I think that we are in a pretty good place with our video. I don’t really see the project as being very difficult, as long as we all can get along and agree on how it should go. Currently we have the storyboard basically figured out, and I would say about 1/3 of the video finalized. The hardest part was actually figuring out the outline of the video, but now that it is done we should be able to get started on actually finishing the video. Tomorrow we are working on the video, and I hope to have all of the actual footage by Friday. We will then hopefully be able to get it all edited into a rough video by Sunday, but that is just a goal. 

How might your project be helped along by a historical perspective? Post a link to something relevant you discovered in the University Archives.

I think that the most important thing that history can do for us is show us if similar situations have come up in the past. What if when computers first came onto the campus, other students were concerned with how it would effect their classroom environment? If there is evidence of their concern in the archives, then our group might be able to use it to support our argument. The link I supplied below shows one possibility of technology making its way into the learning environment. I’m sure that many students were excited about using the new computer system. The must too have been others who were weary of it and were not ready to change. I think considering different examples from the past will diversify and strengthen our arguments. 

http://www.library.illinois.edu/archives/archon/index.php?p=digitallibrary/digitalcontent&id=1290 

I feel like after watching the video, all of these were at one time or another his research question. How does Multi Media effect the world? How has media changed over the years? How does information spread throughout the world? What is on YouTube? What is the culture of YouTube? These questions together sum up his experience with YouTube, and do a good job at describing his goals.

To study YouTube, Wesch and his students did a few different things. First he just exposed them to it. They all went on and just watched videos, taking notes where they were needed. This allowed them to get a feel for what was on the site and how people reacted to other things. From here he made them make videos and become a part of YouTube. Wesch made his video and it has over 11 million views. He took careful note of how big it was getting, and through what resources it expanded.

I think that Wesch’s research was successful, because he was able to really expand society’s understanding of how the internet works. Through ethnographic research Wesch and his students were able to achieve the insider look at YouTube, and understand why people post videos and how they spread. I think because the video we watched had almost 1.8 million views also shows its success, because he was able to give his information out to many people. Even if Wesch’s work did not solve anything, it started the process for researchers everywhere to continue his ideas and expand upon his work.  

How does this text help the rhetor (you/the university) help persuade your audience? What is it about this text that makes it persuasive? Would it be persuasive to all students equally? 

This image might be persuasive to audiences because it shows students enjoying their studies in a comfortable and safe environment. We are happy, and in an up kept study lounge that have comfortable chairs and convenient desk tops. If we were wearing University of Illinois apparel or included a larger picture of the lounge with more diverse students, then the picture would be even more effective. It would also be a good picture to include along with others, because it unfortunately doesn’t show the entire university experience. It would persuade potential students who were interested in the studying aspect of the school, and it would certainly influence parents whose primary concern would be education. 

Predicting Homework Distraction at the Secondary School Level: A Multilevel Analysis

By Jianzhong Xu

When I first found this article, I was mostly concerned with the idea that the article focuses on High School and Middle School students rather than college students. However In the beginning of the article, the author gives an summarized table of context. Under this, a results summary is included which made me decide to keep reading. The author wrote, “Results from the multilevel analyses revealed that most of the variance in homework distraction occurred at the student level.” I know that I had many of the same problems with distraction now that I had back in high school, and that much of the study would still be applicable to students my age. Next In the authors background information he outlines much of the work that has been done already, such as interesting research on how distractions during homework affect the student’s ability to apply the information. The author cites numerous articles, giving statistics about how many students use various technologies during the studies. He also indicates that gender differences with distraction have been found, such as boys being more likely to play games and girls more likely to use social media. At the end of the background section, the author presents how his research will, “address the gaps” that the prior research left.

The next section the author writes about is that of his method of research. He chose diverse schools in order to keep his work consistent. Once he obtained his test group of 1,800 students, he administered a homework survey. This survey was multifaceted and covered: Family background, academic performance, parents education, extracurricular activities, homework distraction, and others. The survey was estimated to take 40 minutes to complete. After the surveys were completed, mean values were obtained for the questions and used for analysis and discussion.

The study found that girls were more likely to be distracted than boys by technology because they, “were found to be more likely to engage in online activities and media multitasking” by prior studies. The author then explains how it is difficult for families to monitor online distractions because it is easy for them to be hidden. He also found that when students were distracted it was, “positively associated with peer-oriented reasons and negatively associated with adult-oriented and learning-oriented reasons.”

In his final section, the author indicates his recommended future research and implications of his current research. He points out that more research is needed surrounding how student attitude towards homework determines the level of distraction the student experiences. He also points out that research should be done on how the student environment for completing homework is changing, both at home and at school. He ends with how parents and teachers should work to make students more productive. His suggestions include trying to make students more motivated to complete their schoolwork and encouraging students who are particularly distracted by social technology to work in groups on their work.

This research perfectly correlates to the topic I am trying to write on. I find very interesting that not only does distraction affect the time it takes a student to study, but it also affects how they remember information and reuse it. Nothing was confusing, and this researcher clearly has written on this field before seeing in that he cited his own prior collaborative works. I am still interested in learning how the amount of distraction today compares to the amount of distraction in previous generations. I want to know if today we are more distracted than ever, or if those of the older generation have just made generalizations about us without taking a look at themselves. This text can be used as a starting point for our research. We can look at what the author has already done and then do our primary research to either confirm that college students have similar characteristics to the students in this study, or to look past his research and study something we are interested in.

Teachers College record year:2010 vol:112 iss:7 page:1937

ISSN:0161-4681

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I decided to try and narrow down my research from “How do students use technology?”, to, “What effect does technology have on the life of a student? The authors of this article, US teenagers’ perception and awareness of digital technology: A focus group approach, make it clear where they are coming from with this research in the very first paragraph. They cite at least 7 different sources where similar research has been done in the past, then they explain who they want to expand on what has been done by trying, “to understand more about youth perceptions and awareness of digital devices.” To achieve their goal they went to two separate, yet similar demographically, schools and had focus group meetings.

The authors point towards 4 overarching themes that stood out to them: awareness of digital devices, temporal displacement, social functions, and risk. To support their ideas, the authors would give roughly 5 to 10 excerpts from their conversations which directly supported what they were saying. Overall the information they gathered did not solve any mysteries, but rather just supported the general idea of students and technology. In the discussion section of the article, the author goes back to the originally cited works and explains how the data obtained follows what was already observed by others. In the conclusion on the article, the authors lay out their ideas of how technology is affecting the students. They have a very positive view of technology’s impact on student life. They wrote, “Teens’ interaction with each other and the world through social network websites via their computers can be just as valuable as face-to-face encounters; their use of cell phones to connect to one another via texting enables teenagers not only to share ideas and make friends, but to plan and coordinate social time; their use of computers to download entertainment content as well as trade and share personal messages significantly shapes today’s youth culture in broad, essential and significant ways, at times even trumping social contact itself.” To conclude the article, the authors speak on future areas to study. They think that more emphasis should be put towards internet users lying and its negative effects, and socio-economic status with regards to how it effects students and the technology they possess.

The most interesting thing I find in the article is how seemingly oblivious the authors are to the distraction technology promotes. I feel it is probably due to the demographic they observe and how little the distraction affects them. Still I feel like a question of distraction or at least the idea should have been brought up. Their research otherwise was very straight forward and did a good job as a base from which to work off of. I found similarities between this article and our initial research observation through how we just wanted to see how students used technology. I would predominately use this article as a place from which to start, using it to back up my initial ideas. I could then compare my findings to the findings of this article.  

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http://nms.sagepub.com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/content/12/3/417.full.pdf

I have enjoyed people watching ever since I can remember, so I find everything involved with Ethnography and observation to be quite interesting. I enjoy the assignments you give out to us and the readings are interesting. I found My Freshman Year to be a different but important take on what we are learning in class. I found the authors dedication to her work to be inspiring. Taking a year away from your life is not easy for anyone. I also really enjoyed the connection to the TedTalks video. It was nice to be able to apply school to life for once. Nothing seems to be confusing and most of what we are doing is very straight forward.

Our group has already completed our observation for the upcoming essay. We met at the library and focused our observations around the question: How are students using technology? Although many generalizations could be made about the question, our observations would serve as concrete evidence or what was actually occurring. We watched people in the quiet study floor of the library for 30 minutes, then wrote our reflections, and finally discussed our results. 

My bike’s current set up, awaiting a few new parts! (That is why the colors don’t match!)

My injury in December. When its big that was the day of, and the one where it is bruised is a few days later.