Oh just be patient!

The discussion in class shed some much needed light to how new media is shaping today’s society. First, let me express how much I enjoyed the presentations. They were very entertaining and edifying. While this isn’t the first time I was totally taken with the subject, it was {as I uttered in class} the first time I really had the urge to verbalize my thoughts…which is a good thing. Anywho, I was mostly captivated by the stumbled upon discussion on this very bad trait that has grown to be prevalent in today’s society. Talking about the ever present impatience. Why has it become such a trend and is technology really to blame? As I expressed before, I love electronics and at times I feel like I’m in a technological matrix {best said by Vee :-)}, however, I do believe that it is partly, if not wholly, to blame for the degeneration of a very valuable and essential characteristic.

While doing some research for my paper I came across an article entitled “Is Educational Technology Shortening Student’s Attention Spans?” Written by David M. Marcovitz and John David Son, this article devises a point and a counterpoint in an effort to answer the question. Based on the length and the many examples and analogies used as support, their answer, as is mine and I’m sure most others, is Yes. There’s no doubt about it. Electronics and technology has fashioned us to become accustomed to rapidity; high-speed internet, on demand, uploading, downloading, etc. Technological and/or scientific simulations allow people to create and invent cyberical entities in an instant, watch them change, die, etc., which in a way is remarkable, but the downside of it all has its own detrimental effects. As best expressed in the article,

“After seeing a flower bloom in a minute, who has the patience to wait for it to bloom in real time?”

This article made me think about the presentation on Twitter {which was awesome by the way}. Twitter may be amusing and great for interacting, but truth be known it isn’t helping the issue with impatience. The whole idea of limiting each tweet to only 140 characters is silly but some may argue that it teaches people to be creative and straightforward, which, for the most part, is beneficial to those that tend to ramble. I’m sure avid Tweeters can come up with a bunch of probable {and I use this word loosely} benefits to tweeting. Let me utter that I’m not arguing against Twitter because I think it’s ridiculous and will eventually depreciate along with the earlier social networking sites{I promise}, it’s just bottom line, in essence, Twitter is an expansion of stimulations to goad time management – make people more impatient.

One aspect of the article that bothered me was the illustration of students in one classroom using technology to basically learn and be creative. “Students were excited and engaged in the content being presented.” Whereas, in another classroom the teacher adhered to the traditional learning style of lecturing and students were to take notes using a pencil and paper. It was described as a process using “little creativity, expression, or problem solving. Students seemed disengaged and disconnected. They were only on the receiving end of the information.” When did taking notes become uncreative and disengaging? I must have overlooked that memo. So basically, students must use some kind of computer technology to be creative and express themselves? I’m honestly a little frightened to see what the next generation will conform to…

Literary Technology vs. Media Technology

Most electronic media, including interactive media, foster shorter attention spans and accelerated gratification. Passive participation from media is preferred over actively engaging oneself in a good literary read.

It goes without saying that I love my technology….electronics that is. But, I have noticed some significant differences in my behavior and my way of thinking. I’ve become very impatient and often find myself struggling to find the words to accurately express myself. I avidly use the thesaurus, why? Because my vocabulary isn’t up to par. I don’t read as often as I should and found that the only books I managed to complete were assigned. I haven’t willingly read a book since….probably sophomore year. I chose to either Facebook for hours, watch an interesting episode or two, or several, and pretty much absorb myself in some kind of electronic media. I chose passive participation over active.

NEA’s report Reading at Risk brought to my attention how magnetic and hoggish media and electronics are. The results are horrific but it is a visualization of the journey we’re being taken on by responding so avidly to the splendid attributes it’s made up of. The response fuels creators and manufacturers to not only produce and distribute better (enhanced) versions of an original, but to also invent something avant-garde. But, fabricating more adaptations will only exacerbate the issue. Not to mention the persuasive advertising that comes along with it. It calls for much of the violence and prudent behavior that has undoubtedly become apparent and, according to the report, it is associated with the lack of participation in cultural and social activities.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think the report is subjective, but there is some truth to it. I see it constantly and am a spectacle of it myself. It’s amazing how many stories I hear of children being told to go watch television as opposed to picking up a book, taking a trip to Gamestop® rather than to a public library. It’s apparent that literary reading comprise of valuable attributes that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s about time to restore the faith in good ol’ reading.

An Educated World

“Literacy and education is the avenue to social and economic advancement.”

I have to solemnly agree with this statement and utter that this notion still relates to today’s standard of living. Thinking more in terms of respect and career wise, how likely is someone that uses jargon such as “ain’t” or even “yup” to be considered a great candidate for any prestigious position, or…social wise…considered to be someone smart and educated? In the social arena, “literate” people know how to correctly formulate a sentence (not using double negatives) and hold an intelligent conversation. “Smart” people are knowledgeable about corporate America, politics, attained degrees and are generally the people with power and money [with the exception of entertainers, athletes, etc.]). This is pretty much palpable truths, so let me get to the point of why I was drawn to this statement.

Look at what changes are being made due to the struggling economy. Everyone is encouraged to consider higher education and obtain a degree or certificate of achievement in a field of interest (preferably one that is demanded). Why all of a sudden was this practically an imperative task for people seeking work to carry out? Well, because it places you in a preferred category…one that classifies you as more educated and equipped for the position. These days a diploma isn’t adequate enough, maybe for a minimum wage paying job, but the cost of living steadily increases which will make it a little more difficult to maintain. So, for economic advancement, you’re pretty much coerced to become more educated. Nonetheless, the idea of creating a pool of more educated people seems noble and boasts great potential, but what kind of community will transpire from this? What kind of stances will emerge? The importance of literacy and education is taking its place once again…but in a different society, one that is more liberated and complex…

Deliberation

I have (somewhat) given some more thought to a topic for my research paper and I decided to take a different route away from the three deliberations I mentioned a couple weeks ago. A couple of ideas obligingly bulleted on the research paper outline took hold of my interest, but I think I will settle with the one about new media creating [or not creating] new opportunities for writers or other creative workers. Mostly because I love technology and everything it encompasses…well almost everything. In terms of new media, I was thinking much of what is widely used today, web 2.0.

I haven't exactly decided which direction I would like to go with this. I want to deliberate on it more to gather some more thoughts. Some things that do come to mind is the use of blogs and how this has created an avenue for writers to express their thoughts. Other social networks influence writers and creative workers as well.

It’s late, my brain is tired so I’ll get back to this later…

Copy...right

What a very interesting topic for this week! I found myself immersed in the video shown in class and the readings weren’t too bad either! I think it was definitely time to learn the particulars of copyrighting since the consequences of breaching its conventions affects me in more ways than I wish to share. Plus, I aspire to become a renowned author/ screenwriter thus…well you get the point. Anywho, I am a HUGE fan of music! I thoroughly enjoyed the remixes that were composed in the film, buuutt, getting to the relevance of its screening in class, I do agree with the notion that the conventions of copyright infringement are a bit too stringent. Based on John Feather’s Copyright and the Creation of Literary Property, the recognition of profiting from a work of art created a means of access to a more profitable way of thinking.

Copyright started off as a means to protect the authors or originators from getting their work pirated. However, the realization of profiting propagated into something much less about honoring an author’s work and more about ways to control and collect which brings me back to the video’s philosophy:

• Culture depends on the past
• Past tries to control the future
• Our future is getting less free

I have to confess that I am somewhat caught in the middle with this argument. While it is important to have some kind of regulation in tact to protect creativity, it is simultaneously putting it in a choke hold. Suffice it to say that originality is key? Let’s take a look at the case in point, music. Many of these “pop” hits are recreations of previously recorded records, and I’m not talking about just the beats or the instrumentals but the lyrics as well. Remaking old “hits” has become a very common thing to do. I just discovered that Beyoncé’s “If I Were A Boy” was originally sung by BC Jean, who also co-wrote the song. Yet, it appears that Beyoncé receives most credit for this chart topper. So, to my question with originality being the key to uphold freedom of creativity, maybe not if you’re already a renowned money producing artist. Nonetheless, even though it wasn’t her song to begin with, it was her creativity that brought it back and made it rise to the top of the charts. But what about the people that isn’t so fortunate and just wants to express their creative abilities?? I guess they will have to settle with video game systems and DJ Hero…

writing tables...dry erase board...palm pilots!! Hmmmmmm I see a trend here...

This week’s reading wasn’t as enthralling as I had expected, but it was interesting nonetheless. I actually found myself, inadvertently, really into the reading about table-writing. I must admit, my first reaction wasn’t too pleasing…the 41 pages kind of threw me off…luckily it was a fairly easy read. Anywho, the idea of a book of erasable leaves sounds kind of cool. In reading this article, the first thing that came to mind was a dry erase board; you write on it, erase it, write on it again, and so on. I happen to really like dry erase boards. They come in handy during study time, well….not necessarily for English students, but when studying science and those notorious chemical equations, a dry erase board is IDEAL!

Getting back to the article…

There was a point in the article about exercises that induce memory. Referencing Francis Goyet’s argument,

“Accumulation of commonplaces is pointless without selection and analysis. Recopying induces thought. The same sentence or anecdote can be classified under various headings, or the heading itself can be made more precise and explicit…the task of recopying, seemingly so rudimentary, is an intellectual exercise.

Oh how much I concur! Although this argument is directed towards the use of writing tables during that time, it also confirms how effective this “rudimentary” tactic is. Being that we’re students, pretty much finishing up the last bit of our curriculum, we all know that rewriting/recopying useful information is still a recommended study method. While writing tables are no longer used, this speck of overt awareness brings me to my beloved topic, the use of electronics. I will just shorten what could become a long, dragged out articulation of my thoughts and ideas by just simply stating that…computers took the place of writing tables. :-)

Now…as far as topics for the research paper, I am still a bit dense…more than likely do to my inevitable ability to…well I just didn’t give it too much thought. Nonetheless, seeing that I have this weird obsession with electronics, my research paper {of course} will display this verity.

Here are some ideas…

1. The internet vs. the library and how its effects on the current generation foretells what will come of the forthcoming generation

2. Does technology comprise some kind of inevitable dumbing down effect?

3. Will books lose their credibility: are they losing their credibility?

My thoughts on all three topics are pretty much equal so I’m kind of deadlocked…I {obviously} have some more thinking to do!!

Diebert

WOW! The longest reading thus far! I must say that this particular reading contained a mass of information...lots of note taking. Though interesting, I was surprised to learn that written communication transpired by way of the Church. However, I am not surprised that their dominance in the communications environment had gradually pulled them away from the practices of Church and more towards bureaucracy. “Their juristic education and bureaucratic experience did not tell them how to cope with the emotional religiosity and heretical inclinations of the urban communications.” Being that the Church is an entity designed to spread the word of gospel and a sanctuary of praise and spiritual bliss, its diminished power of written communication and thus its attempt transformation to a corporation verify that absolute dominion over civilization, or operating for profit, is not suited for a place of worship. There were some strange beliefs and practices revealed in the text such as letters themselves possessing a kind of Holy majestic power. Believers during that time wore pieces of parchment with letters inscribed on them for medicinal purposes. The thought of bestowing that kind of power and praise upon random letters sounds a little outlandish but I actually found it to be moreso fascinating than anything else. If you really think about it, words are said to be powerful, but what makes up the words….letters.

….moving on

As epitomized in my previous blogs, it’s no surprise that I apparently have an extreme fascination with technology and get a kick out of comparing it to the readings. Thus, it would be out of the norm to not, in some way, find something in the reading to correlate with today’s topmost method of communicating.

Let’s start with a quote from the reading…

“The printing press did not arrive on the European scene like a flash in the dark, but was the product of slow, converging social pressures for more efficient communications.” ----a statement that captured my interest early on in the reading, I thought it to be an appropriate parallel to a portion of our discussion in class relating technology with culture. From my understanding of the diagram that was drawn and the discussion, the two elements are directly correlated to one another. As we all know, technology emerged as a result of cultural change. It represents a progression or advancement in our way of living; it innovatively and resourcefully exposes our intelligence and our knack in manipulating and improving things for no particular reason except for mere amusement. But, nonetheless, technology has become somewhat of a byproduct of converging social pressures for more efficient communications. It began as something new and useful as a means of making life less arduous and more entertaining. It provided a more efficient way of keeping people connected with one another as well as a more competent way to obtain information. But as time went on and new technologies emerged along with the new augmented versions of them, it became more of an obsession.

This brings me to one of the questions on our handout,

The press led to fundamental changes in human psychology and social structuring. Do new technologies do this as well? How?

If you haven’t guessed already, my answer is yes. Technology has structured our way of thinking and behaving. I think how is pretty evident especially among college students. Not only has the internet (Google…and maybe others) took the place of going to the library, but I don’t know how many times people have had an epiphany of cell phones taking the place of the personal phonebooks or just simply memorizing phone numbers. How many times have your contacts mysteriously or accidentally gotten erased and you thought you were going to die??