online voice

Overall I found it very interesting to read through all of my blog posts from this semester, and to review and critique my writing. Based on the length of my posts it was easy to look back and tell which online activities I enjoyed and which ones I found less interesting. It was evident that I had a lot more to say for the activities that I found interesting. None of my posts were considerably lengthy, yet I noticed that I definitely had a tendency to write more in my blog posts from earlier on in the semester. So I guess you could say I've gotten a little lazy. Throughout the semester I have enjoyed being able to express my thoughts every week through the blog as opposed to just in discussion. I would definitely consider myself more of a reserved person and I don't always choose to voice my opinions in class, so its nice to be able to share on the blog as well. However, I feel like I benefit a lot more from the discussions that we have in class rather than the online discussions we have through the weekly blog posts. I don't usually take the time to read through everyone's posts each week, whereas in class I am easily able to listen to everyones thoughts and opinions.

Online Presentation of Myself

When looking back over all of my blog posts over the course of the semester I did not notice too many differences between how I present myself online in the blog versus how I present myself in other aspects of LIS 201. In my writing I always try to convey my honest ideas and the same thoughts and ideas that I would be willing to say in person in class or discussion. The only real difference that I noticed was that I tend to be a bit more argumentative in my online writing and I pose more questions and consider things more than I do tend to do in person. When in person I tend to be more agreeable with everything and I don't raise questions or arguments all that often. I wouldn't necessarily say that one appearance is more of my true self than the other, but rather a combination of the two are. I think that I can tend to over-think things when writing online as I can go back and consider what I have written multiple times before posting it so I tend to be more argumentative and critical as I think about stuff a lot more than I would normally. However, when I am very agreeable in person I think that is because I tend to be a somewhat quieter person and don't always express my full opinions in person. So if you take these two different representations of myself and put them together I would say that would be the most true representaion of myself. In terms of showcasing my talents best I would say that my online writing has done that more because I have more space and time to say everything that I want to say and I'm not constrained as much by time limits as I am when talking in person.

Information Technology: Then and Now

Over the break, I went into my father's office before we went out for lunch and saw that he still has his electric typewriter on his desk. I was quite surprised to see him still using a typewriter because his business has been shifting towards a digital workspace, he still uses his typewriter and fax machine regularly. He used to be entirely reliant on the typewriter to write invoices and then fax them to customers, but now he is working towards developing a method to email invoices online and cut down on paper. It is interesting to see how his business is currently a hybrid of old and new information technologies. For certain customers, they prefer an invoice attached to an email whereas older companies managed by older people may prefer to have a hard copy either given to them in meetings or faxed to their office. I tried typing on the the typewriter and it is harder than I thought because there is little room for error. If you make a mistake, you have to go back to the mistake, white out the incorrect letter or word, and then retype over it. It is a cumbersome process and makes me appreciate the computer and word processor. The word processor on computers can pick on errors and correct them automatically. Even if they do not correct errors, one can just simply move the cursor to the error and correct it. Documents are saved digitally and can be found easily on a computer.Even with the user-friendliness of the computer, my father struggles with the computer the same way I do with the typewriter. It is interesting to see how mastery of technology changes as it evolves throughout time and how it is used by businesses.

Online Voice

Reviewing all of my blog posts that I have written over the semester, I found that I had good content and covered the questions asked by Professor Downey. My posts provided a full answer to the prompt and made good connections to the content we learned in lecture. The content was presented in a proper and education voice, but there were not as many strong assertions in some of my blog posts. In earlier blog posts, I presented answers in a more descriptive tone rather than making a stronger argument. As the class progressed, I made more stronger argumentative posts that included evidence from outside sources.

When I pasted all of my posts on a word doc, I noticed that the formatting for my posts was generally one large paragraph. The majority of edits I made were correcting the formatting to separate different points and arguments made in each blog post. Breaking down the posts into separate paragraphs made them easier to read and understand the content of each post. Most of my sentences were able to flow well and there were some spelling and minor grammatical errors. After correcting these errors, the sentences were able flow together and clearly present the content of the post.

Some of the prompts were more enjoyable to write than others, but they provided me with new perspectives on the information society. I found many of them to be useful and enhance the content discussed in lecture and discussion. It provided me with more knowledge to use in discussion and make stronger arguments in discussion section in regards to the arguments presented in readings. The posts allowed me to think and gave me flexibility in responding to the prompt with something that I understood better than discussion, which was limited to two or three readings.

Blogging & Myself

Taking a look back on past blog posts, I am happy with the content I have presented. I noticed that at most once in each post I may have made a spelling error or missed a comma, but all in all, my sentences I tried best to have fluidity and clearly answer the given prompt of the week. What I particularly noticed though in comparison with other more formal assignments in LIS 201, is that I have a more lax tone in my blog posts. Though still trying to sound educated in my posts, I allow for more room to write how I would talk in an actual discussion, whereas in formal writing assignments, I proofread and proofread until zero mistakes are made and the tone is highly academic. Reflecting on the semester, I thoroughly enjoyed the blog posts. Some of the prompts may not have been enjoyable to write, but the comfort in knowing that my genuine tone can be received feels great and I believe reflects best how an individual can write.

Online Presentation

There is not really a huge difference in how I present myself in the discussion sections and in the course blog. Writing blog posts allow me to discuss things more in depth and also allow me to think and plan ahead on how I can present my ideas in the best possible way. In the discussion section, I tend to be more spontaneous and more concise. I think those differences arise because the blog requires the use of written communication, while the discussion section requires the use of oral communication. Depending on the issues discussed, either the blog or the discussion section may be the better medium. For issues that require a lot of research and are narrowly focused, the blog post may be a better way to communicate our ideas. Since using written medium gives us more time to plan about what we are going to write, it can be helpful to communicate detailed and more complicated thoughts in a clear and understandable way. For issues that are interrelated and are broadly focused, the discussion section may be a better way to communicate our thoughts. Live discussions during the discussion sections may be a good way to exchange ideas quickly. They provide the flexibility to move from one topic to another and allow immediate response to questions that arise.   

Blog Post Overall Summary - JD Keiles

After reading all of my blog posts I think my tone stays pretty similar throughout the semester. I keep seeming to voice concerns about how the Internet will affect our society in the future. When I share in class, I definitely present a more worrisome side to the arguments. I don't like all of the data that is being used by big companies for advertisements and I don't like the fact that once I post something online it will be there forever. I definitely think I voice my concerns about security through both the blog posts and the in class discussions. As the semester passed, I think I became more educated on the reality of the Internet. I think this shows through my increased pessimism in my posts and speeches. Overall, my blog posts were pretty explanatory and summarized different topics of this class well. I think my best one was my post on the reading about the Control Revolution by James Beniger. I think I wrote concisely and accurately and connected it well to the class topics. Sometimes when I write I get too wordy and stray away from the big argument I'm trying to make. In this post, I think every detail I put in there worked well to both summarize the article and make a bigger statement about the control revolution. Overall, I think that writing the blog posts were a good part to this class. They allowed me to explore different topics from the past and look into current trends on the internet today. Only time will tell what this Global Network Society will turn into and how our behavior will change both socially and as consumers in this modern economy.

ARIS Experience

Similarly to Jacob Lorig and Adam Carney, I also did the UW Campus tour virtual gaming experience. We went through it a little bit together but then we discussed its merits after. It is a pretty cool idea that gives people a chance to experience real life like situations via the computer. After checking out some of the other games too this one seemed like the coolest. None of them were really "fun" but at least this one allowed me to see and learn some things about my campus that I didn't know before. This type of virtual tour kind of reminded me of google earth. Google Earth allows people to explore the planet while in the comforts of their home. That, and this virtual tour, are awesome benefits of living in today's technologically advanced society.

Online Presentation: Caroline Kreul

I think that my blog posts accurately reflect how I communicate in real life. My blog posts are relatively eloquent, concise and to-the-point. I also have a tendency to relate my blog posts to things that I have learned in other classes--something that I tend to do in discussion as well.

Of all of my blog posts, I think the ones that showcase my personal writing style and voice best are the introduction we wrote at the beginning of the semester and the writing in which we defined and wrote about a term relating to the information society. It's understandable that the introduction reflects my personal voice as it was a mainly free-form piece that was supposed to introduce our unique selves to the class. The Search Engine Optimization post is a great example of me taking terms from other classes and using them here. I have gone in depth with SEO and how to utilize it in the online world, which is why I thought to use the term for the assignment.

Online Presentation

After reading through all of my blog posts on our sections website, I feel that I have presented myself through my online writing in a realistic way.  Throughout my scholarly career in LIS 201, I have presented myself in a few different ways.  The blog posts are a casual way of writing, where you get a deeper look into my personality than compared to the formal written assignments or exams.  The formally written assignments showcase my writing abilities in a more structured and serious manner.   Lastly, in discussion section, in person, I am more reserved.  The self-presentation that I feel best represents myself is the online blog posts.  Through a less formal writing style, I can show my opinions and remarks on topics discusses in lecture and discussion.  Despite this, I feel that the formal written assignments showcase my talents the best.  When writing those, I take more time to perfect what I am saying in order to do the best that I can on the assignment.  I can defiantly work on trying to make these three presentations more similar, in order to present myself in one way in my scholarly career. 

My online "voice"

I think in general I have always been a good writer, so blogging this semester was not difficult for me. I am able to write down my view and opinions in a clear way, usually more clear than when I speak them in discussion classes. However, I did think I wrote more effective comments and opinions through these small blog posts than through formal writing assignments, like papers. One thing I found very interesting was that while reading through my blog posts, I always used correct grammar and full sentences. This surprised me because it usually isn’t the case when I normally blog or write on the Internet. This might have been because I was writing for a class and they were assignments. However, usually when I blog, or tweet, or do anything through social media or the Internet, I use improper grammar and fragment sentences. I think through this class I have learned how to clearly and efficiently share my ideas through the Internet while still sounding educated and proper.

Aris Game: Secret Places

For the Aris game assignment, I played Secret Places. It is described on the site as "Find restful and beautiful locations to enjoy in Madison's best places for reflection and rest." In the game, you essentially see a Google map with pins dropped that say someone's name. When you click on the name, you can "Quick Travel" to their location where the person has a blurb about their favorite place in Madison. You can then "Quick Travel" to that place and learn more about it. For example, after clicking on a person named Jim, I was prompted to travel to a bridge on Wingra.

I personally didn't really enjoy the game. While I see the educational value in having players learn more about the surrounding Madison area and I'm pretty sure that the point of the game is to prompt people to travel to these places in real life to "play," as in walk to these places in reality rather than "quick travel" in the game, I don't think that the game was engaging at all. The graphics are sub par, the descriptions of each place were very brief and did not entice me at all to visit them. Overall I was unimpressed and would not go out of my way to play an Aris game ever again.

ARIS

When I downloaded the ARIS app onto my phone I chose to play the UW Campus Tour game. This game allows you to move around campus and provides you with maps as well. I found this funny in a way because personally, I am so bad at directions. I got lost numerous times on my way to classes my first two weeks and still can't always find my way to places now. Therefore, this game may have been helpful to play before I came to campus this year. The game also gives historical facts about each place on campus that the tour stops at. This would be great for those considering Madison as one of their college choices, or those who never had the chance to take an official tour. I enjoyed this activity because it was fun, interesting, and I learned a lot.

ARIS

To explore ARIS this weekend, I took a quick look at Dow Day, which is a location game exploring the student Dow chemical protests which happened on campus in the mid-1960s. The idea is pretty interesting: you are given the role of a journalist and have to investigate several areas of campus that were impacted by the real student protests to learn more information, watching real videos and interviewing in-game characters. I also took a bit of time to play around with the ARIS editor, which is the GUI used to create these kinds of games. It was very intuitive to use and had nearly all the functionality I was expecting out of it (only missed dialogue trees that merge again after initially branching). It looks like a very solid tool kit to build these location-based games. 

As for the concept itself, I don't quite know how I feel about location-aware historical ARGs. Sure, there is something to be said about literally standing in the same spot that some historical event took place while learning about it, but I'm not sure how much that adds to the experience. I could have easily read and watched videos about the actions and gotten more or less the same knowledge out of it without walking around in the freezing cold.

I think the idea of merging virtual and physical worlds through this kind of technology is itself promising though. The self-guided campus tour is a better fit for this kind of application I feel, and makes it possible to learn a lot about some new area without being stuck on the rails created by a real tour guide. ARIS and other location-aware mobile games are without a doubt an interesting tool for creating engaging experiences.

ARIS

After downloading the ARIS app on my phone I decided to play the UW Campus Tour game, which seems to be what the majority of our class chose as well. The game has you start your quest at the Memorial Union and ends at the top of Bascom Hill. The game is able to track your movement as you make your way across campus, and it also provides you with a map so you are able to easily navigate your location throughout the tour. It also provides you with historical information about the buildings and landmarks that can be found on campus. Considering the fact that I never took a formal campus tour when I was a freshman, I found this game to be particularly interesting and I actually learned a few new things. As other people mentioned, I think that this game would be of great assistance to first year students or for people who are visiting Madison as a potential future school because it shares a lot of unique and interesting information about our university.

ARIS Experience

When I downloaded the App I initially thought the game looked a little outdated, but it was able to work. I played the virtual tour game and went throughout campus to find various landmarks associated with the University. It was really interesting going through campus and taking the time to look at these landmarks and learn about them. I never have a chance to take the time and learn about these landmarks, but I am glad this game gave me the opportunity to go throughout campus and see these different landmarks. It gave me a greater appreciation for the campus and how much has gone into the University of Wisconsin. I felt like I had a tour guide in my hand and was able to learn about the campus and university. It think this could be utilized by the University and allow families and prospective students to use on visits to campus. It is a great way people to see the campus and important landmarks like Bascom, the Unions, and Camp Randall. It also allows the user to complete the game at their own pace, whereas a campus tour is a set amount of time. ARIS is a step towards virtual reality gaming and shows the potential benefits of developing virtual reality gaming. A campus walking tour may not be the most exciting game I will play using my phone, but it gave me an opportunity to walk around campus and get away from school and appreciate the Madison campus. It shows that gaming does not require a console and can allow people to interact with their environment and community.

ARIS- Adam Carney

My experience with aris was a very positive one. I chose to do the UW Campus Tour and I thought it was an interesting way to run a tour. With the use of GPS, it was so interesting to see a game that was interactive with the person. Normally a game has you indulged in it, but this game has you indulge in the world around you. Taking me to places like Camp Randall and Bascom Hill, show me that technology is something that can be used in order to make people proactive. The game was developed beautifully and truly gave me a full experience of a tour. Normally people think of technology as going into your own little world. Technology is an escape into something that isn't real. However, this technological experience was interactive and promoted people such as myself to explore a little bit and take a deep look into the fantastic world around you. There was also a section that was playable anywhere which seemed to defeat the purpose of the the app but still was very informative and served a purpose. Overall, it was a very interesting experience for me and shined a different light on the effects of technology.

ARIS App

I followed the instructions on the course blog and downloaded the ARIS app on an IPhone. Then, I created an account which let me log into the app. There I could see multiple games available under the location specific tab. The games under the location specific tab all require the player to be in a certain location. One game that caught my attention was the UW Campus Tour game. It reminded me of my experience as a freshman walking with a campus tour guide to explore the campus. The game started in memorial union and you need to walk up the Bascom hill. As you walk, the app will give you a history of the buildings on campus which I find really interesting. This experience is similar to walking with a real tour guide who also pinpoints the buildings and talks about their history. I think this would be a good game for people who are new to the UW-Madison campus. It helps the newcomers to get to know the campus environment and also its rich history. The fact that you can do all of this on your IPhone gives you the flexibility to do a campus tour anytime you want without worrying about missing the campus tour schedules. I am impressed with the idea and purpose of this game. The technology used in this game successfully connects the virtual world and real world to create something valuable for the society. Moreover, it can be played on a ubiquitous and popular device such as an IPhone, which makes it accessible to more people on campus.