Last Days

So today we will review your proposals. We will do the usual, that is respond to your writing via blog comments.

I also would like to take a minute to review how the projects worked for you, and how sections of the class could be improved.

Again, thanks for all of your writing, I learned much from you.

-Roger

Bloggin' Fiction

Today we will discuss your Wikipedia entries and, hopefully, start discussing online fiction and the directions it can take.

The two types of online fiction we will be looking at are blogging fiction and the ARG. Defining either is difficult, as they, like most web trends, constantly evolve. However, for this class we will take the fictional blog as one that takes on the appearance of a blog, but is not based in reality. It may however have a strong sense of verisimilitude. The ARG also looks real, but is actually a game that takes you down a path with a constructed narrative that you have to play to find.

Both types of fiction utilize a chronotope that says bloggers are real folks operating under real circumstances. As a result, even when we know they are a hoax, they can still be compelling. Much of the writing is actually pointing, they rely on an external reality that readers already understand for their internal validity.

I'm giving you links to surf from below to help you define your project. Remember, for Tuesday you need to have a proposal, or rough draft (we will decide in class).


Wikipedia on Alternate Reality Games

ARG Network

I love bees

Wikipedia article on Blog Fiction

How to write a blog-buster

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog

Panel on ARG




Emokidohio

Beauty Queen/Spin Doctor

What does this do to "honesty" and expectations of behavior? (I know, I'm a crotchety old man)

thanks Michael

New Wikipedia Topics

Today we will go over your initial attempts at creating a new Wikipedia article.

We will be working in groups, and I want you to spend time making suggestions for each other. In order to do this you'll need a blog post to your new Wikipedia article. If you could not get one started, please put up a post with a brief description of your topic.

In groups we will make comments on your blog posts on three specific ares:
1. Which of the ten wiki-mandments should be most closely followed for your topic.
2. What expectations do we have for "research" on this topic. What kinds of evidence does this topic demand? An article on Nintendo will require different kinds of evidence than an article on the French Revolution, or HDTV.
3. What specific information would you expect from this article? For example, if there was an article on the natural history museum at the U, I would expect a timeline, list of exhibits, research interests, etc.
4. (optional) any helpful tips for the author?

Remember, this is really the only chance for feedback before you turn it in next Thursday, (Tuesday is Pioneer Day) so let's take advantage of this.


If you are experiencing technical difficulties, please see my post on editing and starting a new Wikipedia page.

By popular demand

U of U Surplus

Edit presentations and topic discussion

Today we will go over and critique your major edits to the Wikipedia article you have been working on. We will also discuss the new topics you will start for Thursday and finish on Tuesday. This Thursday we will share the starting of the articles with each other and discuss how to take them further.

Initial Wikipedia edits

Editing the text on a Wikipedia page is moderately straightforward. However, formating and major edits can be difficult, as it uses a markup language that you may not be familiar with.
Here are some pages that may help:

• How to edit a Wikipedia page
• Wikipedia sandbox - a place to play and experiment without fear of messing up a real page
• Start new Wikipedia article - a wizard to help you start a new article, much easier if you register
  

Writing from research schedule

Remember, for every date you should have a post with a link to your work, your wikipedia name, and the date/time of your entry.

Th, July 12 - Initial edit of an article (homework)
Tu, July 17 - Major edit of an article (1/3 of the research section), share your new topic ideas
Th, July 19 - Start a new wiki topic (homework)
Tu, July 24 - Finish and submit your new wiki article (2/3s of research question)

10 Class Wiki-mandments

As per our class discussion, the ten commandments to guide your wiki editing. Keep these in mind when editing/writing. I will keep them in mind when grading as well.

1. Use photos/images
2. Examine the edit history before making changes
3. Be accurate and concise in your writing
4. Create easy navigation, use links and formating
5. Support both cuts and additions with research
6. Cite/list references
7. Write facts not arguments, unless listing salient arguments as facts
8. Use subtopics properly, combine closely related topics, make divergent ones into subtopics
9. Be professional in tone and habits, proofread
10. Small changes can greatly improve an article, big changes do not equal good changes
    

On your mark(s), get set...

Today we will discuss your commandments in groups, pick our favorites, and see if we can come up with a class list of Wiki-mandments (ugh, so cheesy, I know).

Then we are off to the races. For Thursday create a post with the entry you are editing (notice the present tense) and try your hand at it. We will share experiences, articles, and tips on how to edit the Wikipedia on Thurdsday.

As a requirement, see if you can bring "research" to the Wikipedia article, as opposed to just editing the current text. What can you contribute at this point?

In your post briefly blog about the experience. We will use this as a jumping off point for our conversation.

Wiki Rules

Today we will be discussing a recent wiki-controversy, as outlined in the previous post, and taking a look at the articles you found and want to talk about.

We also will be moving forward on our own writing from research. In order to do this, we need to set forth some ground rules. The Wikipedia has its own set of guidelines, but many of the most important seem to be unspoken.

For next Tuesday, I want you to create a list of 10 Wikipedia commandments. After reading their guidelines, and a few Wikipedia entries (any topic will due, so long as it has seen several authors hands) you should start to notice what some of them are. Many of them become explicit when you read the discussion sections of an article, and some are more "organic."

Please, as much as possible, find example for your commandments. Perhaps this is best done through links. I also want you to feel free to write commandments that you think ought to be followed, even if you don't see them currently enacted in the community. Thus, a couple of your commandments might be suggestions for improvement, rather than current standards.

Finally, be prepared to talk about how these rules provide "good research." What in the world is good research anyway?

Chris Benoit - Wrestling With the Wikipedia

The video above, and articles below are not only fascinating, but also point to one of the missing pieces of the Wikipedia vs. Encyclopedia vs. Knowledge debates... the real time (or future-time) synopsis of events that otherwise would not be written about (or at least not in this format).

• Current Chris Benoit Wikipedia Article
• The Wikipedia Controversy - thx. Michael

Does this at all challenge what we have spoken about in regards to the Wikipedia? Does this make it more or less a reliable source of knowledge?

On a related note, the public mourning and memorializing of the Benoits is something that could only happen in a Web 2.0 world.

Fan Tributes:

• Nancy Benoit
• Chris Benoit

Truth in Numbers: The Wikipedia Story" - Trailer

Wikipedia = Research+Community?

We've picked apart knowledge and research quite a bit. We've discovered that it is contextual, that it is constructed, and that it attempts to be persuasive. We've also hinted that it is communal. That is what we are going to explore next.

Today I want you to take a few minutes to find a Wikipedia article that you a) find interesting and b) know quite a bit about.

We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of said articles together in class.

For Thursday you will need to post a link to that article (or a new one of your choosing) along with a plan to update it. We will go over them together in class... I think you can see where this is headed.

Also you must read (whole page + interesting links): About the Wikipedia

Remember to email me a link to your final version of the snapshot essay, and to post comments + send me a short eval of the three below you.

Remember: Topic, Thesis, Support (and support), Conclude

Related:

• London Bombing Time Lapse (1:42)
• London Bombing Article Today
• Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica
• Wikipedia good for Academia
• Debates on the Wikipedia
• Web 2.0 = Cult of Amateurs?
• Got any others we should look at? Post 'em in the comments
  

The Research Process / Collecting Sources

Our next project is a research essay. Research is an inherently political activity... wait what exactly do I mean by that?

Let's take a look at some traditional notions of what a research paper should be:

Writing the research paper

• OWL
• Bedford

Now, what is research online? And I'm still confused by what I mean about research being an inherently political act.

The heart of a research paper (we'll get to topics vs. thesis later, I promise) is the research itself. So, what is research and how does it differ from this thing I hear about called sources?

Speaking of sources, let's talk about them for a bit.

Sources:

• Traditional sources
• Online sources
• Non-traditional sources
• Science and the Bi-Digital O-Ring Test

For Thursday I want you to post a "card" from four sources:

• One from a "traditional" sources
• One from an academic journal
• One from an online source
• One from a non-traditional source
  

In this digital era, how shall we do citations? There are some traditions which have developed methods to cite web pages and the like... but that is adaptation, not invention. What is important to you in a citation?

Semester Schedule

As a reminder:

• July 5 - no class
• July 24 - no class
• Aug 1 - last day of class

Online Snapshot Essay

Online Snapshot Essay

• Due: June 25
• 25% of grade 250 pts
• Comment on any 3 peer posts by June 28
• Email me, and only me, a letter grade and breif rationale for the three peers below you on the list. I will consider your opinions while I grade.

Reqs:

• style elements from the 3 class projects (recall, observation, conversation)
• multimedia/links
• useful formatting/pleasing aesthetics
• background information (if necessary, someone visiting your blog for the first time should be able to understand it.
• casual writing style (web/blog friendly)
• rich language / description
• genre should be reality/non-fiction
• formating and other elements should provide smooth transistions
• piece will be made of many disparate elements, should be woven into one
• tags, a.k.a. labels

Snapshot essay negotiation

We've written from recall, observation, and conversation. We've explored how new media influences this process, both in terms of writing and the events themselves.

Now we need to pull it all together into one assignment affectionately known as: "the snapshot essay."

We will be negotiating terms and expectations on Tuesday. Once we reach an agreement I will post the requirements in a new blog post.

Inspecting writing from conversation

Today, we are going to try to look at as many of your writing from conversation posts as a whole class. We'll attempt to unpack what conversation is in a digital age, and how we go about capturing, commenting, explaining it. Are those even relevant goals in a literate society?

So we will try to get to everyone on Tues, and we'll pick up what we missed on Thurs.

Also, for Thursday, as is par for the course, write a new post revising your conversation based on class comments.

Additionally, before class on Thursday, write a post about another blog. This time speak to not only why you liked it, but who you think it's potential audience is, and how you came to that conclusion.
...

Warning, Ze didn't always use language appropriate for dinner with the family, I realize I don't actually know your family and I apologize for assuming what type of language they use.

Ze Frank hosted a one year conversation with anyone who would listen. He posted a vlog everyday, commenting on news and whatever struck his fancy. Eventually a community was built around his videos and people would comment. He would comment on those comments, rewarding the good ones and poking fun at the bad.

Sportsracers, as his audience/conversation partners were called even played games with Ze and each other, attempting to put two slices of bread on opposite sides of the planet in an attempt to make an "Earth Sandwich" for example. It's a great place to peek if you want to see a digital conversation in action.

Note to self: Blog sign up sheet!

Writing from conversation

We'll start off by reviewing some of your posts on blogs and continuing our conversation on "what is a blog?"

Here is my entry, a blog by a trade journalist. I specifically chose it as I think it will fit in well with our discussion on writing from conversation.

Here is an example of a student practicing writing from observation. What do you see as its strengths and weaknesses?

The above example is a fairly traditional approach to writing from conversation. But what about mediated conversations? How do we think about, or write about conversations on YouTube, Blogs, email, IM, or the myriad of other ways people converse in the digital age?

Thus far print authors have either summarized the dialog, or reverted to a traditional quotation style of writing. Can we do better?

Here is a tip sheet on the use of quotation marks, they do get tricky.

For Tuesday, write about a conversation in your blog, but use the tools available to you. We'll discuss this in class.

More writing from observation

We'll start off by discussing some of the blogs you found, perhaps allowing us to paint a better picture of what blogs are...

You'll also be sharing your writings with peers in groups of 4-6. Let's use different peers this time, this may require you to find a new seat, sorry.

Again, take turns reading each other's posts. You will be making comments as well. Please try to address two of the issues either discussed in class or taken from this tips list. You can make other comments as well, but do try to apply two points from the list to the post you are reading. Remember that everyone gets to revise this, so make your comments useful to that endeavor.

As a writer, how did you find this experience? When the other students in your group are reading yours, comment on your own writing. You can speak to improvements you'd like to make, but also think about the experience itself, what was it like leaving yourself out of your writing? Did you? What contexts fit this sub-genre?

p.s. How is your tagging coming along?

p.p.s. In the interest of fairness, since I've shown you a site some use to cheat, perhaps I should show you one instructors use to catch cheaters.

Writing from observation, part 1

Happy Thursday!

Please be prepared to share your revised recall essays, we will go over them briefly in class.

We will be continuing our work on the snapshot essay by exploring a different skill in the genre, writing from observation. We will also tough on inductive analysis and fictionalization.

• Tips for writing from observation (please read). I'm curious if anyone notices the source of this tip sheet. How do you feel about it? How do you feel about it being assigned to you?
  
• Just for kicks: Angela Booth's Writing Blog, could be called notes from the copywriter's underground, a great snapshot for those of you interested in freelance or copywriting.

In addition to posting on a blog you have found, for Tuesday conduct your own observation and record it in a blog post along with your analysis. We will discuss in class possible scenarios.

Revisiting our writing from recall posts

So you've blogged from recall, how was it?

Today you'll be sharing your writings with peers in groups of 4-6. They will go over their thoughts with you using the Bedford Guide Checklist to help get things started. Additionally, I'd like to add two questions to the checklist. You will be using the comments field in this activity.

1. Did using a blog to write from recall alter your writing experience?
2. Did it, or should it, alter your content?

Finally, I'd like you to create a new post, for Thursday, where you return to the work you wrote and revise it using your peers input. Do this in a new post.

It is important, at this stage, not to edit your posts when you revise, but rather to create new ones. This will allow you to see your evolution and identify patterns in your strengths and weaknesses. Feel free to copy and paste, however.

Also, for next Tuesday, I'd like you to post the address of and a short description of a blog you are reading or one you find interesting.

Writing from Recall

Our first writing project will be writing from recall. Writing from recall is taking memories, recalling them, infusing them with your present knowledge and creating a coherent, often first-person story that allows readers not only to understand the events, but your experience and memory of the events. It may involve varying degrees of reflexivity and disclosure.

Austin Steward, 1857, traditional writing from recall.

Justin Hall as an example of writing from recall on the web.

If you need some help writing from recall you may want to check out the Bedford Guide. Bookmark it, as it is a useful guide to college writing in general.

Web 2.0

Video by Mike Wesch

Tim O'Reilly, originator of the term, on Web 2.0