Critical Thinking & New Technology

After reading the Critical Thinking & New Technology document, I believe that the Communications Department at Shepherd University is successfully trying to incorporate our every day usage of a variety of technologies into the classroom. From marketing and advertising to graphic design and video and radio production, Shepherd has always covered the basics, but now more than ever I think that teaching website building skills and how to blog and use other forms of social media like LinkedIn and Twitter to network is also a big part of our curriculum. Critical Thinking is also expected of all students, especially those of us who are communication majors. I have seen this through the assignment of projects, which incorporate the use of new technologies like sound editing and web design as well as blogging that all comm students are required to do in almost all classes throughout the department. Even the newly added class rooms and offices at our own university are yet another reminder that the world of communications is always advancing and quickly growing, resulting in constant and new advancements in the classroom to prepare us and keep up with this competitive job market. 

Cyberspace: A Culture

After reading "Why Cyberculture?" in A Media Studies Reader, I have come to understand how expansive not only the term cyberspace is, but also the ideas and theories behind it which make up the online community we are; a Cyberculture. We all play a role in what Cyberculture is today, whether its just casually surfing the web and using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or imputing data and creating websites, or downloading the apps on all of our smart devices. I agree with article on how many of us relate the term cyberspace to have a more nostalgic meaning, but it also leads me to wonder why that is? Cyberspace still essentially exists today, but perhaps we now think of it in a different way, relating that old term to the turning point in technology and online usage by more and more people. Today we all seem to be more technology-literate, having access to computers and software at a much younger age than generations before us. So perhaps it is now not such a far away, somewhat foreign concept to the majority of our population, because children today are living in a time where they were never without such technologies, where as people my grandparents age, for example, lived in a world before computers, cable, color television, even the space program! I believe in this particular case, that technology and our advancement into a Cyberculture is all in the eye of the beholder...or the mind of the reader.

http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/cyber/images/cyberspace_crop380w.jpg

Risks of Reporting

The CNN video “Latest Battlefield in Mexico’s Drug War: Social Media” is about drug cartels and individuals associated with drug trafficking that are allegedly murdering those who speak out against them through social media sites (in this specific case, public and supposedly anonymous blogs and websites). After watching this my first impression was that we as American citizens are lucky that we have laws such as the 1^st and 14^th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution that protect individuals who wish to speak their mind about any issue or voice their opinions. And even though murders and drug-related violence does happen in our country, it is not as prominent or as large of an issue as it is for those who live in countries like Mexico.

I believe that as communications majors and people writing blogs, we all have to be held accountable for what we say and post on the Internet, and also understand that anything on the web is public and available to everyone. However, our freedom of speech really only goes so far once we start making defamatory statements which may possibly be false, or lashing out against individuals or companies with actual malice. This particular video is obviously an extreme case in which someone or some group sought out revenge over something that was posted on the web. But when working in the communication field whether it be as a reporter, blogger, journalist or other media-related career, you need to be aware of the risk when writing about others especially in such a controversial context. 

"SCOTT TALKS"

After watching the Ted Talks video of Scott McCloud’s presentation about his theories on graphic novels and comics, I have a greater understanding and appreciation for the art form. It gave me a new way of looking at these novelists and creators of narrative, and showed me that it takes much more to be a great writer in today’s world than say twenty or even fifty years ago. With new technologies and web design development, writers of comics must adapt to these changes. As Internet users we now expect all information to be just a click of an app away, with all different types of publications now moving to online subscriptions and having apps to access their information while on the go. As a result, comics and graphic novels must also follow suit if they wish to still be as appealing to this new media-hungry audience.

A slide from Scott McCloud's lecture describing the four principals of comics and story telling.

McCloud explains how he and his colleagues must now use this online and digital forum to display their work. I thought one of the most interesting things that he mentions in his lecture, however, was that with comics and graphic novels you have to communicate and stimulate all five senses through only one; visual. But now that this digital revolution has come about, graphic novelists have a little more help. You see you can add motion and sounds to online-based comics and further entertain your audience by more effectively capturing their attention.

A slide from Scott McCloud's lecture depicting the usage of words, sounds, and pictures to enhance meaning.

I also really related to the fundamental theme or idea of enabling your readers to draw their own conclusions or fill in the gaps when moving from one panel to the next within a graphic novel. I never really thought about that concept and how when creating a comic, you’re really leaving quite a bit up to a reader’s interpretation of the action and series of events by how you set up a “scene” and what about of detail or information you provide your audience with. These are all things I tried to take into account when creating my own graphic novel. 

Comic Across Communications

I am currently working on creating a graphic novel for my COMM 203 course. We’re using Comic Life software and are allowed to make the graphic novel about anything we choose, providing that it shows our ability to create a plot, have a clear story line, develop characters and have them go through different experiences, having rising action, a climax, and then a resolution.

I think that this is an excellent assignment to have towards the beginning of this course because it allows us to be creative and still have free range over most of the content of our project. I have used Comic Life in the past to create a graphic novel for a previous communications class, which I really enjoyed. I believe that having this very open (some may call vague) assignment allows students to become comfortable with their own ideas and creative abilities, and explore a side of communications that they may not have encountered before.

Creating a narrative is something that we will all more than likely have to do at some point in our professional careers. All fields of communications deal with narratives, whether it’s a career in reporting, broadcasting, media or public relations, producing, designing video games, and many others. Our job is to become communications specialists and through our chosen careers educate, inform, entertain, and communicate information across different forms of media to our viewers and readers. 

The Web v. The Internet

In the August 17, 2010 Wired article, “The Web Is Dead. Long Live The Internet,” Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff accurately predict our ever-increasing use of the Internet in the form of apps on smart phones and other devices. I have to admit while reading the article it basically outlined my daily use of the Internet. Being an iPhone user myself, I suppose I never fully realized how the use of web browsers has slowly faded out of our every day use. Apps have now made finding exactly what we want even easier; having direct access to any website, publication, or utility immediately our fingertips. And even though all of these smart phones and other mobile computing devices were available to us when this article was written, their popularity and ever-growing use has turned into something of a phenomenon.

The way I use the Internet has changed immensely ever since I switched from my old BlackBerry to the iPhone4. I have found that the easily accessible apps and simplicity of navigating the iPhone have increased my what was before minimal web use to using the interned constantly throughout the day. I also use my Google Reader to read all of the blogs that I follow and I now access my favorite news publications through my phone too. Without even thinking about it, so many of us are making the transition from web to internet at a rapid pace. 

NEW SEMESTER EXPECTATIONS

I am a junior at Shepherd University majoring in mass communication and media studies with a minor in journalism, and this is my first blog post for my COMM 203 Communications & New Media course. From this class I expect to better develop my blogging and writing skills by discussing the topics, projects I am working on in class as well as completing assignments here on my blog. Over the course of this semester I hope to learn how to extensively use many different types of communication software in our Mac Lab in addition to further understanding of the science of semiotics and using it not only in the field of communications but also within my everyday life.

The Shepherd University Department of Communication is constantly growing and expanding, and as a result communication courses are evolving into something I believe is preparing us for our future jobs and careers. I have now taken several communications courses here and find that they incorporate skills and teachings from all parts of the field of communication. Weather you’re a student looking to go into web or game design, blogging, print media, broadcasting, reporting, film or any kind of editing, the skills you will need to have upon entering your desired career will have been covered in a comm class here at Shepherd.

I personally want to do something within the field of public relations after I graduate and through my required internship through the communications department, I was able to spend this past summer working for and alongside the CEO and founder of Platinum PR, a local PR firm which specializes in strategic marketing and advertising as well as event planning for their clients. Many skills that I am acquiring through my communications courses prepared me for my internship and I am constantly learning more and more about different strategies of marketing through social media sites, blogs, and developing advertising campaigns and pitching ideas to potential clients.

I am looking forward to this semester and this class in particular among my other comm classes to direct me on the right path and fully prepare me for my future career goals.