Wysocki & Lynch: A Rhetorical Approach to Communication Ch. 1 & 2

I noticed in the first two chapters that Wysocki and Lynch were discussing the importance of context, audience, and purpose in regards to communication.  These are the important concepts that Bitzer discussed in his writing about rhetoric.  Obviously if audience, purpose and communication are being repeated in various works, then they are extremely important for good communication.

I really enjoyed how the Wysocki and Lynch reading gave important tips for how to perfect a communication project.  There were great examples that helped to reinforce the information.  The best tip was to create a statement of purpose.  I feel that this is similar to a thesis; however it seems that the process to create a statement of purpose is a great way to develop what the communication project will focus on.  A statement of purpose is great for mapping out an outline so that the communication stays clear and goes well.

I never really understood what context mean in regards to rhetoric.  I figured that it was what was in the speech and that's it.  In Wysocki and Lynch they explain the importance of forming the communication project context around where the project will be shown and what event or occasion the project will be shown at.  By considering place and occasion, the creator of the speech can see what is appropriate to include and what should be left out.

Copyright, Web Ethics, and Open Sources

 Copyright:

While copyright laws are great for protecting the artists and creators and their works, it seems that most copyright laws are pointless.  As stated on this web page, copyright infringement is hard to monitor.  To me, it seems that copyright infringement is not only hard, but extremely hard to nearly impossible. There is no way to catch every single person that may be committing a copyright crime because there are millions upon millions of people participating daily.  The governments cannot hunt down every single person and track their computer use.  It would be a waste of time and resources.  The best that governments can do is to help prevent copyright abuse by shutting down sites that rely on it, like Limewire which allows users to upload songs and download songs for free.  It is next to impossible to stop all abuse, but it is a start to try and prevent it.


Open Source, Open Culture from DJ Spooky:

I can honestly say that in regards to music, I have bought blank CD's and put songs onto the CD's to give to friends.  However, every song that I put on came from a CD that I owned already or a song that I owned already.  I do understand that  this may still be copyright infringement, but I believed when I was younger that it was okay because I was not selling the songs.  As DJ Spooky said, the number one selling CD is the blank CD.  I can completely relate to this because when I was in junior high and high school, the cool thing was to make a mixed CD for your friends.

Ethics of Web 2.0:

I never knew that there were true sharing sites and fake sharing sites.  I always thought that Youtube allowed users to use songs as long as they list them and that when I downloaded a picture off of a site like Flicker, I was just saving the picture.  However, I understand how Youtube is a fake sharing site.  I remember trying to find a video online that one Youtuber had talked about in their vlog.  The video was one that was made by them, however Youtube had removed the video due to copyright issues and then put the video back up, and then they took it down again.  I can't really remember why the video was taken down, however the video was made by a user.  Maybe it had songs or other clips that Youtube thought went against their rules and regulations for sharing.

Lloyd F. Blitzer: The Rhetorical Situation

What is a rhetorical situation?  From what I gathered from this piece of writing, a rhetorical situation includes a response that fits the events at the time, creates responses that fit the events at the time, and a true rhetorical situation always has three main components which are exigence, audience and constraints.

Exigence, as defined by Mr. Blitzer, is an imperfection marked by urgency.  The audience is who the rhetorical situation is being applied to as in who is listening etc.  And constraints are anything that change the exigencies.  Mr. Blitzer stresses the importance that a good rhetorical speech will not only be applicable to present events but also that a rhetorical situation will create responses from the audience that are fitting to the events and content of the speech.  He gives a great example using President Johnson and the events that occurred during is presidency campaign.

I can't seem to figure out how this applies to digital media.  I felt that the reading was more fit for a philosophy class, but I did like how Lloyd Blitzer stated that most readers will think of the perfect thing to say after the fitting situation has passed.  It happens to me all the time.

Internet Access and How It Affects Technological Literacy and Fluency (Rought Draft)

Internet Access and How It Affects Technological Literacy and Fluency

Wireless access is offered to students on almost every college and university campus in the nation.  Michigan Technological University offers Rovernet to students, which allows them to be anywhere on campus and still have wireless internet because of hotspots and guest access.    Even though the school offers internet on campus, students who live off campus are responsible for internet at home.  Michigan Tech offers Microsoft programs and anti-virus programs for students with personal computers, but there is no off campus internet program available.  With Michigan Tech being one of the most expensive universities in the state of Michigan, many students who attend receive one or many forms of financial aid.  Some students may not be able to afford paying monthly for internet at home; therefore they may spend a majority of their time on campus in labs or the library just for internet access. 

In today’s time, access to the web is a vital component in achieving a college education.  If the internet went out for one day the campus’ electrical infrastructure would fall apart.  Without internet access students cannot submit assignments, check school email, or look up research that is not in print.  For those students who cannot afford monthly internet, their desire to learn and their interest in taking future internet-reliable courses may decrease greatly.  Their grades may suffer and so would their overall stress level. 

A university cannot expect students to become literate or fluent in their lives if access to resources is not offered.   Literacy is the capacity to understand one’s goals.  Becoming literate in technology requires comprehension of tasks and troubleshooting as well as the understanding of the technology that is being used.  Being fluent in technology means that a person has learned the skills, concepts, capabilities, and domain specific knowledge of the technology that they are using (Williams 5).  A student cannot become literate or fluent in technology if they do not have access to the resources that are specific to technology and without the access, they will not have the interest in becoming literate (Williams 6).  Some resources that are essential to access are internet, computers, and basic knowledge of working devices.  A student must be competent, comfortable, and poses confidence in the basic tasks that relate to accessing technology (Blackmon, Samantha. "(Cyber)Conspiracy Theories?; African American Students in the Computerized Writing Environment." Labor, writing technologies, and the shaping of composition in the academy. (2007): 154. Print.).  Without competency, comfort, or confidence access will be affected because the student will not have interest in the access.  Literacy and fluency in technology are directly affected by access.

A simple solution for students who lack the economic resources to pay monthly is a mobile broadband USB device.  A mobile broadband USB device would allow students to have access to the internet any place in the country, whether it is off campus or on.  It may be more convenient for students to add the cost of the mobile broadband device to their tuition bill at the beginning of the semester.  The worry of being able to afford the monthly bills and the stress of being on campus all the time would be decreased or eliminated.  By offering an internet source that can be used anywhere off campus, Michigan Tech would be increasing the students’ access to technology. 

Access to technology for university students would be changed in many ways because location, economic resources and time affect interest, which in the long run affects access.  Location would not be an issue because the internet could be accessed in the students’ homes.  Their time would be saved because instead of having to drive all the way to campus or arrive early on campus to finish an assignment or do research, students would be able to access their assignments at home.  The extra ten, twenty, or thirty minutes could be applied to their work.  Income would not be as big as a problem as before because the university could offer the option of adding the extra cost to tuition instead of paying out of pocket each month for internet from a company such as Charter or AT&T, which can be costly.  AT&T offers a mobile broadband USB device for customers.  The no commitment price is $239.00.  Michigan Tech could offer the option to rent a device per semester or year.  Not only would it be more cost effective for the students, but there is the potential for an extra source of income for the university.

Internet has formed an important role in technological access.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, seventy-one point four percent of individuals in Michigan accessed the internet from some location during 2009.  Out of the population of Michigan, seventy-three point eight percent of residents lived in a household that had internet access in 2009.  The interest to use this essential technological resource is there, but it is still a challenge for some college students including the students that attend Michigan Technological University.

As Kate Williams stated, “Literacy is power…Computer literacy standards  might be a way to bring everyone up,” (Williams 9).  By simplifying access to resources, technological literacy would increase.  The access to resources could increase the interest and desire in students to learn and discover.  A mobile broadband USB device would not only influence the technological access of students, but it just might lead them to becoming literate and possibly fluent in technology.  Wireless access is offered to students on almost every college and university campus in the nation.  Even though the school offers internet on campus, students who live off campus are responsible for internet at home.  This restriction affects technological access, literacy, and fluency of students all across the nation and at Michigan Tech, whether it is obvious or not.

Internet Browsers and Their Affect on Access

There are many, many internet browsers available for use today.  Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, FireFox...with so many it is hard to decipher which ones are the best.  When talking to different people, it is apparent that some have a browser that they love to use.

While in my first semester of college I had to download FireFox because I needed it for a chemistry program.  I had only used FireFox once or twice before when Internet Explorer would stop working.  I found that FireFox was okay, but it was nothing compared to Google Chrome.  I loved Google Chrome because it was so quick and I could customize my background.  I also had all my favorite sites organized on tabs.  And then an unthinkable thing occurred.  My laptop went crazy and deleted Google Chrome.  On its own!  I freaked out and ever since I have use FireFox on my laptop because I became so used to how it works.  While I still haven't figured out how to set favorites or view browser history (mainly because there are no tabs on top of the browser) I have become used to the layout and to me it seems fast enough.

One of the main sources of information that people consume comes from web sources.  Because of this, which browsers people use affects their access to information.  If a browser is slow, then the amount of information that people consume is limited.  It it truly astounding that speed affects information processing.  A faster browser is preferred over a slower browser.  Modern society is infatuated with speed.  The faster something can get done the more can get done.  If a browser is lighting fast, then that allows more work to get accomplished and it makes the user happy.

Speed is affects access exponentially.  If something is slow, like a web browser or internet connection, then that may decrease the user's interest and the amount of time that they have to see information.

(Cyber) Conspiracy Theories

Growing up in a predominately white community, I never really thought that technology could be racially prejudice or that it could stereotype certain racial groups.  The concept that minority groups must become a cyber human, giving up their race and beliefs in the virtual world is odd.  I cannot understand why anybody including minority groups cannot be themselves while they interact online or with technology.  Especially the internet where everyone is connected.

The statistics that go along with race and computer use make sense.  Minority groups may not have access to computers however I do not believe that this only applies to minority groups.  The predominate races in our country also have their demographics that have not used email or have access to computers. 

One of the quotes in the article was expressed by an African American male who believed that it is a miracle that minority groups are allowed to browse websites because he believes that the internet is run by Whites who have control over what is posted on the internet.  To me this seems dramatic, but for all I know it could be true.

One of the main themes of this article seemed to be that by being misrepresented online, the interest for minority groups to use technology was/is low.  This lack of interest is one of the causes for minority groups being behind when it comes to technology use.  Interest is one of the factors that affects technological access.

Growing Up Digital

While this post is late for my Digital Media Class (I posted on the wrong reading) I still wanted to discuss this reading.

Palfred and Gassee discuss what it means to be born digital.  They use the term "Digital Native" to refer to the generations that are born into technology.  Somehow this mean anyone after 1980.  In their introduction they give examples of how Digital Natives are affected by being "native".  One of the examples is that an eight year old may be able to beat you at video games.  This is common.  My little brother who is nine is better than me at video games, but this is because he owns practically every gaming console there is.  I on the other hand only owned a Super Nintendo (so I could probably beat him at that).

The authors stated that while Digital Natives may have great qualities there are some annoyances, such as how most Digital Natives do not know how to write emails or letters correctly or that most do not even know what a library card is.  First off, I take extreme offense to this.  I was born in the early 90's but I know what a library card is and how to write a proper email or letter.  Just because I am considered a Digital Native does not mean that I am naive and stupid when it comes to "old fashioned" technologies.  It seems that while the authors are saying us Digital Natives are smart, we're stupid at the same time.  I do remember printed letters because I still write printed letters. 

Being able to have the technical knowledge be at such a high level allows younger and younger generations to change their environments.  The term "Digital Immigrant" was used to categorize the people who were born before 1980.  While I know that my mom can use a computer, operate a digital camera, and figure out Facebook, my grandparents may not know how (In reality my grandma was one of the people that taught me how to use a computer and how to type).  The older generations are being taught by the younger generations.   Advancing technologies are shifting the roles of mentor and student.