5 Ways to Write Better

Howard Rheingold's Net Smart outlines 5 fundamental literacies for maximizing the Internet as a participatory learning environment. Each of these literacies--attention management, crap detection, participation power, collective intelligence, and network awareness--will help us become better online researchers. Rheingold's book, however, does not directly address the other major concern featured in this course's title: writing.

In order to supplement Rheingold's 5 digital literacies, throughout the semester we'll also discuss and practice 5 ways to write better:

1. Read like a writer. (collect take-away points and passages to ponder)
2. Pre-write for conceptual development and organization. (big picture issues)
3. Revise for clarity, concision, and style. (sentence-level issues)
4. Solicit specific feedback on your writing--and learn from it.
5. Write on a regular basis.

Blog Project Ideas

As I mentioned at the end of class on Wednesday, I'd like you to share the topic(s) you're considering for the blog project. Just describe your interests in a sentence or two, and take a look at everyone's ideas to see if you may be able to form a group based around a shared topic. Click on the title of this post, then share your ideas as a comment underneath it.

Resources for Web Searching: Techniques & Technologies

GOOGLE SEARCH TECHNIQUES

Google a Day Puzzles

How Search Works (video)

Advanced Techniques

Image Search

Google Tips & Tricks

Google Scholar

ALTERNATIVE SEARCH ENGINES

Bottlenose

Spezify

MillionShort

Internet Archive

Wayback Machine

FILTERS AND BUFFERS