I liked how Maranto and Barton related online social networking technology to the things that used to go on a generation ago, like; cruisin’, the high school yearbook (or annual), and courtship rituals, love notes, ‘going steady’ (39). I was thinking back to my high school days and would have loved to have a site like Facebook to keep up with friends and family. Mine was the age where we could call home from college once a month for 5 minutes because it was too expensive (my dad was frugal), I still call him and talk for a minute and then he says he has to hang up so it won’t cost me too much, even when I explain I have free long distance. We couldn’t even talk to our friends long because living in a rural area, we had a “party line” and believe me, it was no party! Neighbors shared the same line. I love the way I can be connected to other people.
Maranto and Barton quote a college professor: “Facebook can be a medium for faculty, staff, even administrators to be in contact with students, and maybe provide a little adult guidance.” (39) I talked to one of my other classes today about the News article that Jeremy posted about the Rigby school district trying to stop teachers from using Facebook with students. There was a good debate, with most of the BSU students siding with it being a breach of individual free speech, etc. The prevailing theme was that we needed to be able to meet our students where they were, and keep up an online presence with them in order to be relevant. This would be part of our digital literacy, and if it is not going to be taught at school, where else can they learn it or have it modeled effectively and discuss pros and cons of usage? (besides at home) We should be able to use the classroom and class social networking to help teach students appropriate behavior. Maranto and Barton then suggest that the “collective presence” of “adults” might be able to alter students’ online behavior. (39)
Manovich talks about databases and the vast amount of material that is being collected and processed endlessly. An example I thought of this week was a common problem with high school students ( and maybe all of us) with the endless amounts of information available online. My class was doing a research paper and had spent so much time researching and collecting information that they felt overwhelmed in writing the paper and deciphering all the relevant information. Some was out of date, they spent too long searching and following links and not enough time processing the information and writing.
Manovich also spoke of our computer interaction with games as narratives that are ruled by the logic of algorithms the player must execute to win ( 197 -online text). This provides a continuous loop between the user and the computer as the user tries to build a mental model of the computer model he is experiencing. He is trying to uncover its underlying logic. Any of us who have played games or tried to play Guitar Hero know this feeling of trying to keep up, figure out or beat the computer.
In the art world of new media, Manovich explains that a single artistic piece can now have multiple interfaces providing different versions of the same work. If there is only one version then it is just art; it is the multiple versions and interface that make it new media (200). The advances in technology make art more interesting for those of us who are not purists. Even in our classrooms, students are used to being visually stimulated and want more variety, pictures, graphics versus the texts and presentations of the past and I am sure this is going to continue to grow. Are we going to be able to hold their attention if we are not digitally literate ourselves and provide them with opportunities to express themselves, create digitally and learn as much as they can about this new media?
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