CONVERGENCE: An Evolving List of Favorite MEDIA Articles

Here is an evolving list of "pop culture/media" articles I use with college students in my media classes. Not exhaustive, but perhaps useful for exploring the directions in which our 21st century media culture is going.

MEDIA, WISDOM AND THE BRAIN

PROJECT GLASS? "The Man With The Google Glasses." (NYT - April 2012)

AUGMENTED REALITY: Google's Project Glass - Fast Company (April 2012).

OUR BRAINS ON FICTION: New York Times - March 2012.

MEDIA DETOX. Eye Opening article on Media and the Brain.

Nicholas Carr, "The Remains of the Book." 2011; Blog Post.

David Carr, "Why Twitter Will Endure." NYTimes, 2010.

Jonathan Franzen. "Liking is For Cowards. Go For What Hurts." New York Times (May 2011).

Tony Kontzer. Wisdom 2.0. (May 2010)

Claudia Wallis, "TIME - The Multitasking Generation." (March 2006).

Peter, Bregman. "Why I Returned My iPad." (Summer 2010).

INTERNET/WEB 2.0/3.0, LEARNING, AND SOCIETY

Nicholas Carr, The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains. (WIRED; May 2010).

Nicholas Carr, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" (July/August 2008).

Jamais Cascio, Get Smarter (Why Google etc. Is Making Us More Intelligent). (July/August 2009)

TIME, "Person of the Year: YOU." (December 2006).

William Deresiewicz, "Facebook and Faux Friendship." (December 2009).

Steven Johnson, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." (June 2009).

Tom Hodgkinson, "With Friends Like These (Why Facebook Is Dangerous)." (January 2008)

Steve Lohr, "How Privacy Vanishes Online." (March 2010).

Jeffrey Rosen, "Google's Gatekeepers." (November 2008)

Clive Thompson, "Brave New World of Digital Intimacy." (September 2008)

Elaine Young, "Teaching the Facebook Generation." (November 2009).

GLOBAL MEDIA

Ken Auletta, "The Networker: Afghanistan's First Media Mogul." (New Yorker; July 2010.)

BOOKS

Ken Auletta, "Publish or Perish - Can the iPad Topple the Kindle." (April 2010).

Steven Johnson, "How the E-Book Will Change the Way We Read and Write." (April 2009).

Michiko Kakutani, Texts Without Context: Reading and the Web. (March 2010).

Wade Roush, "Second Earth." (Summer 2007).

MAGAZINES

NEWSPAPERS

New York Times editors, "Battle Plans for Newspapers." (February 2009)

RADIO/SOUND RECORDING

TELEVISION

Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, "Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor." (January 2004)

Steve McClellan and Brian Morrissey, "The Future of TV." (November 2008).

Rachel Smolkin, "What The Mainstream Media Can Learn from Jon Stewart." (June/July 2007)

MOVIES

ADVERTISING AND CONVERGENCE

Bob Garfield, "Chaos Scenario 2.0 - The Post-Advertising Age." (March 2007)

BLOGGING: Assessment Criteria - Draft 1.0

MECHANICS: (20 points each = 100 points total)

An EXCELLENT blog post:

1. Contains no spelling errors.

2. Is readable, in terms of font size, color match, and blog design.

3. Contains no grammar or punctuation errors.

4. Contains at least X number of hyperlinks.

5. Contains at least X number of embedded photo or video texts.


CONTENT: (20 Points each = 100 points total)

An EXCELLENT blog post:

1. Fully addresses the scope/requirements of the assignment.

2. Incorporates and applies our four sets of power tools in clear and cogent fashion.

3. Asks compelling questions to personalize the nature of the assignment.

4. Contains at least X number of hyperlinks.

5. Contains at least X number of embedded photo or video texts.

Why Learn With Blogs? - A TOP ELEVEN List

Let's begin with a thought-provoking video by Kansas State University digital ethnography professor Michael Wesch.



1. Blogs Are FREE and Accessible Learning Tools.

2. Blogs Are Easy To Create.

3. Blogs Are Easy to Edit and Update.

4. Blogs Are Information-Rich Multimedia Learning Platforms.

5. Blogs Are Easily Networked.

6. Blogs Help Organize Groups.

7. Blogs Can Be Universally Accessed.

8. Blogs Allow Students Authorship.

9. Blogs Are Useful Reflective Tools.

10. Blogs Offer Participatory Conversational Platforms.

11. Blogs create public and visible accountability for both students and teachers.