Challenges with Creating Digital Story

Creating my digital story definitely presented a few challenges, although it was nice having prior experience with iMovie. First of all, I found it difficult to record my voice for the narration of the digital story. Not having a microphone attached to my computer made it difficult not being able to have adequate sound. Most of it sounded ruffled and had a certain echo to it. To overcome this challenge I tweaked the sound settings once I created the voice over. I increased the pitch and decreased the surround sound. This really helped the quality of the voice over and was a great match for the digital story. Another challenge that occurred during the assignment involved finding the correct supporting material for my story. It took me a while to find the right video clips or pictures that went a long with my digital story. Some of the videos were too long or didn't exactly cater to my subject. I was able to get around this challenge by splitting up video clips that I saw important and just put it fragments so it wouldn't be too long and met my requirements. Overall I really enjoyed creating my digital story. I have always found an enjoyment in making videos and this project was certainty one that I enjoyed.

Digital Stories

I feel that digital stories are very valuable to academia. They hold this certain emotion or feeling that can propel one's thoughts or writing. They do this through their pathos and point of view. Having a soundtrack back up a digital story has a tremendous effect on the viewer if it goes along with the story. For me, I definitely enjoy watching digital stories. It gives me a deeper sense of what the author is proposing as their topic or argument. The use of either pictures or videos clips gives the story a great foundation and structure. Outside of academia it can also be used as a valuable resource, but sometimes gets misused in this modern day. Today's digital stories are becoming more and more creative and elusive, especially now that Youtube is expanding and becoming a great place for publishing your videos. However there are instances when they are not used for their true potential. In all though, digital stories are a great place for forming and stimulating your writing.

Cycle #2 Project

For this cycle project we were assigned to work with our groups on collaborating on a topic concerning one's writing process. I feel that there are a few advantages and disadvantages on a group paper. First, it was nice to know that you had two other people in the research process coming up with sources. It was also nice to get two other point of views on the topic at hand. The hard part about that was forming our thoughts down to one in the paper and meshing everything together. Its also hard to divide up different parts of the assignment and come together and realize the paper goes in different directions. I feel that if the project was done individually the paper would have turned out a lot different. Of course the tone of the paper would be different, but also the flow and subjects addressed would cater to the beliefs or ideas of the individual. Finally, you could work on your own pace and not worry about others finishing their parts of the paper. Overall, I felt that our paper turned out to be very successful and I enjoyed the group project.

Sommers Piece

The readings from this week and the past week have made me become a lot more aware of the importance of a solid writing process. Sommers piece, “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers” made it clear to me that I can make a lot of improvement to my writing process of revising. Experienced writers see the process of revisions embodying a lot of steps, whereas for me revision is on the back burner of my priorities while writing a paper. I definitely spend the least amount of time on revision, making me focus on the finish line without concentrating on cleaning things up in my paper. I feel like if I devoted more of my time on revision, I could produce a more proficient piece of work. There are numerous things that go into ones writing process, but now I have a better sense that the act of revision is key if you want to step into a whole new level of writing.

"The Art of College Management: Cheating"

I really enjoyed reading Rebekah Nathan's article titled "The Art of College Management: Cheating." It was able to give a better view on the reality of cheating. It also shows professors how to accommodate good work and how to instruct students in the correct way in order to avoid cheating. Her conclusion was that there is really no one reason why students cheat, we need to understand the nuances of it. And then she further goes on to talking about the importance of cultural relativism which looks more to the group than an individual. It took an in depth view of the atmosphere in which the student is involved with, such as a university. I agree with Nathan on her conclusion of cheating. Even though much of cheating is directed towards the student themselves, which it rightfully should be, there are other factors that coincide with cheating itself. I know for myself that my surroundings definitely affect my writing process. Sometimes it can be a positive or negative influence depending on the situation. When a teacher is deliberate with the assignment and explains the goal effectively it gives me a sense of confidence in my writing and therefore propels me to achieve success without outside assistance.

Reading our paper's Aloud

Reading our paper's aloud in the conferences was very interesting to me. I have not had to do this before in previous writing classes. At first it was kind of weird reading it aloud, but once I got further into my paper I felt more comfortable. I think that reading it aloud is very beneficial to you as a writer. It allows for pier review not only from your teacher but also fellow classmates. Everyone was very engaged and helpful in giving advice and pointing you in the right direction. I thought it was also convenient because by reading it aloud, you are able to pick up on certain mistakes throughout the paper and pin point what you may have done wrong. Over all I think that the conferences and reading aloud is a successful technique in improving one's writing.

Cycle 1 Project

Kleinman, Zoe. "BBC News - Children Who Use Technology Are 'better Writers'" BBC News - Home. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8392653.stm>.

1. This source from BBC News talks about how technology has improved children in becoming better writers. It gives numerous statistics about the advantages of technology for children. For example, “Of the children who neither blogged nor used social network sites, 47% rated their writing as "good" or "very good", while 61% of the bloggers and 56% of the social networkers said the same.” They also pose the question, does technology damage literacy? They came back to say that their research was conclusive in that the more forms of communication exposed to children, the stronger their core literacy skills were.

This source is a great reference for the cycle one project, especially if you hold the belief that the new social media does not hinder but strengthens literacy. I found it very interesting to look at all the data they collected. It gives you a better sense of how involved children are in technology. People probably do not realize it as much, but children are taking advantage of all the tools at their fingertips and are exuberating new forms of creativity.

McIntosh, Ewan. "Blogging Improves Young People's Confidence in Their Writing and Reading." Ewan McIntosh | Digital Media & Learning. 17 Dec. 2009. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. <http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2009/12/blogging-improves-young-peoples-confidence-writing-reading.html>.

2. This article, “Blogging improves young people’s confidence in their writing and reading”, is also about the evolving social media having a positive impact on literacy. It takes numerous statistics that form around its belief. It says that the social network, such as blogging which has the ability to publish your own ideas, improves students’ attitudes towards writing. At the end it addresses the concern of having people take a closer look at the implications of the new technology and having it implemented into school environments.

I also found this article to be useful for the cycle one project. I like how they used statistical evidence. I thought it was essential for them to mention that the technology in the classroom won’t be as effective unless the student’s are in the hands of a good teacher. I believe that the new social media can only go so far but with the help from educated ones you can progress to new levels and improve your skills. Those skills can they be utilized in creating productive and successful pieces of work on the internet.

New Literacy

I found Clive Thompson’s article on new literacy to be very interesting. It offered insight on crucial research performed that made his argument persuasive. After thinking about it for a while, I have come to the conclusion that I agree with Clive Thompson. The new social media out there, such as texting, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and so much more has introduced a whole new process of creative and productive writing. Although I am not a frequent user of all these programs, it is evident that they have shaped my writing experience. Being able to post a status update or post a comment, gives you a sense of pride in your writing. Knowing that you have an ‘audience’ at hand, you want to impress and make a statement. This generation has the ability and access to express their opinions and thoughts on absolutely anything you can think about. All the way from sharing their favorite food to articulating on their political views. Yes, you will run into the occasional nonsense or inappropriateness over the social media, but the marginal value is exceptional. People don’t have to wait for the right time to convey their thoughts, they just write. And then in an instant other see, others argue, others agree, others believe. We are witnessing a truly amazing time period. We need to embrace it, not flee from it. 

The rhetorical situation in this ad is the act of trying to persuade people that Apple computers are superior to PC. As you can clearly see Apple has no bandages on, whereas PC is covered with them. This implies that PC has many faults with their system and breaks down easily. The clothing in the picture can also represent another rhetorical situation. PC could be for the more business savvy customers because of the formal clothes he is wearing and Apple could cater to the artistic and media arts side because of his casual clothes. This describes the audience for the rhetorical situation. The use of pathos is evident in this ad. Although they are not trying to invoke sympathy or sadness for PC’s with the ad, I feel as if they are reaching out to the customers who can relate to all the failures of PC and spark anger.

Writer's Profile

The art of writing has never come easy to me. I feel like I am always dreading the idea of putting words to paper. Either I get distracted while writing or I have no motivation to progress through the paper. A lot of the times I will have a great idea and start to express it out loud or in my mind and then once I come to typing I get a blank stare and forget all the good thoughts put together. Thankfully a lot of this stress of writing and forgetting ideas has been aided by a good writing process given to me a few years ago.

I have been taught to gather all my thoughts on the specific subject for the assignment and write them down on paper and keep going until I can think no more. I then start jotting my main ideas down on note cards that I will refer to later on in the paper. The note cards might consist of examples or topics. After I have done this I start writing a rough outline with no perimeters. Then once I have gotten a better feel for the assignment I start with my thesis and state what I will be addressing in my paper. The thesis statement usually contains three main topics that will fill my body paragraphs. I then jump back to my note cards for examples to help me write my body paragraphs. Finally I end with my conclusion paragraph that restates the thesis in a new way.

After I have finished my paper, I go back and check over everything, but mostly my body paragraphs to make sure the examples and ideas are correct. This writing process so far has worked for me. There are numerous times however that I will get stuck on my own thoughts and not know where to go next, especially on the rough outline where I have little structure. Another challenge with my writing process is that it poses the problem of straying away from the topic of the assignment because I have formed various ideas throughout the procedure. In all, I feel very comfortable with my process, but I am also open to new and interesting writing techniques.