Response Paper - Class 4 - T/Th

Class 4 Reflections
Betsy Gitelle
July 9, 2009

ENWR600
Prof. Melinda Knight

I am sitting n the porch writing in my notebook [but now I am sitting at my desk translating on the computer] after reading the Ohmann article – a printout of a PDF. I spent the entire morning trying to access it online, to no avail. Somehow my inability to gain entry into the JSTOR database activated my whole OCD response and I was unable to focus on anything else until I finally received the article by email from a classmate [thank you, Michelle] in the early afternoon. Then, I had to copy and post the PDF onto the NING, another few minutes of fiddling, and then I had to print it so I could read it, because even now, 26 years later (1983 being my first year of immersion into technology), I CANNOT read on the screen. Maybe I should get the Kindle, and be transformed.

Anyway, I have a number of thoughts. The first is that I love the course and the readings. Another is that I cannot get over how prolific my classmates are. If only I could respond in real-time as they do! If only I could think of as many provocative questions and answers. And so, the course makes me aware of some of my own limitations: how slowly I process and write, how I need to ruminate, how I cannot rush. These limitations are in conflict with the exigencies of the class, because of course in an online course being timely is critical. If you are late, you become mercilessly out of phase, and your posts become irrelevant before you even post. (See this, which I linked to via Putting 2.0 and Two Together: What Web 2.0 Can Teach Composition About Collaborative Learning by Chris Gerben, a couple of clicks through YouTube).

On to the Readings: I find Selfe’s voice to be nattering and strident. It took her 24 pages to tell us to pay attention to the effects of technology on the minds of our students. Ohmann, on the other hand, is a love. He is charming, self-deprecating, and ultimately says what I believe: that the technology is merely another manifestation of our humanity, and it will not change anything—truly; our social groups and organizations will persist. Actually, as I write this [at the computer] I wonder: what about the Iranian election and Twitter? What about microeconomies in India communicating crop information via cell phone? Maybe our social structures will collapse and reorganize as a result of technology after all.]

In my notebook, this marginalia, in response to the foregoing thought that nothing ever changes: A sad paradox. We have created the technological tools, but our very primitive social order is impervious to their potential transformative power.

I like Ohmann’s sardonic view of “technology crises.” He seems to be speaking directly to Selfe, virtually mocking her.

Both articles, though thought-provoking, are anachronistic. Imagine Ohmann today, observing everyone walking around with his own thought-cloud, a network of IM’s, text messages, MP# files, PDF’s, and jpgs. I agree with Sean: Ohmann was wrong about the saturation of computer technology into culture.

I am also thinking about Ohmann’s comments about mass-media. Years ago at Citibank the management predicted the emergence of micro-marketing over mass-marketing. What are the implications of this filtering and fragmentation on our own individual literacies?

Finally, in response to both articles and my classmates, I am torn about the idea that writing teachers are the ones who have to be in charge of technological literacy. Let’s go back to the NCTE’s position paper on writing in the 21st Century. All technologies, including scissors and tape and Web 2.0, should be available to all of us as we compose – but we all must also find a way to be quiet and think.

And, all of the communication tools for the course are starting to overwhelm me. I can’t stop clicking. Where do I go? Here, there, or there? This response paper should probably be deconstructed into different paragraphs for my personal discussion board, the NING, the class blog, etc. The interactive designer in me wants to tame it all into one coherent, manageable interface. And, I am late on:
my blog introduction of me
my goals for the course
But, I am inspired to do some research. I want to investigate how technology has affected hip-hop culture, rapping, and poetry. I want to find out if the snap response we have to have and have-not is true. Who is to say which social group has the most currency today? I think it is changing.

Time for class.