Sun-Th. 1-5 and 7-10

Fri. 1-5

The equipment and software may be used at any other time outside of these hours.  Should you require assistance, please make an appointment by emailing nml@brynmawr.edu.

Maybe technology has gotten a bit more complicated, which makes it more likely that you will need to call for help or search Google for the answer, but it’s certainly more stable in many areas.  I can’t even remember the last time I’ve lost a file or had a computer crash so badly, nothing was recoverable.  I even dropped my computer down the stairs and it was fine!  But technology also changes more rapidly than it did in the past.  Small updates to most software happens almost weekly.  New web applications come out every day.  People browse the web on iPhones and iPods.  Wifi is almost everywhere.  So, in that sense, technology might seem unstable.  One day, you’re using an application and the next thing you know, it’s obsolete or has changed so dramatically as to be barely recognizable.  I personally like change.  I like that applications get better (as most do when they change).  I like seeing new capabilities, new ways to do my work, or keep up with my kids, read the news, or even be entertained.  If you’re not like that, it’s okay.  I’ll try to serve as a guide, to provide insight into the new, directions for navigating the change.  But don’t be afraid to try some things yourself.  Really, you can’t break anything.  And if you find something cool, please share!

For me as a writing instructor:

• Blogging offers opportunities to engage an audience
• Through that engagement, students can hone their arguments
• While focused on ideas, surface-level issues such as grammar and spelling become part of public presentation
• Creates a scholarly/learning community in miniature–following Kenneth Bruffee and his ideas of discourse communities
• Link to blog site (http://bubo.brynmawr.edu/~dblank/woi.brynmawr.edu/)
• Apathy’s blog (http://bubo.brynmawr.edu/~dblank/woi.brynmawr.edu/apathy.html)
• Summary of blog activity (http://bubo.brynmawr.edu/~dblank/woi.brynmawr.edu/summary.html)

Anne Dalke

• Learning community
• Public intellectuals
• Anne’s forum/blog (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/2349)
• From Anne’s article in Bryn Mawr Now:

“There’s a sharp contrast between the traditional way of producing academic writing and the current way a number of us here go about inviting students to publish their writing on the Web,” said Dalke. “Our mode tells students, from the get-go, that they are participating in larger debates on the topics they are studying.”

• Christina/Apathy’s Blog: (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/blog/381)

Blogging within Blackboard: the Plant Blog

• Examples: Amy Scott, Ashley

Software environment and details matter. Take advantage of technology to create the environment you want.

• Serendip–expansive site with lots of possibilities, hard to create a separate space, may feel artificial
• Standalone site or offsite–separate space, flexibility to configure as needed, public (or private), possibly no support
• Blackboard/CMS–contained and separate space, familiar, easy to use, not public

 Part 1

Part 2 

We covered using Google Reader and RSS Feeds generally, EndNote Web, del.icio.us, and Zotero.