Monthly Archives: May 2010
Myth and Mass Media – McLuhan
McLuhan, M. (1997). Media research: technology, art, communication: Routledge. “The effect of media, like their “message,” is really in their form and not in their content” (10). “The spectator or reader must now be co-creator” (12). In Myth and Mass Media, McLuhan discusses language and mass media in regard to the making of myth. While…
Cyberliteracy (4) – Distance Education
Gurak, L. J. (2001). Cyberliteracy: Navigating the internet with awareness. New Haven Conn.; London: Yale University Press. Even in 2001 (when Cyberliteracy was published), the use of the internet for distance education was growing. Gurak addresses this point from sort of a media richness perspective. “The richest form of communication has always been face-to-face. Humans…
Cyberliteracy(3) – Anonymity and Interactivity
Gurak, L. J. (2001). Cyberliteracy: Navigating the internet with awareness. New Haven Conn.; London: Yale University Press. Beyond Reach and Speed, the features of anonymity and interactivity define cyberliteracy even more. Anonymity Anonymity refers to the fact that in most settings, we can never really be sure who is on the other end.
Cyberliteracy(2) – Speed and Reach
Gurak, L. J. (2001). Cyberliteracy: Navigating the internet with awareness. New Haven Conn.; London: Yale University Press. In Chapter two of Cyberliteracy, Laura Gurak discusses speed, reach, anonymity, and interactivity, “[T]he functional units by which most Internet communication takes place (29).” She notes that whether they are working alone or in combination, they help explain…
Cyberliteracy (1)
“To be cyberliterate means that we need to understand the relationship between our communication technologies and ourselves, our communities, and our cultures (16).” Gurak, L. J. (2001). Cyberliteracy: Navigating the internet with awareness. New Haven Conn.; London: Yale University Press. Gurak defines cyberliteracy as “a critical technology literacy, one that includes performance, but also relies…
The Tipping Point
Gladwell, M. (2001). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference: Abacus. This book is essentially an analysis of how/why certain trends take hold with public audiences and consumers, while others do not. The idea of The Tipping Point is based on Gladwell’s contention that any style, trend, or phenomenon that can…