My Semester in English 1213

When I first enrolled in this English class at OU I thought it would be like every other English class I've had, but boy was I wrong. We didn't do work out of a book, but worked on the computers instead. It was so odd at first just because it was something I wasn't accustomed to when it came to English class. From the beginning of the class to the end of it our main focus on was something called ethos.

The first essay I had to write for this class was about ICT's. By this time I had already learned the basic simple meaning of ethos, which was basically credibility. My paper was about South Korea's gaming problems. I chose this topic because I am a gamer myself, so I figured I could relate to it. I wrote about many factors contributing to South Korea's gaming problem, which were advancement of technology, PC rooms, and even schools. The positive things in the essay were so much easier for me to write about though. I talked about my own main experience from gaming, which was making some friends in real life due to gaming. This helped my ethos for the essay. The reason it did was because I related my own experiences to the topic, therefore making me more credible as a writer.

Time seemed to just fly by as we got near the end of the semester. This meant writing my final essay for the class, which was about propaganda. This essay helped broaden my definition of ethos to not just meaning credibility, but also who the person writing the essay is. For example, as my English teacher Paul Mitchell said, "You can't just quote from anyone because what if that person is just a blogger from the middle of nowhere?" The person has to be credible before they can be quoted in an essay. All of this ties back into ethos, which seemed to be our main focus over this semester.

Ever since I was little, I never really missed many school days. I've gotten perfect attendance so many times in school that I've actually lost count. I'm also from a particularly small school in a small town called Webbers Falls. I was a great student there and had hoped to carry it on here to OU. The teaching style of my old English teacher is so much different compared to my new one here at OU. The reason I'm saying all of this is because all of it relates to my own personal ethos. The places I've been to and what I was taught contribute to who I am today as an individual. My own personal definition of ethos after this semester is who someone is and how they act. This can be related to someone who gives off a bad first impression, which can mess with their ethos to the new people around them.

Overall, I had a lot of fun in this English class. It taught me so much when it comes to writing. I thought I was a decent writer, but have now realized that I still have so much more to learn. I'm going to make sure I use the skills I've learned in this class to my advantage in future classes. Lastly, I need to strive to have a good ethos when it comes to future classes by attending, doing my work, and paying attention to the instructor.

Digital Nation

Digital Nation had a very great video on their website about technology in general. I would have to say my favorite part in the video is when they talk about South Korean gamers. I would have never thought that South Korea would have so many kids addicted to gaming. The video also shows elementary schools in Korea teaching their kids how to use computers already. This seems so crazy to me considering the fact that I didn't truly learn how to use a computer well until I was about twelve. Technology is really advancing so fast. For example, there coming out with laptops that are also ipads. I can see why so many kids in South Korea are addicted to gaming now. The children being exposed to so much technology as well as games becoming so realistic can all tie into South Korea's gaming problem. I play a lot of video games as well so I can see why they can be addicting at times. I even catch myself playing to much games at times. I don't think I am an addict because in the Digital Nation video they talk about how the kids feel like they must play video games.

Digital Nation also talks about how no one can truly multitask. They interviewed college students from Stanford University who thought they could multitask. After running tests on them it turned out that they couldn't multitask as well as they thought. I always thought I could multitask, but when Digital Nation talked about the facts I couldn't help being surprised. If more people knew about this then there would probably be less accidents due to texting.

Overall, Digital Nation shows so many great facts about technology. I would recommend this video to everyone who just wants to learn a bit more about technology. It is very informative and I believe it can change anyone's opinion about technology.

Technology of 2012!?!?

Like this image it seems that today we have all the knowledge we want right at the tip of our fingers. For example, if I asked you what year the cellphone was invented, you could just Google it instead of looking in an encyclopedia. Although I grew up in this time period I still remember when there were no smart phones or even much texting. Heck, there wasn't even Facebook one decade ago if you think about it. People nowadays are using cellphones even more than they talk to people in some cases.

Think about this, "Do you get on your phone sometimes just to avoid conversation with some people?" Whether it be to text or to check on Facebook or Twitter what you are doing at that moment is most likely pointless. Let's pretend your a college student and while waiting for class you see most of your classmates in the hall and you don't really know one another. Instead of just sitting on your phone looking on the internet, texting, or even acting like you're texting why don't you just go talk to one of them. In the end even if they didn't like you at least you tried and in most cases you could even make a new friend. Just think, next time you are waiting for class instead of sitting silently on your phone you could be talking to that friend you made just last week while waiting for class.

Technology has really changed a lot of us today. Even though I am not that old, like I said, I remember times when you didn't text or get on Facebook. If you went and asked maybe a 12-15 year old today about how much they spend their time on Facebook or on the phone I'm sure most of them would say a lot. In today's time it seems everyone at least knows how to work a computer to some degree. In the past a lot of people wouldn't even have computers. Whenever I am in my Chemistry class it seems that everyone in there in on a laptop computer, while I am part of the uncommon group using just pencil and paper to take all notes.

I have a younger sister and it seems that most times whenever I talk to her she is on her phone texting someone. Most times my older siblings and I will make fun of her and say, "Your not that popular get off your phone and just have fun or help us out." I am making myself sound to innocent though. I must admit I get on my phone a lot so what I said earlier about being on the phone for pointless reasons, is from my own experience, but also from one of my close friends whose admitted to doing the same. Technology is using up more of our time than we think. I've put down my phone for a couple days before and let me tell you it was great especially because it was while on a fishing trip.

Overall, all I'm saying is that I think a lot of us are using technology way to much from personal experience and people I've met. I won't judge anyone for what they want to do, but just for one day I urge you to put down your phone and see how it is without having to worry about checking your phone all day.