Most likely the answer is some weighted combination of many different reasons and will never be precisely pinned down. However if we could narrow down the possibilities, we could draw conclusion about possible solutions to this inequality problem. For instance, data on low income students performance in high school and on standardized test should be easily accessible. While I don’t believe low income student perform worse on average, it would be insightful to quickly rule it out. Also if a data set was collected comparing the number of applicant in each quintile to those accepted in each quintile, it would be obvious if the issue stems from a lack of low income students applying or from a lack of university acceptance. Simply knowing which of these two is at fault would massively narrow down the possible causes.

This is a hectic mapping of what I feel the breakdown of the Equality of Opportunity Project should be like. Every boxed topic focuses on college admissions and ever circled topic focus on leaving college. The methods used for each topic would vary.

This is a hectic mapping of what I feel the breakdown of the Equality of Opportunity Project should be like. Every boxed topic focuses on college admissions and ever circled topic focus on leaving college. The methods used for each topic would vary.

I began my research of Lynda by talking with my mother. I have not spent much time personally using Lynda, but my mother has. After getting a good feel about the usage of the site from a frequent user, I spent some time of my own on the site. This process was substantially different than my experience with researching for the FiveThirtyEight podcast. Since I have a lot of experience with FiveThirtyEight and not much with Lynda I was originally relying on a third-party account of the site as opposed to my own knowledge base. Surprisingly, this was beneficial. Entering my analysis of Lynda I had no bias that would hinder making a non-opinionated evaluation of the site.

The main focus when we began recording was to avoid sounded scripted. In the FiveThirtyEight podcast we had a harsh transition from the introductory more formal segment to the discussion segment. During our in class discussion of the FiveThirtyEight podcast, we recieved negative feedback regarding this transition, and we noticed a much smoother transition in most other podcast published to this point. We tackled this problem by creating a list of talking points and then just talking. I feel that the transition is much smoother if not seamless for the Lynda Podcast.

After completing a podcast as a producer and a podcast as an assistant producer, I have a much better sense of what enables “new media” to be effective. From our in class discussion, I was able to develop a reasonably clear perception of “new media” (to the extent it can be perceived accurately), but the techniques that one can use to convey a message or argument through new media is a much more allusive idea to pinpoint. Although these techniques are not static due to the nature of “new media”, I understand what these techniques should seek to accomplish both now and in the future. This understanding is important to cultivate in order to be an effective “new media” writer and critic.

The initial process of creating the podcast was confusing and ambiguous. Shiven and I began by spending several hours on the website FiveThirtyEight making sure that we knew everything the website had to offer. During this time our argument began to take it shape. However there was still a major question that needed to be answered, “how do we communicate this argument in a podcast?” We started the podcast with a description of FiveThirtyEight. In my opinion this segment is the least interesting. It sounds extremely formal and scripted. After the description was finished we decided to record Shiven and I talking about random points for the next hour. This segment is where the podcast gained its life. Although a majority of the hour was not interesting, there were very insightful moments of conversation. The key for us to complete a successful podcast would be to edit the audio to shift out the wheat from the chaff. This task proved to be more difficult than we initially anticipated. Neither Shiven nor I had any previous experience using audacity to edit audio, and we had too learn on the fly. If we had more time to work on the podcast we would have spent more time editing and cleaning up the audio. Specifically, we would have spent more time on the into and the transition from the into to the main arguments.

Although there was frustration in editing the podcast, the time that we had to spend reviewing our audio provided useful insight into our arguments. The necessary focus on our arguments developed a a more clear understanding of the near form of rhetorical composition that we used to create the podcast. The general process of conveying an argument to an audience is the same in a podcast as it is in writing. However, it is obvious that the method is vastly different. It is this difference in methods that makes a podcast interesting. The podcast must actively keep listeners interested. In a written essay a reader can easily reread a portion that was confusing or monotonous, but in a podcast it is much more difficult for a listener to play the audio back. It is import to consider the way the audience will consume the podcast, and I hope to improve in this regard in the next podcast.

mp3:

In this week’s episode of The Web We Weave we discuss fivethirtyeight.com. In our analysis we discuss the structure of Nate Silver’s brainchild and its effectiveness as new media.

Sources:

• “FiveThirtyEight.” GitHub repository.
• “FiveThirtyEight.” Wikipedia.
• Morris, Benjamin. “Brady vs. Belichick: Who’s To Blame For The Patriots’ Insufferable Success?“
• Patterson, Troy. “On the Origins of Foxes and Hedgehogs.“
• Roeder, Oliver. “Can You Save The Drowning Swimmer?“
• Silver, Nate. “Why I Started FiveThirtyEight.”
• Silver, Nate. “Frequently Asked Questions, Last Revised 8/7/08.”
• Image by Katerina Bartosova at Unsplash.

Technology Literacy Narrative: The Past

As I began to think back on my past experiences with technology, emotions that I have not felt in a long time started to resurface. I remember being in absolute wonder of computers and their power. This memory reminded me why I am still infatuated with computers today. My narrative walks through the major developments of my technological past and attempts to explain the reason behind each one. Although I began this assignment with attempting to explain my past to others, I found that I might still have some explaining to do to myself.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”   – Søren Kierkegaard

-Greer-