Digital Story Assignment

When I first learned that we were to create a digital story I was more struck by fear than excitement. I knew that this assignment would require an immense amount of thought and time but that was the least of my worries. As we went over the requirements in class, I thought I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do- I was set on doing a story on an incident that had recently occurred and had a huge impact on my life. I saw this opportunity as a chance to give my classmates as well as others insight into my life and hoped that they would be able to take something important away from it. I sat in class and typed as though I was possessed and I had a huge script sitting in front of me by the time we left. The next day I examined what I had typed. I was mortified by how horrible the script was. I couldn't manage to paint the story the way I wanted to without it being too confusing and quite frankly, it would have ended up being more of a sappy love story than something other college students would enjoy watching.

I decided that it would require some outside help to even get started on this assignment. I paid a visit to our professor and shortly after sitting down, I poured out my situation. As I had suspected, there was no clear way to paint the picture that I wanted so that a wide audience would have something to take away. I did mention that if anything, I wanted my story to be very personal. I am the type of person that has no problem talking about the things that have occurred in my life and I honestly thought that by sharing them, some great things would come out of it. In a previous meeting, I had mentioned that I came from what I would considered a very backwards area- students rarely went to college and most people spent their entire lives there, never seeing a decent job or half of the opportunities that were possible out in this world. This had really caught our professors attention and she said I should consider that as a possibility. I instantly loved the idea and was shocked that I had never thought of that myself. That night I sat down and within 20 minutes I had my script.

My next obstacle was tackling the technology. I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to computers, I know barely enough to get by. This is what caused my initial horror at the thought of this assignment. Luckily, our professor did a great job at explaining things, so I dove in and decided to learn as I went along with the project. Luckily, working with the technology was not as terrible as I imagined. If anything, the time required to do this project was the only thing that was difficult.

I thoroughly enjoyed doing this project. I never thought that I would be doing something in class that I became so passionate about and felt like I needed to share with others. After my conference, I posted this video to Facebook and right now I think I have about 200 views. Several people have mentioned that they have shared it with their friends and that this really made them think. I expected to make some folks from my hometown upset, but fortunately, I only got one negative response. I love the fact that my decision to share a personal experience has inspired others and has stirred up thoughts within them that they probably would have never considered. I hope to do more stories in the future.

Digital Stories Inside and Outside of the Classroom

As Diaz and Fields explained, a digital story is meant to make the audience question certain assumptions and seek a deeper understanding of something different. With that being said, there are ways to get certain results out of showing and viewing a digital story. Two examples are inside and outside of the classroom. In an academic setting, a major point of using digital stories is to teach students about what they are- much like we are doing. From there students create their own stories more for the purpose of the learning experience than to really get something out into the world. Instructors could also use these stories to prompt specific thoughts and feeling among students. For example, if a class is discussing issues in the Middle East and they viewed Wall of Hate, students would begin to consider the morality and purpose of the wall and question what should be done about it and how they feel in general. From there, discussion would more than likely occur. In academia, digital stories are manipulated so that they either can get students to do certain things or make them think in ways towards an assignment.

Outside of the classroom, I feel that there is more to get out of digital storytelling. This mainly has to do with what emotions and thoughts that are brought out in people and what this leads them to do. In class, after watching one of these stories, a student would either do their assignment or have their discussion and that is usually the end. Rarely would a student continue to ponder what they had seen. In any other situation, however, it is likely that action can be taken. Although this is a stretch, I think of the Kony 2012 video as an extended digital story. It has a “so what”, a provoking question, and delves into peoples’ lives that creates something very personal. After viewing that, millions of people have been called to take action and a countless amount of emotions can be said to have also been provoked.

It does not have to be as serious as that though. Let’s say that a person decides to create a story about how an accident left them unable to pursue their passion. An audience member would be prompted to think about the loss of something special and as a result, think more carefully about what they have and appreciate it. Of course it is possible that a story in a classroom setting could provoke students’ emotions, but the usage is altered so that certain emotions are hit and then certain actions are done. All in all, it is not a difference of what the stories contain and are made up of, but a difference in how they are approached and used.

The Challenges of Group Work (or the Lack Thereof)

            Usually when I hear the phrase “group work” I cringe, groan, and would much rather not have to deal with it. I have had my fair share of awful group experiences since coming to JMU- people that I do not get along with, slackers, not being able to meet, staying up late at the last minute to complete the assignment. I am surprised and pleased to say that this has not been the case in GWRTC this semester. I have honestly never had a group that could meet on time, meet briefly, and get the work done as swiftly as possible.

            With that being said, it is very hard to come up with any challenges I have had from this project. If anything, I would say that splitting up the work has been hard. I feel that all of my group members are willing to work hard and equally contribute, but with some sections being easier than others or some having to be more concise than others, it has been difficult to make sure everyone has done their part. Plus, we have an extra member so we have really had to struggle to make sure everyone has something to do.

            I would not like to know what it is like to do this type of assignment on my own. I know for sure that it would not be as good as if I had additional help from my group members. There is a lot that goes into this project- surveying, researching, and of course the writing. I am definitely better at research, so I feel that I would end up focusing on that and not have as much put into my surveys. In the end, I feel that my audience would be left knowing a lot about the background of my topic but not necessarily what I have done to test that idea.

My Style and What I Have Learned About It

            The readings for this cycle have really opened my eyes to the type of writer that I am. I was surprised to learn that most college students do not dig deep into writing on a topic, take a lot of shortcuts, or simply have no knowledge of how to correctly go about writing a paper. Based on what I have learned, part of the problem is what we have been taught in high school, but I feel that I have avoided a lot of that. I need to take the responsibility to look at these things and grow as a writer here and now. This is college writing.

            I feel that I am not caught up in the modern day way of student cheating. I have been brought up to know that taking any credit or help from someone or something and making it seem as if it were your own is wrong and unacceptable. I am aware of the Honor Code that JMU has and I feel that I always follow it. When it comes to writing, I always cite and sometimes over cite to be sure that I give credit where credit is due. Whenever I do not know how to properly cite, I ask questions and do not leave the information there without any credit. If there is anything that I feel that I could improve in this area, it would be to ask more questions as to the expectations of professors to further avoid academic dishonesty.

            When it comes to research papers, I do feel that I have a lot of work to do. I wouldn’t say that I fit Kleine’s example of students, but I do gather a lot of information and for the most part summarize but make sure to cite it all. I would like to work on having more thought in my research rather than all writing based on what others have thought. The thing about college is that professor want to see what is going through your mind, not necessarily be presented with a bunch of information that already exists. Grasping these ideas is so important to me because I plan to go into research as a career. My life will be filled with writing articles and grants and I need to be extremely good at communicating my thoughts and interests as well as what has already been done on my topic of study.

            To go along with this, I want to become a better writer overall. Sommers made it pretty clear to me that what students lack is frame and a passion for what they present their readers. I do feel that I am able to be compassionate towards my readers, but I need to think more of the frame rather than the thesis based method. I want people to be able to read my work and not only be impressed, but feel that I have enjoyed what I presented to them and can see my thought process start to finish. I am very glad that we were given these readings to think about. I feel that our class will be able to produce some great research papers now that we further understand our writing processes.

This is How We Do It: Two Takes on Students in Today's Society

The readings that we had for this week made me think a lot. As a student, I never really thought about how I do my work and whether it is right or wrong- other than in the sense that it is marked right and gets me a good grade. It definitely took the class discussion for me to understand the whole picture that was within Nathan’s piece. I initially took it as she was calling all students out on not being proper students at all, but merely getting by with amazing cheating skills. I then realized that she was only pointing out information so that the audience could then make a decision. I was thoroughly surprised to learn that such an extremely high percentage of students have been found to participate in academic dishonesty. When I think of cheating, I imagine students looking of others’ papers during a test, improperly citing or completely forgetting to give credit to a source, or looking up answers during online tests. I never thought that working with a person on homework that confused you could be considered cheating.

            Before I came to college, I felt that my work would be solely my own, to be done all on my own. I’m shocked and annoyed that almost everything is group work. There are workshops for Chemistry, GCOM speech groups and even groups to take tests with in Biology. It seems as though teachers place- rather stress- the importance of counting on others to succeed in classes. I can see where this could be extremely misleading. Within the classroom, if group work is placed so highly, why is consulting others on homework so bad? I am in no way saying that copying answers is ok, but to discuss confusing work and put two heads together to come up with conclusions is perfectly fine. Professors are definitely projecting the wrong image by having so much group work in classes- that creates a dependence on others to have or come up with answers.   

            In terms of what Kleine had to say, I never thought about what my research writing actually consisted of. I admit that I am stuck in the high school rut up summarizing information from multiple sources to type a paper that wasn’t much more than a synopsis of a topic that I did not know much about. I also share a little bit of the experience of the academic writers as well, in the respect that I too do no writing until I feel that I have read and learned all that I can. Research writing is supposed to, yes, be a learning experience but one has to think too about all of the things that they are putting together and do more than repeat information that is already out there.

            I feel that both writers provide very relatable situations to students. I know that I often consider the true meaning of cheating and what society places on the meaning of cheating, as well as how I think I am conducting research. These are things that I know will always be with me, in terms of ethics and directly carrying out research. I know that I will take information from both of these sources and do a bit of reevaluation of how I carry out my work, but I feel that professors need to also consider these findings. Information like this is crucial to adjusting the learning experience so that students truly benefit and are not just getting by.

Cycle 1: The Experience of Reading Aloud

When I first found out that we had to read aloud, I was not too excited. I've always been a shy person, but when it comes to writing, I don't like reading aloud because I get worried about how awful my draft is. Recently, I started reading aloud as I wrote so that I could hear how my thoughts were coming out and catch awkward phrasing and such of my sentences. But reading to other people is something so different. Peers could find your style weird, or constantly pick on your ideas, or not even pay attention at all. I did, however, decide to go into this with a more open mind.
After seeing the comments, I knew that most of my work would be on editing, but not much was said about my actual ideas. I was just happy that I wasn't proven right on my peers being too critical through comments. I went second during my conference. I didn't rush through the reading or stutter a million times like I thought. It did take a while to read  but at the end, I was proud to have let them hear what I had to say. The feedback was what I expected- watch your little mistakes, don't get too long, do some rearranging. I liked this experience though. There's a difference between one seeing their mistakes and having someone say yes this is a mistake and here is how to fix it. And it wasn't like it was just suggestions on how to make the paper better. I received some positive notes which made me more confident about this project. I wouldn't mind doing this again. I really like this form of editing and besides these blogs, how we do this is something that makes this class different and special.

Now Back It Up: Sources for the Cycle 1 Project

Goff, Karen. "Social networking benefits validated." The Washington Times 28 Jan. 2009.

Google. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/28/social-networking-benefits-validated/?page=all#pagebreak>.

In this article, Karen Goff, who has written for The Washington Times since 1992, explains The Digital Youth Project which was a study by the University of California Berkley and the University of Southern California. In this study, over 5,000 hours of online observation were done among youth and found that skills such as self-expression, communication, and technology competence were improved based on the amount of time that was spent online. Mizuko Ito, who had a huge hand in writing the study, mentioned that by being on the Internet so much, young people were able to gain skills that are very necessary to survive in this time when technology is so essential. Social networking was a topic mentioned in terms that it helps youth expand their social circles not only by connecting to so many people that they know but also people from all over the world that share common interests. A main and crucial point that was made was that adults (in this case parents) need to accept that technology is an essential part of their children’s generation.

This is a very useful source, at least coming from the vision I have for my paper. It provides a specific example of the benefits of Internet usage and social networking, which I plan to focus on. At the end however, Goff begins to talk about how parents need to watch their children’s Internet usage which is totally true, but is irrelevant to what most of the article has discussed. Other than that, I would suggest taking a look.

University of Minnesota. "Educational Benefits Of Social Networking Sites Uncovered."

         ScienceDaily, 20 Jun. 2008. Web. 1 Feb. 2012

This articles discusses a study done by the University of Minnesota.The study included urban high school students ages 16-18 from the Midwest. 77% of those students had a profile on a social networking site and claimed to have learned skills such as technology knowledge, communication, and expression of creativity. Christine Greenhow, who works for the University, says that these are skills needed to be successful in this century and that this Internet uses has “tremendous educational potential.” As in the first article, adult cooperation is mentioned in the form of saying that educators need to consider what these students are learning and help them get more out of these skills.

            This article is much like my first, serving as a specific example, but focuses more on the social networking aspects as opposed to general Internet usage. It lacks some details, but I also find it interesting how education is brought into the conversation. I don’t feel that many people would openly bring up that potential when considering the benefits. I suggest checking out this source if you need a specific example for support.

Writing Revolution or Not?

            At this day and age, young people’s lives are crowded with social networking of all sorts and many look down upon that. Of course there are the Facebook fights and Controversial pictures and topics seen on Tumblr, but who should say that any of this is actually a waste of time? Clive Thompson makes a claim that a new literacy is emerging and I could not agree more.

            In my mind, literacy can be defined as effectively communicating one’s thoughts in writing while also being able to read others’ written thoughts and understand them. Writing does not have to be a whole book’s worth of thoughts or contain extensive vocabulary- writing is simply using written words to get a point across. Writing does not have to be about a great, famous person that lived long ago or an analysis on the production of certain proteins- writing can simply be about feelings and what interests you.

            If you asked many teens and young adults what they do in their free time, most would say that they get on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Tumblr (for a few examples.) On these sites you can see anything from little snips of conversation and thoughts in the form of tweets or page long life details in the form of blogs. This is how we learn to communicate with the world. We may not have advanced sentence structure or obsess over our syntax and word count, but we are using our writing to put our thoughts and feelings out into the world for others to see and reflect upon.

 A perfect example of why I appreciate this new age of communication involves Facebook. One morning I woke up and performed my usual ritual of checking my Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. As I scrolled down the Facebook page, I noticed that one of my friends’ statuses was very shocking and intriguing. She made a remark to the effect that all women are good for are cooking cleaning, and raising children. There were a large number of comments- so I knew I had to investigate for myself. At first, many comments were joking back with her, a few males agreeing here and there. But then I saw that another good friend of mine has commented and was not pleased in the least. She left a lengthy, upset yet respectful comment in reply. Another woman then entered the conversation, resulting in the two going back and forth, and one attempting to argue while the other just wanted her opinion to be heard and make no fuss. In the end, the two of them realized that while they may not agree with what the other is saying, they can accept their opinions and appreciate the fact that in any other circumstance, they would have never made conversation.

So you see, as much as one may find spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, these forms of networking allow for effective communication among many levels. The fact that students may not make good use of spell check and revisit grammar rules can be corrected but not being able to tell others how you feel and analyze others’ opinions can never be fixed if a person is not given the chance to use those abilities first hand- the way they chose to. Of course I can see that we need to work on handling lengthier texts and critical reading, but that can come in time. Skills such as those may not always be used in life outside of an educational setting, but communication is something we will always be faced with. If we cannot carry away the correct meaning of ethos, we should at least be able to simply write- take our feelings, opinions, daily experiences and turn them into something that others can enjoy and might even do the same in their own way.

A Little Bit On Rhetoric

Personally when considering this image, there is so much there. As I consider the rhetorical situation, this image is used in the context of shocking while bringing awareness to its audience of verbal abuse. The audience can be considered school age children as well as parents- the hand around the boy’s neck could either be seen as a bully or his own parent. The phrase “Your words have power use them wisely,” explains the purpose of why this image was created, to make people aware that words can be made into a weapon, and the pain can be much like that of physical abuse. This image works effectively at projecting a message because no human with a heart would like to see a little boy, tears in his eyes, being tortured by someone he fears or even possibly loves.

            Of the three: ethos, pathos, and logos, I find that there is significant use of pathos. This image captures fear and sadness thus causing the audience to have sympathy towards the boy or even anger towards his attacker. His expression and the simple tear coming out of his eye shows the pure innocence that he still possesses and the fact that he in no way has provoked the treatment that he is receiving. If one were to look even closer, words such as worthless, punk, and fool can be seen on the transparent hand whose grip is on the boy.  These words are harsh, and in my opinion, if they were uttered to me I would be upset as well. There is not much use of ethos, unless you were to consider how there is an appeal or connection made to the audience by the use of childhood innocence, considering they have all been children in their past. I do not see any use of logos, because there is no cited research or specific organization.

Found using Google: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1366&bih=620&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=nzJJaGbKX7TuJM:&imgrefurl=http://shentherapy.webs.com/traumaandrecovery.htm&docid=mCtHNcSOjrGUIM&imgurl=http://shentherapy.webs.com/Words%252520have%252520Power.jpg&w=480&h=348&ei=fZwYT7-FJ8a70AG41sGbCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=530&vpy=259&dur=84&hovh=191&hovw=264&tx=198&ty=137&sig=108757906225687038255&page=7&tbnh=126&tbnw=167&start=158&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:23,s:158

The Writing Process

I can completely agree with Anne Lamott when she says, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” Before I even begin to write a paper, a story, a written response, whatever it may be, I try to tell myself that could be bad and in most cases never that pretty, but you have to get it over with. However, in the end, I see my work as horrid and seek the nearest Writing Center for advice.

My writing process is pretty basic: become acquainted with the assignment, make notes, write all you can, and review/revise until you are happy with your work. Usually discussion in class can help me become quite comfortable with whatever it is that I have to do. If not, I read over the assignment sheet to give my brain time to focus in on the task at hand and think of all the things that relate to it. I never want to waste my time when I finally sit down to get the work done, so before my fingers ever hit the keys, I make sure I’m as ready as possible to talk about whatever I choose.

Once I know what I am doing, I make notes on all the stuff that I know I can write down, whether it is random facts or simply the organization and flow of what I anticipate the paper to have. This usually takes the least of my time during the writing process because I use so much time simply getting my basic thoughts together before I put them down.

Finally I begin writing the paper. I tend to be one of those Put-It-All-Out-There-At-Once kind of writers, so I allot myself a certain amount of time, briefly review my notes, and go from beginning to end attempting to cover as much as I can before I panic about what is actually in front of me. In the end, I end up having a million grammatical errors, some issues with sentence structure, but usually a pretty solid foundation for what the final paper becomes.

The main issue I have with my writing is my confidence. Every other instructor that I have had in the past either loves or hates my work. My style is very different and almost weird for a student, but after learning about such intriguing writers such as Poe, I want my writing to be totally and completely me. I feel that as long as I have the content correct I should be fine, but something always tells me that I need to please the audience not the assignment. Hopefully, I will learn to get over this as I enter my first college writing course. I plan on continuing seeking the help of other peers, professors, and the Writing Center once I finish my own shitty first draft, but not lack as much confidence in what I place in front of them.