Unit 1 Reflection

I feel as though the materials that I chose provide a diverse set of genres to create a strong set of sources to use for this project and potentially for our future projects. The first source that was used was given to us, Pencils to Pixels, was written by a college professor and published by the University of Illinois. This author revolves his text around the second line, which reads, “the computer revolution came long ago, and it has left its mark on the way we do things with words,” (Baron 1). He revolves his ideas around how writing has evolved literally, as he titled it, from pencils to pixels. My next source, “Writing, Technology and Teens” is an article that focusses on teens’ use of technology. The impending statistic in this article is that, “93% of teens say they write for their own pleasure,”  (Lenhart, Arafeh, Macgill 1). This article is able to show the reader that writing for pleasure is able to include texts, emails, social media posts etc. This is critical because most teens don’t really believe that this is writing when in fact it is. They are practicing their writing skills, whether the habits be good or bad, in every text that they send. Additionally, the third source, “Writing in the Digital Age,” looks at the way elementary school aged children interact with technology in the classroom through a video with supportive text. The video flashes the words; “create,” “design,” “explore,” “imagine,” “explain,” and “investigate” and “write.” All of these words have the common theme of what technology gives them and in my opinion “write” is the most essential. Lastly, my fourth source, “Facebook’s ‘Parent Conversations’ has Experts Weigh in on Kids and Social Media,”is a blog that is a place for professionals such as doctors, psychologists and teachers to weigh in on their thoughts of social media. This is an aid for parents of kids of all ages to have a guide and platform for advice on how social media is affecting their children. The reason for this is that, “Facebook believes that the best way to keep kids safe online is to give parents more information and control,” (David 1). This source definitely is able to gain mass credibility as it is a place for parents to go. All of these sources revolve their ideas around the revolution of technology and writing which is why I feel they all have high quality as sources. Specifically, some of them hone in on how the growth isn’t just in technology, but how technology accompanies the growth of kids in this generation. The three sources that I chose in addition to the one provided I feel confident in the material they are providing me as supported by the short explanations and citations used above.

            The use of technology enhanced by project because technology was used in finding every single one of my sources as they were all found online. Sources one and two were your basic online article and published essays. Sources three and four were able to take advantage more of technology itself. The video that I used in source three was really helpful because technology was able to give me a visual representation of this source. This was able to make it more powerful as you can see the children in the video interacting in the classroom to emphasize the importance of the message. The blog I thought was a great use of technology because its explaining how parents are coming together with professionals on a social media platform (Facebook) to be able to share concerns as parents and the professionals can ease some of those for them. This is a prime example of writing and technology all across the board and showing it even being utilized.

            With the common theme of my sources being how this generation (children and teens) utilize technology for writing, I feel they provide a solid basis for the sources that I will build off of. Therefore, I feel since they all follow a common theme and are stem from different genres they are good quality sources. Additionally, they all come from reputable places. The only hole that I notice is the attention to college students’ use of technology. I included sources referencing teens and kids but not the early 20’s college student mold that is so critical. I feel this is definitely a hole that I could fill to cover more information to make future arguments stronger as technology is also so present in a college classroom. Since I am a college student it would be a great place for my own research.

            As far as unit two goes I could definitely use these sources. As mentioned before my sources follow a theme and that is a great way to set me up to make a thesis and support it in a persuasive manor. Lastly, for unit three, my video from my source three instantly comes to mind and I know I could definitely potentially use it. I am thinking along the lines of including clips of the video itself into whichever medium I end up choosing. It seems as though it would flow seamlessly with what the prompt is asking in terms of integrating media, which this source has.