From Pencils to Pixels

1) According to the article, what is said to be the gateway to literacy? Do you agree or disagree?

-       The computer is said to be the gateway to literacy in this article. I agree that it is a gateway in some forms but it does not limit literacy to only computer access.

2) How is writing a technology?

-       a way of engineering materials in order to accomplish an end

3) Is a pencil technology? Why or why not?

-       It is because it is a way of producing and engineering one’s ideas

4) Why did Plato dislike writing/the written word?

-       He feared it would weaken our memories

5) According to the article, what are some of the pros of the written word vs. spoken word? Some cons?

-       The written word allows people to think and deliberate on their choice of words. The spoken word allows for more interaction.

-       The written word limits people from one on one contact whereas the spoken word is not as thought-provoking.

6)How does Thoreau connect to pencil technology?

-       He refused to use new modern writing technologies so the pencil in his world was his form of technology for writing.

7) How did the telephone shape communications technology? Is this similar to how writing shaped communications technology?

-       The telephone required people to adapt to all of the opportunities they now have to help their literacy grow.

8)How has technology impacted fraudulent writings and activities?

-       Technology has made it easier for people to steal ideas and knowledge.

9)What is Baron's conclusion trying to get across?

-       We cannot anticipate how new technologies will affect our literacies and ways of adapting.

10) How does this article implicitly define literacy?

-       Literacy is the ability to keep up with new technologies and advancements in society.

Writing In the 21st Century

1) What are the 3 challenges/opportunities of writing in the 21st century?

-       developing new models of writing, designing a new curriculum supporting those models and creating models for teaching that curriculum

2) Why does Yancey explain writing as a technology that exists "in spite of?" What kinds of challenges has writing faced across history?

-       We write in spite of cultures that devalued writing, in spite of prohibitions against it when we were female or a person of
color, in spite of the fact that we—if we
were 6 or 7 or 8 or even 9—were told we
should read but that we weren’t ready.

3) What is Yancey's main argument?

-       Students should learn to be good writers, or composers, rather than good test takers

4) Why hasn't writing gotten as much cultural respect as reading? What kinds of feelings does reading produce? What about writing? Do you have any similar experiences?

-       Writing doesn’t allow you the pleasure-filled feelings you can get when reading. Reading is easier and more relaxed whereas writing can be stressful, therefore giving it less respect.

5)What are some negative associations people make with writing?

-       People sometimes accociate pain and depression with writing, because it is often used as a way of coping.

6) What is process writing?

-       Consists of invention, drafting, peer review, reflection, revising and rewriting and publishing.

7)What is self-sponsored writing? Do you do any self-sponsored writing?

-       A writing that belongs to the writer, not to an institution, with the result that people want to compose and do to each other.

-       I often write on facebook and twitter.

-        

8) How is the 21st century the Age of Composition? The age of literacy?

-       It is the age of composition because so many people are exposed to resources and social media that allow them to become writers or composers even if they have not chosen to do so.

9) What is the "so what?"/"why does this matter?" of this article?

-       This article argues that literacy in the 21^st century has changed and therefore our methods for teaching writing in schools needs to be altered as well.

10) How does this article implicitly define literacy? Does this definition align with any of the previous articles we have read/watched? Why or why not?

-       Literacy is the ability to read and write and compose work on social media rather than just on paper.

Brave New World of Digital Intimacy

1) What is Thompson's main argument or claim? Use the Paraphrase x3 heuristic to rewrite  and reword the main argument in 3 different ways. Try to find new ways to present the information to help you better and more completely understand the article's argument.

1.    Social media allows a person to identify themselves as express themselves through this form.

2.   Making a clear evaluation of your life and identity is what social media tends to make people do.

3.   Although people use social media to understand other peoples’ lives, it provides a stronger description of ones own identity instead.

2) Why did Zuckerburg introduce the News Feed? What does this say about our ability to find information and our attention span to locate all of it? In your opinion, is the News Feed a good thing or a bad thing in terms of "literacy?" 

-       The news feed was introduced so people could easily few their friends’ recent activity.

-       Now, information is available much easier but there is so much to view that people can lose their train of thought for what they were originally looking for.

-       Yes, it is very essential for literacy because people can learn from others’ posts.

3) How does the article define "ambient awareness?" Do you experience ambient awareness?

-       Incessant online contact

-       Yes I always will ask my friends about them if they post something that relays how they may be feeling that day

4)What is the paradox of ambient awareness and how does it impact our relationships with Facebook friends? Is there a downfall of being aware of our friends' lives without actually having to talk to them? A benefit?

- It is a gradual realization that things that seem small on social media slowly form ideas in our head about the way things are.

- Yes because sometimes the information is perceived incorrectly.

- Yes, it helps us stay in touch with people we are incapable of seeing regularly.

5)What is an ambient update? Give an example. 

-       It is a skimmable post that is bunched together with at least 2 or more posts.

-       A status, then a picture, then an advertisement all on one news feed page.

6) Thompson talks about social media updates as "skimmable"-- how does this connect to our ongoing class conversations about literacy?

-       Literacy causes people to lose attention to detail because there are too many news feeds that make items skimmable.

7)What does Thompson have to say about our "weak ties" or our "friends" on social media that are really more acquaintances? Do they help or hurt us?

-       I think they hurt us because we don’t know how they aare in real life, so all we see is the edited version they present themselves as, which can make us feel lesser about ourself.

8)According to Thompson, why do 20 somethings feel pressured to stay connected on Facebook?

-       They are pressured to stay in touch on social media because they need to know what their friends are doing as well as their friends want constant updates on their lives. The 20’s are a very social age.

9) How does this article define literacy in the 21st century? Does the article change or add to your own understanding of literacy?

-       This article defines literacy as not only being aware of your own social media identity, but comparing it to that of your friends’ identities on social media

Cognitive Surplus

1) What is this article about? What is the main argument Shirky is making?

- Shirky is relaying the point that each generation has different technological opportunities to take advantage of, and if they do it will create more opportunities for other generations to come.

2) How does this article define literacy? How does this definition either coincide or differ from the 2 previous articles (Wolf and Carr) we have read?

- Literacy in this article is being defined ad being productive and using the resources you’ve been provided in order to create something useful.

- This definition is different from the others because it does not discuss how literacy involves research and using textual information to grow intellectually.

3) What is a cognitive surplus?

- Cognitive surplus is the amount of time an individual is allotted to provide something useful and intellectual either to the world or for themselves.

4) Why does this article matter?

- This article is important because it reminds people that they were created and given the opportunity to produce and share knowledge with the world around them.

5) Use the Method to analyze the article (pg. 26 in Writing Analytically) by looking for patterns of repetitions, strands of similarities, binaries, and anomalies.

- cognitive surplus, time and knowledge are used repetitively.

6) Choose one repetition, strand, binary, or abnormality and write a paragraph on why this aspect of the article is the most important in understanding what the text is saying. 

- I believe cognitive surplus I used frequently in order to draw the readers in. The phrase in itself is very intellectual sounding so it starts to make readers think they might need to start enhancing their abilities as humans with an endless capacity for knowledge.