tfw fall 2012 daily homework

About Homework Assignments

The assignments that are listed on this page are to be completed before class starts the day they are due. The latest assignment will be placed at the top to reduce scrolling.

For Tuesday, December 11

Please watch the Gaylor’s documentary, RiP: A Remix Manifesto; Lessig’s talk, “Laws that choke creativity,” and read Kevin Kelly’s, “Becoming Screen Literate.”

Please also watch Faith by Robert Kendall, Language by Stephen Fry, F**K You by Cee Lo Green (note, there are bad words in Cee Lo’s video), Changing Academic Paradigms by Sir Ken Robinson (you can watch part of it), and Siftables by David Merrill. When watching these texts, think about the nature of text itself and how it is being presented here versus traditional print media.

Also, because they are related to Twitter, you might see the (grumpy) article, “Thanks for Not Sharing” from today’s New York Times, and the response in The Atlantic‘s Tech blog, “Your Anti-Social Media Rant Reveals Too Much About Your Friends.” These are not required readings.

Continue working on the module project. Screenshots of all writing spaces (except Facebook, which you’re still not supposed to be using) are due on the blog by class time. After your Facebook holiday is finished, you can capture a screen shot and your blog post.

If you have questions about anything, let me know.

For Thursday, December 6

Please watch videos by Parise, Roy, and Hardt. Continue tweeting and blogging, and working on the module project.

As part of our readings on identity and the connection between ourselves and the spaces and texts we use, I would like you to stop using Facebook until after class Tuesday, December 11. That is, you are not allowed to log in to or interact with anyone on Facebook for one whole week. You do not need to delete your account, though it is fascinating what happens when you try to do so. So your friends don’t freak out, your last status update should read something like, “Quitting Facebook for a week as a class experiment” or something like that. Of course, you can just stop using it and see what the results are, as well. After your last update, you must log out.

If you do not have a Facebook account, I would like you to stop using another online space that you use often or stop using another technology that you regularly use (such as, text messaging). Twitter is not an option for quitting since we are using it for class. Talk with me after class about which you will stop using.

As a way to collaboratively record and share what we are thinking about being without Facebook, I’d like you to tweet whenever you think about going to Facebook (or that other technology) and tweet what you are thinking/feeling. @reply to each other as often as possible. Add the #tfwf2012 hashtag to all these tweets.

Compose one blog post in which you discuss what it has been like to be without Facebook (or the other technology). How has it impacted you as an individual? As a member of a group of friends? As a student? And so on. Also think about it in terms of who you are as a professional. This post will take the place of one of your required weekly posts.

Note: this assignment is adapted from one originated by @academicdave.

For Tuesday, December 4

Please read Kevin Kelly’s “We Are the Web” and watch the following videos:

“An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube” by Michael Wesch (note: 55 minutes):

“As Real as Your Life” by M. Highland, which starts at the 10:00 minute mark in this TED talk by David Perry:

For Tuesday, November 29

Please read the following:

We will be discussing these essays and getting introduced to Twitter on Thursday.

Remember that you have two blog posts and 2 blog post responses comments on classmates’ blog posts due each week for the rest of the module, so get started on those. And start working on the module project.

For Tuesday, November 27

This assignment is going to build on your ideas about writing spaces discussed in the last assignment, and get us starting thinking about ideas for the main module project, by asking you to use a writing spaces that I suspect none of you have used before: Writer.

Writer is a browser-based distraction-free writing spaces with a visual look which borrows from the days in which computer screens were black with green text. It also borrows from the typewriter. When you go to Writer, the screen initially looks like this:

You’ll notice that you have the option to create an account and also update Preferences so you can change the colors, spacing, sounds and other things. This is what the space looks like when you start typing:

For Tuesday, I’d like you to complete the following:

  1. Go to Writer. Read the home screen instructions thoroughly. Create a Login by registering for an account.
  2. When complete, click Go Back and you’ll be taken to the main screen.
  3. I’d like to spend about 15 – 20 minutes writing the space. While writing, discuss what it feels like to write there, how it is different than, say, writing in Microsoft Word or on paper or even on Facebook. Think about the affect the colors of the space are having on you. You might even go to the Preferences and turn on the typewriter noise and see what that is like. By the end of your discussion, I’d like you to consider how the composing environment itself is impact the resulting text.
  4. When finished, be sure to save your document by clicking Save down toward the bottom:
  5. We’ll be discussing your experiences in Writer during class on Tuesday as part of our discussion of Bolter. Please be prepared to discuss both.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

For Tuesday, November 20

Updated 11/19/12 to clarify some things.

Please read the following:

  • Jill Walker Rettberg’s “What is a Blog?”
  • the Blogging assignment

Thinking in terms of what you know about blogging (from the readings and first hand-experience) and other online writing spaces compose a response in which you consider Bolter’s discussion in “Introduction: Writing in the Late Age of Print” (which you read for 11/15) on pages 12 – 13  under the heading, “Refashioning the Writing Space.” Think, for example, about what Bolter states in terms of the redefining visual and conceptual spaces of writing, writing’s changing “material and visual field,” and the changing ideas about the metaphor of the writing space. Your response should be 500 – 750 words. It will become your first blog post. In your response think about something you might link to in order to help illustrate your point.

After you have composed your response in your Word processor of choice, I’d like you to post it to your blog. To post, follow these instructions:

  1. Go to wordpress.com.
  2. Log in using the login information you used in class on Thursday.
  3. You will see your username in the top right had corner. Hover over it with the mouse. You will see your blog name appear. Hover over your blog name, and then click on Dashboard just to the left when it appears:
  4. In the left sidebar, hover over Posts and click on Add New:
  5. Paste in your response. Add a meaningful title that will be useful for people outside of class who might find the blog via a search (that is, don’t call your post “response 1” or “my post”). Be sure to break apart paragraphs and add a link or links where possible. To add a link, highlight the text you want to be clickable and then click on the chain-link icon:
  6. If you wish to add an image or embed a video, click on the Upload/Insert media icon and follow the instructions:
  7. When complete, click the blue Publish button to the right.
  8. Watch the magic appear.

Part of the Blogging Assignment asks each group to add brief Bios for each blog member on the blog’s About page. To access and edit the About page:

  1. Click on Pages in the left sidebar.
  2. You will see a list of pages, which will probably only consist of About. Hover over that area and click on Edit.
  3. Delete the default text that is there and add the following:
    1. a brief description of what the blog is about
    2. a short bio for each blog author, discussing what you will be focusing on in your posts (it’s okay to speculate and it can be changed later)
    3. each blog member should compose their own bio and add it to the bios that are already there.
  4. When finished, click the Update button, which is where the Publish button is on the Add post screen.

Remember that class is not meeting on Tuesday, November 20. On Tuesday, however, I will be posting homework for the following Tuesday, November 27.

You’ll notice that I have added each of module blogs to the blogroll in the right sidebar of all pages of the module web site.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

For Thursday, November 15 (First assignment for Module 3)

The assignment for the first meeting of the module will start us thinking about the spaces in which we write and how they have evolved. Please read Bolter’s “Introduction: Writing in the Late Age of Print” which is downloadable from the Readings page and watch the following videos:

Marshall McLuhan on media (only 39 seconds)

Douglas Engelbart 1969 demonstration, Part 1

Douglas Engelbart 1969 demonstration, Part 2

Michael Wesch, The Machine is Us/Using Us

After reading Bolter and watching the videos, go back to the text and select 3 passages that you think help us understand or think more critically about what is happening in the 2 Engelbart videos and The Machine is Us/Using us. You don’t have to have anything written; just come with the passages highlighted and ready to discuss them.

If you do not yet have a Twitter account, please sign up for one at http://twitter.com (if you have one, you may use it though please update the bio, etc., to conform to the assignment). Twitter works best (especially for our purposes) when the username is professional and you are authentic. For example, my username is: billwolff (http://twitter.com/billwolff), and I use my full name to show who I am. My account is unlocked. Please sign up with a professional username, use your real name, and keep your account unlocked. We’ll be using Twitter in a professional way so there is no need to keep anything private. Make sure you have your username with you for the first day.

Also, please read the syllabus and module description.

For Thursday, November 8

Please watch the Gaylor’s documentary, RiP: A Remix Manifesto; Lessig’s talk, “Laws that choke creativity,” and read Kevin Kelly’s, “Becoming Screen Literate.”

Continue working on the module project as well as the Twitter assignment.

If you have questions about anything, let me know.

For Tuesday, October 30

Please watch videos by Parise, Roy, and Hardt. Continue tweeting and blogging, and start on the module project.

As part of our readings on identity and the connection between ourselves and the spaces and texts we use, I would like you to stop using Facebook until after class Thursday, November 1. That is, you are not allowed to log in to or interact with anyone on Facebook for one whole week. You do not need to delete your account, though it is fascinating what happens when you try to do so. So your friends don’t freak out, your last status update should read something like, “Quitting Facebook for a week as a class experiment” or something like that. Of course, you can just stop using it and see what the results are, as well. After your last update, you must log out.

If you do not have a Facebook account, I would like you to stop using another online space that you use often or stop using another technology that you regularly use (such as, text messaging). Twitter is not an option for quitting since we are using it for class. Talk with me after class about which you will stop using.

As a way to collaboratively record and share what we are thinking about being without Facebook, I’d like you to tweet whenever you think about going to Facebook (or that other technology) and tweet what you are thinking/feeling. @reply to each other as often as possible. Add the #tfwf2012 hashtag to all these tweets.

Compose one blog post in which you discuss what it has been like to be without Facebook (or the other technology). How has it impacted you as an individual? As a member of a group of friends? As a student? And so on. Also think about it in terms of who you are as a professional. This post will take the place of one of your required weekly posts.

Note: this assignment is adapted from one originated by @academicdave.

For Thursday, October 25

Please read Kevin Kelly’s “We Are the Web” and watch the following videos:

“An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube” by Michael Wesch (note: 55 minutes):

“As Real as Your Life” by M. Highland, which starts at the 10:00 minute mark in this video talk by David Perry:

For Thursday, 10/18

Please read the following:

Thinking in terms of what you know about blogging and tweeting (from the readings and first hand-experience) compose a response in which you consider Bolter’s discussion on pages 12 – 13 (from the reading for 10/16) under the heading, “Refashioning the Writing Space.” Think, for example, about what Bolter states in terms of the redefining visual and conceptual spaces of writing, writing’s changing “material and visual field,” and the changing ideas about the metaphor of the writing space. Your response should be 500 – 750 words. It will become your first blog post.

For Tuesday, October 16 (First day of Module 2)

The assignment for the first meeting of the module will start us thinking about the spaces in which we write and how they have evolved. Please read Bolter’s “Introduction: Writing in the Late Age of Print” which is downloadable from the Readings page and watch the following videos:

Marshall McLuhan on media (only 39 seconds)

Douglas Engelbart 1969 demonstration, Part 1

Douglas Engelbart 1969 demonstration, Part 2

Michael Wesch, The Machine is Us/Using Us

After reading Bolter and watching the videos, go back to the text and select 3 passages that you think help us understand or think more critically about what is happening in the 2 Engelbart videos and The Machine is Us/Using us. You don’t have to have anything written; just come with the passages highlighted and ready to discuss them.

If you do not yet have a Twitter account, please sign up for one at http://twitter.com. Twitter works best (especially for our purposes) when the username is professional and you are authentic. For example, my username is: billwolff (http://twitter.com/billwolff), and I use my full name to show who I am. My account is unlocked. Please sign up with a professional username, use your real name, and keep your account unlocked. We’ll be using Twitter in a professional way so there is no need to keep anything private. Make sure you have your username with you for the first day.

Also, please read the syllabus and module description.

For Tuesday, October 9

Please watch the Gaylor’s documentary, RiP: A Remix Manifesto; Lessig’s talk, “Laws that choke creativity,” and read Kevin Kelly’s, “Becoming Screen Literate.”

Continue working on the module project as well as the Twitter assignment.

If you have questions about anything, let me know.

For Tuesday, October 2

Please watch videos by Parise, Roy, and Hardt. Continue tweeting and blogging, and start on the module project.

As part of our readings on identity and the connection between ourselves and the spaces and texts we use, I would like you to stop using Facebook until after class Thursday, October 4. That is, you are not allowed to log in to or interact with anyone on Facebook for one whole week. You do not need to delete your account, though it is fascinating what happens when you try to do so. So your friends don’t freak out, your last status update should read something like, “Quitting Facebook for a week as a class experiment” or something like that. Of course, you can just stop using it and see what the results are, as well. After your last update, you must log out.

If you do not have a Facebook account, I would like you to stop using another online space that you use often or stop using another technology that you regularly use (such as, text messaging). Twitter is not an option for quitting since we are using it for class. Talk with me after class about which you will stop using.

As a way to collaboratively record and share what we are thinking about being without Facebook, I’d like you to tweet whenever you think about going to Facebook (or that other technology) and tweet what you are thinking/feeling. @reply to each other as often as possible. Add the #tfwf2012 hashtag to all these tweets.

Compose one blog post in which you discuss what it has been like to be without Facebook (or the other technology). How has it impacted you as an individual? As a member of a group of friends? As a student? And so on. Also think about it in terms of who you are as a professional. This post will take the place of one of your required weekly posts.

Note: this assignment is adapted from one originated by @academicdave.

For Thursday, September 27

Please read Kevin Kelly’s “We Are the Web” and watch the following videos:

“An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube” by Michael Wesch (note: 55 minutes):

“As Real as Your Life” by M. Highland, which starts at the 10:00 minute mark in this video talk by David Perry:

For Tuesday, September 13

Please read the following:

Thinking in terms of what you know about blogging and tweeting (from the readings and first hand-experience) compose a response in which you consider Bolter’s discussion on pages 12 – 13 (from the reading for 9/11) under the heading, “Refashioning the Writing Space.” Think, for example, about what Bolter states in terms of the redefining visual and conceptual spaces of writing, writing’s changing “material and visual field,” and the changing ideas about the metaphor of the writing space. Your response should be 500 – 750 words. It will become your first blog post.

For Tuesday, September 11

The assignment for the first meeting of the module will start us thinking about the spaces in which we write and how they have evolved. Please read Bolter’s “Introduction: Writing in the Late Age of Print” which is downloadable from the Readings page and watch the following videos:

Marshall McLuhan on media (only 39 seconds)

Douglas Engelbart 1969 demonstration, Part 1

Douglas Engelbart 1969 demonstration, Part 2

Michael Wesch, The Machine is Us/Using Us

After reading Bolter and watching the videos, go back the text and selection 3 passages that you think help us understand or think more critically about what is happening in the 2 Engelbart videos and The Machine is Us/Using us. You don’t have to have anything written; just come with the passages highlighted and ready to discuss them.

If you do not yet have a Twitter account, please sign up for one at http://twitter.com. Twitter works best (especially for our purposes) when the username is professional and you are authentic. For example, my username is: billwolff (http://twitter.com/billwolff), and I use my full name to show who I am. My account is unlocked. Please sign up with a professional username, use your real name, and keep your account unlocked. We’ll be using Twitter in a professional way so there is no need to keep anything private. Make sure you have your username with you for the first day.

Also, please read the syllabus and module description. The syllabus will be updated by class-time on Tuesday.

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