Class plan (10/30)

Great job today, folks. I really enjoyed it. I love the feel of the room when everyone is so engaged. It's exciting. I also liked that we took the time to discuss some of the presentations. It made me think that this coming week we should take more time to reflect on what we've been doing, to try to come up with some better ways to analyze and understand the impact and effects of the media we've been using.

One way to do that: analyze the website Asa presented in class by comparing it to the official HWS blogs. We might think of guerrilla or hacktivist media (like the Bushwhacked video from You Tube) v. marketing. But I think there is more than that at stake. Describing what this is could be interesting.

Next week: bring your laptops; we are going to try some quick research on comparative internet stats.

We will also keep abreast of the election--anything that anyone follows or finds that we should talk about related to the campaigns would be great. For example, are there ways we can analyze the intersection of television and You Tube via the Tina Fey performances? What about via campaign ads? Mock ads?

Week after next: we'll start Gamer Theory, reading 3 chapters for each class. Start thinking what might be fun, hands-on ways to work with the text and its argument.