We Are the Machines

The internet is always changing. Wesch's video shows us that every time we click on a link, we are teaching the machines something. He also said that every thing starts with us. This video made me realize a couple of things. First, the internet has come along way from its original structure. HTML has expanded from a basic format to a more advanced one. At first, there wasn't such a thing as bold or italics. All of the elements in the documents described the content, not the form. Secondly, I realized the internet isn't just for receiving information, it's also used for publishing work and communicating with other people. I use Facebook everyday to communicate with family and friends. I never go on the internet and only extract information from it. Truly, the internet isn't just a basic place to receive information, it is our life!

Students' diction, grammar and writing skills deteriorate during the summer. While students use "text talk" and social networking sites, their literacy usage decreases. In Clive Thompson's article "The New Literacy", a survey is taken over the course of five years. During this time, she collected over fourteen-thousand student writing samples. While reviewing some of these samples, she noticed that most students wrote for an audience. This causes students to think the opposite of what is considered "good" writing. As well as good writing, good teaching is also extremely important. Without good teaching, students are unable to learn as well as they are expected. I remember having a bad teacher and I struggled on most of the tests due to the lack of knowledge. Truly, good teaching is just as important as good writing.