Sometimes Things Are Not As They Seem

The Essay I Just Can't Seem To Fix

If I could rework one piece of writing for my Advanced Writing class, it would definately be my Technological Literacy Autobiography. When I wrote it, it was way too long. I never got it like I wanted it. At the end I just felt like it wasn't any good. It got to the point that I was actually going to sleep at night and having dreams about fixing it. Even now when I think about it I feel frustrated. How can I make my poor paper better?

Couterarguments

Research Triumphs and Follies

I have recently been working hard on my research paper on Multitasking. I have had a lot of triumphs and stumbles along the way.

I started out with the position that Multitasking was a good thing. Then every source I found said it was bad. I would find comments in each source in favor of multitasking, but mostly they all took the stance that multitasking was evil. I went back to the drawing board, and changed my position.

Since I changed my position, writing the paper became much easier. Apparently, there is a lot of neuroscience going on related to this subject. I have found a lot of studies looking at the brain as it multitasks. Right now, my teacher has said that I need more sources related to English Rhetoric and Writing. That is something I have to work on. Also, I have written the rough draft without most of the citations so I have to go back and add in citations. I need sources to back up my arguments. I am also working hard to ensure a balance of quotation, paraphrase, and summary.

Writing a research paper is a lot of hard work. I have been trying hard to present a good paper with a good argument. I showed it to my classmates who seemed to think the arguments were good, and they gave me some tips about how I should improve it. One of the things they mentioned was adding more to refute in favor of the counterargument. I know they are right. I left some really good points out that were in favor of the other side, and I am going to go back and put them in. Then I will refute them. I'm starting to view this project like a game or a court case. I just want my side to win so badly that it is hard to put the stuff in that weakens my argument even though I know that it is the right thing to do.

Practicing Synthesizing Sources For My Research Paper about the Evils of Multitasking

In the past, people had little technology available to them. There were no computers, there was no television, and there were no cell phones. Those were the days of the one room school house. Now the children of today watch television while chatting, downloading MP3’s, and browsing for a new instant message avatar all at the same time. Is the constant multitasking of today’s technological environment making children smarter, or is it negatively affecting children? How is this constant multi-tasking affecting the current generation of human beings? When I started my research, I believed that the effects were positive, but after looking at the scientific data and rethinking the issue I’m not so sure. What do people really gain from multitasking? Are they getting smarter? Are they more productive? According to many studies, the answer is “no.”

There have traditionally been two theories that explain how the brain processes two things at once: “passive queuing” and “active monitoring”. With “active monitoring”, the brain would be able to do two things at a time because it would develop its own complicated mechanism that would keep the things it is doing separate from each other. With “passive queuing”, the brain would only be able to focus on one thing at a time. Recent studies and experiments done at MIT indicate that the brain only focuses on one thing at a time. Even though a person may be doing many things at once, the brain can only line up each of those tasks individually and focus on one of them (Jiang et al. 390-396).

Even if the brain is only focusing on one task at a time, multitasking could still be positive because maybe people are getting more done. Perhaps people are completing more tasks than they were in the past, or are taking less time to do a series of tasks. Recent studies done by the Federal Aviation Commission in coordination with the University of Michigan prove that this is not the case. These studies were completed to examine the effects of multitasking on productivity. During the study, subjects at several different age levels, including one as young as twelve years old, were forced to switch back and forth between a specified number of tasks. It was found that in every single case no matter what the task was and whether it was simple or complicated, time was always lost in switching between tasks. Also, as the complexity of the tasks grew, the time lost in switching between them became greater(Rubenstein et al.). The study has had a very big impact on how multitasking is viewed in regard to workplace productivity. People are actually less productive when they multitask…

Jiang, Yuhong, Rebecca Saxe, and Nancy Kanwisher. "Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Provides New Constraints on Theories of the Psychological Refractory Period." Psychological Science June 4 2004: 390-396.
Rubenstein, Joshua S., David E. Meyers, and Jeffrey E. Evans. "Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 27 (2001). 24 Mar 2006 .

Decisions..Decisions...

I have been assigned an 8-10 page term paper for my Advanced Composition class, and I am having a little trouble deciding what to write about. I have come up with some of the following topics, but I am not exactly sure which of them work and which of them do not. Could somebody out there help me choose?

Should I choose:

A. In the past, when technology was first introduced into the classroom, it was believed that technology would shorten the socio-economic gap between the haves and the have-nots. However, it seems that the opposite has actually happened because people of lower economic status and minority groups often have less access to technology than other people of different socioeconomic groups. Is technology widening or shortening the socio-economic divide?

B. Technology and the advent of the internet has really changed the way writing is viewed. In the past, publishing was very limited, but today anybody can publish anything out there in Cyberspace. Since anybody can now publish writing, who decides what writing is really good and what writing is not? It is like art. Who decides what is and isn’t a masterpiece? Isn’t the decision about whether writing is good or whether writing is terrible completely subjective?

C. In the past, people didn’t even have television. Now the children of today watch television while chatting, downloading MP3’s, and browsing for a new instant message avatar all at the same time. Is the constant multitasking of today’s technological environment making children smarter, or is it negatively affecting children?

I am afraid that B will be difficult to find information about to prove a stance, and that C is too broad and will be seen as not being specifically about writing. I am scared that A will be a common topic that many people choose to write about and I want my topic to be different.

I also thought about the following topics, but it seemed kind of boring:
In what ways is technology being used and is it being used effectively in the ESL classroom?

I thought of the following topic, but I thought it would be seen as unrelated to writing:
Are online colleges as effective as traditional academic ones?

Would any readers out there please let me know what you think?

FAQ’s about the Pocket PC

The Pocket PC has been evaluated based on its benefits and drawbacks for various users. There are certain criteria that should be considered when looking at the benefits and uses of this machine. The first criteria to look at when evaluating any tool or space is, "Who is more likely to use it?" When thinking about this, it is also important to consider how easy it is to use, what types of writing can be composed using it, and what spaces can be accessed using it. It is a good idea to compare it to similar products and to look at the cost of the product and product accessories. It is important to consider the initial purpose of the technology versus how it is actually used as well.

Who is more likely to use the Pocket PC?

The Pocket PC is for everyone, especially writers. It has gotten an especially good reputation among business professionals and the computer savvy. Much of this is probably due to the fact that it is so simple to use (Please see more about general uses in my blog post "What the Heck is a Pocket PC?). If you can read, type, and use a stylus (the pencil like device used for the touch screen), then you should be able to use the Pocket PC. It has a version of Windows, and it is a lot like using a regular desktop computer. I had never seen one before, and within 10 minutes of playing around with it, I felt like an expert.

How easy is the Pocket PC to use?

While anyone can use the basic programs, there are some more complicated applications that can be added on that a person would have to learn how to use. The Sprint PPC-6700 is my Pocket PC of choice, and it comes with a book that explains how to do all the basic programs. The book contains step by step instructions, is well organized, and is very easy to understand. You actually only need the book to look up specific tasks since most of the things the machine does can be figured out just by playing around with it.

What types of writing can be composed and what types of spaces can be accessed with the use of this writing technology?

Please see my previous blog post, "The Pocket PC: Let the Serious Writing Begin". In that post, I go into detail about the many uses of the Pocket PC for professional writers.

How does The Pocket PC compare to similar products?

It is really hard to say because it depends on the product it is compared to and the model of Pocket PC. The model that I personally have the most experience with is the Sprint PPC-6700. I personally don't have experience with many other Pocket PC models, but I have tried out devices that do similar things and was not impressed. My biggest complaint about similar products is the keyboard and the size. Many similar devices are just too bulky to be practical. The Pocket PC is small because of the way it's designed. The keyboard slides into the machine so it can be pulled out when it needs to be used. This makes the machine smaller without compromising screen size. This design also allows the buttons to be made square and a little bit bigger than they are on some of the other phones. That makes it much easier to type using the keypad.

Okay, I want to buy one. Now how expensive is this thing?

I'm not going to lie. They don't come cheap. However, you don't have to be Donald Trump to buy one. They run anywhere from about $200-$700. The cheaper ones, of course, do not double as a cellular phone. My husband paid about $600 for his Sprint PPC-6700. It doubles as a cell phone, so there is also the cost of the cell phone plan and users would also need to add on a Sprint PCS Vision Plan to be able to connect to the Internet. The cost of these would vary according to the plan and the promotions going on at the time. It usually costs about $55 a month for a simple cell phone and vision plan-$40 for the voice plan and $15 for the added vision. This would be for about 500 anytime minutes with free nights and weekends.
www.sprint.com/business/products/phones/ppc6700_allPcsPhones.jsp

What accessories are needed to use the Pocket PC?
Fortunately, even though it is a little expensive, the Pocket PC comes with pretty much everything needed. It has a stylus built into the phone that can be pulled out and used, and ours even came with a protective black case. Everything needed for basic use comes with it. There is an endless number of things that a user could add onto it. In fact, there is a whole magazine devoted to use of and accessories for the Pocket PC. For those interested, it can be viewed at the following site:
http://www.pocketpcmag.com/

What was the initial purpose of the Pocket PC versus how it is actually used?
I think the Pocket PC is being used in the way that it was intended to be used. It was intended to be used as a mini handheld computer, and today that is what it is used for. I go into more detail on the history of the Pocket PC in my blog post "Food for thought: the history of the Pocket PC." Please see that post.

The Pocket PC: Let The Serious Writing Begin!

It occurred to me since my last blog post that I may still not have made my case that the Pocket PC is useful for writers. In order to prove that the Pocket PC is useful for writers, it would have to be either an electronic writing space or an electronic writing tool. In order to see if it would fit these descriptions, it is important to define both terms.

What is an electronic writing space? I, personally, would define it in the following way: An electronic writing space is where a writer chooses to write. It is the place within which a writer decides to express their views, beliefs, or the art of their writing. Some examples of writing spaces would be: a magazine article, a book, a website, a newspaper article, etc. It should be noted that for the people reading these mediums, they are not writing spaces, but reading spaces. They are only writing spaces for the writer who is publishing within them.

I did some research on this topic, and the leading authority on the term "electronic writing space" seems to be Jay David Bolter, author of Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. In his book, Bolter literally defines writing space as "the physical and visual field defined by a particular technology of writing" (from Michael Schumate of Duke University, 1996; www.duke.edu/~mshumate/fiction/htt/space.html). He defines electronic space conceptually as something that is "characterized by fluidity and is an interactive relationship between writer and reader." Electronic writing space is also defined metaphorically. According to Bolter, "In the act of writing, the writer externalizes his or her thoughts. The writer enters into a reflective and reflexive relationship with the written page, a relationship in which thoughts are bodied forth. It becomes difficult to say where thinking ends and writing begins, where the mind ends and the writing space begins. With any technique of writing--on stone or clay, papyrus or paper, and particularly on the computer screen--the writer comes to regard the mind itself as a writing space. The writing space becomes a metaphor, in fact literate culture's root metaphor, for the human mind."

The Computer screen fits these criteria as a writing space. It is clear that Bolter agrees with this because he classifies it as a writing space in the third and final quote where writing space is defined metaphorically. If the computer is considered to be a writing space, then the Pocket PC by default is a writing space because it is basically a handheld version of the desktop computer. It does virtually everything that a desktop computer would do.

The Pocket PC is not just a writing space, but it is also a writing tool. Defining the term "electronic writing tool" is much more difficult than defining the term "electronic writing space". I would define a writing tool as anything that aids in the writing process. This includes all stages of the writing process, and of course there are a huge number of different things that could be considered writing tools under that definition. Some examples could be: a website that helps a writer prewrite, a computer program that allows a writer to type their work, a pencil, and anything that aids the writer in publishing their work.

I searched but was never able to obtain a specific definition or to find an authority on the term "electronic writing tool." Instead I looked for a logically justified definition. The term tool can have several meanings. A tool can be "a device ... used to perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work", or "something regarded as necessary to the carrying out of one's occupation or profession." It is also defined as "something used in the performance of an operation; an instrument", and in relation to Computer Science, it is defined as an application program, often one that creates, manipulates, modifies, or analyzes other programs." The term tool as we have used it in class seems to relate more to a tool as "something regarded as necessary to the carrying out of one's occupation or profession" because we are referring to something useful to the writing profession or individuals that are writers. A tool could be anything that is used in the writing process because writing, as professional writers refer to it, is more than just the act of putting pen to paper, but is rather the deeply involved process writers use to produce text. And, of course, electronic refers to something that is "of, implemented on, or controlled by a computer or computer network"(all terms defined using www.dictionary.com). Given these definitions, and the context of the term "electronic writing tool", I believe that my personal definition meets all these criteria.

The Pocket PC would definitely classify as a writing tool because it is useful at all stages of the writing process. In fact, I believe that the Pocket PC is indispensable to the serious writer. In my last blog post, I named some of the things that the Pocket PC can do, but there were actually more applications that I didn't mention. It is hard to name them all because the Pocket PC does so much. Of course, different versions of the PC will do different things. The PC and its applications that I will be referring to is the PPC-6700 from Sprint which contains the program Windows Mobile 5.0. This is my Pocket PC of choice and the one that I recommend. This PC is both a cellular phone (with all the regular features of a cellular phone including text messaging) and a Pocket PC.

Because the PPC-6700 has a wireless connection (with a Sprint vision plan), it allows for immediate connection to the Internet from anywhere there is a cellular phone signal. That means a writer would have access anytime to websites that help with writing like the one we used in my Advanced Composition class that allows a writer to map out ideas on the computer. It also has Microsoft Word and a writing pad that uses a stylist. These can be used to jot down important ideas at the time of inspiration. The web browser makes it a great tool for research and fact checking. The Pocket PC is more than just a great Prewriting tool. It is also useful in the Drafting stage. Because the Pocket PC is small, it is much easier to use for shorter compositions. There is, however, no boundary to keep a writer from composing longer texts. Texts that have been previously written can be downloaded to the machine as well. The easiest way to do this is through e-mail. E-mail can also be used to send copies of work to colleagues for peer review, or to respond to other colleagues work. The spell check and grammar check features of Microsoft Word allow for editing capabilities when looking at text. The Pocket PC also has features that could help in publishing. It cannot print out work, but it can be used to send work via e-mail to another computer so it can be printed out. It has Power Point for making presentations and a feature called "Remote Desktop." Remote Desktop allows the user to access their home computer from virtually anywhere. Basically, if the writer keeps their work stored on their home computer, it gives them access to their writing at any time.

The Pocket PC is both an "electronic writing space" and an "electronic writing tool" making it doubly useful to writers. I really recommend this device to those, like me, that consider writing to be an art. The Pocket PC allows writers to have the tools of expression at their fingertips at all times. It allows writers to carry their desktop computer in their back pocket at any time. It is definitely the tool that no serious writer should be without. In fact, they should change the slogan to "The Pocket PC: Let the serious writing begin."