English 411

First Post: Getting Things Started

Welcome to the English 411 class website! As you can see, the site is still “under construction,” but most of the components are now in place. I have uploaded the policy document, reading list, and assignment descriptions, and the calendar (with your discussion dates listed) will be added soon.

Most importantly, your Delicious bookmarks are now being aggregated on the site’s homepage. All you need to do to add a link to the homepage is bookmark the site in your Delicious account and tag it with “english411″ (no spaces between “English” and “411″). When you find a site that might be worth sharing, remember to give your bookmark a descriptive title, then use the “Notes” field to summarize and/or comment on what you’ve bookmarked. If this seems confusing, don’t worry — you’ll get the hang of it very quickly. In class on Thursday, we’ll look at some browser-based tools that will simplify the bookmarking process.

Before class on Thursday, please complete the following tasks, if you haven’t already:

• Create a Delicious account and send me your username.
• In that same email, let me know your top three choices for dates you’d like to lead the class discussion.
• Read pages xi-75 in Reinventing Knowledge.

I thought our first day of class was excellent — your definitions of technology gave me a lot to think about, and if your enthusiasm and participation today are any indication of things to come, we’re going to have some wonderful conversations. I’m looking forward to picking up where we left off when we meet again on Thursday. Until then, try to stay warm!