Thing 13 is REFLECTION. Write a post reflecting on your 13 Things for Writers experience. Please write a meaty post--multimedia if possible--reflecting on some or all of the following questions:
Did this turn out to be what you expected when you started?
Were you already familiar with any of these "things"? For example, did you already have a Twitter account? Or were they mostly new?
Did your Wordle of your blog give you any insights?
Which was your favorite post?
Did you discover anything new that could be helpful in your day-to-day activities?
Did you discover anything new that you think you might use in your Life After Coe?
How did you feel about "self-discovering" as opposed to having specific due dates created by the professor?
I'll be reading and commenting on these after the due date, April 8. Hope you found this assignment useful and satisfying.
You've probably seen word clouds on various websites. They make a visual image of the words that are used--on a particular website or in a particular document. Words that are used most often become more visually prominent--they're BIGGER. This can help you see which themes are repeated most often.
Often, we can get some great insights from looking at word clouds. For example, look at these cool word clouds of presidential inaugural speeches.
Word clouds can be made using the website Wordle. Luckily, you don't have to create an account or pay to use it. You'll just need to save it to the "public gallery," where your word cloud will get its own URL and embed code. Here's the word cloud for 13 Things for Writers:
You can also make a word cloud of any document. Here's Gorgias's "Helen" speech (if you've taken Rhetorical Theory, you may remember it!) I just copied the text from a website and pasted it into the Wordle box.
I couldn't resist comparing this speech with Socrates' long discourse on "rhetoric" and "flattery" from the dialogue we read in Rhetorical Theory.
Isn't it interesting how "Body" is bigger in Socrates' explanation? "Soul" is in both. And the word "persuasion" never comes up in Socrates. Hmm.
If you haven't taken Rhetorical Theory yet, you're in for some fun.
Discovery Exercise:
Create a word cloud of your 13 things blog and embed the code into the blog. Then copy and paste the text of something else--something you've written, or a text you've become familiar with recently. Embed the code for that into the blog, too.
Did these word clouds give you any insight about the documents/sites? Which words are most prominent? Did this visual representation of words bring any thoughts that you didn't get from reading? How might you use this in professional life? Or is it just a fun toy?
The word is right there on the tip of your tongue...but you just can't make it come out! You've got lots of other words that mean something close...but just not the right word.
You need a visual thesaurus. A visual thesaurus shows you all the synonyms to your word, plus, with a click of the mouse allows you to drill deeper into one of the related words, and then see all of the synonyms to THAT word. Somewhere in that exercise, you'll find the perfect word.
The Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus is actually a commercial tool, with a limited free interface. Even with it's limitations (you'll have to click "try" when you first start, and you'll be limited to a handful of drill downs) the tool is rich. Enter a word you'd like to explore, and you'll get a pop up application with all the related words, plus definitions of your original word. Click any of the related words, and get a new view. You can print with the free trial, but you won't be able to save your word searches or share them. A membership will cost $19.95/year. Also worth noting is the information included on the main website: a word of the day section, a blog feed written by writers talking about writing, featured word lists, lesson plans and more.
Other visual thesuarus tools to try:
Visiwords: very similar to The Visual Thesaurus, but not quite as robust: you don't get the drill-down functions, and you'll have to decode the color codes to determine meanings based on word type (nouns have a purple background)
Lexipedia: again, very similar in visuals, but this one, in my humble opinion, is a bit easier to read than Visiwords. I like this one the best. Mouse-over tips help you decipher color coding, and you can show or hide different word forms (keep nouns, hide verbs when applicable).
The benefit that both Visiwords and Lexipedia have over The Visual Thesaurus is that they are free (open source).
Discovery Exercise:
Choose a word or two from a recent post, and enter them into the visual thesaurus of your choice. Do you come up with any useful alternatives? List the words you like best, along with their definitions.
In general, do you use a thesaurus when writing? Have you ever had any problems using one (for example, you found out later that the word you chose wasn't exactly what you had in mind . . . )
Play around with the thesaurus for a while and see if you discover--or rediscover--any great words. Sometimes simple ones are the best. Try: say, play, word, table, time . . . Share a couple words you searched and a couple synonyms you found. And/or comment on the connections between words.
Have you ever found a great photo on the Web and used it in a PowerPoint, on a blog, or even in a print publication you were making? Did you feel guilty about it? I know I have! We're not technically supposed to use someone's work without their permission, but, getting permission can be time consuming, and besides, what if the creators don't mind?
The people at Creative Commons have given creators of original works an option to give their works a Creative Commons license. This license allows people to use their works, always with attribution, sometimes with other optional stipulations.
Watch the videos below:
Now visit the Creative Commons website for an overview of the CC philosophy and the different licenses creators may choose for their works. Also, CC licenses aren't just for photos: they can be used with video, music, writing, scientific research, anything that would normally be covered under a copyright license!
I've been amazed at how often I see the Creative Commons license now that I'm aware of it.
Post your thoughts about Creative Commons. Does CC seem like a good idea? What projects would you LIKE to share with other writers--for them to "remix and reuse"? Are there any writing projects you've created that you would NOT want to share?
There are a lot of websites out there, and most of us have certain websites that we check regularly. Now that we are all "following" different colleagues' blogs, we have even more websites to check. What if you could check for updates of all your favorite blogs, online newspapers and other regularly-updated sites by visiting one simple page? That's the beauty of RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication. You may have noticed that some of your favorite websites have little orange icons that look like this:
This orange RSS icon lets you know that you can subscribe to the website using a news reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines. You simply have to create an account* with one of these news readers and then start adding websites that have RSS feeds. Watch this Common Craft video to learn more about RSS feeds and Google Reader:
Your job for Thing 9
is to sign up for a Google Reader account, add the blogs of the classmates you're following, plus at least 3 other blogs, online newspapers, or websites to your reader. Chances are, some of the websites you already visit a lot have RSS feeds available. Post about your experiences with Google Reader or Bloglines, if you think you would use it, and how you could use it professionally.
Here's how to set it up:
Go to Google.com
From the "more" drop down on the left-hand top of the page, select "Reader"
Now, go to your favorite, regularly-updated website (see some suggestions below) and find the RSS feed icon (shown above...usually orange, but not always). Click it. You'll be asked if you want to add the feed to your Google Reader or your Google Homepage. Choose Reader.
Repeat step 3 for other newsfeeds/blogs/sites.
You can also add blogs by clicking on "add a subscription" at the top left corner and copying in the URL of the blog.
Now instead of going to all these sites daily to read what's new, you go to Google reader (log in on your gmail account) and the news comes to you!
Here are some sites with RSS feeds to get you started: Cedar Rapids Gazette (look for the RSS icon on the right-hand side column, about half-way down--you can also get news delivered to your phone, etc. The New York Times RSS index--Tons of different RSS feeds for every interest! NPR's RSS index
After you have your Google reader set up, write a post reflecting on your experience with RSS feeds and news readers. How might it be useful professionally?
You heard all about it during the uprisings in northern Africa--and you learned that it was a great way to share important information with the world.
No longer is Twitter mainly used to let the world know what you had for breakfast: surgeons use it to instruct medical students and educate the public, journalists use it to let their followers preview stories, politicians use it to update their constituents, the Red Cross uses it share emergency information and educational leaders use it to share new ideas and engage in dialogues with interested "followers."
Thing 7: Twitter
Read the article "Twittering, Not Frittering, Professional Development in 140 Characters" from Edutopia OR 10 High Fliers on Twitter from The Chronicle of Higher Education, and then create a Twitter account for yourself. If you're comfortable sharing with the world, set your account as "Public" (that way we can all find you on Twitter). If not, then you have to approve individual people to be your followers. Do a few Internet searches to find leaders in your area, and chances are that they will have a Twitter account. "Follow" at least three of them, post your Twitter name to your blog (mine is jcnesmith), and then let us know who you're following.
If you're interested in a particular topic, you can look for who's tweeting about it. Check out the "trends" box on the right side of twitter. If you tweet about a particular topic and want to make sure people interested in that topic find it, you can add a hash tag, like #writing or #oscars.
To post a link, use tinyurl to create a smaller version of the URL--so you won't use up those 140 characters.
I like to follow other writers . . . and some funny tweeters. Here is an example of some of the people I'm following:
Wired magazine, which posts updates about tech (@wiredmag)
Stephen Fry, the British actor and word nerd (@stephenfry)
essayist Susan Orlean (@susanorlean)
Local journalist Christophe Trappe (@CTrappe)
children's book author Sarah Prineas (@SPrineas)
and The Onion (nice to have 140 character laughs!) (@TheOnion)
I use my Twitter account to post writing-oriented thoughts, about articles I'm writing or things I've read.
If you want, you can have your twitter posts automatically posted to facebook. Just include the hash tag #fb at the end of your post.
Discovery Exercise
Create a Twitter account
Find at least 3 people to follow
Post a tweet about some writing project you're working on
Retweet a post or two from someone you're following
Post a link with a brief comment (use tinyurl)
Add Twitter to your blog (In your dashboard, click on Design tab, then "add gadget," and search for Twitter). This allows blog readers to quickly catch up on your tweets.
In your blog: Tell us who you're following
Reflect on your experience using/reading about Twitter. How do you see professionals using it? How do you see writers or PR people using it? Will you keep tweeting this term? (note that you can tweet from your phone . . . )
Now that we have our blogs established, it's time to get connected and see what everyone else is doing.
For Thing 6, you'll be commenting on and following some of your classmates' blogs, in addition to tagging the posts you've created so far.
Choose at least three of your classmates' blogs (see the sidebar on the right), and comment on something on their blog--post, picture, twitter. Commenting on blogs allows us to ask questions of one another, make suggestions, or simply to reply to what has been written or posted.
Once you've commented, you should then follow those blogs
Find 2-3 other blogs that you'd like to follow--maybe about a topic you're interested in, or someone you found out about on Twitter. Take a look at the comments on those blogs.
Tag the posts you've created so far. Tagging allows you to categorize your posts, which is really helpful if you blog regularly. To "tag" your posts: go into your old posts by clicking "edit posts" on your dashboard. On the bottom of the edit box, you'll notice a place for labels. Create labels that will help readers find the post if they're looking for info on that topic. As you start to create labels, you can click "show all" if you have trouble remembering the name of your tags (tags and labels are the same thing). Note: I am really bad about tagging. Please be better than I am.
Post to your blog. Why do you think commenting is important in online communities? How might professional blog writers (someone writing a blog for an organization, for example) view comments--as helpful or annoyances? Finally, write a bit about the tags you chose for your blog.
Just for fun (optional):check out Technorati; Technorati is a search engine for blogs. According to Technorati's self-description:
Technorati.com indexes millions of blog posts in real time and surfaces them in seconds. The site has become the definitive source for the top stories, opinions, photos and videos emerging across news, entertainment, technology, lifestyle, sports, politics and business. Technorati.com tracks not only the authority and influence of blogs, but also the most comprehensive and current index of who and what is most popular in the Blogosphere.
Scoll around - note the top risers or fastest fallers. Check out the top 100 or blogs with most recent posts. Technoriti ranks based on links compared to other blogs with similar content.
Bubbl.us is an online tool for brainstorming or mind mapping. You remember brainstorming from your earlier education days, right? You start with a concept, usually in a bubble in the middle of a page. Then you start thinking of all of the other related concepts (in bubbles surrounding the initial concept).
Brainstorming helped you look at all angles of the concept, to sort out related items and visualize connections. Mind mapping is similar, except the concepts are things you know or you are studying, and you are connecting them to other things you know (or are studying). It's a great visual technique for getting many many ideas and seeing how they link together.
Here's a mind map I made during break:
I've also used mind maps to get ideas for what to write on my blog. It's kind of boring to write "this is what I did today" posts . . . every day.
Your Thing 4 assignment:
Try out a mind map for some writing project you have to brainstorm for: maybe your blog or fb page? Or website? See if you can get several layers of bubbles out there. Move them around to make the map pleasing to your eye.
If you have no upcoming writing projects, mind map what you need to do this week.
In your blog, post your mind map, and write about the experience of using another visual brainstorming tool. How did this work for you? This one would work best for different topics than the mashup tool . . . can you imagine situations in which you could use it? Do you like the computer version, or would you rather draw your mind map with pen and paper?
The next Thing we'll be looking at is social bookmarking using Delicious, which will help you organize all of your favorite websites and bookmark sites, pages, or interesting URLs--that you can now access from anywhere.
Watch this explanation from Common Craft and then sign up for a Delicious account.When you first look at Delicious, check out some of the "Fresh Bookmarks" and "Popular Bookmarks" to see how they have been tagged.
Once you've created a Delicious account, add and tag some of your favorite websites. Post your Delicious username on your blog (I have two: jane.nesmith and jcnesmith), then, once other people have started posting their Delicious usernames, add a few of your classmates to your network. You can add me first just to see how it works.
Then spend some time browsing the web for stories about any topic that you're thinking about these days--can be a topic in one of your classes, something you need to do research on, or a personal interest. Add and tag a few pages. Now you can access these pages from anywhere.
When you're finished, create a post and reflect on your Delicious experience. Discovery Exercise:
add me to your network (jane.nesmith), then add a few of your classmates
Create a post about your experience: Do you see this as a useful tool? How might this be useful for your work in college? How about after college? If you already use one of the other social bookmarking sites, feel free to share that and your thoughts about it rather than create another account (but at least look at Delicious).
AND post your Delicious username
Just for fun: Look at Stumbleupon; you don't have to create an account (unless you want to after learning more about it here), but this is an interesting way to see what the general public is discovering on the web. Click "Discover" and you'll see current sites getting top rankings. On the right-hand side you'll see a list of popular tags. Look around a bit and perhaps you'll find something exciting.
Diggo is another bookmarking site to check out. Diggo is quickly gaining popularity with new features like post-it notes and the ability to create thumbnails of saved link pages. Feel free to complete your discovery exercise using Diggo if you prefer.
A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, the online, open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and likely the most well known of these knowledge-sharing tools. Wikis have many benefits, are easy to use and have many applications.
Some of the benefits of wikis:
Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.
Tracking tools allow you to easily keep up on what has been changed and by whom.
Earlier versions of a page can be rolled back and viewed when needed.
Users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content.
Multiple pages can be added to one wiki.
For an overview of wikis, watch this video:
Educational uses of wikis are diverse. Check out these examples:
University of New South Wales: Censorship & Responsibility (course). This wiki was created collaboratively by students taking the course - click links to the entry page of The Theory Book, and you'll see this (along with The Case Study Book) was created collaboratively by the students in the course. If you are interested in seeing how many authors contributed to a particular page, click "History" in the upper right.
The French Revolution Wikipedia and Ant Farm Diaries: Clay Burrell, teaching World History in Seoul South Korea first has his students create a wiki (Wikipedia fashion) for the French Revolution. Then the students adopt characters from the time, and write diary entries the characters. Mr. Burrell's description: "...using the background knowledge compiled in the class mini-Wikipedia, students "write to learn" by writing role-play diaries of characters from the different social classes during the French Revolution. All characters interact with other characters in diaries written during the main events of the French Revolution."Scroll to the bottom of the page to get links to the actual diary entries.
Coe College May Term 2009: The Psychology of Peace & Conflict. Sara Farrell's May Term course used a wiki prior to traveling to Ireland to better understand the inter-relationships of various political and civil conflicts within the country. Students researched and wrote about primary topics, and then combed through each others' research to make connections.
Advanced Writing Workshop created a wiki last year about Professional Writing on Web 2.0. Check it out here.
Some digital applications can be very useful at the early stages of writing--when we need to get lots of ideas together and not worry about how they're going to fit . . . yet.
I've found digital mashups to be a great way to brainstorm when I've got lots of ideas from lots of sources. Have you ever created a mashup?
It's easy. First the official Wikipedia definition: "a mashup is a web page or application that uses and combines data, presentation or functionality from two or more sources to create new services."
Mashups are useful because they can allow us to access our visual abilities. Think poster presentation meets digital web. Your mashup (or digital poster) can have videos, links to websites, text, audio files, images and more (some mashup sites allow you to embed applications like counters, surveys and games).
Here is an example of a mashup I created called Backyard Birds in Winter. I used Middlespot, a free tool that allows you to combine text, pictures, video, web links and embedded web content on a customizable background. You can share your mashup by sharing the URL or embedding it on your own webpage or blog. Here's my mashup embedded on this blog.
I did it just like embedding a video: click on "share" then "embed" then copy the code and paste into the HTML editor of blogger. You can look at the mashup by grabbing and moving it with your cursor.
If you want to access your Middlespot mashups on other computers or browsers, you'll need to sign up for a free account.
A visual mashup is not the only type of mashup. Data mashups combine multiple data sources to allow you to cross reference or cross analyze different data points. Check out DataMasher. With a free account on DataMasher, you can create your own custom data sets; without an account, you can look at data sets created by other users. Data comes from data.gov and other state and federal governmental sources.
Bear in mind, this is not considered rigorous statistical analysis--because the data sets are determined by users, and the information on cross-referenced data sets may or may not have a strong relationship. As my colleague Randy Christiansen says "correlation is not causation."
Mashups are, however, a great place to start looking at ideas, trends, and data--in other words, a great brainstorming tool. Mashups are user friendly (and user-generated) and visually appealing.
Thing 3 Assignment:
Using Middlespot, create a mashup on some topic that's of interest to you these days--something you would enjoy writing about . . . but maybe don't have the time to do full research on right now. Could be a hobby you have, a band you like, a country you want to visit, a camera you wish you could buy, a news story you're fascinated by . . . "Mash" together images, text, embedded web content, video and/or audio and move them around into a pleasing collage before saving.
Also, take a look at Datamasher--can you use any of the data for your visual mashup?
In your blog, post a link to your mashup (or even embed it into your blog) and write about the experience:
how did the collage-like aspect of the mashup work help (or not help) your creative capacity?
did you enjoy the visual aspect--moving items around and creating a pleasing collage?
what are the advantages to a mashup versus a written story on a topic? disadvantages?
is Datamasher a great tool for writers? Or is it "lying with numbers"? Or "a cool way to get ideas for opinion papers"?
Blogs that only have text are boring. And they don't make the most of the multi-media aspect of web 2.0. So for this "thing" I'm asking you to use some of Blogger's tools to make your posts more exciting.
Simple formatting
There are some simple things you can do to make your blog more interesting. You can see from the toolbar across the top of a blogger page many icons that are familiar.
You can make text larger, bold it, use italics, or even use lots ofamazingcolorsfortext. These tools can be used as toys, or they can be used rhetorically, to make your writing work better.
Images
In addition, Blogger offers icons that allow you to make the most of Web 2.0. For example, you can post a picture. That's a "virtual cadaver," created by a software company in Iowa City. I just wrote a story about it for the Gazette's Engineering Today tab.
Just click on the picture icon (next to the spell check) and follow the directions. Pictures will always end up at the top of the post; you can cut and paste them where you want them.
Links
You can also share your favorite links. Just highlight the word you'd like to make into a link, and click the globe/chain icon. Enter the URL. For example, here's a link to the New York Times website.
Video
I haven't had luck with the "add video" icon at the top. I usually post video to You Tube and then use the embed code to embed videos I've created. You can find the embed code right below the video. Click on "embed" and the code will be highlighted. Copy it and paste it into your blog.
BUT don't forget to click on the "edit HTML" tab when you paste in the embed code. It's in HTML.
Here's a feature story video I created about a giant Easter Island Head in Iowa . . . .
Or sometimes, I just embed the code for someone else's video I think is worth sharing, like this one that shows how a new technology can really throw people off . . .
Thing 2 Assignment:
For this Thing, I'd like you to create a blog post that shares:
a photo
a link
a video--either your own, or a writing-themed video from YouTube. You do know how to use YouTube, don't you?
Also, use font size to create subheads and play around with at least one other formatting icon (quotes, bullets, etc.)
Welcome to 13 Things for writers. This project will provide you an overview of how you, as a writer, can make the best use of Web 2.0. Some of you have a good idea (you're probably tweeting about it right now!), but you're looking for some new insights. Some of you haven't got a clue and are sick of hearing all this techie stuff! Throughout this project, I hope you gain a better understanding of how this concept is changing the way we write.
To set the stage, please watch the "Did You Know? (Shift Happens)" video below. This video is in its 4th version, and was actually created by one of Iowa's own, Scott McLeod. Scott is a professor at Iowa State, and is a well-known professional in the world of educational technology.
Here's another video. Do you notice the similar set up--tech music, quick cuts :-)
As a 20-something writer, you are expected to have a good handle on how Web 2.0 works. Author Marc Prensky ("Digital Natives/Digital Immigrants") calls you a "digital native"--you were practically born with a cell phone in your hand, and you learned keyboarding when people of my generation were learning cursive.
However, I've found that while many "digital natives" are great users of Web 2.0--you have facebook accounts and shop online--you're not necessarily in the drivers' seat. What about you? Do you keep a blog? Do you have a Twitter or Delicious account? Have you participated in the creation of a Wiki?
Maybe you have, and maybe you haven't, but one thing is sure: when you graduate, employers will expect you to be savvy about digital communication of all kinds. This project will help you reach toward that goal--and develop your own digital footprint.
Now that we've got some background and insight, let's get started!
THING 1: Building Your Blog You'll use your blog to record your discoveries as you progress through the 13 Things. I recommend you use Blogger*, a popular free online blog hosting service that is easy to use.
Create a blog using Blogger is easy:
Create a gmail account. Unfortunately, the Coe email address won't work to set up a blog. But that's OK. You'll need another address once you graduate anyway--to send out employment materials, etc. You can set up a gmail account right on the blogger site. Keep in mind that you probably don't want to send out resumes from an account called "hotmama@gmail.com." How embarrassing. Use your first and last name, or something similar.
Set up your blog. Just follow the instructions. The "Display Name" is your name on the blog. You can use your first name, or an alias.
Name your blog. Be creative.
Select your template.
Once you've created your blog here are two important things to know:
To add posts: the interface you will use to add posts, edit or change the set-up of your blog is "blogger.com," accessed at http://www.blogger.com. Be sure to write down your login and password.
To view your blog: To read the blog, use the "blogspot.com" address. Your blog address is http://(xxxx).blogspot.com (xxxx)=the unique identifier (name) you entered in Step 2. Be sure to also write down your blog address.
If you run into questions or would like more information about blogs and using Blogger, check out Blogger's Quick Tutorial (just follow the orange arrows to learn more).
Discovery Exercise:
Get your blog set up
Add a post called "Thing One" (you can also give it a subtitle if you want). Address these two questions: a) So far, how have you been using Web 2.0? b) What interests you about Web 2.0--what would you like to learn about? Watch the above videos for inspiration.
Email me (jnesmith@coe.edu) the name of your blog's address (for instance, this blog is 13thingsforwriters@blogspot.com)
*Use of Blogger is only a recommendation. If there is another blog hosting site with which you are more comfortable, please feel free to use it.
