Comments for Vitia

Comment on #edcmooc Misgivings and Thanksgivings by Cheryl

Cheryl — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:48:20 +0000

ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪

Which is apparently the Gangnam Style emoticon, aka Cheryl rejoicing

Comment on 4Cs: Evaluating Academic Weblogs by In the Clickstream, Part 2 | Vitia

In the Clickstream, Part 2 | Vitia — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 07:50:15 +0000

[...] — secure trackbacks, secure pingbacks — in student writing come from Derek’s amazing CCCC presentation a couple years back. And beyond Derek’s contribution, much of the fun I’m having [...]

Comment on #edcmooc Misgivings and Thanksgivings by Jenna Herman

Jenna Herman — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 15:54:55 +0000

What that meta-study found was that online classes were either slightly better or about the same, but the best results came from “hybrid” course formats. Further, different teaching techniques worked better than others and what did not appear to help people learn were the things that are common in these MOOCs: a lot of video lectures and quizzes. And beyond that, two of the reasons for the results that come out of this study are that students spend more time engaged in the course and students self-select (and are thus more motivated) in online courses.

Comment on #edcmooc Misgivings and Thanksgivings by canyondreaming

canyondreaming — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:42:13 +0000

[...] Edwards has responded to some of the TechRhettors’ thoughts on the #edcmooc on his own blog, and I’m interested in the concept that he picks up from Cheryl Ball, the [...]

Comment on #edcmooc Misgivings and Thanksgivings by Heading into the weekend and our moving target schedule | English 516: Computers and Writing, Theory and Practice

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:30:41 +0000

[...] Mike Edwards, “#edcmooc Misgivings and Thanksgivings.” [...]

Comment on #edcmooc Misgivings and Thanksgivings by Alex Reid

Alex Reid — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:47:40 +0000

I think it’s an interesting idea to try and take some of the material from this course and use it as the basis for a topoi article. I’m assuming the work will be posted all around the public web. I also agree that on some level all these matters are up for debate. Among 41,000 people I imagine the existence of angels, the validity of the theory of evolution, and evidence of global warming might all be up for debate. Even the existence of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny might be a site of disagreement if we have young enough students. In a similar vein, in my view, Prensky’s digital immigrants/natives business is not a view that has disciplinary merit. That is, I don’t think there are scholars today in the fields of eLearning or digital culture citing Prensky’s concept as something that has real intellectual value. I agree that we do these things in the classroom, but in the classroom we have the benefit of the socratic method where we can lead everyone from Prensky, for example, toward a disciplinary understanding of the issues. After all, we are at the end of week one, and I still see students posting declaring how they are immigrants or natives. Or saying how they are immigrants but they feel like they still have something to offer or have certain digital literacies that are better than those of “kids today.” I guess I don’t understand why one would feed a class of 40,000 a pile of terminology you didn’t really want them to use. By next week, the class will probably whittle down to 20,000 or fewer, and half the class will have left thinking its academic to think about technologies as utopian or dystopian. I don’t think that’s a win.

Comment on #edcmooc Misgivings and Thanksgivings by Steve Krause

Steve Krause — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:24:43 +0000

I think the open-ended approach to multimodal composing is potentially interesting too and I agree with the potentially cool value of 3000 + new media compositions unleashed on the world. But I remain skeptical about how any of these things can be assessed in any meaningful way. Does that matter? Well, if the MOOC is just an experience and success/a certificate is based just on completion, then no. But if the MOOC is (or will become?) something that we recognize as "college credit," then yes, yes it is. Anyway, I could be talked into some kind of Topoi sort of thing, especially in relation to my class, Computers and Writing, Theory and Practice. Those are graduate students who might be interested in writing up stuff. And one of the assignments in the class is to reflect on what happened, so maybe that could connect here?

Comment on Screaming Cat Freak-Out by Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 19:25:13 +0000

I am sooo glad to find this site!!! I took one of my two 13 year old sister-cats to the vet yesterday..when I got her home her sister started growling at her like always, and of course she growled right back. I needed to do some errands, and based on past experience they ‘get over it’ in a few hours. Well..3 1/2 hours later when I got back, the one I took to the vet was sitting up high in the living room on a perch..the other one was in one of her ‘nests’ in a lower kitchen cupboard. All HELL let loose when the one in the lower kitchen cupboard jumped down..as soon as she saw her sister that I had brought home from the vet 3 1/2 hours previously..she went P-S-Y-C-H-O!!!!!! Hissing-screaming-spitting-growling-and in a crouching position! Her sister then spit back and RAN for the bedroom(HER ‘nest’). Then the cat that didn’t have to go to the vet started RAGING at ME!!! OMG!!! I WAS SCARED TO DEATH!!!! I think she smells the vet on us but she has NEVER EVER got THIS UPSET BEFORE! It is the next day, things are NO BETTER so I have put the cat that is RAGING in her bedroom at one end of the trailer(heated, litter-pan-food-water-and SOFT BED up high on a bureau..she even has a large window to look out). I’ve let the one who came home from the vet out of her bedroom at the other end of the trailer..we BOTH slept in there with the door CLOSED last night and half of today). The RAGING cat has only seen me now, and seems to have stopped her growling, etc; at me. I’m NOT chancing it with her seeing her sister just yet. I will let her spend her night alone in her regular ‘safe haven’ and see what tomorrow brings..I hope to get her to get over this in a day or two..or three. But for now..I believe this is the right thing to do. Their relationship has already been ‘damaged’ to some degree possibly..and I don’t want ANY OF US to get hurt or go through another night like last night. Btw..they both have medical issues that they are being treated for..going on. The RAGING cat, Brandi..hyperthyroidism and elevated liver values..and the one that came home from the vet with me..kidney values are elevated(vet is running urine culture to see if could be caused from UTI). I LOVE both of my ‘girls’ very much, and I’m glad to realize that this behavior isn’t all that unusual. Thanks everyone!

Comment on Top Rhet/Comp Schools? by PositiveFemTalk

PositiveFemTalk — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:19:22 +0000

[...] http://vitia.org/wordpress/2007/01/04/top-rhetcomp-schools/ [...]

Comment on Maximally Multimodal by Pete

Pete — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 02:53:44 +0000

Very interesting, Mike. What would happen if you tried to re-generate the music from the graphic signature–would it sound like the original? Or if you recreated speech from the graphic data–would it be decipherable and would it reflect the speaker’s voice? These questions would seem to bear on the difference between information and meaning.