Ruth – New Media Writing

HowStuffWorks Podcast Reflection

Ruth — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 05:49:10 +0000

HowStuffWorks is a website, phone app and youtube channel providing information in an interesting and convenient manner. For the HowStuffWorks podcast, I was the producer and Janet was the assistant producer. Creating my very own podcast was a blast. Using the skills I’ve picked up from being an assistant producer and a line producer for previous podcasts, I made sure to incorporate all the details I wanted in my own production. The audio sounded well. The planning was much more efficient – I did not feel rushed or scattered. I also felt more comfortable talking about HowStuffWorks in comparison to the podcast WestWorld. This is due to me being familiar with the website HowStuffWorks so planning a podcast around it was much better than planning a podcast about a TV series I’ve never heard about. Janet was unfamiliar with the site so I suggested a couple articles and videos for her to look at so she could get a general overview of what kind of content HowStuffWorks provides. Also, HowStuffWorks is easy to navigate and understand so new users are able to enjoy it just as much as old users.

In regards to planning, I created a GoogleDoc to outline topics for Janet and I to address. With that, I initially wanted us to relate the site to new media as much as possible. After speaking with professor Morgen those topics and ideas shifted because we realized that HowStuffWorks is like an online Encyclopedia. The topics we choose to focus on was the multiple media platforms, the audience, and employment along with other details. We addressed the new media and old media aspects of the site. In addition, the podcast was structure to where we were addressing topics discussed in class and available on the class page – this includes the Key terms for Podcast Analysis, APATSARC,and Rhetorical Composition.

Furthermore, editing the audio did not take as much time as I thought it would. We recorded topics in segments just for organization and future editing purposes. WHile recording the podcast for WestWorld, we were not thinking ahead about editing so we recorded essentially one really long audio file. When it came to editing, it was hard to find the areas we wanted to include in the final cut. While recording for HowStuffWorks, we set topics for each of us to talk about so we could go on from there. The questions that Janet asked me were scripted and I set general points to address for each question she asked. We wanted the podcast to sound more conversational so we both made an effort. Personally, I think it was easier for me this time around to speak more freely about topics beyond the “script” because I am familiar with the site. Thus, my parts of the podcast did not sound as scripted as they did WestWorld’s podcast. I did see a lot of improvement in this podcast episode specifically by addressing more things we learned and discussed in class along with the skills I obtained from WestWorld and HONY podcasts.

Along with the topics I previously mentioned, we also addressed the content offered on the site, interactivity, business/employment, and how to request and generate content. I appreciated how organized we were while planning and recording this podcast. In comparison to our previous podcast, we did not re record as much and had a solid idea on what to talk about. I noticed a lot of improvement but also areas for further improvement (specifically scripted-ness). I really wanted to incorporate class readings in the podcast so I’m happy we did that. By no means am I an expert on producing podcast but the planning, recording, and editing process was not as frustrating as it was the first time. It was still a challenge to create interesting topics to talk about but it was less difficult because I felt more comfortable talking about HowStuffWorks. Overall, I am very satisfied with our finished product.

II. A Lesson in Geography

Ruth — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 13:34:12 +0000

State Distribution

Here, we’ll be taking a look to see if there is some correlation between location of these colleges, accesses, financial availability and fund provisions for these top 20 colleges. We’ll be considering various factors to find similarities and dissimilarities between the states. Maybe region contributes to where the top mobility colleges are located where they are and why they are so successful? Maybe there are external variables missing or contributing? Although finding a definite correlation between college location and upward mobility is unlikely, we still find it interesting to compare the top 20 colleges in this way.

The data presented in these graphs were obtained from Equality of Opportunity College Level Characteristics. Graph 1 compares the location of the top 20 colleges and graph 2 compares the locations of all 190 colleges from the data. The top 20 colleges are highlighted in a separate graph for they had the highest mobility rates out of 190 colleges in the data. Looking at graph 1, 75% ofthe top 20 colleges are in the northeast, 15% are in the south and 10% are in the West. These top 20 ranking colleges in the data set provide the highest upward mobility of students enrolled. These colleges are less selective than Emory for instance but their mobility rate exceeds Emory along with other top ranking colleges like Harvard, Stanford, Duke, etc. Here, we’ll be taking a look to see if there is some correlation between location of these colleges, accesses, financial availability and fund provisions for these top 20 colleges. We’ll be considering these factors to find similarities or dissimilarities between the opportunities provided regionally and how that contributes to where the top mobility colleges are located where they are and why they are so successful.

Estimated Enrollment by State of Institution, NSCResearch Center

Table 6 provided by the National Student Clearing House Research Center had a data table listing the estimated enrollment of all 50 states. Again looking at this data, California, New York, and Texas have the highest listed enrollment numbers for the 2014, 2013, and 2012 years. However, it is possible that state population is a lurking variable in the data. According to the 2010 census Texas, California, and New York are highest populated states in the US.May Wong wrote an article for Stanford News titled Stanford research analyzes colleges as engines of upward mobilityy. The article mentions that public colleges and universities “dominate… highest mobility rates, and all are located within California, New York and Texas”. Data collection for that research study, was gained from studying the “anonymized tax records” of 2187 American colleges from years 1999 – 2013. The data used to generate graph 1 was obtained from Equality of Opportunity Project. It’s not surprising to see the top states having the highest mobility (out of the top 20) being the exact same states mentioned in this article.The article then goes on to describe how these colleges admitted have large numbers of students who are low -income but they’ve yet to see how well and what is the correlation between mid tier public schools and high mobility rates. The article also mentioned a paper from Equality of Opportunity Project which talks about how kids from richest/top 1% class are close to 80% likely to attend Ivy League colleges compared to the nations bottom 5th percent. This article does not articulate the connection between state and mobility. It’s difficult to find the connection because a multitude of external factors are at play. The community, surroundings, funding, and public school education of states are not entirely equal so it’s difficult to control for that and pinpoint exactly why there could be an association or trend.

Economic Mobility of the States, PewTrusts.org

It’s also interesting to look at the top states which have the highest economic mobilitiy. According to the Pew Economic mobility project, only New York (out of the top20 college states) makes the list. Texas scores worse on the mobility scale and California does not have a statistical difference from the national average. According to this figure, a couple of states from the northeast provided the “better mobility” than the national average indicating there is something about the North East. However, when you refer back to graph 1, NY, TX, and CA are the top 3 but NY by far has the most top 20 colleges located in it.

EooP/Top20/College Location

Ruth — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 19:29:01 +0000

Technology Literacy Narrative: The Present

Ruth — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 22:17:37 +0000

In my present technology literacy narrative, I briefly reflect the experiences in my past narrative. Also, in this narrative I expand upon how my interactions with technology are modifying and becoming more insightful, more efficient, and more exciting. The process of writing this narrative was enjoyable and I did not find it as difficult in comparison to my last narrative. It was easier for me to gather my experiences and talk about what I learned, what I am learning, and how I feel about it all. I share my weaknesses and strengths with technology from coding to sharing to researching. The Mozilla Literacy Map helped me asses my skills with technology while Jenkins primarily helped me with assessing new media.

Featured Image: Present

Listening Project Reflection

Ruth — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 14:09:21 +0000

The Listening Project allowed the class to pair up and get to know another student at SUNY-ESF. Initially, finding compatible scheduling between my partner and I came at a challenge. We did not get in contact until mid semester but our conversation halted when I went spring break and when he went on spring break the following week. Nonetheless, when we were in contact it was only because I reached out first. At the time I thought the listening project was an assignment for my class along with their class. It was frustrating at times because I had to wait days before a response or send a follow up message to get a response to my initial question. It’s is possible that some interest for the listening project on his end might have been lost for whatever reason. After a week or so of texting, I asked my partner if we could continue the phone conversation through phone and he happily agreed. The phone conversation resolved my initial frustration with lag time. Also, the phone conversation made our dialogue more personal because we got to hear each other’s voices. Although, the messaging can bring people closer, there is something about hearing someone’s voice or seeing someone’s face in real time.

Data Viz Assignment

Ruth — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 23:04:11 +0000

George Williams “The Universe is a Big Place: Re-thinking Universal Design for Learning”

Ruth — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 22:34:19 +0000

Podcast Reflection: Westworld

Ruth — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 01:26:20 +0000

Featured Image: Watching Westworld

Server Files

Ruth — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 23:33:28 +0000

Link to my server files

Sketch 4

Ruth — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 18:30:15 +0000