SWA 8

         Reading through my classmates' blogs, I was able to determine that most of us are "digital natives". Our everyday lives seemed to be equipped with online activities. From writing on our English blog, to checking twitter feed, there is always something to do online. I read the very first blog from a few of my peers. I felt that this was the best way to learn about their (e)dentity.

        I read Madeline Briggs’ blog first.  I can determine from her opening entry that her (e)dentuity is centered around photography, academics, and traveling. She uses her iphone and social networking sites on a daily basis.  She uses Facebook, Instagram and Pintrest and other apps to post pictures of her travels, learn about the French culture, and to listen to music. On her blog, she says that her (e)dentity is one that not only is used to connect with friends, but to enhance her studies and to keep connected to the world. I can determine from Madeline’s blog that she has credibility as a rhetor. She is either giving her opinion about a topic or citing exactly where she is getting her information from.

        Robbie Gandy’s (e)dentity seems to be centered around social networking sites.  He uses Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, and YouTube. Gandy spends most of his online time on YouTube though. He uses this website to watch a variety of videos and discuss politics. Just like Madeline, Robbie’s other blogs have ethos as well. He cites his sources whenever he is not stating his opinions on his blogs.

         Lastly, I viewed Haliegh Homrich’s blogs.  Her (e)dentity is quite similar to Robbie’s. She spends most of her online time on social networks and her favorite website is YouTube as well. Her (e)dentity is centered around social media, which happens to be the trend for most students in the class. Homrich does use the internet for school to check Blackboard and V.I.P also. Overall, I think her blogs are credible. She has a works cited page when needed, just as Robbie and Madeline.

            Looking back on my blogs, I have learned that my (e)dentity has not changed much from the beginning of the semester. I have used the internet for research a lot more though because of this English class.  I love being able to expand my horizon on the web and use it for a variety of things. The internet does consume much of my time than it should, but I think that I get a lot out of it. I am able to learn so much from the web, whether it being from world news or social news. I do not think that my (e)dentity has tainted my real-life. I still rather converse with people in person than online. And, if all of a sudden, the government were to shut down all social media websites or the internet in general, I would still be complacent.  I try not to rely on the internet, except for research. I can do without, but it's really entertaining. I’m not afraid of privacy discrepancies too because I feel like I take the necessary steps to protect myself online.

SWA 7

The rhetoric film had claims of fact, definition and policy. The film gave facts about the current day school structure. It explained how the structure of school makes students work alone more often than working with others. The film also states the fact that students have to adapt to the school system, when in fact it should be the other way around. The education system should adapt to the students because all students do not learn the same way. The rhetoric film goes into defining education. They believe standardized test are corrupting education because the test is not a true display of students’ academic abilities. The rhetoric film believes that every student can succeed in school if the education system can adjust to their specific needs to retain, comprehend, and recall information. The rhetoric film goes into policy, and accesses how there needs to be a “shift in knowledge” and improvement in schooling.  The film goes into alternative ways to schooling students that shift away from traditional methods of learning for the future. One platform is Knewton. Knewton is an adaptive leaning system that is computer based. It’s personalized to each student and knows how the student learns best.  Another platform is Cousera.  Coursera is computer and internet based system. It enables universities to put their best courses online so that they can be available to anyone who has internet connection.

I think these future alternative ways for educating students is great because everyone does not learn the same way. I think everyone has the potential to succeed, but individuals  all take different steps  and have different paths to get there.

ILP 8

        My first outline is in general modern format. It was the most helpful for me. It helped me arrange my ideas in an organized manner that will be beneficial when writing my paper. This format helped me create strong points for my argument that i will be including in my paper. With this format, i was also able to include the counterargument and and rebuttal. 

        I used Rogerian argument for my second outline. It was not as helpful as the general modern format. I feel like this outline would be confusing when trying to write my paper. I was able to really concentrate on my counterargument with this format though. This format also helped me to understand the polices for my argument.

      The last outline format I used is the Toulmin Model. This format helped me get acquainted with my argument well. it helped me create strong points that would be suitable for my paper . I was able to work on my counterclaim and rebuttal with this outline format. I don't think this format will help me with the organization of my paper. 

Proposal

         I decided to do my paper on Americans possibly not taking the right precautions to protect themselves on the internet. It is possible that we may not need stronger cyber-security. We could just be putting too much of our personal information out in cyberspace. My paper will be arguing If we put too much of our personal information on the Internet. It will also go into policy of how we, as an individual, should and can go about protecting ourselves against cyber attacks and hackers. I will also go into detail of what people should do to make sure they are protected so their personal information will be disclosed.