. So, I'm kinda stuck with it. I've thought about doing a reading packet but most articles that I would use are written in a scholarly fashion that may not get to the issues at hand. So, please bear with the Wood and Smith book and appreciate it for what it offers. As for the Postman book, I love Neil Postman. Yes, it, too, is dated. But his thoughts are even more relevant as technology becomes more and more prevalent in our lives. So, again, take from it what the book offers.
I hope you'll enjoy this class and gain a new appreciation for the place and influence that technology plays in all of our lives. Feel free to comment on my blog posts. Just remember to fulfill the assignments, you need to comment on your classmates' blogs as well!
Here's to a great term! (Clinks imaginary glass)
Dr. Goodnow
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