Why I Chose This Report

I chose Kristy's report because I really like the simple format and the eye-catching graphics that she uses in her web site.  I had randomly chosen to look at her report first, and I guess that it made an impression on me because I decided to use her report even after viewing all of the other G6ers web sites.  Kristy really did a lot of work for her first report, not only was the topic interesting ("Portrayals of Driving Behavior on T.V."), but it was informative as well.

Another reason why I chose Kristy's report was because of the angle she took on the issue of how television influences our driving behaviors and our lives.  Kristy was very sensitive to the fact that children are extremely susceptible to the messages that the media sends out.  It's probably because of my maternal instinct that I feel passionately about things that could adversely affect my son as well as other children.

My Summary of This Report

Kristy opens her report by stating that television plays a major role in people's lives.  She mentions that it consumes almost one-third to one-fourth of our day.  She also claims that it offers us role models that we can identify with, fantasize about, or imitate.  Kristy concludes her introduction with the argument that "driving behaviors are frequently portrayed on television and these behaviors are usually negative."

Next Kristy reviews some of the different types of television productions that display negative driving behaviors.  These include: cartoons, commercials, music videos, television series, and movies.  Kristy claimed that the wide range of types of productions displaying negative driving behaviors resulted in a large and diverse group of people exposed to negative driving behaviors on t.v.  She described her research finding examples for each category over a 2 day period.

Kristy concludes her report arguing that negative driving behaviors are so common in the television programs we watch that we don't even notice them, or single the phenomenon out as "bad" or "wrong" or "out-of-place."  She believes that this is the most important evidence that this problem exists in it's most dangerous form...when it becomes so ingrained in our everyday lives that we fail to see it as a problem.

My Reaction to This Report

I really enjoyed reading Kristy's report.  The layout of the web page is easy to follow, the text itself is entertaining and informative, and the strategy she uses to support her argument is effective.  The only problems that I had with the format of Kristy's report was with the endless pages of text.  I had to scroll down many screens without relief for my eyes.  For some reason, however, this did not hinder my reading as much as other web pages with this same characteristic.

On the whole, Kristy's report was very well organized.  She took special precautions to cover every point that she argued, using specific examples from the various types of television programs.  Let's just say that if I were to give Kristy a grade for her report it would be an "A."  If I were to give her a grade for her web page design, it would be a "B."

Comparison of This Report to Others in G6
 
As I stated before, I decided to use Kristy's report even after viewing all of the other G6ers web sites.  I guess I was impressed to some extent, by all the different web pages, but in the end, I felt that Kristy's report was the best written, the most organized, and the most attractive of all that I had reviewed in her generation.

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I chose someone from G2 because I felt that I could learn a lot from students in the early days of  psychology 409 and 459.  I gain a lot of insight from being able to see how  far we've come since Denise's time, in terms of use of graphics, use of color, and our understanding of cyberpsychology and traffic psychology.  I chose Denise's report because she had taken the course before, so the report was more a reflection of how much she knew about creating web pages rather than how much she didn't know.

My Summary of This Report

Denise titled her report "Traffic Psychology on the Internet".  She broke down her report into different sections (ie. tailgaiting, convoys, speeding, etc.) under which she defined each term and discussed what information she found on the internet regarding each occurance.  Denise included the results of some research done in the area of the psychology of speeding.  She also covered some comments made by people in newsgroups dealing with the different topics she covers.  For the most part, Denise's report was objective, filled mainly with tidbits of information that she found while surfing the net.  One of the most interesting comments that she made, however, was at the end of her report, where she states:

My Reaction to This Report

The reason I chose Denise's report as one of my 4 favorites was because I wanted to choose a report from one of the earlier generations to compare and contrast the progress that 409 and 459 classes have made from the early days of cyberpsychology and traffic psychology.  Out of all her fellow G2ers, I liked Denise's report the most.  Compared to the reports of following generations, however, Denise's report seems somewhat crude and archaic.  I don't think that this was due to a lack of knowledge and skills on her part (on how to create a web page), because she was a repeater of the course.  I believe that this was mainly due to the fact that little was known by everyone on how to create web pages, and that probably during her time, the www lacked the complexity and sophistication that it has today, offering her little opportunities to improve her web site.

I do feel, however, that we can learn a lot from the work of the earlier generations.  Denise's report in particular, provides us with an excellent example of the importance of breaking down a web page into subsections.  She did not use icons, like many of her newer 409 and 459 counterparts used, to separate long segments of text.  Instead, she had to use some ingenuity and creativity to make her report legible to web users.

Comparison of This Report to Others in G2
 
Most of the reports in G2 were somewhat plain and uninteresting to look at.  The main reason I chose Denise's report was because her report was easy to read on the computer screen.  It is very important to me (if you haven't noticed already) to be able to read a computer screen easily.  One of my biggest pet-peeves is losing my place or reading a sentence over many times.  Denise's use of sub-sections and spacing helped me read her web page with relative ease, and that's why I liked her report the most.

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Why I Chose This Report
 
Leigh was a student in the psychology 408 class that I taught.  She was the person who told me all about this course and encouraged me to take the class.  Leigh's report was one of about 6 reports that I actually read in generation 5.  I've always liked Leigh's quick wit and sarcasm and I guess that's why I wanted to use her report as one of my favorites.  The main reason that I chose Leigh's report was that she covered the issue of the mind vs. the brain.  I really liked the distinctions she drew between the two and I hope that it's helpful the next time that I argue with my boyfriend, who always tells me that I make things too complicated because abstract things do not really exist if they have no physical form!
 
My Summary of This Report

In Leigh's "Cyberspace and Mind: Identifying Some Characteristics of Virtual Reality" she identifies and defines some of the key components of cyberpsychology.  Leigh discusses the increasing popularity in communicating using computers as a medium.  She covers the subject of virtual reality and illustrates it's relationship with and it's similarity to the human mind.  This is where she makes the distinction between the mind and the brain.  She claims that "both the mind and virtual reality are beings with no [physical] form."  She goes on to say that the mind uses the brain just as virtual reality uses computers to "express itself."

Leigh continues with a discussion of some of the characteristics of cyberpsychology that she found interesting.  She reported on topics such as the use of pseudonames and connected this to the feeling of freedom that people experience in opening up to others (ie. "coming out of their shell" as she called it).  She also wrote about how those communicating through their computers cannot be biased or prejudiced against anyone else because there is "no physical being to base their opinions on".  She states that this way people must just rely on what is said in the typed conversations.

Leigh then illustrates how cyberspace and spirituality are interlinked.  She claims that surfing the web is a true test to a person's character.  Each link that a person chooses to click on makes a statement about that person---their morale system, their beliefs, and their personality.  The choices that we make while surfing the web are in many ways synonymous with the choices we make in "real life."

The last topic of interest that Leigh wrote about was that of "acquiring cyberspace citizenship."  She wrote that knowing "how to use the internet an all of it's accessories is going to be considered common knowledge" in the near future.  She compared her present situation (in psychology 409) with that of her parents time and discusses how although technophobia exists at this time, that it will probably become an obsolete concept in later generations.
 
My Reaction to This Report

I felt that Leigh's web page was somewhat "basic"---just like those of Denise's time.  She did not put any images on her page, she used rather large font, and she underlined the text on almost an entire page.  The only thing that I liked about the way the page looked was her color scheme for the font and the background.  The colors she chose to use made reading not only easier, but also a whole lot more desireable.  I also enjoyed reading her report (just as I had always looked forward to reading anything that Leigh wrote).  I especially liked the part where Leigh said:

I think that these 2 sentences were what captured my interest the most and was one of the major deciding factors in selecting Leigh's report as one of my 4 favorites.
 
Comparison of This Report to Others in G5
 
Leigh's report was not as well done as some of her fellow G5ers.  She didn't bother to use icons, or to have links,  or to do anything "special" to dress up her web page.  In fact, her page was somewhat plain, like Denise's, but with more colors.  I like Leigh's report mainly because of it's content.  I guess to some extent the saying, "never judge a book by it's cover" would apply with her web page, because as plain as her report looks, it's filled with a wealth of information.

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My Selection Number 4
Dana Rho - PSY 409 - G7 - Report 2
 
Why I Chose This Report

    I chose Dana Rho's "Acquiring Cyberspace Citizenship: Climbing from Culture Shock into Assimilation" because it was hilarious!  I also liked it because I could totally relate to the experiences she described when taking this class.  For someone who was a "newbie", she sure did a good job on her home page.  I liked a lot of the web sites created by the G7ers.  I especially liked Ann Huynh's web site.  In the end, however, I chose to write about Dana's report because it was well written, easy to read, and I enjoyed it tremendously!

My Summary of This Report

In Dana's second report, she described her progress in psychology 409, from the beginning of the semester up until report 2's completion.  She called it "becoming a seasoned traveler" in her efforts to obtain a "passport".  She wrote about her adventures learning about the web and including some of her ratings about her feelings on 409's classwork.  She described how she felt helpless when she could not upload and download files, and how the Cyberspace Technophobia Therapy Group came about to help her and her classmates get through any negative feelings.

Dana went on to describe how all the hard work and frustration eventually paid off when she was able to see her work published on the web for the first time.  After that she felt more positive about the work that she did for her class.  Dana shared Leigh's belief that cyberspace is a place where we can "communicate with people from all over the world as equals---no colors or socio-economic factors to bind us."  She began to see all of the opportunities that the net has to offer, giving us "a world of information at a click of a button."

Finally, Dana claimed that:

She included some statements made by 4 other 459/409ers that experienced some of the emotions that she did, and their solutions on how to "adjust, adapt, and cope" to the new situation that a foreign land, namely cyberspace, presents.

Dana concluded her report with some suggestions for future generations.  She wrote that talking about our frustrations with our classmates will help to relieve them somewhat.  She advised us to close our eyes and take deep breaths when it seems like the "walls of cyberspace" are closing in on us.  Lastly, she warned us that it takes a lot of time to become a cyberspace citizen and told us to be patient and take things a step at a time.
 
My Reaction to This Report

Out of all the web sites that I looked at, and of all the reports that I read, I think that I liked Dana's 2nd report the best.  She wrote very candidly and honestly, and I was immediately drawn to her open and "down-to-earth" (or in this case "down-to-cyberspace") style of writing.  I also appreciated the way she broke down long segments of texts with flowers or squiggly lines.  This made reading the computer screen easier on my eyes.  I could relate well to her experiences of not being able to meet the project deadlines on time, feeling ecstasy with the occassional breakthrough, and learning to take risks.  All-in-all, Dana's web page is the result of combining a well thought-out report with a well planned-out design.
 
Comparison of This Report to Others in G7
 
G7 ROCKED!!  I loved most of the web pages produced by G7.  I especially liked Anne Huynh's homepage.  I chose Dana's over Anne's, however, because of her writing style.  It was very entertaining...I laughed, I cried, I RELATED.  How I wish she were around now to help me LOAD MY ICONS ;-).

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Compared to other G10er's...

I'm not quite sure how much computer background my fellow G10 students have.  I think that a majority of my classmates were newbies like me, but their web pages looked so good!  I couldn't believe some of talent that's come out of G10!  It took me almost one month to finally publish this report and it still doesn't look as good as some of the other stuff that's come outta G10!  We still have about half-way to go till the end of the semester, so we'll see what new and exciting things are created over that period of time.  Hang in there guys!!

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Suggestions for G11 and Beyond

Words of wisdom from the unwise...

1)    Invest ample TIME in this class, or you won't make the deadlines!

2)    In the words of computer guru Dana Rho, "frustration is inevitable when we begin to acquire new skills."  It's how we deal with the frustration that determines our success in this class and in life.

3)    Ask classmates for help.

4)    Don't only focus on deadlines.  Try to fully understand and enjoy what you are doing.  It will make what you learn all the more worthwhile!

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