Week 13 Web of Risks and Facebook: Where do you stand?

Here were the directions to the blog post on Facebook.

Blog Post 10 Directions

Find a credible article online regarding the dangers OR the benefits of having a Facebook account. You can also research a story of someone who was affected negatively by having a Facebook account (i.e., someone who was bullied on Facebook). Write two paragraphs.

1.      In Paragraph 1 include the author and title of the article and a brief summary of the contents. Make sure that your link to the article is live.

2.      In Paragraph 2 respond to the ideas presented in the article giving your opinion and support for your opinion.

3.      Be sure and have a catchy title for your post.

4.      Insert a graphic or embed a video into your post.

5.      Your post will be graded on the 5 Cs (clear, concise, complete, correct, and creative).

6.      This post will be worth 10 points.

     Here is a blog post by Anna Marie that I would like to showcase.

The dangers of having and using a Facebook account have become very dangerous to the privacy of its millions of users. In the article Five Hidden Dangers of Facebook the writers of CBSNews (http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-3480_162-6469373.html?pageNum=2&tag=contentMain;contentBody) explain the dangers of Facebook’s unexpecting users. The first danger is that the user's information is being shared with other third parties. The second danger of Facebook is that privacy settings are not as safe as they claim to be. The third point is that the ads displayed on Facebook can contain viruses. The fourth point is that your Facebook “friends” make the user vulnerable. This is because a person on Facebook that you are friends with can be hacked and send you damaging software. The fifth and final danger on the list is that people called scammers are creating fake profiles. A study showed that, “40 percent of all Facebook profiles are fake” if you have a Facebook that means that almost half of all your “friends” are fake. 

I believe that there are dangers in using Facebook, but any one who has an account has to have some knowledge of how risky Facebook is. It is also party the responsible of the Facebook user to make sure that they protect themselves on the social networking sites. One thing that people can do to protect themselves on Facebook is having a strong secure password. Also making sure that your profile is set to private so that only the people that you know can see the information that you post. Another tip is to not click on any ads that Facebook may be displaying. Most people know not to click on ads because they look like spam anyways. Also, educate your friends on how to be safe on Facebook so that they don’t make you more susceptible to viruses. Tell them to create a safe password and let them know that they need to keep their profiles private.  To protect yourself from people with fake profiles make sure that you watch whom you accept as friends. I personally have a Facebook account and I never add people who I don’t know.  If people are smart and safe about how they use Facebook, then they can avoid the five hidden dangers of Facebook.

    Here is the voting results for whether I should use FB in my virtual comp class or not in spring, 2012. 
     
    12 said YES. 5 said NO....4 didn't vote.

Week 12: Days One and Two: Love and Marriage

On Day One, the Palmetto Writers worked in pairs on comparing and contrasting two songs: Adele's Someone Like You and Lady Gaga's You and I.

www.youtube.com/watch


www.youtube.com/watch


The directions were as follows:


 Work in pairs and compare and contrast Adele's song "Someone Like You" with Lady Gaga's "You and I."
1. Explain how the title of the song indicates what the song is about. Explain why you think they
2. Explain how the the style and the language in the songs seem particularly suited to what the songwriter has to say.
3. Analyze the visual rhetoric in the two songs. How effective is the video in communicating the message and theme of the song? Use evidence to support your claim.


Be sure and support your three points with examples from the songs.
Submit your comparison/contrast critique as a post and include your names and the title "Adele vs. Lady Gaga Songs".

Scott and Ursula's Response

1. In Lady Gaga’s song, “You and I” she returns to town and wants to rekindle a relationship with a past lover. In Adele’s song, “Someone Like You” she feels that instead of going back to her ex lover, she is moving on just like he did. Gaga chose that title for that song because it’s in the present where as Adele’s is drawing the line in the sand and making a new future for herself. 

2. In the music video, “Someone Like You” the whole video is in black and white which gives a more powerful meaning already. They show close ups of her face which expresses regret, because things didn’t turn out the way she wanted. The song is slow and methodical. It’s a bittersweet video of lingering piano and a powerful voice. She has been left behind by an ex lover and ponders why she couldn’t live up to his expectations and has gained the strength to make the decision to move on. Lady Gaga says, “It’s been a long time since I came around, Been a long time but I’m back in town. You taste like whiskey when you kiss me, Oh I’d give anything to be your baby doll. This time I’m not leaving without you.” Her powerful  voice is very loud and her style is contemporary rock n roll.

3. One visual reference in Adele’s video, is being in black in white and she’s walking along the a river in Paris, France, making this very bittersweet but stating that she’s resolved her problem and moved on, whereas Gaga paints her picture with her words, for example, when she says, “Sit back down where you belong in my corner of my bar with your high heels on.”

Here were the directions to the discussion forum on Andrew Sullivan's essay, Why the M Word Matters to Me.

1. Revisit the essay by Andrew Sullivan called Why the M Word Matters to Me.
2. Identify the reasons why Sullivan believes that gays should be allowed to marry.
3. Watch the two videos below.
www.youtube.com/watch


http://youtu.be/rN6X0M0rev8
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN6X0M0rev8
www.youtube.com/watch
4. In Paragraph 2 state your opinion and provide at least three reasons why you believe that there should or should not be marriage rights for gay couples. 
5. Support your opinion with at least TWO credible sources following the CARS checklist. Your sources must have a credible unbiased author, the facts must be accurate, reasonable, and balanced(no bias).
6. Use in-text citations in your post and properly formatted works cited at the end of your post.
7. Reply to a minimum of two of your peers' posts in which you agree or disagee and mentioning why.

Conner C. - Gay Marriage

Andrew Sullivan is a very brave and heroic man. Over his lifetime he has faced hate, hardship and even the contemplation of suicide. He is a strong and inspirational man who just so happens to be gay. With all of the challenges he had to overcome he is now happily married and has found the perfect lifestyle for himself. He has had a long road of supporting gay marriages and he most definitely has arguments to back it up. He believes that in order for America to be a strong, united country, everybody must make peace and join one another. With so much controversy over who can't get married, more and more hate is circulating. Instead of opposing gay marriages, why not let the people be free and make their own personal decisions?

It's fairly obvious what my opinion on gay marriage is, considering the first paragraph. I believe that since we are able to make such personal decisions as smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol, we should be able to make such decisions about who we want to marry. It's okay for people of a different nationality or a different religion to get married, but people with a different sexual preference are excluded. How does gay marriage affect you in any way; you're not the one involved in the relationship? As Americans, we have the right to be free, to an extent obviously. With these freedoms comes personal choice, and sexuality should definitely fall into this category.

"Demographic information also showed most of the couples were older and better educated than average newlywed couples, with more than 74% over 35 years old and 69 % holding a college degree."
It is said, by use of statistics, that gay married couples on average tend to be of a more mature age and are literally more intelligent and succesfull than that of a heterosexual couple. What could happen with the legalization of gay marriage, besides creating thousands of happier couples?

"Gay Marriage Facts & Statistics - History of Gay Marriage." Gay Marriage Tips - Gay Marriage Jewelry - Gay Marriage Laws - Gay Divorce. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.      http://gaymarriage.lifetips.com/cat/64319/gay-marriage-facts-statistics/index.html.

"11 Facts About Gay Rights." Do Something. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-gay-rights.

Week 11: Day One The 50s Trophy Wives vs. Today's Trophy Wives

Today's lesson was based on an essay by Deborah Siegal called The New Trophy Wife.

The men were against the women in a comparison-contrast activity that compared trophy spouses of the 50s with trophy spouses of today. The men had to compare and contrast 50's trophy husbands  new trophy husbands today, while the women were asked to compare and contrast trophy wives of the 50s with trophy wives today.

The groups worked as a team of four: researcher, resource person, writer, and researcher/presenter to complete the table, find two graphics and include their sources.


Here is what Mel, Mal, Brittany and Anna Marie submitted.

#	Trophy Wife of Today	Trophy Wife of the 1950s
1	Work and make more or the same amount of money as their husbands	Women stayed home as homemakers and raised their children
2	Men are more willing to marry women with more education than themselves	Men married their wives for their beauty and body
3	Women think men are intimidated by their education and their powered career	Most women graduated high school and were married right after and began having children
4	1 in 3 women make more money than their husbands	2 out of 5 women with husbands and school-age children worked outside of the home
5	“If a woman is powerful, smart, and ambitious, her expectations for her husband, and for the relationship, rise.  Women tend to think that their spouse is not keeping his end of the pact	Women depended on the husband to earn money, support the family and help with all their problems.  Women were always portrayed as helpless and unable to take care of themselves.
6	Successful, educated women on average marry in their thirties	The average age of women getting married was early twenties

Clouse, Barbara Fine. Patterns for a Purpose: a Rhetorical Reader. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print.

Roobix Coob. “A Women’s Role in the 1950s” Yahoo.com. Associated Content, 17 Nov.

2005. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.

"Women's Roles in the 1950s." 1950's Lifestyles and Social Trends. Gale Cengage, 1994. eNotes.com. 2006. 1 Nov, 2011 <http://www.enotes.com/1950-lifestyles-social-trends-american-decades/
womens-roles>

 I had to spend about 20-minutes checking students' comprehension of the essay, because people are coming to class unprepared. For example, I asked what the term 'alpha' male meant and no one could answer. 

The Google peer reviews had to be delayed because a lot of the students had their access set to Can View rather than Can Edit. We sorted that out though, so I am hoping the process gets easier the next time around. I ended up putting two peer editing discussion forums up (one in Week 10 and the other in Week 11) which wasn't really necessary since the Google links automatically update when people make changes to them.

Week 10 Day Two: Google Docs and Peer Editing

The Palmetto Writers were introduced to Google docs today in preparation for the peer editing of their comparison-contrast papers.

They had no problems opening a Google account and following the detailed instructions I had provided for them using screen captures of the step-by-step process of uploading their Paper 2 drafts and getting to the Share link step of the process.

I soon discovered that this generation of learners do not like to follow directions; they prefer to figure it out themselves. With the exception of one student in the class who changed the access from "Can View" to "Can Edit", no one else clicked on the editing access box.

It was only after I got back to the office and opened the links to the papers did I notice that 99% of the papers were set to View Only. Alas.....now I know in the future to do the process with them or at least warn them to click on that finally button at the end of the directions for access to editing.

After doing this, they worked in their Peer Review teams to discuss a sample comparison-contrast paper I had found online comparing and contrasting two restaurants. The students used the Paper 2 rubric I had provided for them and each member was assigned a different criterion to use in the discussion. For example, one person might look at the organization and fluency of the essay. Another might look at the introduction, the thesis, and the conclusion. Another would discuss the grammar and mechanics of the paper. 

You can find the link to that essay at www.roanestate.edu/owl/Mac.html.

After the small group discussion, we had a group critiquing discussion. When I asked the students what grade they would give the paper, the majority said a 'C' with a few saying the paper should be a 'B.' We went through the criteria on the rubric and began to knock off points for organization, lack of research and support, and all those problems with grammar and mechanics. The paper went from a 'B' or a 'C' to a 'D' after this lively discussion.

I was quick to point out that in an effective critique, it is important to mention the strong areas. We all decided we liked the writer's MLA first page format and the vivid description of Fox's Diner. We also liked that the writer had a clearly stated thesis.

We spent the next few minutes going over how to make changes in a Google document using the Insert....Comment feature. I wish I had had more time for discussing the paper and reading through the comments I had made on that paper the previous day. I did put the link to this paper with the comments in the discussion forum, but I seriously doubt that people will take the time to read the comments that I made.

Check out this video tutorial on using Google docs. from YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCJFgieFxfU&feature=related 

 

Week 10 Day One: Poster Making with Glogster

The Part 2 of our visual rhetoric module consisted of the Palmetto Writers making and analyzing their own social issue poster using Glogster.


If you aren't familiar with this cool interactive poster making tool check out the following video.





The Palmetto Writers had to apply what they learned the previous day about visual rhetoric and make a poster for an FGCU student body audience on texting while driving. The all out winners of this poster making contest were Reid and Nicole A.

http://nzalvarez.glogster.com/glog/ 

And here is their analysis:

The use of blood spatter in the background and the color red is a powerful tool in presenting an ominous and morbid image. The visual slogan seen at the top is easy to understand, yet very powerful. The video used is a great example of how text messaging while driving is not only a risk to you, but also to innocent pedestrians. Everything in the poster is simple enough for anyone to understand and is also not too overcrowded. The images and text can be easily distinguished.  

Here are some other examples of what was done:

Carly C. and Nicole R.

http://carlyglog.glogster.com/texting-and-driving/

Our advertisement has an eerie mood because of the blood splattered background and graphic images. Our statistics show real proof that texting and driving is an issue among young people and the facts will scare them into taking the issue seriously. The last written text on the bottom is a little funny because it uses texting  so students can relate. The photo is an actual image from a news channel; therefore, an image of fear is instilled because it is something real. The text above the image is in all capital letters because we want it to catch the viewer's attention and stick in their brain. 

Michaela and Brian 

http://michaela1224.glogster.com/texting-kills/ 

The mood of the poster is that if you choose to text while driving it will result in fatality or injury. We used scare tactics to show the reader that there will be a lot of blood and tears along with gore. The video shows a careless outing of three teens but when the driver starts to text it results in a car crash that no one gets out unharmed. The media of the poster is scattered to imply that the accident that will result from texting will be chaotic. You won't have your grounding and it will make a mess of people's lives. The images show that there will be damage to your vehicle as well as to the people inside. The bottom line is don't text and drive if you don't want to hurt people.

Carly M. and Mel

http://cmarsh0306.glogster.com/dont-text-for-life-carly-and-mel/ 

Our texting while driving poster has a dark and frightening mood. The way we created this mood was by using dark images, blood, and pictures referencing death. We designed the poster that way meaningful parts would pop out to the viewers. The relationship between the pictures and written material show the dangers of texting while driving. We used arrows to draw the attention to our main image and also represent the way cars collide into each other. We added a tombstone with a rose, a skull and bones, and different frames to impact the viewers with the idea that texting and driving equals death. We hope that our dark and gloomy poster will scare the viewers from wanting to text and drive!

The Palmetto Writers were given 30 minutes for this task but needed 45. The writing of the analysis paper was rushed.

If I were to do this lesson again, I would have shared the results of the midterm assessment of my instruction at the end of the hour if there was time.


I was disappointed that there wasn't time to do a show and tell.

Week 9 Day Two: Obesity Poster Analysis

Visual Rhetoric was the theme for today's lesson. Surprisingly enough, not one person could define what that word meant despite a whole presentation on it for the homework.

A simple definition of visual rhetoric is the following:

It is the way the images work on their own and collaborate with written text to create an argument designed to move a specific audience.

The Palmetto Writers analyzed obesity posters using some guiding questions.

Here is what Eric and Kylie came up with.

1. What is the general ambience of the advertisement? What mood does it create? How does it do this?
- The general ambience is at a barbeque. The mood it creates is enjoyable. The beer and hamburger show the mood of enjoyable.

2. What is the design of the advertisement? Does it use axial balance or some other form? How are the basic components or elements arranged?
- The design of the advertisement is that eating unhealthy things and drinking beer will make you fat. The advertisement does not use axial balance it uses dynamic balance, the visual elements are not arranged in a balanced manner. If you put a vertical line down the middle of the advertisement on the left you see half of the beer cup and half of the hamburger. On the right you see the other half of the beer and the hamburger and the gentleman’s beer belly.

3. What is the use of space in the advertisement? Is there a lot of 'white space" or is it full of graphic and written elements?
- The only white space in the advertisement is the gentleman’s white shirt. Other than that the advertisement is full of the rest of the graphic and written element

4. If there are figures (men, women, children, animals) what are they like? What can be said about their facial expressions, poses, hairstyle, age, sex, hair color, ethnicity, education, occupation, relationships (of one to the other)?
- Looking at the advertisement you can tell that the person posing for the picture is a gentleman by his strong veiny hands. You can also see that the advertisers might be trying to make his shirt look like whip cream. The bottom of the shirt looks like it is swirling to the top like whip cream inside of the can.

5. What does the background tell us? Where is the advertisement taking place and what significance does this background have?
- The advertisement is taking place outside at a barbeque, the significance of the background is the greenish colors in the background that can symbolize trees or grass.

6. What is the item being advertised and what role does it play in American culture and society?
- The items being advertised are beer and hamburgers the roles they play in American culture and society are that beer and hamburgers are a big part of American culture. Almost every out door party you go to serves them.

7. What about aesthetic decisions? If the advertisement is a photograph, what kind of a shot is it? What significance do long shots, medium shots, close-up shots have? What about the lighting, use of color, angle of the shot?
- It is a close up shot. The lighting is bright enough to see what is happening in the advertisement.

8. What sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes are indirectly reflected in the advertisement? An advertisement may be about a pair of blue jeans but it might, indirectly, reflect such matters as sexism, alienation, stereotyped thinking, conformism, generational conflict, loneliness, elitism, and so on.

The only thing that didn't work on this assignment was that some of the pictures were too small and the text couldn't be read. In future, I will put the pictures on a PowerPoint and number them and assign the photos.

I liked the fact that I provided an example of the analysis. Everyone did a good job on this assignment and seemed engaged. The timing was perfect and we even had time for a couple of the pairs to do their show and tell. This lesson is definitely a keeper!

Week 9 Day One: Reflections