OK, maybe it won’t actually change your life, but it could very well change how you look at it.
One of the 25th-anniversary-of-WAC activities we have devised for Fall 2010 semester is a read-along. What, you are asking yourself quite legitimately, is that? It’s your chance to read a timely book, Here Comes Everybody, with your colleagues over the course of this semester at your own pace, be that at breakneck speed or in brief spurts.
BEG, BORROW, OR BUY THE BOOK.
How you obtain the book is strictly up to you. You can find it at most local libraries. It is available in paperback at area bookstores and on Amazon.com in a print or Kindle version. Consider book-pooling: split the cost with a co-worker and trade it back and forth. TALK ABOUT IT.
If you like, you can attend one or all of the 3 face-to-face discussions of the book on these dates:- Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2:00-3:00 (p. 1-108)
- Thursday, October 14, 2:00-3:00 (p. 109-211)
- Friday, November 12, 2:00-3:00 9 (p. 212-321)
These meet-ups will be held at Next Door Pizza across the street from Longview. If we have a critical mass of attendees, they will extend their pizza buffet beyond its scheduled close at 2:00 to accommodate us. Otherwise, you can order from the menu should you want food or beverage.
STRAPPED FOR TIME?
Actually, if you can’t manage the time to read the book, you can read reviews and articles about the book and its author, Clay Shirky, on the new WAC blog, The Lake Effect. In September, you will also find posts devoted to discussion of the book and comments about the book by your colleagues. Another powerful hallmark feature of MCC-Longview’s WAC Program is that instructors determine their own level and degree of involvement. This project was designed in that spirit: everyone is welcome to join in any part of the read-along.
We hope that translates into…here comes everybody!
Here Comes Everybody: Book Discussion 1
questions developed by Casey Reid, discussion facilitator
1. What do Shirky’s stories like that of the lost cell phone illustrate for you? What examples of technology use have you seen driving other changes in the social environment?
2. On page 22, Shirky writes, “"Now that there is competition to traditional institutional forms for getting things done, those institutions will continue to exist, but their purchase on modern life will weaken as novel alternatives for group action arise.” How does the weakening of traditional institutional forms affect us at the CC? In what ways might this shift alter how our students view the world and how we teach?
3. On page 47, Shirkey writes, “"Social tools provide a third alternative: action by loosely structured groups, operating without managerial direction and outside the profit motive." In what ways might we take advantage of social tools in our classrooms to harness student energy? In what ways could/can social tools/media work against us?
4. What distinctions does Shirky make between these concepts: sharing (49), cooperation (49), collaborative production (50), and collective action (51)? Have you seen evidence of these in play when you use social or other media? In what ways do we use these concepts at the college? In what ways might we make better use of these concepts?
5. On page 64, Shirkey writes, “the news media can end up covering the story because something has broken into public consciousness via other means.” In what ways does this change in the news media impact what we do?
6. On page 69, Shirkey writes, “A professional often becomes a gatekeeper, by providing a necessary or desirable social function but also by controlling that function.” In what ways do we serve as gatekeepers in our roles in higher education? In what ways are our gatekeeper roles being challenged, impacted, and altered? In what ways might social media and the Internet in general be stripping higher education of its privileged status as a gatekeeper for access to, use of, interpretation of, and construction of information and ideas?
7. Our social tools are not an improvement to modern society; they are a challenge to it. A culture with printing presses is a different kind of culture from one that doesn't have them. New technology makes new things possible: put another way, when new technology appears, previously impossible things start occurring. If enough of those impossible things are important and happen in a bundle, quickly, the change becomes a revolution.
The hallmark of revolution is that the goals of the revolutionaries cannot be contained by the institutional structure of the existing society. As a result, either the revolutionaries are put down, or some of those institutions are altered, replaced, or destroyed. (Shirkey 107)
a. In what ways are social tools a challenge to our work?
b. What previously impossible things are happening in your work as a result of social media?
c. Is the institution of higher education being altered, replaced, or destroyed because of new technology? How is it being altered, replaced, or destroyed? How is our work being altered, replaced, or destroyed?
8. On page 139, Shirkey writes, “A Wikipedia article is a process, not a product, and as a result, it is never finished. For a Wikipedia article to improve, the good edits simply have to outweigh the bad ones. Rather than filtering contributions before they appear in public (the process that helped kill Nupedia), Wikipedia assumes that new errors will be introduced less frequently than existing ones will be corrected. This assumption has proven correct; despite occasional vandalism, Wikipedia articles get better, on average, over time.” If we accept Shirkey’s assumption, why do so many college instructors continue to discourage students from using Wikipedia in papers? After all, Wikipedia is the ultimate manifestation of the prevailing pedagogy of composition: process over product, no writing is ever finished.
We hope that translates into…here comes everybody!
Here Comes Everybody: Book Discussion 1
questions developed by Casey Reid, discussion facilitator
1. What do Shirky’s stories like that of the lost cell phone illustrate for you? What examples of technology use have you seen driving other changes in the social environment?
2. On page 22, Shirky writes, “"Now that there is competition to traditional institutional forms for getting things done, those institutions will continue to exist, but their purchase on modern life will weaken as novel alternatives for group action arise.” How does the weakening of traditional institutional forms affect us at the CC? In what ways might this shift alter how our students view the world and how we teach?
3. On page 47, Shirkey writes, “"Social tools provide a third alternative: action by loosely structured groups, operating without managerial direction and outside the profit motive." In what ways might we take advantage of social tools in our classrooms to harness student energy? In what ways could/can social tools/media work against us?
4. What distinctions does Shirky make between these concepts: sharing (49), cooperation (49), collaborative production (50), and collective action (51)? Have you seen evidence of these in play when you use social or other media? In what ways do we use these concepts at the college? In what ways might we make better use of these concepts?
5. On page 64, Shirkey writes, “the news media can end up covering the story because something has broken into public consciousness via other means.” In what ways does this change in the news media impact what we do?
6. On page 69, Shirkey writes, “A professional often becomes a gatekeeper, by providing a necessary or desirable social function but also by controlling that function.” In what ways do we serve as gatekeepers in our roles in higher education? In what ways are our gatekeeper roles being challenged, impacted, and altered? In what ways might social media and the Internet in general be stripping higher education of its privileged status as a gatekeeper for access to, use of, interpretation of, and construction of information and ideas?
7. Our social tools are not an improvement to modern society; they are a challenge to it. A culture with printing presses is a different kind of culture from one that doesn't have them. New technology makes new things possible: put another way, when new technology appears, previously impossible things start occurring. If enough of those impossible things are important and happen in a bundle, quickly, the change becomes a revolution.
The hallmark of revolution is that the goals of the revolutionaries cannot be contained by the institutional structure of the existing society. As a result, either the revolutionaries are put down, or some of those institutions are altered, replaced, or destroyed. (Shirkey 107)
a. In what ways are social tools a challenge to our work?
b. What previously impossible things are happening in your work as a result of social media?
c. Is the institution of higher education being altered, replaced, or destroyed because of new technology? How is it being altered, replaced, or destroyed? How is our work being altered, replaced, or destroyed?
8. On page 139, Shirkey writes, “A Wikipedia article is a process, not a product, and as a result, it is never finished. For a Wikipedia article to improve, the good edits simply have to outweigh the bad ones. Rather than filtering contributions before they appear in public (the process that helped kill Nupedia), Wikipedia assumes that new errors will be introduced less frequently than existing ones will be corrected. This assumption has proven correct; despite occasional vandalism, Wikipedia articles get better, on average, over time.” If we accept Shirkey’s assumption, why do so many college instructors continue to discourage students from using Wikipedia in papers? After all, Wikipedia is the ultimate manifestation of the prevailing pedagogy of composition: process over product, no writing is ever finished.
