My 4 Favorites from the Online Generational Curriculum:
Driving along the Internet Superhighway

Susan Chon, (G8/409a), My 4 Favorites from the Online Generational Curriculum

Table of Contents

My Selection Number 1

Why I Chose this Report

I decided to choose Kendra Morgan's (459, G7) report 2 entitled "Children's Self-Witnessing Report as Road Users" as one of my Favorites. The title of her report entrigued me because I love working with children and anything that deals with children interests me. I am also unfamiliar with "Self-Witnessing" and wanted to learn more about it. Lastly, I have a strong tendency to get angry on the road while driving and especially in heavy traffic so I thought that this report would do me some good.

The Steps that Led to this Report

This whole process of searching took about 30-40 minutes. I looked briefly throughout all the reports for Ms. Morgan's generation (G7) in Psychology 459. I also decided to check out all the other generations of Psy 459. Although there were so many that interested me such as Ayada Azeez's report 1 entitled "Portrayals of Driving Behavior on TV", I enjoyed Ms. Morgan's report the most due to the presentation of her report. Her explanantion of things was also good. I understood what she was trying to say and it did not confuse me nor did it bore me, which was a plus in deciding which 4 reports would be labeled as my favorites.

My Summary of this Report

This report by Ms. Morgan deals with the issue of "Self-Witnessing", a technique in which drivers can regulate their feelings and emotions while driving. She states that using a tape recorder, which records what you are saying while driving, is one way to utilize this technique. She also goes on to mention briefly about Dr. Leon James' three step plan to become a better driver. The steps involved in this plan are to Acknowledge, Witness and Modify. Ms. Morgan also includes her personal encounter with Self-Witnessing. She recorded herself in her car while driving and concluded that self-witnessing allowed her to examine her feelings and thoughts while driving as well as her overall attitudes about herself and other drivers on the road. The most interesting part of this report was probably the mention of the perceptions of a 5 year old girl, a passenger in the backseat of a car.

My Reaction and Involvement with this Report

I really enjoyed reading about Ms. Morgan's self-witnessing experience and her experiment with 5 year old Kim. I think I could have done something similiar to what Ms. Morgan has done because I, too, would like to find out what kind of attitudes I posses while driving. I would also like to experiment with one of my neices or cousins to find out if his or her perceptions as a backseat passenger would be similar to that of Kim's. Ms. Morgan's presentation of her report was very simple and to-the-point. She did not bother writing about non-pertinent things and stuck with the issue(s) at hand, which kept my full attention. I am sure that if her report had been longer and "wordy", I don't think I would find it as interesting as it is.

My Comparisons

I took a look at all the other reports in the Psy 459 Generations and found that Ms. Morgan's report was not very extravagant or filled with a multitude of colors. Instead, she kept it basic, yet informative enough and direct. I found this very favorable because I did not want to fuss with overly informative reports, which sometimes can be a hassle.

My Selection Number 2

Why I Chose this Report

Shane Cobb-Adams of G6, Psy 459, did a report on "The Generational Curriculum and Cyberspace." I chose to mention this report because it is an excellent introduction into the world of Cyberspace. I was drawn to this particular report because I am quite new to this Internet/Cyberspace world. I figured that this report would enlighten, as well as educate me in this area that I lack in, but long to learn about.

The Steps that Led to this Report

I checked out a few of the Psy 459 reports in the Generations and came across this one. It did not take me long to realize that I wanted to highlight this one because it contained information that I was looking for and it was neat. Prior to choosing this one, I spent about 3 minutes on each potential report, just trying to get acquainted with it and decide if it was something that captivated me. The total time that I spent on this was about 15 minutes.

My Summary of this Report

Mr. Cobb-Adams does an outstanding job at explaining this concept of Cyberspace. He states that each portion or part which contributes to creating this world of Cyberspace is called a Cyber-Community. Cyberspace is very different from our physical being; it is more of a conscious state of mind dwelling. Mr. Cobb-Adams also incorporates his personal view of Cyberspace and his own existence in this world.

My Reaction and Involvement with this Report

After reading this report, I can honestly say that I now possess some type of insight when dealing with this whole issue of Cyberspace (and our existence within it). I know that prior to reading Mr. Cobb-Adams' report, I probably would not have been able to write much on this topic nor would I even know where to begin to form my own views or opinions on this topic. It seems to me that Mr. Cobb-Adams possesses a mind of great cognition; he is able to think about this world of Cyberspace so illustratively. One issue that particularly interested me is that of Cyber-presence. Personally, after reading this report and thinking about this issue, I feel that we, as "Cyber-presences", being unable to physically interact with one another in Cyberspace (i.e., Hugging, touching), must "believe what we see." If I were to go to a complete stranger's homepage and spend some time there acquainting myself with what he or she has offered, I would probably believe whatever it is that he or she stated in that homepage, but never knowing if it was truly real or not.

My Comparisons

I did a comparison of all the other reports in this Generation and in the course and must mention that I enjoyed Mr. Cobb-Adams' presentation of this report; his page was nicely created and I liked his icons. Although there were many others that I enjoyed, this particular report was most interesting because of the appearance, as well as the content.

My Selection Number 3

Why I Chose this Report

Scott Chang, a member of G5, Psy409b, did a report entitled "Social Psychology of Web Architecture: The Awesome Experiences of Web Architecture." I chose to include this in my list of favorites because first and foremost, the title said it all. It cast a somewhat hopeful aura around me because I am struggling a bit at this whole process of Webpage creation. I saw this report and immediately wanted to read it so that I could possibly manage to steal some tips or secrets concerning Webpages and the maintanence of them.

The Steps that Led to this Report

I had just looked at about 2 or 3 reports in detail in this generation prior to stumbling across this one. I spent about 2 minutes on each report, totaling about 6 minutes browsing around and deciding that I was not very interested in these reports. I then decided to skim down a list of all the titles for reports in Mr. Chang's generation (G5) and decided to click on his because as I stated earlier, his title interested me the most. This whole process of choosing Mr. Chang's report took me about 8-10 minutes.

My Summary of this Report

This report deals with Mr. Chang's embarkment on the world of Web designing. He includes a section which talks about Jeffrey Glover, Web extrordinnaire. Mr. Glover even has his own "Top Ten Comments" as well as lists entitled "The Sucky List" and "The Savvy List". Mr. Chang also includes some of Dr. Leon James' "Psychological aspects to Web design". He mentions 3 of Dr. James' sections: "Home Pages are Loved", "Psychological Characteristics of Hypertext Links", and "Informational Content of Homepages". These were very informative. Finally, Mr. Chang includes his own personal experience with Web designing and his life on the Web.

My Reaction and Involvement with this Report

I found many interesting things in this report. I especially enjoyed reading and learning about Dr. James' Psychological aspects to Web design and his steps because it somewhat gave me a sense of where Dr. James is coming from. It was good to see Mr. Chang's point of view in all of this. I no longer feel like I am drifting alone in the world of Cyberspace. Instead, I have some type of direction in this Web creation after reading this report. I also enjoyed reading about Mr. Chang's personal adventures of creating his Web page and living his "life on the Web". His advice and tips are much appreciated and I willmake sure to take into consideration what he has thoughtfully passed on to me and everyone else in the upcoming Generations.

My Comparisons

Comparing Mr. Chang's page to the others in his Generation and course, I have found that his page is not only neat in appearance, but also it was a pleasure to read. I did not lose interest in any part of it, nor did my attention span weaken. I really enjoyed his opinions and the inclusion of his experience with Web design.

My Selection Number 4

Why I Chose this Report

G7, Psy 409a member Ann Huynh did a report on "Identifying Attitudes Through Newsgroups Messages: Cruising in Newsgroups." I chose this because I just recently acquired an interest in Newsgroups. My boyfriend would sometimes bring the issue of newsgroups up, but I would never know exactly what it was that he was talking about. I really liked Ms. Huynh's whole presentation of her report and the way it gave me an introduction into the world of newsgroups and the functions of newsgroups.

The Steps that Led to this Report

Before deciding that this was the last report I wanted to cover, I took a look at about 6 or 7 other reports, mostly concerning Newsgroups. I spent about 3 minutes on each report, totaling about 20 minutes or so on this process of choosing one. One particular report being Ms. Dana Rho's report 1 entitled, "Identifying Attitudes Through Newsgroups Messages: A Lurker's Perspective." Knowing that a report about Newsgroups was what I had in mind, I was set to search for one report that would "tickle-my-fancy" or grasp my attention. It was a tough decision to choose between Ms. Rho's report and Ms. Huynh's report (both, also having received "Spcecial Awards" merit). But, finally after 5 minutes in comparing the two, I decided to use Ms. Huynh's report.

My Summary of this Report

Ms. Huynh goes over what Newsgroups are about in detail and intertwines her own opinions throughout all of this. She also goes into explaining various attitudes of the people who participate in Newsgroups. Some of these attitudes include: "Flaming Attitude", "Annoying Attitude", "Hostility Attitude", "Good Judgement Attitude", "Sympathy Attitude", "Unemotional Attitude", "Angry Attitude", and "Revenge Attitude". Ms. Huynh mentions also about Driving Attitudes, according to Dr. Leon James.

My Reaction and Involvement with this Report

I now have a better sense of what Newsgroups are all about after reading this. I have yet to participate in a Newsgroup, and when I do, I am sure it will be quite an experience. It was somewhat amusing to read about the different attitudes because I never knew that such existed! From what I have read through Ms. Huynh, I am grateful for the "preparation" she has given me when encountering Newsgroups and the attitudes involved.

My Comparisons

After comparing Ms. Huynh's report to the others in her Generation and course, I have realized that her page is very attractive. She has a nice icon of some cars at the top and her colors on the page blend well together. It has a look like that of something "modern", probably due to its exclusive black background and sections of bright green font. I guess you could look at it this way: the colors on her page are assorted, comparable to the attitudes involved with Newsgroups.

My Opinions of my Classmates

(a) I think I did as much as my classmates have done. All of them have done a great job with their reports and I put just as much time and effort into completing this assignment. (b) I tried to look at things subjectively as well as objectively. I liked the idea that we could choose whatever reports we wanted to because everyone is different and we all have our own tastes of what we enjoy and dislike. Keeping all of that in mind, I just tried to answer the questions as best as possible. (c) My report isn't as nice as some of my classmates', but I worked hard at writing how I felt and getting exactly what I wanted to get across. I know that if I add some pictures or try to be creative in my colors, I could get a better picture across to my audience. For now, I'm happy with my work and I know that there is a lot of room for improvement.

My Suggestions for Future Generations

First off, I would like to say that you have to be prepared to put in a lot of time outside of class to work on the assignments and reports. This is not just something that you can do overnight; instead, this is a project that evolves throughout the semester. Also, keep in mind that if you lag and fail to do an assignment on time, this could jeopordize the flow of your work throughout the semester. Finally, try to keep an optimistic attitude, have fun as much as possible, and most of all, if you don't know, ask! =)


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