A weblog for Pete Ellertsen's mass communications students at Benedictine University Springfield.

Friday, October 14, 2011

COMM 150: In-class discussion for today

Let's start by posting your thoughts on Chapter 7 in John Vivian's "Media of Mass Communication" on new media. Please consider the following questions:
  • What does Vivian get right about the new media landscape? Which of the trends and/or technologies he discusses are most important in your daily life?
  • How much of your interaction with other people is done through media technology? How much of it is on the Internet?
  • What, in your opinion, is Vivian leaving out? What developments are changing things since Vivian's book came out?
Post your answers as comments to this item.

Today's discussion will lead up to an essay assignment, which I will post in the next few days. It will be a documented essay on how the Internet has changed the way we communicate and the way we perceive the world. Here's what our syllabus says:
Each student will write, (1) a documented term paper (at least 2,000 words or eight pages) on a subject to be chosen by the instructor dealing with some aspect of mass communications, to be agreed upon ahead of time by the instructor and the student; or (2) two documented essays (at least 1,000 words of four pages each) reflecting on topics to be assigned by the instructor.
At this point, I am leaning toward having you write one eight-page documented essay on the subject instead of two four-page essays. We can discuss this in class. The essay will be due in early November.

For Monday: Read Chapter 8 in Vivian, on news.

9 comments:

Nick Jachino said...

Today most all of the interaction through Americans is through the internet and other technology that we use today. There is not much commutating face to face any more in today’s society. For example if someone needs to talk to someone they will either email of text message one another instead of meeting and talking face to face. In different countries they still do the old fashion let’s have a meeting and talk instead of just emailing about something. It is so easy today to talk to someone because of all the new websites that are available to us. I feel that Vivian is leaving out that we do communicate the majority through the internet and he still thinks that it is like the old days where people will meet if they need to talk. The internet has made it much easier to contact people without really meeting them or knowing them.

daoudamr27 said...

I think most of what he says about media literacy is correct he has many of the common media literacy that we use. I myself use facebook occasionally. I would say it is very useful information, there is nothing that he left out, unless there is something else I have not heard of.

Pete said...

test test test

dave maziarz said...

i think the way we interact with one another has definately canged drastically with the technology that we have access to today. whether its social media, text messaging, e-mailing, etc. people use the internet to stay in touch with old friends, family, etc. its helped in that regard...being able to stay in touch with people who live a long way away but i think that face to face interaction is being thrown by the wayside. while technology has made things easier for us, it has hurt our face to face communication

dave maziarz said...

i think the way we interact with one another has definately canged drastically with the technology that we have access to today. whether its social media, text messaging, e-mailing, etc. people use the internet to stay in touch with old friends, family, etc. its helped in that regard...being able to stay in touch with people who live a long way away but i think that face to face interaction is being thrown by the wayside. while technology has made things easier for us, it has hurt our face to face communication

chris day said...

In today's society, i feel one of the biggest sources of mass media is the internet. The internet has revolutionized the way in which we can communicate with eachother. The breakthrough of facebook, twitter, youtube, etc has allowed not only Americans, but the rest of the world, to stay in touch with current events. Now, it is as easy as grabbing a computer to recieve information on literally anything you may want to know about. With the astounding advancements in technology during our generation's time, communication is at our fingertips. With devises such as smart phones, ipods, and ipads, we can communicate in a matter of minutes.

MHovey said...

Printing papers is becoming a dying art. Because of the fast moving pace that most people move at, there is no time to stop, pick up a paper, shuffle through all the pages to hopefully find the article you are interested in, and read it. It is much more convenient to buy an ipad where you can search your article, decide whether to wear a coat or not when you check the weather, and see whose birthday it is on facebook. To me, facebook is probably the technology that I use the most.

I would say about 75% of my interaction with other people is done through technology. The internet is one of my most useful tools in keeping up with all of my friends. Because a lot of them have gone away to different colleges or my family is across the country, this is a great way to keep in touch with all of them.

I think that Vivian touched on all the most important facilities that the internet provides. One of the things I think he may have missed out on is the ability of Netflix users to watch movies or tv shows anytime they want through the internet. I use Netflix all the time.

A.Kohlrus said...

Vivian has a lot of things right in chapter 7, New Media Landscape. The use of technology is growing at such an astounding rate that it, for some, has been too much. Twitter has become a global trend to just about everyone. Mostly it is about following the celebs you enjoy reading about the most. You get a hands on feel of their every day life. Vivian also talks about emailing, texting, blogs, social networking etc. All of which are used daily by just about everyone. In my daily life, texting, email, and social networking are things I enjoy doing.
My interaction with other people is mostly done by phone calls or face to face. Texting has become a dominate way of interaction between people. Some people would much rather text someone than pick up a phone and call. Face to face interaction is slowing going away and before you know it colleges will be filled with a class full of student’s texting rather than learning. Or online classes will become more dominate. A lot of this has to do with the internet. The internet has opened up so many possibilities for everyone. There are no limits when it comes to the internet, and that is scary. If you want to learn on how to make a pipe bomb....just go to the internet. Yes the internet does have its goods but it also has its bad. It's just the way you look it.
Developments are always happening in today’s society. Things are always changing. Vivian hit a lot of good points in chapter 7, but with the way technology is changing there is always something new to be added.

R_Pearce said...

He was right about the fact that newspapers are slowly fading out. Today’s society is becoming more and more fast-paced by the day. People are turning to online news feeds and publications versus going out and purchasing a newspaper for their information. Television is another big news outlet that is overtaking newspapers. People today are more likely to watch the news before they go to work than to read the newspaper these days, or to search the internet for their information. 70% of our day is spent communicating in some form, either through email, facebook, phone convos, or simply talking. And I would guess that the majority of our time spent communicating is through media technology. I don’t think Vivian has necessarily left anything out, but everyday things are changing as the world revolutionizes the way it communicates.

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About Me

Springfield (Ill.), United States
I'm a retired English, journalism and cultural studies teacher at Springfield College in Illinois (acquired by Benedictine University and subsequently closed). I coordinate jam sessions for the "Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music" at Clayville Historic Site and the Prairieland Strings dulcimer club, and I sing in the choir and the contemporary praise team at Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield. On Hogfiddle I post links and video clips for our sessions and workshops on the mountain dulcimer (a.k.a. "hog fiddle"), as well as research notes on folklore and cultural studies, hymnody and traditional Anglo-Celtic and Scandinavian music. I also posted assignments and readings in my interdisciplinary humanities classes. The Mackerel Wrapper (now on hiatus), carried assignments and readings for my mass comm. students. I started teaching b/log when I chaired SCI-Benedictine's assessment committee, and reopened it as the privatization of public schools grew increasingly troubling and closer to home.