From Computers and Writing (Computers and Writing)

I think by now you all know how much I love to add videos into my blog posts (You're welcome!). It should be no surprise to anyone that I went to YouTube to find a video that would help explain cyborg pedagogy. Unfortunately, I had trouble finding anything remotely related to it. I did find some really cheesy videos about cyborg teachers in the classroom. I actually wasn't going to post it, but i couldn't resist...



Ok, there you go...Outside of RoboTeach I did find a video essay by a student. S/he did their video on Sue Hum (Inman 105) and her quote in his book on technology and cultural gestalt. I tried to find it in the book, but I couldn't. If you find it let me know. it was actually pretty interesting. Here it is...



The last video I have is something I just wanted to throw in because I thought it was pretty cool. I can't remember what show I was watching, but this new type (or old because I'm not sure how old the show was) of android was being developed by a Japanese robotics professor named Hiroshi Ishiguro. This is like a life-like android that is supposed to feel, think, and everything humans do. It is the merging of man and machine: a cyborg. Hope you like it...

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (Latino Education Crisis)

Latino Education Videos

Just wanted to share a couple of videos I found about the author, and the subject of Latino/a education.

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (Latino Education Crisis)

Latino Education Videos

Just wanted to share a couple of videos I found about the author, and the subject of Latino/a education.

Digital Griots eBook

From Computers and Writing Class (Enculturation)

Digital Griots

The article I read basically reviewed the book, Digital Griots by Adam J. Banks. I caught my interest because it talked about using Hip Hop, Ebonics, and African Storytelling in the classroom. I am really interested in using Hip Hop music to educate students, and I think it could be used in a variety of ways to teach English, music, media, and performance to name a few. Of course, I went to YouTube to see if there were any videos about it. There are a few examples of it, but the ones below made the most sense to me. I think that using music/video to tell your story is an interesting way to get students involved in their own education. I wish I could have found a good Hip Hop video example though. Maybe someone else knows of one.

The article also talks about applying Hip Hop DJ skills to the remixing of text. It made me think of a poem performed by a poet named Faylita. She took two poems and "remixed" them together, making the "scratching" sounds with her voice. I think this is a great visual example of how to use Hip Hop, poetry, digital media, and rethinking text in the classroom.



I found one that was an old interview with the author about his thoughts.

Trayvon Martin sign in Dearborn

From Computers and Writing Class (Computers and Compositon)

Remixing

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S8755461508000704

http://www.rebirthofanation.com/

From Computers and Writing Class (C&C Online)

Image manipulation article

http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/ethics_special_issue/DEVOSS_PLATT/

Examples

Dove commercial

Beyonce

From Computers and Writing Class (Trolling)

Blog on trolling from class....

http://colethetroll.blogspot.com/

What is trolling? According to the blog: Wikipedia states that "In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[4] The noun troll may refer to the provocative message itself, as in: "That was an excellent troll you posted".

Check out the video



and this other article and video about a man who got jail time for trolling here...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-14894576

For Computers and Writing (C&C and Enculturation Journals)

Rethinking Muslim Women Through Visual Arguments

Two of the articles I read made me think about a commercial I recently viewed on a blog. The first article is about image events. According to the article: "Image events are a subcategory of visual arguments. More specifically, John Delicath and Kevin Deluca have defined image events as "staged acts of protest designed for media dissemination" (315) that offer a powerful way to appeal to audiences. That is, image events provide "fragments of arguments" that break away from established order, in opposition to common or conventional logic. They foster public discussion by offering fresh, new ways to look at issues at hand by supplying new claims and refutations that fuel debates in the public sphere" (Yanoshevsky 1). While probably more suited for political posters than a lingerie commercial, the article made me think about how the commercial is still very much a visual argument. It is designed in a creative way to make people rethink what they think about Muslim women. The idea that Muslim women are oppressed, docile, boring, and in need of democratic rescue is being directly confronted by the sexy images of the woman in the commercial.

The second article was about using Arab Spring in a first year composition classroom. I think it probably stood out to me as it is a social justice project. The articles defines Arab Spring as "a new kind of revolution—what Wael Gohnim calls, “Revolution 2.0”—where conventional forms of civil disobedience are transformed by the capabilities of new media technology. Its participants are Millennials who use technology to both innovate and compose as a means to demand change from their governments" (Lutz 1). It made me think about the different ways that media, social media in particular, can be used to bring about change. I've read about political bloggers and Writers Without Borders that have been targeted for doing something similar to Arab Spring. It made me think about the commercial because of the "hijab bans", murders of Muslim women like Shaima Alawari, and the belief that Muslim women who cover are being oppressed. While the commercial is not a direct confrontation to the governments that are supposed to oppress Muslim through forced covering (or uncovering for that matter), it does seek to change the way that Muslim women are viewed which may influence the governments that are trying so desperately to liberate them (if only they knew what was really underneath that veil).

FYI: it is a little "racy" but the twist at the end is cool.

For Writing for Social Justice (The Latino Education Crisis)

The Problem With Affirmative Action

The problem for some with affirmative action is that it "discriminates against nonminorities by offering opportunity on the basis of the color of people's skin rather than on merit" (36). The problem for me is that minorities have been discriminated against and denied opportunity on the basis of skin color rather than merit for longer than affirmative action has been in place. If there had truly been equal opportunity than there wouldn't have been any need for affirmative action. Are nonminorities really being discriminated against, or is the problem that they are no longer the ones who are being privileged?

My other problem is in the notion that minorities are being "victims" and somehow lowers their "motivation to complete on a level playing field" (36-37), as if there was, or would be, a level playing field without it. I also disagree with the notion that affirmative action gives minorities an unfair advantage and gives them an opportunity that they otherwise didn't deserve. It goes back to their being an equal playing field. If high schools were equal (and No Child Left Behind really didn't place certain children ahead others), then the minority students would be entering into college on a level playing field and the system could be based on merit instead.

For Computers and Writing Blog (Literacy in the New Media Age)

Next digital project idea?

Ok, so since a couple people have asked about what idea I was playing with in my head for my next digital essay here's the links. I'm not 100% sure how I would do it, but it would be something like this...

This is the theme song to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with the lyrics included just in case you've never heard it.

And this is what I would like to do although I'm not 100% sure I would use emoticons. I do want to show how images and text and sound all have a role in literacy. It might help to push play and then scroll down to the picture below. Let me know what you think.