Remediation

I have found this topic very interesting and important but at the same time very hard to understand. It is really complicated. While I was reading it, I had to look at the dictionaries in order to get the meanings of the terms that I didnt know. More over, I myself as I am not a native spearker need to think for a long time on a every idea expressed. Fortunately, It is very good that I can read the other comments from my colleagues which makes it easier to understand and get the ideas. 

I agree that media has been playing a very important role in the recent years. It has been the a means of connecting the people a round the world. In this chapter, we can find out about all the medias that people are accessing in the world. There is mentioned about the comparison of the old media with the new media. I am sure that by exploring new technology we can bring facilities to our education system.

Cameo Performance

While I was prepping to teach I came across a clip of Marshall McLuhan making a cameo in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall on YouTube.  Enjoy.

“The Medium is the Message”:The “Message” of English 518

In the above assigned article, McLuhan discusses how human interaction and association are shaped by the medium of technology–the impossibility of a night baseball game without the medium of electric light in the article, but for the purpose of this post, let’s discuss the human interaction and association in English 518 made possible through the medium of blogging.

The other courses that I am taking this semester, and the majority of the courses that I have taken, exist for me every Tuesday at 6 PM; Monday at 4 PM; existed for me Mon-Wed-Fri from 9-9:50–these are/were the periods of time that interaction/discussion and the trading of views and learning took place.  Sure, time during the week was spent in preparation and research, but the interaction occurred briefly on a scheduled basis.

The human interaction and association occurs more often and on several levels through the medium of blogging, with distinct advantages.  Like other courses, discussion and interaction time is scheduled for 3 hours per week.  However, additional interaction takes place via the blog, at the leisure of the student to the advantage of all.  In class, when one student shares a thought, it really isn’t feasible for all students to respond and discussion to occur; whereas the blog offers a real opportunity for all to respond and a time limit isn’t an issue.  In addition, each student has time and opportunity to review the post, re-reading key parts and shaping a response, resulting in a higher quality of discourse.  Such discussions can take place over the course of the semester, involving all students or could exist as a primarily one on one exchange. 

By posting and commenting to posts, and reading comments to your own posts, and responding, etc, etc, the “message” of the class is enhanced through the blogging medium.  I think other classes would benefit from using blogs; just today I left class with several comments left unspoken, questions unasked, and the comments and discussion that did occur felt rushed–which has occurred all to often in “good” courses.

“Remediation: Understanding New Media”: Jargon Assistance

Before you read the above titled article, you may want to review several key terms, or you may seem confused when confronted by concepts such as remediation, mediation, immediacy and hypermediacy. Texas Tech University’s English Department hosts a glossary page, which helps to define the key terms repeated throughout the article.

“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”

I am struck by a parallel between the Walter Benjamin reading and the Wikpedia article introduced by Dr. Tryon.  Benjamin discusses how a work of art’s value evolved with the advent of mass reproduction, which allowed the majority access to art, once only accessible to the few and to those willing to travel sometimes thousands of miles.  If there is one Mona Lisa, it’s a long trip to see her, but if replicas and snapshots and jpegs exist, then everyone can experience her with little effort.  True, the experience might be different standing before the original (primary source), but the ease and simplicity outweigh the difference. 

 Is this not the same issue inherent in the Wikipedia issue?  The established rules require a student to travel to a library, spend hours in the card catalogs and stacks, finding more useless information than usable, with a low ratio of time spent to results gained.  But soon journals are published online, as well as a growing number of other texts, such as novels, poems, textbooks, encyclopedias, etc.  Searches and filters maximize effective research, eliminating the experience of reading several chapters in a book, looking for something that isn’t there.  Perhaps the internet sites haven’t reached that scholarly potential yet, but in time, it will. 

 Artists were concerned about the value of their art during the “Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” similarly, teachers and researchers are concerned about the value of information and research during the age of information reproduction.  True, the first reproductions of paintings had many flaws, but soon the reproductions improved.  The same will hold true with the internet.  There will be many flaws at first, but improvements will be made.  For more insight into this emerging field, I highly recommend the various works of Dr. James Porter, professor at Michigan State University.  His field of expertise and research lies within the changing roles as they relate to the internet and interconnectivity.

Portrait of the Blogger as a Young Man

I wanted to share some interesting information I found at the new blog for Robot Wisdom(the auxilliary site)–the second site that Dr. Tryon pointed out to us during class on Jan 23.  Under the link for Miracle Cure for Diabetics I found a fascinating article about some research Canadien scientists are doing with diabetes, lab rats and hot peppers.  While the findings are preliminary and as recent as December, it is fascinating to know that perhaps in a decade or two a cure for diabetes might be marketable to the public.  This just goes to support natural remedies–I mean, hot peppers…a cure for diabetes?  More research of this kind should be conducted when looking for cures and treatments, rather than trying to create cures from scratch or treating the symptoms.  As a result of this highly interesting and promising article, Robot Wisdom has found a spot on my “Favorites” menu, and believe it or not, I am regularly reading a blog now.  May I also suggest Tom’s Astronomy Blog, which offers day by day updates concerning space exploration, including pics taken by Hubble(beautiful!) and many other satellites and telescopes.  Link up!

Against Wikipedia

Interesting article from Inside Higher Ed on the decision by the Middlebury College hsitory department to prohibit their students from citing Wikipedia in papers and in other academic work.  Obviously we won’t be talking about Wikipedia until much later in the semester, but it’s interesting to see an entire department taking such a clear stand against Wikipedia as a source.

Readings Available

The readings are now available on the library’s course reserves page. Apologies for any confusion.

Update: Edited to correct embarrassing typo.

Sofar I have read the article, I found all of them very interesting and important and it is why I didnt have any specific comments about them. I just wrote my  comment of engaging students in political disscussions. It is because using  the blog in a writing class will enable the students to express their ideas freely and get busy in an written debate.