Fifth entry - Technology in the workplace

This week you will check through the news source you have been following to think about how new technology affects your internship field.  

1. Read and reflect on an article from your news source

This week, instead of us providing you with a  scholarly article, you should choose one of your own from the news source that you are following.  See if you can pick an article that talks about how new technology connects to your internship field.    

Once you have read this article, think about how it connects to your work so far at your internship.   Go back to the Discussions page and click on the title of your discussion to view it (you can just click directly on your name).  At the bottom of your discussion introduction, click the long rectangle with the word "<- Reply" in it to open up a new editing window. For ease of reading, first type "News article reactions:" in bold, followed by the name of the article you chose (and the name of the news site it came from).  

Now compose your reactions to the article.  Just like with the scholarly articles that we assign you to read, the most useful reactions to news articles are grounded in specifics -- pick particular arguments or quotes from the article that seem to connect to other things you've learned in your UW courses, or activities you've been engaged with during your internship.  It can help to briefly summarize the arguments of the article before providing a reaction.  Try to write at least two paragraphs in response to the news article you chose.

2. Enter field notes for this week

Now that you've thought about the news from your internship field, it's time to write your field note reflections.  Go back to the Discussions page and click on the title of your discussion to view it (you can just click directly on your name).  At the bottom of your discussion introduction there is a long rectangle with the word "<- Reply" in it.  Click on this rectangle and you will open up another little editing window where you can type in your field notes entry.  

For ease of reading, first type "Field notes: Week of " in bold, and then type today's date.  Then try to write at least four substantive paragraphs, about your experiences in your internship this week.  The more you are able to write each week, the better your reflections will evolve over the course of the term -- and the more raw material you will have for the summary reflection at the end.  And if you can relate your field notes this week to your article reaction for this week, all the better! When you have finished typing in your field notes, click the red "Post Reply" button on the bottom-right of this editing window.

What if your internship doesn't meet this week?  Like with previous weeks, if for any reason you don't have any internship field notes to enter, you still need to write a detailed reflection related to your internship -- you may reflect on one of the scholarly articles we've suggested in these assignments, or on a relevant news article from your chosen news source that is related to your internship, or on an issue that you raised in a previous week's field notes that you'd like to reflect upon more deeply now.  You might even reflect upon a fellow student's internship experience that you've read about in this class, thinking through how it compares to your own so far.  

3. Comment and collaboration

Finally, just like last week, go back to the Discussions page and click on some other student's discussion thread.  Choose one of their article response or field note entries, and click the "<- Reply" box to reply to what the student wrote.  (Try to leave at least a paragraph-long substantive reaction, not just "Hey that sounds great.")  When you have finished typing in your comment, click the red "Post Reply" button on the bottom-right of the editing window.

Now do this again for a different classmate, so you make sure to leave comments for at least two fellow students in your section each week.