Friday, August 27, 2010

"Hello World"

There are many first in the world of technology that we take ada\vantage of every day. Who would know that the simple phrase "Hello World" started it all.
Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, first typed these famous words when launching what is now the largest online resource back in 2000.
The phrase was also used back in the 1970's to teach students how to use programmable code on th first computers.
Today, I use the phrase, "Hello World" to begin my educational-blogging career at the University of Florida. This is not my first blog, and it will certainly not be my last, but this class represents a fundamental change in how the academic system is teaching the English language.
Throughout this course, ENG1131, I will blog on topics discussed, debated and dissected in our lectures. These topics will range from now we perceive text and pictures to multimedia techniques used to tell stories.
I am a journalist - thus, I tell stories.
All I have known is storytelling: It was my first job at The Orlando Sentinel in high school, and I guarantee you it will be my only job, storytelling.

This photo was taken just after we landed in Houma, La. with the US Coast Guard after flying over the spill site of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo by Leslie Clark)
This doesn't mean I will spend my life studying how the newspaper industry fell under its own weight; nor does it mean I will only be a photographer, or writer or videographer. My job changes just as quickly as its surroundings.