Core I

High definition lighted billboards, big screen TVs, laptops, camera phones, iPods- Technology is everywhere. Bolter points out, “this will destroy that (1),” meaning that technology and digital literacy are growing and leaving printed books behind. In her Article, “The Future of Literacy” Danielle DeVoss also questions what literacy means from the new generation (183). Brandt demonstrates that what used to be acceptably literate is no longer considered so (172). All the experts are noticing it on a grand scale, and I have noticed technologies slowly creeping into my life as well.


I honestly do not remember the first time I was introduced to a computer. My parents are accountants that work at home, so they have, for as long as I can remember, had a computer around typing in numbers and making charts and such. The first time I remember actually getting into computers was a typing game that we were doing in Elementary school. I had one downloaded for me at home and I just played and played and played. When I was younger, computers were just something to pass the time. As I got older, I started using it for a larger variety of entertainment purposes; I got really caught up in graphic and website design- which is what I spent most of my free time doing all throughout middle school. While I did it some in middle school, in high school there were many times when I had to use the computer for assignments. Essays were expected researched online, typed up, and then submitted to a website called turnitin.com to check for plagiarism. This quick online tool has probably made it exceedingly easier for teachers to recognize plagiarism in all possible forms. But, as much as computers were a part of my life, college takes the cake. Selber knew what he was talking about when he said, “Computers are indeed a fact of life in educational settings (1),” because so much of what I do know is online. This English class is very much internet based with it’s blogging and the library website’s easy access to sources. My math class’s grading system of homework, quizzes and tests are all online. Most other classes have homeworks online as well, such as masteringchemistry. Technologies, mostly the computer, have helped immensely with the ease and organization of schoolwork.


Technologies have helped me in sports as well as education. I am on the rowing team and we use a machine called an erg. This is a machine that simulates a stroke on the water and measures power in watts, calories, time, meters and a 500 meter split time. These measurements enrich our sport by making it easier to track progress. But, as Johnston explains, this tiny little computer that is so simple for us to read is actually a very complex system (15). It is kind of ironic that as the technology gets more detailed and complex, our lives get easier. The same goes for the video camera. The video camera can help us row better as well. While having a coach point out the things we need to fix is helpful, it does a world more good to see ourselves on a screen actually doing it. This is a phenomenon where being able to view something is easier for us than the normal communication of words; the same phenomenon was occurring for Danielle DeVoss when she created a website for her PhD instead of writing a paper(186). Sometimes technologies can speak louder than words.


I believe that technology will help me in my future as well, especially because I plan to go into the medical field. In medical school I will more than likely learn about all of the wonderful advancements they have made in modern medicine and how to use all of the machines- including but not limited to ultrasounds and MRIs and x-rays. I will also be learning a new type of literacy when I learn to read all of the printouts from these different machines. I will learn how to interpret the different colors on an x-ray, how to read patient charts, how to analyze the numbers and codes that come back from blood tests and so on. There are currently computer engineers and biologists working on a program that can predict how proteins will fold themselves. At this moment in time, they do not have enough energy to make the program work properly, but are working on it. This program that predicts the folding of proteins, if it can be made to work efficiently, will start a new era in the medical field because many gene and cell mutations will be able to be researched, including cancer cells! There is already a technology out that is allowing us to know whether cervical cells in woman have the precursor to cancer so that these cells can be eliminated early. Technology, of all kinds, medical and beyond, is taking us to a whole new place that we probably could not have even dreamed of a few years ago.


In conclusion, the computer and technology in general has made a huge impact on my life and will continue to do so. From education, to recreation, to sports and future endeavors, technologies make things so much easier in so many different ways. As Bolter pointed out in the beginning, “This will destroy that (1).” We, as a people, do depend on these technologies to a very high degree and it will no doubt increase as more technologies are made, but if they will always be there and will always be improving, is that such a bad thing?




Works Cited
Devoss. Literate Lives in the Information Age
Selber. Chapter 1 from Multiliteracies for a Digital Age
Brandt, Deborah. Sponsers of Literacy.

"Audience Awareness" Article

The beginning of the article points out the importance of audience awareness and how if the audience is aware it was written for them and contemplate the information they will understand the article better, and conversely, if the author understands that they are writing for an audience then they will be better writers. "Audience awareness in a technology-rich elementary classroom" talks about how having technology in the classroom blurs the line between audience and author since it is so interactive. (This is the sort of learning that was suggested by a quote in the last reading that we did.) The article summarizes a 5-month study in a 4th grade classroom in which 5 "multimedia" work stations were set up. Overall, the study found that the computers and other multimedia sources were quite helpful and should be involved in the learning process, but they do not take the place of the very necessary student-teacher interaction.


Link to article: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/10862960009548086

Part II of Core I

In the world we live in today, it is very important to be techonologically savvy no matter what field you plan to work in. I plan on going to medical school, in which years 3 and 4 consist of clincal rotation. In clinical rotation, medical students follow a rotation for different professions that they may want to enter. During this time, I will be exposed to all types of medical techonology; for example, computer systems, ultrasound machines, MRIs, x-rays, etc. All of these technologies will be taught to me while I am attending medical school.

Specifically though, I would like to be a reproductive endocrinologist. While this particular occupation does not require me to operate the machinery, I will have to read an abundance of technologically produced materials. I will have to read print outs of blood reports and undstand ultrasound results.