Blog 3

In class we practiced using different mediums to see how each one changed our writing style and to prove that McLuhan was indeed correct when making the argument that our processes change when different mediums are used. I began explaining my writing style at the station with the blank paper and pencil. To begin with, I work best when I am alone and there is no tv or music in the background. I usually do my best work when I am under pressure to meet a deadline or if I am able to get right to work when I feel inspired. I reflect on the prompt for a few days and maybe begin an introduction paragraph. Then once I feel ready to continue, I will go back to the draft and finish the paper. I really try to finish my whole paper in one sitting, otherwise I feel like I forget the flow or where I was going with my ideas if I come back. I prefer to print my document and edit that way, rather than editing on the screen. It helps me find more mistakes if I see a hard copy of my work.

While I was writing about my process I realized I was using an entirely different process to explain myself. Since I had blank paper, I was writing large and felt conscious of keeping my lines straight and neat. I also did not write as much, I took quite a few breaks because my hand was tired and I didn’t really want to write a lot down. I moved on to a few more stations and then got back to a lined piece of paper and a pen. There I reflected and described what I found out about my writing process with each medium.

When I used the computer to type, my writing process was the most comfortable. That was to be expected for me because I have been using the computer for most of my time in college so it is what I prefer now. I used a word document and typed quite a  bit more than what I did writing free hand or when I was using my phone to type my thoughts. I was quickly and easily able to edit my ideas without thinking to hard which is much different than my free hand process. When writing on paper I have to be editing and revising as I write, but with the computer I have  some leeway to make mistakes and quickly backspace or spell check to correct them.

I found my editing process to be affected the most when using different mediums to create my ideas. I have to constantly edit in my head when writing free hand but when I move to cell phone or laptop I immediately noticed a change in my work. I was easily able to flow out my thoughts and have the backspace and other editing features of the laptop to back me up and help correct my mistakes. Overall I definitely felt and understood the changes that McLuhan discussed and I agree that different mediums do have an effect on the writing process.

Blog 2: Presentation Plan

My presentation tomorrow is over an app called PicStitch, which is a photo editing app. I plan to have each student download the app at the beginning of my presentation so that they can follow along with me during my presentation. I created a presentation using the online tool Prezi, it worked really well for me. It was my first time using that presentation software and I will probably be using it again.

Each bubble contains a certain step with a screenshot of that step. I plan to use those visual aids as well as everyone following along on their phones to help guide my presentation. I included a video that I will play at the end to reinforce the app and to show the students a quick basic tutorial of the information I covered. I think seeing it in one smooth video will answer questions and concerns as well as hit on things I may have missed in the presentation. I am including the link of my Prezi presentation to show what my visual aid will be.

http://prezi.com/oclucrnddbd3/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Blog 1

Marshall McLuhan’s “The Medium is the Message” presents media and technology in a way that I have never thought of it before. He argues that the medium has more value than the message that is being portrayed. I had a hard time understanding his views at first because I have always believed that the message coming from the television, radio, paintings or anything else for that matter, is the most important thing. When I think of television, I don’t think about the actual technology of it, I think about whatever I am watching. That has always been where the message comes from for me. Now that I have been exposed to McLuhan’s views on medium I can better understand the ideas he believed. For example, in the video we watched in class McLuhan says that what we say on the telephone doesn’t matter as much as the actual technology of the telephone device. That made absolutely no sense to me because my first thought was of course what you say on the phone matters or why else would you be on it? But then after more explanation and remembering what I read in his article, I realized that McLuhan was saying that it’s the overall “medium” of the telephone that has the greatest impact on society, not necessarily what one small phone conversation between two people is about. Technology has affected each and every one of us and how we go about our daily lives. Actually using the telephone to contact another person has a much greater environmental effect on society and has given us opportunities to communicate that we have not always had. Overall, I think the point McLuhan is trying to make when he says “the medium is the message” is that no matter what the message is behind the technology, it is the use and advancement of technology itself that has shaped and changed us to communicate and function how we do today.