Assignment 1 Process Assignment: Media Diary

Assignment one is going to ask you to think deeply about how you engage with digital technologies. In order to do it, you will need to be very aware of how you interact with media––something that we rarely think about. This assignment will force you to be aware.

Choose an ordinary day when you don’t have anything too stressful going on. This assignment shouldn’t take you a long time, but you will have to pick it up frequently.

From morning until night, record all your interactions with media. Media means pretty much everything other than direct interactions with people and objects. 

– everything you read (other than road signs and the like)
– everything you write (from text messages to essays for class)
– everything you watch
– everything you listen to
– everything you play.

For each entry, include the device or platform on which you accessed the media. Eg, if you watched a film, did you watch it on a TV? On your computer? If you accessed Facebook, did you do it on a web browser like Firefox or Chrome? Or did you use your phone? Your tablet? If you read something, did you read it in a book, a newspaper, online? On a computer, a tablet, your phone? Were you on Twitter? How did you access it?

You do not need to include any information about the content of the media you participate in or consume (eg: “late evening: read some online fiction on my iPad” rather than “late evening: read some excellent erotic Twilight fan fiction”). Remember that you will be sharing these both with me and with your classmates in workshop.

Do not just make this up –– it won’t useful to you if you do. You should actually note what you do with your time, even if you end up writing “went on Facebook twelve times during what was supposed to be a study session.” No judgment, honest

Due: Friday, January 23. 
You must bring a hardcopy to class and email me a copy (.doc, .docx, or .pages format)