Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from September, 2007

Confessions of an (Internet) Radio Junkie

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley October 2007 Issue September 16, 2007 Confessions of an (Internet) Radio Junkie Video didn’t kill the radio star, even though MTV was launched with a video making that very claim. Radio changed, and so did MTV. One still plays music, the other promotes unrealistic reality shows. More importantly, I can now listen to more radio programs than ever before, even if my tastes are unusual… and they are. There is a place where radio is king, and I don’t mean in the car when commuting to work. I know this place well, because it is where I listen to KCRW, KGO, KCBS, and hundreds of stations with no call letters. This is a place without the Federal Communications Commission, which means I hear songs uncensored. There are stations where disc jockeys still choose the music and introduce each track with a bit of background trivia. I am an Internet radio junkie. Terrestrial radio stations, those familiar AM and FM broadcasters, first moved to the Internet d

CI 5410: Research and RSS

Blog post: describe the search methods and databases you employ to collect information for use in your writing; how do you determine the validity and credibility of the information you acquire and how you categorized and organize that information for use in writing; how might you use RSS feeds to Bloglines or Google Reader to enhance your students how could you improve your students’ search strategies (see the Teachers Teaching Teachers site) Work on your vlog This week we are being asked to consider two very different topics, so I'm going to split my response accordingly. However, I'm also going to take a detour, which isn't that unusual for me. I like detours. [rant] Knowing a blog is for a course, especially a course on teaching writing/composition using online technologies, leads to blog posts that are anything but "bloggy" in nature. Instead of a wry wit or wandering observations, the writing feels controlled — mediated by the context to the point it is an

Thoughts on Video Blogs (Vlogs)

Responding to the following: Select one vlog that you like and describe what you like about this vlog, possibly including a link to or screen shot of this vlog in your post.  Whom do you think is the audience for this vlog and what aspects of the vlog are designed to appeal to this audience?  What video/editing techniques are employed in this vlog and how effective are they? The video I selected, after watching too many others, was a 2004 profile of artist Lillian Colton. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPRYe9xs0x0 The secret to having a good time at the Minnesota State Fair is finding those lingering connections to its rural roots. That means clog dancing, baby farm animals, and of course crop art. Rumor has it, you can see Bjork and Al Franken rendered in seeds this year. But it's not quite the same without legendary crop artist Lillian Colton, who passed away earlier this year.  This video is one of a series produced by Mike Dust for Colton's 2004 exhibition at the Min

Poet Posts...

I have several blogs, some public and some not-so-public. This blog is specifically for ramblings on "digital writing" and how we might use new technologies to improve the writing skills of students. My other blogs range from photos of my cats to updates on life in Minnesota so my friends can share in my adventures. In some ways, these are the same uses students have: vanity sites (who else cares about my cats?) and keeping in touch with friends. The question we need to ask is if using these technologies can improve writing in ways other tools might not. Or, are we merely entertaining students with new toys, deceiving ourselves into thinking what is more exciting must result in more learning. I am a skeptic, having been a business owner, corporate executive, and college administrator. Technology might not only do little good, it might encourage bad habits and mistaken notions of what is acceptable when writing later in life. My first required posts will be th