Michael Wesch, "The Machine is Us/ing Us"
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Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist at Kansas State University whose work explores contemporary digital culture. His YouTube video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" is an excellent starting point for our course.
"The Machine is Us/ing Us," by Michael Wesch
Working in groups, you will be responsible for starting a discussion of at least one part of Wesch's video. Wesch has conveniently broken the video into six semi-discrete sections.
Main Parts of the Wesch Video
- Part One (0-45 sec) - This opening section introduces some differences between print and web literacy/writing.
- Part Two (45-1:30) - This section builds on Part One by introducing us to HTML and structural markup.
- Part Three (1:30-2:15) - This section brings XML into the piture, and things really get moving.
- Part Four (2:15-3:05) - What is this section about?
- Part Five (3:05-3:45) - This section enables us to think about the power of a database-driven web.
- Part Six (3:45-4:30) - Hmm. Another section to get you thinking.
Your Assignment
- Figure out what you want to say about the part(s) of the video for which you bear primary responsibility.
- Login to the Course Blog. (Need help? Find the Screencast on logging in to course blog)
- Start a post, making sure to select the "Wesch Video" category for it so we can find it quickly later on. (Need help? Find the Screencast on posting.)
- Read what others have written about other parts of the video; post some comments. (Need help? Find the Screencast on replying to posts)
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