Greetings all...

Maybe the function of presenting an argument has changed in the era of
information plurality?

Perhaps presenting audiences with the sources you find, and leading them to
form their own conclusions (or further source related clouds) is the
evolution of telling them how it is?

Certainly presenting your own opinion needs to be done in a more concise
manner, as a single byte which inspires further nibbles, but putting out a
well documented formal argument in the new media suggests a dynamic path for
receptive thinkers that may lead them far from your intended point, and in
my humble opinion, maybe that's ok.

Happy Holidays!

Lissa

On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 10:42 PM, David Rosen <DJRosen at theworld.com> wrote:


> Hi Bonnie, and others,

> Here's a YouTube video that you -- and your students might find interesting

>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

>

> Do you (everyone reading this) know what *mashup* means?

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup

>

> What happens when you combine mashup and publishing?  You might get Philip

> M. Parker, an accomplished writer (and publisher) of  85,000 books on

> Amazon.com alone (he has "written" perhaps over 200,000 books altogether.)

>  He holds a Ph.D. in Business Economics from the Wharton School of the

> University of Pennsylvania and has Masters degrees in Finance and Banking

> (University of Aix-Marseille) and Managerial Economics (Wharton). He also

> happens to be dyslexic.

>

> How does he do it? Are the books worth reading? Are these real books? Are

> they really "written" or are they "mashed up"? How big a difference is this,

> especially with the kinds of technical books Parker writes?  Is mashup

> software the new Gutenberg printing press for the 21st century? Should we

> all know about this? Should our students? How do you critically read a

> mashed up book? Same set of criteria as for other books, or some new ones,

> too? Has anyone read a Parker book? Tell us about it.

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_M._Parker

>

> David J. Rosen

> DJRosen at theworld.com

>

> On Nov 25, 2008, at 7:56 PM, Bonnie Odiorne wrote:

>

> David, and colleagues,

> Thank you for the timing of this article. I began my English composition

> class with some articles that appeared here, I believe, about the impact of

> technology on reading, and most particularly on newspapers. My students

> didn't seem terribly bothered about this, or about the fact that they may be

> reading in "sound bytes" (to mix a metaphor.) Coming now to the end of the

> course, I'm convinced more than ever that this is true for the majority of

> the students, who seem unable (or unwilling?) to sustain reading enough to

> trace an argument, or to perform analogous operations in writing. Of course,

> it sounds as if your article implies that the manipulations of a fluent text

> reader should be available to the fluent screen reader as well. But, as we

> approach Black Friday, I wonder if we've become consumers of the text as

> much as of the screen without doing more than scratching the surface. I gave

> the class an exercise of describing in detail an object in their possession.

> Most of them waxed eloquent about their cell phones: how "cool" they were,

> extolling their features to the extent that these descriptions became little

> more than product specs for the latest gadgetry. Far be it for me to decry

> the convenience of the cell phone; I'm the owner of a Smartphone, which I

> use to manipulate the texts of my daily life: schedules, memoes, and, if I

> could get Documents to Go to work, of actual texts and spreadsheets as well.

> Are we suggesting that visual literacy should proceed to critical literacy,

> analyzing these images, or learning to manipulate the technology to create

> yet more images? I can't wait to read the article to find out. I intend to

> use this text to end the class. Thanks for helping me come full circle.

> P.S. Some of these students are superb writers, or would be if they could

> shed their consumerism of both language and "stuff." Not the "stuff" of

> adult literacy, but many of our students are "underperforming" (how I hate

> that word) which means we as teachers need to meet them where they are.

> Gratefully yours,

> Bonnie Odiorne

> Post University Writing Center

>

> --- On Tue, 11/25/08, David Rosen <DJRosen at theworld.com> wrote:

> From: David Rosen <DJRosen at theworld.com>

> Subject: [Technology 1802] People of the Screen

> To: "The Technology and Literacy Discussion List" <technology at nifl.gov>

> Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 8:13 AM

>

> Colleagues, Can you read fluently? Of course, you say. But maybe not.

> Although I meant, can you read text, I also meant, can you read screens?

> Very few of us can. Some of our younger students are more screen literate

> than we are. Is screen literacy important? If getting to meaning, and to the

> truth, is important, screen literacy is as important -- some would argue

> more important -- than reading. However, "If text literacy meant being able

> to parse and manipulate texts, then the new screen fluency means being able

> to parse and manipulate moving images with the same ease. But so far, these

> 'reader' tools of visuality have not made their way to the masses." I hope I

> have tantalized you to read this short and fascinating article on screen

> literacy by New York Times writer Kevin Kelley:

> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/magazine/23wwln-future-t.html?_r=1 I

> would also like to invite you, when you read -- or see -- something that we

> in technology and literacy might be interested in, to post the URL to this

> discussion list. If we are a community of practice on this discussion list,

> then let's help each other to learn new things, think in new ways. Your

> thoughts on the article? David J. Rosen DJRosen at theworld.com---------------------------------------------------- National Institute for

> Literacy Technology and Literacy mailing list Technology at nifl.gov To

> unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology Email delivered to

> bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Technology and Literacy mailing list

> Technology at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology

> Email delivered to djrosen at theworld.com

>

>

> David J. Rosen

> DJRosen at theworld.com

>

>

>

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Technology and Literacy mailing list

> Technology at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology

> Email delivered to joyess1 at gmail.com

>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/technology/attachments/20081201/e7aeb082/attachment.html