Unit 1 Draft

From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technology by Dennis Baron

Link: www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/pencils.htm

The Authors Project:

The authors project was to tell the history of the pencil, a very early on technology, and how the invention of it led to the invention of today's modern computers. It draws on the similarities and differences of the two inventions and how they impacted out world today.

Genre/ How did the project influence the genre:

 I think the genre of this piece is an essay. Its very informative and tells the information of the creation of the pencil. It goes into history such as who made the pencil, what it was first made from and how the costs. For example, the author states “writing technology remained cumbersome and expensive.” This essay then goes on to talk about how the creation of the pencil (an early form of advanced technology) led to the creation of modern-day technology and the similarities between the two processes. “The introduction of the telephone shows us how the pattern of communications technology takes shape” after the pencil.

Did it succeed?

I think this project was successful. The author provided straight forward and clear information which seemed like their goal. The piece doesn’t seem very biased either as it simply provides history and information about technological inventions. Furthermore, the pictures throughout the essay are a nice break but still provide relevant information. Each picture is also cited making the essay seem very reliable and a credible source.

How does this fit into the larger conversation of our topic? (use direct quotes):

Our class is about technology and how it can be helpful and adapted to writing. The invention of the pencil, an early form of writing technology, led to the creation of phones and computers which are more forms of communication technology. Today writing is majority done on a computer, thanks to the technological advancements. The author states that “the computer has indeed changed the ways some of us do things with words and the rapid changes in technological development suggest that it will continue to do so in ways we cannot yet foresee.” This proves that our world keeps changing, and quickly at that due to technology. Computers and the future technology will continue to have a large impact on writers and how writing is done.

SOURCE 2

The author’s project 

"Students Views on Technology and Writing: The Power of Personal History" 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S8755461505000174 

The Author, Susan Kirtley, conducted a series of surveys and experiments to see how students felt about the mixture of technology with writing. This was done in the 2000-2001 school year at Umass Amherst. The most important feature of her research approach was listening to the students. The purpose of her analysis was to determine how a sampling of students viewed technology and how these views influenced their experience in computerized writing labs. Results varied, students that had early access to computers were more likely to want to use them in writing as they had expert knowledge while it was more difficult for students without early childhood access, some choosing paper and pen over the computer. The misconception was found that professors assume that all students are tech savvy. 

The genre of the source and how the project may have influenced the genre, and also how the genre may have influenced the project 

Genre is experiment/research, The project needed this genre because actual test subjects are the basis of the findings. Without the experiment, this author would have nothing to back up her claims of technology and writing formats and techniques.  

  Did it succeed? 

I believe this project did succeed. The author was able to get a conclusion that didn’t necessarily match her preconceived ideas of students using technology for writing purposes. The only issue with the experiment was the size, it was quite small and testing a larger number of students may have given more accurate numbers however it was strong in the aspect that the students tested all came from different backgrounds and were different years in school.  

How does this source fit in with the larger “conversation” about your topic? 

This piece is perfect for our larger class inquiry because it basically experimented the exact class we are all taking part in currently. I think it would be interesting to ask similar questions to our class to see if similar results occur. All students have different views on technology and writing and although technology is so prevalent in today's age, there are still students who prefer to write old school pen and paper style. Not everybody is ready to convert to technology and forget the ways of writing we grew up knowing. 

Use some direct quotes from your source here! 

"As writing instructors, we need to consider the part of the composing process we may not see and what students are likely to experience when they do write with computers." 

"I believe that students need to be acknowledged and taught as individuals in regards to their level of computer literacy and that computers merit specific attention in the courses we teach." 

"I believe that we should try harder to understand students’ perspectives on the use of computers in their academic work." 

 "What, I wondered, did the computers in our composition classroom mean to the students? Did they help, or hinder, the students’ experiences of writing as a form of action, capable of influencing change?" 

"this article expresses some of these stories generally hidden from an instructor's perspective and reveals that, despite what the media might tell us, students are not as prepared to utilize technology as we might assume. "

The author’s project 

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=1%2C33&as_ylo=2018&as_vis=1&q=digital+influencers+and+their+roles+in+shaping&btnG= (first link on the page, opens as a PDF) 

"Digital Influencers and Their Role in Shaping Public Discourse" 

This project was a real time speaking series that was turned into a PDF brochure for readers. The talk featured four speakers who focus on the topics of digital influencers challenging the ways of traditional media. Community members and celebrities have been replaced by people gaining popularity on social media. Social Media influencers have such a large following of people listening to everything they write and put out on the internet, what effect does this have on the public discourse? 

 The genre of the source and how the project may have influenced the genre, and also how the genre may have influenced the project 

This project is informative but also biased. I believe the live question and answer provides the informative format however it was four different speakers giving their opinion on social media influencers which is going to give very biased information. With this live question and answer it allowed the project to come to life rather than just reading this project on a piece of paper. The PDF version also includes pictures of the speakers and moderators making you feel as if you were watching this project live when it first was presented at the TRT World Forum 2017.  

  Did it succeed? 

I believe this was successful. The author did a great job of turning this into a readable PDF. Besides the content, the display and pictures of the PDF really brought it to life and it didn’t feel like I was reading some boring article. Furthermore, I think the speakers provided great insight to the topic of social media influencers and how they are impacted the world with what they put out as content. Because of this, they have a huge responsibility to put out meaningful content that isn't offensive-which doesn’t always happen.  

How does this source fit in with the larger “conversation” about your topic? 

I think this fits perfect into or larger class inquiry. Before the internet and technology is was much harder to get ones writing out to the general public. Now, in 30 seconds what you write on the internet can be seen by millions all across the world. With this in mind, you should be very conscious of what your writing on the internet, especially for social media influencers who have huge followings. What you write on the internet should be used for good and should not include anything offensive or fake. Technology has made it incredibly simple for anyone to share their thoughts within a matter of seconds.  

Use some direct quotes from your source here! 

"Social media has allowed the world to be constantly and conveniently connected with different people around the globe, allowing the breakdown of international borders and cultural barriers." 

"Panelists emphasized how conventional, traditional media is being challenged by digital platforms in terms of its cost, speed and diversity." 

"Community members and celebrities have been replaced by people gaining popularity on social media." 

SOURCE 4

The Authors Project:

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/545/if-you-dont-have-anything-nice-to-say-say-it-in-all-caps


In this podcast, Lindy West talks about her life as an online presence and how she deals with the many tools in her life. Every single day, she receives hate comment after hate comment about her work, her body and her life. Everything she puts out onto the internet is fair game for trolls to hate on her about. In this one podcast specifically she talks to what may be her first troll ever but plot twist, he apologizes for what he did and why he did it. He's the worst troll but also the only one to apologize.

 The genre of the source and how the project may have influenced the genre, and also how the genre may have influenced the project 

This raunchy story of what happened to Lindy West was very informative on the struggles of dealing with online trolls. I loved this project because it didn't hold anything back, it was real, didn't bleep out curse words and she didn't hold anything back about her life dealing with trolls. I loved this podcast because I was able to hear her speaking which brought her story so much more to life--not to mention hearing the voice of her troll as he actually agreed to do an interview with her!

  Did it succeed? 
This was the most successful source I looked at. I love podcast because you get to hear the emotion in a persons voice. Lindy was so passionate about internet trolls and how to deal with them that it made me feel better about all the horrible people on the internet. I also liked how she brought her real life into this--such as the death of her father and how a troll used that against her. 

How does this source fit in with the larger “conversation” about your topic? 
Because the internet is so prominent, anything you write and post online will be loved...or hated by hundreds and thousands. Because writing is so digitalized now, people can comment on your work or send you hate in a better of seconds. Furthermore, due to this it may make people not want to write anymore, due to the fact that they are scared of receiving hate comments. I write for Syracuse and I'm always so nervous to post my articles online and see how people will react to what I put out onto the internet.