Friday, January 20, 2012

Top Blogs

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2075431,00.html

Students are looking at some of the top blogs to get ideas on design and writing. For example, they may view a blog like "The Huffington Post."


Sample Headline from the Huffington Post.


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Gutenberg and Other Paradigm Shifts

Students are exploring three major shifts in communication:
  1. The shift from spoken and written word to printed page.
  2. The shift from printed page to the screen.
  3. The shift from broadcast media to new media.
And, of course, we are discussing all the significant ramifications that come with these shifts...

Monday, January 16, 2012

Screen Literacy and the New Media

Students in CM 410 are exploring the shifts taking place from the dominant old broadcast media to the democratizing new media. For starters, they are reading Kevin Kelly's NY Times Article, "Becoming Screen Literate," as a way to understanding how things work differently in this brave new digital world.

 For example, understanding this shift helps us understand why President Obama is doing a commercial for Marlboro cigarettes as the new face of the Marlboro man.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Smart Students & Smarter Comics

Students in Intro to Digital Literacies class are reading an excerpt from Chris Anderson's The Long Tail. They are posting thoughts about how cultural influence has shifted from broadcast media to new media.Ohm and did I mention that they are reading this NY Times bestseller in COMIC form? and in an ONLINE format? Yeah, these are pretty smart and savvy students! Check out their observations in their posts.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

My Students Look at their Screens When I Talk

photo by Randy Nichols
      Teaching a class where every student is "on the computer" most of an entire class period is a little unnerving, but necessary. Limestone students in CM 410 (Digital Literacies 1) are currently working to set up their blogs - trying out different templates, experimenting with colors and images, and adding functionality like a "blog list" to connect all our classmates into a social-networking community.
       Their first posts will be introductory reflections about their involvement with digital media - but they will also be reading and responding to Kevin Kelly's NY Times article on "Screen Literacy." Watch the blog list at the right of this column for their posts on these and other interesting reflections as they matriculate through this class and engage the Brave New World of Digital Literacy!