There was a wealth of information to be gained from my 5060 colleagues regarding a variety of subjects through extended analysis.
I found the delivery of information via podcast or other audio means very useful. In particular, Amelia's podcast about James Berlin was enhanced, in my opinion, by the use of a musical score. Amelia's choice added drama and interest to an already fascinating character. I was intrigued from the beginning by the mention of Berlin's heart attack and immediately wanted to know more details about his life prior to his fateful death. If I were to make one suggestion, it would be to finish each sentence strong so that the music does not interfere with the narration.
On the other end of the spectrum was Emily's essay and PowerPoint associated with the use of technology in first year composition. The essay was filled with interesting quotes regarding the importance of technology as a new required 'literacy' for Generation M. While the essay is not specifically about Generation M, I would be interested in knowing what the 'M' refers to. I would suspect perhaps 'mobile', but there may be more significance to this particular choice of letters. A few words on it's origin and/or meaning might also reinforce the significance of the technology literacy aspect. The PowerPoint master slides that Emily chose created interest without becoming a distraction. The information was short and to the point on each slide which is important for keeping the audience interested. While the slideshow will eventually be presented to the 5060 class, it might be worthwhile to add sound or narration so that it could also be viewed as a standalone presentation. My extended analysis, while on different subject, also includes an essay and PowerPoint presentation and while it has already been uploaded into the class archive, I am working on adding additional features such as sound, narration and animation, so that it can be viewed as a standalone.
I also found the podcast by Mackinzee and Corey about plagiarism very informative. It had the feel of a lesson or teacher training session. The words on my screen were a little bit fuzzy which I know is due to the transfer of technical information across different mediums, but I bring it up because I experience this myself when trying to save presentations as movie files. Certain fonts can be more 'screen friendly', but I'm wondering if there are other ways or 'tricks' that can be used to add clarity to the screens. The information was very thorough, but I would recommend incorporating some visuals and/or audio to add dimension and variety to the presentation.
Tricia,
ReplyDeleteNice work - I had never heard of this topic before.
Enabled with logic rules, this technology “learns” how to determine what is “good writing.” It would seem however, that Elbow’s and Williams’ ideas about relaxed language skills might cause the system to spit out: DOES NOT COMPUTE!
I do like the idea of using this technology as an “instructional writing tool” as opposed to measurement criteria (4). I feel that technology should be used to assist writing, but worry that dependence on it might miss out on “good writing” that might not meet all the rules established by technology.