REHUGO - Current Events (Samira Haikal)

Samira Haikal



Mr. Soeth


AP English Lang/Comp


17 February 2011

REHUGO Analysis - Current Event: Opposing Views

A. Articles:


a. “The Internet Can Increase Learning” by Steve O’Hear


b. “The Internet Can Disrupt Learning” by Tim Lougheed


B. MLA Source Citations:


a. "The Internet Can Increase Learning." Has Technology Increased Learning? Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.


b. "The Internet Can Disrupt Learning." Has Technology Increased Learning? Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.


C. Arguments:


a. Steve O’Hear argues that the Internet can be used as a valuable tool in education.


b. Tim Loughleed, on the other hand, argues that even though the Internet can be useful in education if used wisely, it mainly serves as a distraction in the classroom.


D. Evidence:


a. (1) Logos - O’Hear utilizes logos when he says, “Podcasting has become a popular technology in education, in part because it provides a way of pushing educational content to learners. For example, Stanford University has teamed up with Apple to create the Stanford iTunes University—which provides a range of digital content (some closed and some publicly accessible) that students can subscribe to using Apple's iTunes software” (paragraph 10). O’Hear begins to explain the context and meaning of the evidence to be used, then brings out the example of collegiate Internet-education collaboration for maximum effect. Clearly, the evidence is convincing because of the conclusion the audience can make between a prestigious university, who can proudly say its alumni are among the most successful people in the world, and the Internet as a tool that aided alumni in their education. This evidence also appeals to the emotions of the readers by appealing to the human will and desire to succeed; the audience yearns to be successful, and what other means are more convincing than telling the audience that the most successful people in the world use the Internet to facilitate their education? Even more so, O’Hear incorporates credibility in the same excerpt because, again, a well-known university that excels in academics using the Internet in its studies is a perfect reason to use the Internet as a catalyst for learning.


(2) Pathos - A powerful piece of evidence that O’Hear brings to the table is: “Edu-blogging pioneer Will Richardson (author of a book entitled Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms) used the blog software Manila to enable his English literature students to publish a readers guide to the book The Secret Life of Bees. / Richardson asked the book's author, Sue Monk Kidd, if she would participate by answering questions and commenting on what the students had written—to which she agreed. The result was a truly democratic learning space.” This strong example, through its metaphoric diction and expert-derived evidence, creates an allusive connection to democracy, which ultimately appeals to the readers’ feelings. Beside establishing the fact that Richardson is a credible author on the subject, this quote represents the uniting power of blogging that sets a foundation for Internet “democracy.” The students were able to easily connect with a busy, world-renowned author through something as simple as blogging, which allowed everyone to have a “democratic” chance to speak to the author.


b. (1) Logos - Simple reasoning may be all it takes for Lougheed to make his point about Internet being a distraction in the classroom. When he says, “During lectures, discussions, or class presentations, students using laptops may be distracted by surfing on the Internet or instant messaging with classmates or friends, leaving instructors and presenters to compete for students' attention,” he introduces an already satisfactory hypothetical situation, yet extends it further with factual evidence: “Ms. Thakoor discovered that the presence of computers also carried some unintended consequences. The instructor had to compete for students' attention as they e-mailed messages to one another or surfed the Web. After repeatedly asking them to look his way, he ordered everyone to turn their chairs away from their monitors. ‘It took at lot of prying.’ says Ms. Thakoor. ‘They were so hesitant to leave their terminals.’” Lougheed’s structural strategy proves to be the best way to introduce this type of information -- contextual then factual. Lougheed masterfully introduced his point, introduced an expert, then connected the point to a real-life example, creating the perfect evidence to support his claim.


(2) Pathos - “‘Other students were at their terminals and they had open chat lines,’ [McMaster University sociology professor Carl Cuneo, director of the Network for the Evaluation of Education and Training Technologies] says. ‘During the presentations the other students were chatting with one another, making snide remarks about the student doing the presentation. They were also engaged in all kinds of other socializing and surfing the Net. This had nothing to do with the presentation. This clearly was an inappropriate atmosphere.’” When presenting a quote that deals with “snide remarks,” Lougheed internalizes the situation into his readers. The readers can personally connect to being made fun of, making Lougheed’s skillful inclusion of this particular quote an enhancement to his argument. The audience’s credulity is effortlessly increased when Loughleed introduces a quote from a sociology professor who specializes in studying the Internet’s role in education. Additionally, Loughleed continues to extend his specific and potent point of the Internet being a distraction in the classroom, expanding on simple reasoning.


E. Rhetorical Strategies:


a. (1) Division - O’Hear consistently elaborates on several educational aspects of the Internet, including, but not limited to, podcasts, blogging and social media websites. One of the more elaborate functions O’Hear defines is Flickr, a photo-sharing website. He lists the beneficial aspects of Flickr: “images for use in presentations, learning materials or coursework,” “And like blogging, the commenting function... for critical feedback,” and “ability to add hot-spot annotations” to argue for media-sharing sites and to prove their educational potential. He even provides a counterargument, “Many of the images uploaded to Flickr carry a Creative Commons license, making them particularly suitable for educational use,” which supports his claims even further. Critical use of comparison (“And like blogging...”) to unify the classification and division increases the effectiveness of the Flickr example. O’Hear divides Flickr into its parts in order to highlight its positive aspects, which supports his argument of Flickr being beneficial to education.


(2) Exemplification - “Apple is heavily marketing its iPod and associated content creation tools (iMovie, GarageBand, and iTunes) to the education sector. The podcasting section of iTunes even has a category dedicated to education.” In addition to the examples previously mentioned that O’Hear used in his argument, this example of a huge corporation like Apple realizing the market for education on the Internet further supports O’Hear’s point. O’Hear continues to use other examples such as an art teacher using Flickr to discuss and analyze paintings with her class, teachers using YouTube to present student media and provide for commenting and discussion, and teachers using blogging to easily facilitate a class discussion on a novel.


b. (1) Global Connection - “This technically complicated response may not yet have been deemed necessary on Canadian campuses, but instructor complaints can be heard there, too.” Saying that instructors are complaining in Canada, too, shows that the problem of Internet distraction in classrooms extends beyond the United States, indicating how serious the issue has become. Lougheed finished off this point by introducing a real life example from Canadian sociology professor Carl Cuneo, who was discussed earlier.


(2) Counter-Argument - The most recent innovations associated with the computer have presented [Dr. Tugwell] with many new opportunities as well as some new problems. On the one hand, he is not above treating students to a little Dire Straits or Pink Floyd before class starts, played through his laptop over the high-quality speakers that have been installed in many Acadia lecture halls. By the same token, he now has to cope with inadvertent disruptions such as the one caused by a student's Pamela Anderson screen saver.” Lougheed skillfully counters anticipated arguments from potential arguers by at first addressing the positive aspect of Internet in classrooms, music to stimulate the brain, then by weakening the optimistic outlook with the “disruption...caused by a student’s Pamela Anderson screen saver.”


F. Position:


Even though the Internet can clearly be a distraction in the classroom, when students are trained properly with Internet etiquette and respect to their classmates and instructor, the Internet proves to be a powerful source of meaningful education. Because of my own experiences, including my observation of an MIT computer science class performing other tasks on their laptops while the professor was giving a lecture on MIT Open Courseware, my observation of students in my Graphic Arts class clicking away while Ms. Klo was explaining terms of a project, and my observation of students in my Yearbook class shopping online while we were supposed be working on pages, I have to admit that the Internet can be a harmful distraction in the classroom. However, I have also experienced online study groups, analytical discussions of literature and history, and online study materials, which make up for most of the education loss with distractions. In conclusion, if students are formally told and trained how to use the Internet beneficially in class as a valuable educational tool, the resources offered by the Internet can be the best resource for learning.