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My research deals mostly with fact, as opposed to definition. It heavily incorporates statistical data from multiple sources to create an outline of where people read most of their news media. Because both of my sources are both simple statistical analysis of data they are arguments of fact. My source from Pew Research is a survey conducted by the Pew Internet Research Group; they surveyed 3,000 Americans of different backgrounds to understand where most people get their news media. I have another source, The Nielson Research Group, who also did a survey of Americans to discover where people are getting their news. Because their surveys are laid out in simple data-based forms they are arguments of fact. My research is based primarily upon these two sources, it is also data-based, and therefore an argument of fact. My research does not try to define news media, nor what it should encompass, it simply lays out the facts of where people read news and why.

Core I

As a student of Computer Science as well as a working programming intern, it is important that I know my way around the digital world. Not only do I have to know how to work most technologies for school, it is also important that I learn them for work. Because it is so important for me to know these technologies, I work very hard to learn as much as I can about multiple digital platforms and technology. I am fluent with Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Java Programming, PHP Programming, C Programming, HTML, CSS, Linux, The Google suite of applications, as well as the large amount of Internet browsers on the market. More than knowing technologies, it is also important that I have the ability to learn new platforms quickly. I should be able to sit down with a new technology and figure out how it works faster than an average user. I know quite a bit more about technology than an average user and because of my job, I’m usually able to learn more quickly, but I am very far from being an expert in any field.

I do hope that I learn more in the future. At my current job, I learn new digital technologies every day. The biggest platform I have learned since beginning at my new job is the open-source operating system Linux. Linux, for me, was basically sink or swim. Because I was using it every day, I had to learn Linux extremely quickly. The first day on the job I was seated at a Linux terminal with no previous experience. I had to learn how the interface and commands differed from my usual Windows environment; this approach especially helped me learn through hands-on experience. I think that this can apply to everyone attempting to learn a new technology, diving right in, and practicing it as much as you can.

I’d like to learn more web-development techniques, as that is where I would like to find a career; developing web applications either independently or for a company. To do this I need to learn more server-side languages like PHP and JSP. HTML, CSS, and Javascript are also important tools of the web developer. Apart from learning more about web development, general knowledge of hardware is important for any computer user. The ability to fix your computer should something go wrong could save you time, money, and frustration in the future. Simply knowing how components interact with each other helps immensely.

Every day I learn something new, I spend at least a few minutes of every day trying to understand something about technology or the digital world. Social networking, Operating Systems, programming languages, it doesn’t matter. Each day I give a conscious effort to acquire more digital knowledge. In this way, I increase my digital literacy.

Technology is increasing at an impressive rate, Gordon Moore, the founder of Intel, stated in 1965 that the number of transistors on a computer chip will double every two years. His statement has so far been proven correct, and is now known as Moore’s Law.



The industry uses Moore’s law as a guideline for the development process of new hardware. Soon however, Moore’s law will not be sustainable, as we are fast approaching transistors of atomic size; it will not be possible to make them any smaller.

The computer is a huge part of my life; I use multiple computers every day at home, at school, and at work. I love using computers and overcoming the challenges they sometimes provide. I attended a high school specializing in Information Technology; having access to the computers there has certainly shaped who I am today. I’m able to do the things I can with technology because of what I learned at my high school. I became interested in computers sometime around the eighth grade and have loved them ever since. I learn everything I can about digital technology, especially computer science. Technology runs everything today, from creating film to ordering food at a restaurant. Technology and Computers have changed the way things are done.

Scholarly Article "Audience Awareness" Paragraph

Duane H. Roen and R. J. Willey, the authors of the text, “The Effects of Audience Awareness on Drafting and Revising” make the claim that audience awareness improves the overall quality of early drafts and revisions. Roen and Willey support this claim through the use of tests conducted at the University of Arizona. The tests eventually showed that: “early drafts that were judged moderately but nonsignificantly higher in overall quality than early drafts produced by students who were not asked to focus attention on audience as they drafted” (Roen, 77). Meaning that there was a small, but noticeable difference in quality between those who were “audience aware” and those who were not.



Duane H. Roen and R. J. Willey Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Feb., 1988), pp. 75-88

Core I Part II

Because I plan to work primarily writing software, I will be using computers a lot in the future. I have had the unusual privilege of working as an intern for a software company. I can use this knowledge and experience to understand what kind of work happens at companies that create software and manage IT. In the future I will be using a mix of platforms, ranging from Linux to Windows, to Mac OS X. I'll be using software such as NetBeans or some other IDE to write code. Java, PHP, C++, Javascript, JSP, and C are all important languages I'll be using in the future. I hope to eventually go into web design, PHP, Javascript and HTML will all be important then. I will will need to learn how version control works, as well as understand the mechanics behind it. I'm very excited to begin learning all of this, and I hope that I enjoy it as much as I think I will.

Core I, Part I

As a Computer Science major and a working programming intern, I can hold claim to vast amounts of working digital knowledge. I could tell you how to burn an OS to a dvd, how to format a Hard Drive, what a good deal on a processor is, and the pros and cons of both 32 and 64 bit operating systems. Although I don't know nearly as much as most working professionals, my repository of knowledge increases with each day. One of the primary reasons for knowing what I do is simply my interest in the subject matter. This interest and curiosity drives me to consume and learn all matter of knowledge relating to computers. I learn a new programming or web design technique which I may never use or need simply because the process interests me.

I'm always looking for more to learn. Right now I'm wading through standard computer programming algorithms, and proper Object-Oriented programming models. Using AJAX to build asynchronous web pages is extremely interesting and will help me in the future. Proper database structures and schema help me in the work environment. I spend a lot of time on my computer doing everything from video games to developing web applications. I know more about computers than the average user, I would definitely consider myself "digitally literate".

Digital Literacy: A Conceptual Framework

The article I read was published in the year 2004. Six years may not seem like a lot of time; but in the digital world, it might as well be six decades. However, because the article doesn't refer to specific technologies, it still applies to the digital world we see today. Eshet-Alkalai defines and examines the term digital literacy within his article, and explains what digital literacy really means. To him, digital literacy is not simply the ability to use a computer, but a mixture of four distinct literacy skills. In this case, Eshet-Alkalai speaks to an audience of digital users and researchers and hopes to re-work the phrase digital literacy to something which suites it better. He believes that a re-structuring of the phrase will allow people to better communicate with, and understand technology.