Pecha Kucha – Nicole Gross

A Walk Through A Slide: I decided to choose this picture because it shows the reality of anonymous online bullying. This image is from a website called Formspring. I, like most people, have had accounts with Formspring and many other social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. They are just addicting to be on.

This picture fit in perfectly with my narrative because throughout the whole narrative, bullying and cyberbullying were the main topics. In this particular picture, cyberbullying is occurring because people are saying mean things such as “you are fat”, “do you try to look ugly or do you always look like that?” and “they would never like you”, which are all hurtful comments. For this slide in my pecha kucha presentation, Kevin Kelly acknowledged how social media would expand beyond what they originally thought. Formspring really took over in 2006-2010. This was not like any other social media website like Facebook or Twitter. This was just anonymous comments from people. I chose Kevin Kelly’s article, We Are the Web because it made me think of the various amounts of social media websites there actually are. When I think social media, I think Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The more social media, the more cyberbullying occurs.

I felt as if this picture fit in perfectly with my slides because it shows a real life example of cyberbullying. I think this picture stood out to most people because of the hurtful comments that people do make and can relate to it, even if it hasn’t happened to them. This picture builds on my argument by giving proof. Anyone can say things like “I hate you” or “go away” but those are different. Cyberbullying has to go a little deeper and has to impact a person. For example, in the picture the second response says, “I try to look pretty but…” which shows it has impacted this person’s confidence. Overall, I’m very glad I found this picture because I think it helped describe and prove our point about how bullying and cyberbullying affect people.

If I were to change one thing, I would have changed the order in which we discussed things. For example, I think Facebook should have been included and the first topic of discussion since it is one of the biggest social media cites with a lot of bullying.

What I learned about my blog topic: My blog topic was future teachers of America. I thought this was a very fitting topic for my group since we are all aspiring to become teachers. I have been learning all about the teaching process throughout my years in college, whether at Rowan or another school. I felt as if this was an easy topic to relate anything to because we are always learning new things.

Each article in the readings, I was able to relate to the topic of teaching. For example, Bolter’s article and the Memex article. Bolter’s article was about the technology in writing so I related it to teaching writing in the classroom multiple ways. For the memex article, I was able to compare how technology helps our writing today and how the memex was used back then. These articles gave me a new perspective on writing and ideas that I didn’t even know were possible. It showed me how we can still get by even with the use of little technology or tons of technology.

For my outside readings, I found it very interesting because there were so many topics I could choose from. My favorite, however, was the Ellen Degeneres blog post. I have been watching The Ellen Show for many years, it is my favorite daytime talk show. Constantly, Ellen and her team have been helping teachers because they understand how difficult it can be. Just the little things can go such a long way. I felt as if this was a great opportunity to give credit to Ellen because some day I hope I get recognized as an outstanding teacher.

Overall, my blog topic was perfect for me. I enjoyed reading these articles whether required or not because they were pertaining to my future. It impacted me in a way that many people won’t understand because of their choice of career. Education is such an important thing that people should not take for granted. Also, I hope as a future educator that people start to see what a different we truly make in student’s lives.

Memex- Karissa Gardella

What is a Memex exactly? According to Bush, a Memex is, “a device in which an individual stores all their books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility” (4). The Memex for some people including Bush would be described as a computer but in the first stage of development. While I read this article I could not believe how similar the Memex was to the modern day computer. The present day computer has a hard drive, allows people to store material, and allows us to read material as well. The only true difference that I spotted was the amount of space that the Memex has compared to the laptops today. Bush when designing the Memex was not to far off from making a regular computer. That is crazy to me because how would someone even know how to make something so complex and so long ago, and now we have something that is so similar.

The Memex was also used for storage of pictures for future use. You would be able to sit at this machine and read what you want and choose where you wanted to start from. One thing that Bush does say is that he created to help with memory. I compared that to the modern day use to the internet. If I ever have any questions or forget something, my first instinct is to type Google in my search bar to get my answers.

I know people that if we are having a conversation and we aren’t sure of something or forget who played a role in a movie, they actually get up to grab their phone or laptop to Google whatever question we have. Like i said before, it is so amazing to read this article and read about how something was created and can be compared to something that was made years later. It is so interesting to read about how people just create things and somehow it ties back to the technology that we have today.

Memex- a dream for the future.

In 1945, everything was beginning to revolutionize. Technology was growing and so was knowledge. The knowledge had to go somewhere for people to use. A problem was storing and organizing things to be used as needed in the future. “A Memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory”, Vannevar Bush says in his post “As We May Think” in 1945. Basically the Memex was a database that looked like a desk, and could be used as a desk. The Memex did in 1945, what my 16 gigabyte memory flash drive does for me today. My flash drive can hold and organize thousands of papers.

Basically the Memex would take pictures of things of personal importance that someone wants to save for future use, and save them. Someone could sit down at the Memex desk and be able to gather information that they needed to write whatever it is that they are writing. “A special button transfers him immediately to the first page of the index. Any given book of his library can thus be called up and consulted with far greater facility than if it were taken from a shelf”, in this quote, Vannevar Bush illustrates the ease and convenience of using the Memex. Vannevar Bush also says, “As he has several projection positions, he can leave one item in position while he calls up another.” The last quote seems like it could be the equivalent to myself having multiple windows open, as I do right now, while writing.

It seems as though the Memex was created to help ‘the man’ with his memory, so he doesn’t become ‘bogged down’ while trying to recount thoughts that he once had; this is how Vannevar Bush explains the relevance of the machine, Memex.

“Yet, in the application of science to the needs and desires of man, it would seem to be a singularly unfortunate stage at which to terminate the process, or to lose hope as to the outcome”, says Vannevar Bush. While explaining the machine, he explains that the Memex may eliminate the stage where someone would have to terminate the process because they have forgotten information.

Basically, Vannevar Bush was explaining the internet as it is today. I use google to search almost anything that I have forgotten, and this was his dream for the future.

–Lisa Kilroy

Memex is the new memory? – Nicole Gross

Since this article is taking place in the year 1945, technology wasn’t around like it is today. “Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, “memex” will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. [This is similar to a computer in todays world.] It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory (Bush 4)”. This must have been the coolest invention back then. Now that the Memex is taking over, there is a plethera of information out there and organized by material and mircofilm.

You might think that a memex is just a desk. But you thought wrong. “On the top are slanting translucent screens, on which material can be projected for convenient reading. There is a keyboard, and sets of buttons and levers. Otherwise it looks like an ordinary desk” (Bush 4). Keyboards have really evolved so much over the years. You can see that in the first picture is a typewriter compared to the picture below of an standard MacBook keyboard. There are signifcant differences such as the size and layout of the two keyboards. The Memex stores so much information like an encyclopedia. To store these items in view, the other can be instantly remembered by pressing a button below on the Memex, using the corresponding code space provided.

I’m so glad that technology has evolved over the years. Growing up with computers makes me realize how much typing is a second nature to people my age. Thinking back to when the memex was invented, people must have been in awe. For people to have information in books, spending hours and hours researching where as now, people can use the memex and get answers much more efficiently. Compared to todays world where people can get information at the touch of their fingertips. If I were put back in the time of when people were using a memex, I would get frustrated very easily. The only good I would find out of the memex today, would be the capability of memory. Also, anything you want to know, you will find an answer to on the internet almost instantly. It’s truely amazing to compare the two and see how similar, yet different they are and how much time has improved each type of technology.