This Semester

This semester had a lot of hands on work this semester, which was great. I learned how to blog, how to analyze a website rhetorically and redesign it effectively, I had the opportunity to revise a previously published wiki page, and I learned how to use 3 new social media sites.

I enjoyed learning all of these new technologies.  I had never blogged before, which made for a learning curve.  I have only ever had a Facebook account, so struggled a bit trying to figure out del.ic.ious, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Learning curve number two.  The hardest part here was the time constraint.  I barely have time to keep up with one account, never mind figure out 3 more, make a specific number of significant posts, and gain some kind of a following.  The group projects were enjoyable because they dealt with revision of already published work.  My group and I worked well together, and accomplished great things.  I enjoy revising others’ work, so I found this talk to be fun.

The lack of guidance was really hard for me.  I have anxiety, so having someone to answer all of my questions about a topic is crucial to my performance.  A couple of times this semester I was unsure of how to go about an assignment, and spent time stressing over that and the fact that I couldn’t figure it out on my own.  This was especially noticeable in project 2, the social media bundle.  I was not sure of the minimum amount of posts (with the exception of Twitter), I didn’t know what to post on the sites I was unfamiliar with, and had a hard time with it.

Another tricky aspect was the fact that many things came due at once.  Projects were due on Friday, along with a list of Sakai work from the night before.  It was hard to work through this pile.  If I didn’t have Fridays off I probably wouldn’t have gotten all my work in.

Other than that, I had a good semester.  I learned a lot, explored some parts of technology I never thought I would, and grew as a writer.

response to reading

Rebecca Blood’s blog was all about blogging and the history of blogging.  In her blog, she left this quote “An audience is passive; a public is participatory. We need a definition of media that is public in its orientation. –From “A history”.  To me, this is a brilliant statement.  Blogs are always there to read on the internet.  Whether or not we read them is our own choice.  Regardless, blogs are public, free for all to access.

pre-write, project 4

I am very excited for this project.  I love to peer review and this is my chance to make a difference on someone’s already published work!  Shannon and I are both Rhode Islans natives, which led us to use the wiki for Westerly.  As I read through the hot spots in Westerly, I off the bat noticed that some of the places listed no longer exist.  To remedy this, I will look through every listed location and make changes as necessary (changing phone numbers, updating websites, deleting places no longer in existence, and so on).  Shannon will be helping me with this while cleaning up some of the grammar and taking all of the necessary screen shots.

Pre-Write, project 3

Very wary about the group project.  I have a very busy schedule and worry about having sufficient time to meet with my group.  We have decided to analyze and fix up amazon.com.  The site as it is has a lot of unnecessary white space and is very long and unorganized.  We plan to clean up these problems and make the site more user-friendly and greatly improve the navigation.  Shannon and I will be working together on the navigation while Kelley and Gil tackle the wire frame together.  Our meetings thus far have been exhausting due to their late start times, but overall successful.

Pre-Write, Project 2

I am very worried about this project. Not only and I unsure of how to portray the negatives of social media on social media, I worry about the time constraints and learning 3 new social networking sites.  I only use Facebook, yet have to understand the logistics of Twitter and two other sites in only a few days.  I have decided to use Pinterest to post other activities on (distractions from social media) and I have decided to use del.ic.ious. to post all of my links to.  I hope I can figure out these sites fairly quickly so I can post all of my information and gain a following before the due date.

Pre-Write, Project 1

For this project, I will write about the correlation between computer mediated communication and communication apprehension.  I am a senior communication major, and have studied/researched both of these areas extensively.  My first few posts will be definitions and theories surrounding these areas, and my posts from there on will relate more to my readers.  I will include quizzes, articles, videos, and other media I can find on the subject to make my topic come alive and spark interest.  I worry that this topic is too research based, but I will use my own skills and advice from the instructor and other trusted individuals to make executive decisions and make this blog interesting and fun.

Response to Bullock

Purpose:  examples of purpose are to explore our thoughts and emotions, to express ourselves, to entertain, record, communicate (page one).  Every piece of writing can have more than one purpose, but everything has a purpose.

 

Audience:  Everything has an audience.  We write to cater to our audience, while changing word choice, breadth and depth of descriptions, and vocabulary.  In a scientific essay, written for scientists in that field, we would include more jargon and less descriptions than if we were writing it to someone with less training or experience in the field.

 

Genre: Kinds of Writing, to include books, letters, essays, websites, etcetera.  Each genre requires different aspects and delivers the message in a certain fashion.

 

Media/Design:  Every medium we use conveys a message a bit differently.  In a face to face conversation, our verbal and nonverbal cues show.  In a phone call, we must describe our nonverbal cues (gestures, expressions, etcetera) because our receiver cannot see them.  In an email or text message, we must describe everything we are thinking, to ensure our receiver gets the whole message without confusion.  For example, we can not use sarcasm via email because our tone of voice is not conveyed.

CARP Response

CARP, better referred to as CRAP, is a way we can enhance our writing to make it more readable and may enhance our reader’s understanding of our subject.  If we don’t follow these guidelines, our writing could look like crap.  This is effective with all kinds of writing, but mostly with websites.  Each aspect refers to making a website easier to read.  I will employ this when improving amazon.com with my group and when analyzing websites rhetorically in the future.

CARP Summary

C: Consistency

-Grabs the attention of readers

-Helps the readers’ eyes navigate a page correctly

-Helps the creator establish the main focal point

-Helps distinguish unrelated articles from each other

-Shows relationships or non relationships spatially

 

A: Alignment

-All things on the page are lined up

-Makes the entire page consistent in design

-Increases readability for our readers

 

R: Repetition

-Consistent navigation in a website promotes ease of use

-Can help to connect thoughts and items

-Creates a link between relationships of items

 

P: Proximity

-“relationships that items develop when in close proximity”

-When items are close, they appear to belong together

-When things are close yet unrelated, confusion begins

-This is how we distinguish headings from subheadings and other text

Project 4 Post Write

Shannon and I worked very well on this project.  We found it very enjoyable to read through the Westerly wiki and make changes based on our research.  We found businesses listed that are no longer in business, made changes to phone numbers and websites, and so on.  We did this to ensure tourists of Westerly can use the page properly and know exactly what to expect on arrival.

It was empowering to change someone’s work.  I like the process of peer review, and deeply enjoyed being able to change work already published on the Internet.  Shannon and I found no trouble with this project.  We used before and after screenshots to display our work, which we uploaded to the dropbox on our Sakai site.