My provost just sent some of my colleagues a link to this article on games and literacy: But doubtful teachers and literacy experts question how effective it is to use an overwhelmingly visual medium to connect youngsters to the written word. They suggest that while a handful of players might be motivated to pick up…
Beautiful, beautiful 1980s introduction to “sophisticated word-processor” technology. Similar:The Princess and the PaintFriday night, my daughter will be playin…AestheticsA big day for our first year writing students! So much energy in the room! AcademiaThe Decline of Wikipedia: Even As More People Than Ever Rely on It, Fewer People Create ItI’m getting ready to introduce…
My student Dani Choynowski, a double-major in new media journalism and theatre, is a very busy woman. She’s getting top-notch grades in two challenging majors, her hand is usually the first one up during workshops or discussions, and she’s always ready with some connection to the world of theater or Harry Potter. Last semester, as…
I just attended an inspiring talk by Benjamin Ajak (one of the Sudanese “Lost Boys”) and Judy Bernstein, who collaborated with Alephonsion Deng and Benson Deng to write They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, which was SHU’s summer reading book. “Education is the power of the world.” “When I tell my story,…
A journalism student at NYU published a Generation Y-ney piece on PBS’s MediaShift. The first thing I notice when I walk into the class is that there are 14 girls and two boys. Already NYU is dominated by females, but the journalism department is exceptionally estrogen-infested. Professor Quigley begins by explaining how blogs are becoming…
I turned into a bobble-head doll, nodding, nodding, nodding, while reading this excerpt. I’ve already requested it for the library. We are at a crossroads. There are two possible paths before us–one in which we destroy what is great about the Internet and about how young people use it, and one in which we make…
‘Hi YouTube, it’s me, Kiki,” the teenager said to the camera as she swiveled in her chair to jazzy background music. ”And today I’m going to show you how to cheat on a test – the effective way.” She demonstrates her technique, slipping a small piece of paper with the answers in a clear-tubed pen…
>get games Similar:Understanding the difference between credible information and propagandaIn the context of my role as a teacher i…CulturePicking a rubric in Canvas should not be so frustrating that it makes me want to blog abou…In general, I find Canvas a fairly decen…AcademiaRolling Stone and UVA: The Columbia School of Journalism ReportSloppy journalism can ruin…
Via Crooked Timber and BoingBoing: Thomson Reuters demands $10 million and an injunction to stop George Mason University from distributing its new Web browser application, Zotero software, an open-source format that allows users to convert Reuters’ EndNote Software. Reuters claims George Mason is violating its license agreement and destroying the EndNote customer base. (Courthouse News)…
Every door on every floor is closed, whether or not students are present. This seems so different from my days as a student, when you always left your door open if you were in, I suppose to signal your willingness to talk and to avoid homework if you could just find the smallest pretext to…
When I first introduced my Seton Hill students to blogging in 2003, before Facebook had mainstreamed social networking into a neatly wrapped package, my students posted a mixture of personal and academic material. Now that even my committed bloggers do most of their social networking elsewhere, I have started pitching the academic blogs as a…
Blogging this to show to my kids later. Similar:Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study Globally, Covid cases exceeded 250 mil…CultureThe reluctant wisdom of a science major in my freshman writing class.”There’s nothing left to say,” said a sc…AcademiaHow reading fiction can help improve our mental healthIn general, I avoid clicking on any head…BooksNew…
This is from the robots category of Paleo-Future, which also has categories devoted to picturephones, jetpacks, and each decade’s collected futurism (that is, see what our future looked like to people writing in the 1880s, the 1930s, or the 1980s). Try as it might the robot could not make its desired turn. Its little broken wheel…
Pew Internet: Game playing is universal, with almost all teens playing games and at least half playing games on a given day. Game playing experiences are diverse, with the most popular games falling into the racing, puzzle, sports, action and adventure categories. Game playing is also social, with most teens playing games with others at…
Kotaku reports: Is it finally game over for Florida lawyer and violent video game opponent Jack Thompson? Judgment has been entered in the case that started last year and came to a head when Judge Dava Tunis recommended permanent disbarment for the bombastic, showboating law man. The court has approved the report and has ordered…
During the Great Depression, Americans flocked to the movies to escape the harsh realities of their daily lives. As the stock market tumbled and loved ones went off to war, Americans disappeared into dark theaters, where Shirley Temple sang and tap danced her way into their heavy hearts. Now, as the nation faces arguably the…
Students in my “Media Projects” class are getting practice learning complex, new systems quickly. We’ve learned Blender 3D, we’ve started on Inform 7, and later we’ll move to Flash. My sister (or possibly her husband, who sometimes uses her e-mail address) sent me a link to an editorial on what it’s like to learn a…
The technical term is “deep packet inspection,” a process by which universities can examine the contents of electronic files that pass back and forth on their networks to see if they contain copyrighted material like the latest M.I.A. single or an episode of Gossip Girl. It’s the equivalent of requiring institutions to steam open and…
My provost sent this link to the English faculty, inviting us to share our responses. My father succinctly summarized his feelings about my choice to dedicate my 20s to writing fiction. “You’re not living in the real world,” he said. I reacted with a young man’s defensiveness, but in retrospect his assessment seems less critical…
CMJ_Ewoks.mp3 (2 min 10 sec; 2.2Mb) The audio is a little over 2 minutes long. Listen to my daughter’s final tearful, generous, heart-felt wish for George Lucas, and then take a look at the chronology below. Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) Howard the Duck (1986) Similar:This is the first time during the pandemic that…