From the Field
Taxing Oil for Education
Today I’ve taken my first year composition class to hear a talk by state assemblyman Alberto Torrico about AB656, a bill that would create a tax on oil and gasoline produced in the state, to fund public education. Logical arguments offered in favor of funding higher ed: for every dollar spent on higher ed., more than... »
As I make my way through the first week…
I notice that my students are far more focused on “serious issues,” compared even to last semester. As Higher Ed. suffers more cuts, tuition rises, and as health care reform has stalled, they seem to not only be looking harder at all issues, but looking hard at many issues. Many seem to have realized... »
Center for Innovation, Creativity and Access to Knowledge
We, a broad coalition from over 20 countries, of hundreds of thousands of citizens, users, consumers, organizations, artists, hackers, members of the free culture movement, economists, lawyers, teachers, students, researchers, scientists, activists, workers, unemployed, entrepreneurs, creators… We invite all citizens to make this Charter theirs, share it and put it into practice. We invite all governments,... »
Viral Video
When people talk about viral videos, memes, and such, they mean videos or more generally ideas that spread (especially online) as if they have a life of their own. This video by Anthropology professor Mike Wesch was originally put online in 2007 and now in 2009 has be viewed almost 10,500,000 thousand times. It... »
What Really Happens When You Contact Tech. Support
This is a brilliant post by one of my favorite web comics, XKCD. This one is #627. »
Interesting and Useful Websites
There are any number of websites that might enrich our understanding of how technology, new/digital media, and the internet are affecting our lives. Here are a few of them: Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier, from Frontline. According to them, Digital Nation is a new, open source PBS project that explores what it means to... »
Site updated again…
So I changed the theme again. The previous theme simply wasn’t functioning as expected and the theme-author’s website didn’t offer enough info for me to fix things myself. So I am trying this new theme. It doesn’t have everything I want either, but the missing bits are ones I know how to change/add/fix, which... »
Upgraded at last
I have changed to a new theme. Now I'm working on customizing it and will soon start adding material for my fall classes. »
Notes on “The Gaze”
Here is an excerpt of what looks like an interesting collection of notes on looking, seeing, and the gaze. Notes on ‘The Gaze’ Daniel Chandler Introduction I make no great claims for these somewhat fragmented notes which are offered by way of introduction to students concerned with examining the functions of ‘the gaze’ in the visual... »
Composing Composition: A presentation by Kathy Rowley on using technology in a First Year Writing Class
Kathy used technology in a variety of ways in her first year writing class, English 1002. She has created a power point presentation to illustrate how. I converted a very elaborate PowerPoint presentation into a PDF, so apologies for it being a little rough–the fault is mine, not hers. Later this week or early next... »