August 21st, 2010
“Old media are not being displaced. Rather, their functions and status are shifted by the introduction of new technologies” (14).
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press, 2008.
OVC as a Medium
As I’ve discussed in the passed, while my research on the online video conversation (OVC) focuses on students’ use of the communication tool Viddler in the classroom, the study and the topic have little to do with Viddler. It is merely a tool that offers certain features that are beneficial to the OVC; it does not create it. Even through the course of this research, various tools and technologies are beginning to offer such features as the ability to comment within the timeline of an online video. As Henry Jenkins states, “[H]istory teaches us that old media never die–and they don’t even necessarily fade away. What dies are simply the tools we use to access media content…” (13). Regardless of whether Viddler persists, the phenomenon that is the OVC is not dependent on it or any other tool; it refers more to a method and a medium through which we communicate. Read the rest of this entry »
June 22nd, 2010
O’Donnell, J. J. (2000). Avatars of the word: From papyrus to cyberspace: Harvard University Press.
In this chapter, O’Donnell discusses the instability and, in some ways (un)reliability, of the written word in both printed and electronic form. The printed format is generally a far cry more consistent than the pre-Gutenberg manuscript format. However, upon closer examination, there exists a possibility for much inconsistency and even access ephemerality. “It is surprising what variations can occur between one printed edition of the same book and another…” (44). Read the rest of this entry »
June 20th, 2010
Based on a question I found in Hayles’ book originally posed by a professor (Gregory Bateson) to his graduate students, I queried “Is a blind man’s cane part of the man?” on my Facebook page. This launched one of the longer conversations I’ve had on FB, the culmination of which is worth repurposing into a post. As Socrates would see it, it was a rubbing together of minds through dialogue lead to a spark of illumination. So, here is an essay of my perspective on the matter formulated due to, and based on, that conversation with special thanks to Ronda W., Duglas K, Amanda B., Mark C., Lisa C-S, Cris B, Michael S., and Kim E.
This question stems from my reading this week of Hayles’ “How We Became Posthuman.” From my perception, the cane is part of the man. It is merely one example in the discussion that all tools are extensions of ourselves (a point I’ve touched on in last week’s blog posts on McLuhan and Hayles). The cane operates as part of the man’s body, it acts as an extension of his hand, being part of his working perception of the world (perception of the working world?). Read the rest of this entry »
September 1st, 2009
An article I wrote over a year ago was published today in the Rocky Mountain Communication Review. While it was a rather lengthy gestation period from submission to publication, I am pleased to finally see it in print. It looks very good. Here it is in PDF form:
Barrow, Time. (2009) “New Media in the Online Classroom.” Rocky Mountain Communication Review V.6(1): 62-65.
July 27th, 2009
I might be being naive or a bit in denial, but following the big Seesmic change, I am failing to understand why the majority of people left Seesmic. Yes, there have been some site updates, but the tool is still there and still functional
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