Amy's paper

From Mizzou Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

http://comp.missouri.edu/wiki/index.php/Student_Ecology_%26_Cultural_Literacy

And finally, also in addition to the initial two assignments, rather than another free standing paper, I want you to think about the local level, and how this course's issues might have an impact. Again, you should be adding another 1200-1400 words to the initial work.

While Wesch presents a particular argument about student ecologies, ostensibly using K State students as his sources, our issues may be the same, different, similar, or not at all connected.

Is this University and your ecology providing you with CL and/or CC? How so?

What does UM do well? Where does it fall short? What other issues might be useful? Are they connected to Web 2.0?

How can we (as students who are in the University) propose changes? What might those changes be? Could those changes be the ones that you've already discussed in your Web 2.0 arguments, or could they be, (gasp!) rhetorical in nature?

What connections can you make, and how might you argue for or against them?

Finally, what sources might we use to support these arguments?

Amy Stevens Stevens 1 Aaron Harms English 1000 August 1, 2008 Technology Today

Michael Wesch, a professor at Kansas State University made a video with 200 of his students about what it means to be a student. In this video Wesch and his students bring up many topics that relate to college students in today's culture. With our ever-changing technology and culture we make adjustments to understand and be able to fit into today’s world; this is our cultural literacy and competency. Cultural literacy according to Wikipedia is "the ability to converse fluently in the idioms, allusions and informal content which creates and constitutes a dominant culture". Cultural Competency according to Wikipedia "refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures". I am an incoming freshman at The University of Missouri Columbia, and I'm just beginning to adjust to the culture of college life. I believe Cultural Competency needs to be taught, as we cannot learn this in a sheltered environment. I cannot relate to all of these topics brought up in Wesch's video because I have not experienced them all yet, but I do understand the idea of facing debt, time management, technology in the classroom, and large class sizes. Michael Wesch made a video with 200 of his students to put college life into perspective. The video begins with quotes from Wesch's students such as, “My average class size is 115" and "18% of my teachers know my name"(Wesch). I think these quotes relate because The University of Missouri Columbia and Kansas State University are both very similar in size. It’s hard for teachers to know our names with sometimes up to 300 other students in class. It’s hard to get one on one with your teacher and really understand and ask questions with a class that big. You can get help in large classes; many teachers have office hours but it still makes it more difficult to learn with such large class sizes. Another student said, "I complete 49% of readings assigned to me, only 26% are relevant to my life"(Wesch). I find it hard to be interested in readings when I know they do not relate or interest me. One student said, "I buy hundred dollar textbooks that I never open"(Wesch). I personally experienced this in my summer school math course, when I paid $130 for my books and all I needed from them was an online pass code. I was surprised by how different college was and how much more technology was available in my classes. All my work in college has been done and turned in online. In my Math class my homework, quizzes, and tests are done and graded online. I also realized from walking in many classrooms and study areas that we have access to computers all over campus. Many students begin to experience debt for the first time in college. One of Wesch's students says "My neighbor paid for class but never comes" and another says “I will be $20,000 in debt when I graduate from college"(Wesch). Many college students have to take out loans to afford school and end up with student loans to pay off for years after they graduate. College tuition is rising every year, and even though there are a lot of scholarships out there to apply for, many students won't receive much money from them, leaving parents and students to pay for books, tuition and sometimes board. This can be hard on both parents and students but education is very important. I believe education is a good investment and can take you far in life. Although college can be very expensive and cause student loan debt it is very worthwhile. The reason technology has come so far, and why we have made so many advances is because of the well educated people in this world. We as students must learn to multi-task to accomplish everything we want to do in a day. One student said, "I’m a multi-tasker, I have to be"(Wesch). The Kansas State University students list off what they do in a day such as, sleep for 7 hours, spend 3 hours in class, 3 hours studying, 2 hours talking on the cell phone, and some others which total to 26.5 hours a day. This isn't possible when there is only 24 hours a day, so we must multi-task to accomplish what we want to get done. Although do we need to do all of these? Is it necessary to spend 3 and a half hours online or listening to music for 2 and a half hours a day? I think in some ways we are making these problems our own, we don’t have to do these things. Some students are choosing to do things they want rather than doing the things they need to do. I believe we need time for recreation and to relax but what we have to do needs to come before what we want to do. Multi-tasking becomes very important in these situations. I myself have to multi-task to get everything done in a day. I work 16 hours a week, I'm going to summer school at The University of Missouri Columbia, and I also do a lot of studying for my math class and have many other things to accomplish during a normal week. I must multi-task to get everything done. Wesch himself writes on the chalkboard and says, "Writing on the chalkboard forces the teacher to move"(Wesch). I think he's trying to say that teachers need to be pro-active and that we shouldn't rely on technology alone to learn. Students need to be hands on and need substance in learning to gain knowledge. This substance is the bulk of what were learning, the material that is important to know and interesting to learn. There is a quote in the beginning of the video from Marshall McCluhan, where he tries to explain this. I believe McCluhan is trying to say that learning can be structured, have patterns and guidelines but unless you're getting something out of the experience, it means nothing. Students will learn more and want to learn more when they feel they're actually gaining something, we need to be interested in the topic. We need more than just guidelines and rules about how to learn, we need substance in our learning. You can teach a person to do something by giving them guidelines and rules, but there needs to be substance and bulk to what you’re teaching. As an incoming freshman, I'm learning about what it means to be a college student and how to adapt to college life. My ability to adapt and fit into this environment is my cultural competency. As I learn more about this culture and begin to understand slang, idioms and technology related to this environment I will become culturally literate. I’ve learned through personal experience when I moved from Las Vegas to Missouri that this is not taught in schools. I’ve attended two high schools in Las Vegas and one in Missouri, which were very different from each other. I attended a performing arts school where very diverse people were acceptable such as gays and lesbians and these students were very open and accepting to everyone. I also attended a public school of 3,000 where no one knew everyone, but you always met new people and they were accepting and open to meeting new people. My junior year I moved to Missouri to a private school, Helias High School in Jefferson City where everyone knows everyone, and many students have known each other since elementary school. I learned how to cope and meet new people every time I switched schools, this was never taught to me. I learned cultural literacy and competency on my own through personal experience. I found it easy to cope when I switched schools in Las Vegas and I loved both of my schools. I had a hard time with adapting to culture in Missouri and I still do on a daily basis. I don't think cultural competency is a learned thing in this area though, I found that many people were not accepting to who I am and my viewpoints. I think cultural competency and tolerance needs to be taught here because everyone is so sheltered and not made aware of this. I think cultural literacy can be learned through being around a culture for a long period of time, but I do believe cultural competency and tolerance needs to be taught. My student ecology is very different from the student ecology described by Wesch and the Kansas State University students in his video. In both of my summer school classes computers and technology is provided for us, so we have no need for laptops in the classroom. Not many students in either of my classes use laptops because technology is provided for us. I don't think we can accurately say how many people have laptops based on what we see, many don't have the need to bring them to class, like me. Although I was made aware that in many college classes they will not be provided for us. It’s hard for me to have a strong opinion about the topic because I have not faced these issues yet. I do believe that if the University is going to use technology a lot they need to help provide it, whether it’s by making computers more affordable to buy or provide those students who cannot afford one with a way to rent or borrow one. The University does have many computer labs but students should be able to work on their computer where they want or where it is convenient. The University of Missouri-Columbia is a very mixed school because people come here from all over the country, and sometimes the world. I think if students have not been exposed to new cultures and view points by now they will be. In college you may know people from your high school but you will meet many new people also. Students will learn to adapt to college life and develop a new Cultural Literacy and Competency. Students will learn how to deal with people from different backgrounds and learn cultural tolerance. I don't think it’s necessary to teach cultural literacy or competency in college. If students have not learned these by now I do not think some will ever learn them. Some people may be able to adjust and change and be open to new ideas. I do think however, that some people are so set on their beliefs and narrow minded that they will not be open to change and therefore not change. I think the only way to get changes made at The University of Missouri-Columbia is by the students. The University may not always know what the students like and don't like unless we do something about it or let them know what the problem is. I think it’s partly the students' responsibility to get these changes made, although the school should be trying to figure them out. The University Of Missouri-Columbia is such a big school which makes it hard to realize all the problems but if the University had a better way of finding these problems it might be easier to solve. The University of Missouri-Columbia does a good job attempting to keep up with technology and putting it into the classrooms. I think The University Of Missouri-Columbia falls short when it comes to providing a way for students to be successful with this technology. I think students need a way to borrow or buy a computer to have access to this technology. I think if Mizzou cannot provide a sufficient source of technology such as computers they should encourage this change possibly by providing I-pods or some sort of technology to all students. Although Mizzou may not be completely technologically advanced it does a good job at providing a good education to its students. Mizzou is ranked among many top schools and does a good job of preparing its students for the real world.--How do you know these things?-- --this transition is a tough one...-- Wesch uses rhetoric in his video to help prove his point and make his argument. Rhetoric is a way of speaking and persuading, sometimes using humor. Rhetoric can also be used like in a rhetorical question, where the question calls for no answer. In both of Wesch's video he talks about technology and the effects of it on people today. Wesch is making the point in his video that technology is not necessarily good in the learning environment, but ironically some of his students are typing up their facts on their laptops. In video two a lot of the video was of someone typing on a computer and going to different websites and making points about the Internet. It shows how easy it is to access information and how much information is available on the web. This video also shows how much information is available and the endless possibilities of the internet. Wesch uses rhetoric in both of his videos to prove his point and persuade his audience. There are three types of persuasion in rhetoric, which include Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. This is what Wesch uses to prove his argument. Logos appeals to your reason through statistics and facts. Pathos appeals to your emotion. Ethos appeals to your character, which convinces your audience that this is a credible source. All three of these are used in Wesch's video to support his claims. I believe this type of persuasion is used in many good arguments. Logos is used in the video when the students hold up signs and show their facts and statistics. These are facts and statistics about Kansas State University. Wesch uses these facts and statistics to appeal to the audience’s reason. The audience gains knowledge about the subject and can begin to think about and understand the topic. This also helps support the author’s credibility later and is a basis for their argument. Pathos is used in the video when one students says, "1 billion people make less than a dollar a day", and another student says my "laptop costs more than some people make in a year"(Wesch). Pathos is used to persuade the audience with emotion. This makes us think more with our hearts. It makes the audience consider how they feel about this situation and how they will react. Another student says how she will be "$20,000 in debt after she graduates"(Wesch). This makes future college students realize how expensive it is and how hard it can be to deal with this. This reminds parents and present college students how much this does affect their life, and how hard it can be. The appeal of ethos shows the credibility of this argument and information. Wesch is a professor at Kansas State University, so we assume he is intelligent and a credible source for information. The facts given by Wesch’s 200 students also supports their credibility, although this information does not apply to all college students it does prove to be true of Kansas State University. The video is also filmed in a college classroom with real college students. The environment is real and the problems are real. The video is apparently not professional, the camera jumps around showing the audience that this is made by students and their professor. Wesch's second video also brings up many issues relevant to students today. Web 2.0 shows up a few times in his video. Many sites like Facebook, Myspace and Wikipedia are examples of this. Web 2.0 is the "the new internet” where everything can be edited and anyone can edit and be their own author. This new internet is made to be edited and responded to. Web 2.0 is based on the idea of social networking and the spread of new ideas. The internet is no longer just a source of information, it is a place to interact and respond to the world around us. I believe your education is what you make of it; we decide who we want to be and what we want to make of ourselves. We should take advantage of good opportunities. We will learn through personal experience as we get older how to deal with different cultures, and what we must do to succeed in our ever-changing world. Through our own experiences we learn to deal with other cultures and new environments, but some must be taught to us. I think one of the most valuable lessons I've learned so far is being able to adjust to change and accept new ideas.

--you're on the right track here! You need some form of data/examples/support to support your ideas in the new paragraphs though. Even if it's placement after graduation rates, or something from Mizzou's own website. What you have right now is unsupported opinion. It might be RIGHT, but it requires support.--


Works cited: “Cultural Literacy” 25 July 2008: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_literacy> “Cultural Competency” 25 July 2008 :< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Competency> Wesch, Michael. "A Vision of Students Today." Youtube. 12 Oct. 2007. Kansas State University. 25 July 2008 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o>. Wesch, Michael. "Information R/Evolution." Youtube. 12 Oct. 2007. Kansas State University. 25 July 2008 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4CV05HyAbM>. Wesch, Michael. "The Machine is Us/Ing Us (Final Version)." Youtube. 08 Mar. 2007. Kansas State University. 25 July 2008 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g>.

Retrieved from "http://comp.missouri.edu/wiki/index.php/Amy%27s_paper"