I just submitted my final paper and I am now officially done with Technology and Culture of America (after this post....). It has been an interesting semester, learning things that I never thought I would learn in a college class, but it was a very nice surprise to experience such a class. I used to take technology for granted and never thought about the underlying meanings and potential consequences. Now, though, I know better.
As my last blog post, I wanted to talk about something that I found inspriring and interesting, which is the success people get through just the web. A lot of talent is hidden in the world and a lot of the times, it's discovered via the web! Singers like Sean Kingston and Soulja Boy were discovered on popular sites such as myspace and youtube. Others make their living through the internet, such as bloggers and online store owners. Case in point: http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/shop/local-online-brand-hanalie-latest-hong-kong-fashion-success-613688?page=0,0, and http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/shop/how-make-money-beauty-blogging-987709?hpt=C2.
It's pretty amazing that these people were just doing what they liked, not for any financial reasons. The financial gain that came later was just an added bonus for them. Interestingly, this would not have been able to happen if not for the infinite reach of the web. The one part about the first article that I thought was really interesting was when the second blogger said she refused to only give raving reviews about the companies that sponsered her. She basically told them from the start that she wouldn't lie to her followers, which is very admiring. The second article talked about how two students who weren't even experienced in the fashion industry ended up reaching success through their online shopping site that features pieces they wanted for themselves! This is seriously a strike of luck.
If people can get this kind of success from simply doing what they want online, they have no reason to pursue another path just for the money. I feel like the web has enabled people to carry on with their desires and freed them to be happier! Yes, critics can say this type of life is not guaranteed, it's risky, hard to manage, too time consuming, etc.etc.etc, but for these people, it was well worth the risk and we should applaud them.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
final essay, just about done!
So I'm at the wrapping up stage of my essay with about a page and a half to go, and felt that I needed to take a break. Although, this break will be used productively and not wastefully! The question for me now is how I should be concluding the essay.
Looking over my essay, I fear that I might have focused a bit too much on just the negatives of technology. One of my sources is http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?_r=1, which talks about how plagiarism is a growing problem in the generation jaded by the amount of information ready to it. As we even talked about in class, students plagiarize not only because it is easier, but also because they don't know what actually constitutes as plagiarizing and what doesn't. Maybe I'll write about positives of technology, like online courses and what Dean Markowitz talked about a while back. Case in point: http://www.tuftsdaily.com/online-courses-play-growing-role-in-higher-education-1.2423651. It looks like my 6 page paper will be extended (haha yay!).
.......................................
My whole paper just changed.
I think that technology has benefited higher education more than damaged it. Oh snap. Restructuring the essay is going to be painful but hopefully, it'll be worth it. Despite the negative pressures, technology has enabled society to advance, and the integration of it within higher education helps future generations prepare for the future. Even if there are some things lost on the way, it seems crucial that students learn as much about technology as possible.
Looking over my essay, I fear that I might have focused a bit too much on just the negatives of technology. One of my sources is http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?_r=1, which talks about how plagiarism is a growing problem in the generation jaded by the amount of information ready to it. As we even talked about in class, students plagiarize not only because it is easier, but also because they don't know what actually constitutes as plagiarizing and what doesn't. Maybe I'll write about positives of technology, like online courses and what Dean Markowitz talked about a while back. Case in point: http://www.tuftsdaily.com/online-courses-play-growing-role-in-higher-education-1.2423651. It looks like my 6 page paper will be extended (haha yay!).
.......................................
My whole paper just changed.
I think that technology has benefited higher education more than damaged it. Oh snap. Restructuring the essay is going to be painful but hopefully, it'll be worth it. Despite the negative pressures, technology has enabled society to advance, and the integration of it within higher education helps future generations prepare for the future. Even if there are some things lost on the way, it seems crucial that students learn as much about technology as possible.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Final Paper.....topic one...?
I left off my last blog regarding the final paper with the decision that I would pursue the second topic.....but I decided to change my mind, I think!
Just last Wednesday, I had a unique opportunity to have a decent conversation with Dean Markowitz. The specifics of how it got to that are unimportant, but I will just say that I was lucky and smart enough to chat with him despite having a cancelled Business Forum class. One of the many things we touched upon was how he was creating materials for an online course that students will be able to take in the summer. There were various tools that made possible for him to engage in the same kinds of activities that he would normally do in class, and students taking the course would be able to get just as much from it as anyone who physically took Dean Markowitz's class. This conversation immediately reminded me of how technology is changing higher education.
"Are modern-day college campuses technopolies?"
Technopoly - a self-justifying, self-perpetuating system wherein technology of every kind is cheerfully granted sovereignty over social institution and national life (according to Postman)
In other words, did technology take over our college campuses?
Well, in a way, yes. Actually, scratch that. Definitely yes.
But I think the real question is if technology has helped or worsened the conditions within Universities. The problem is, it has done both, depending on the situation. I don't quite know how to clearly state one way or another. Perhaps an overall exploration will suffice for me.
The only thing I'm worried about, though, is the fact that I have to use "ample citations and/or quotes" from the Postman book....seeing that it was the second reading we did, I don't quite remember every little detail. Hopefully I will have enough time to re-read the book and have a clear idea soon enough!
Just last Wednesday, I had a unique opportunity to have a decent conversation with Dean Markowitz. The specifics of how it got to that are unimportant, but I will just say that I was lucky and smart enough to chat with him despite having a cancelled Business Forum class. One of the many things we touched upon was how he was creating materials for an online course that students will be able to take in the summer. There were various tools that made possible for him to engage in the same kinds of activities that he would normally do in class, and students taking the course would be able to get just as much from it as anyone who physically took Dean Markowitz's class. This conversation immediately reminded me of how technology is changing higher education.
"Are modern-day college campuses technopolies?"
Technopoly - a self-justifying, self-perpetuating system wherein technology of every kind is cheerfully granted sovereignty over social institution and national life (according to Postman)
In other words, did technology take over our college campuses?
Well, in a way, yes. Actually, scratch that. Definitely yes.
But I think the real question is if technology has helped or worsened the conditions within Universities. The problem is, it has done both, depending on the situation. I don't quite know how to clearly state one way or another. Perhaps an overall exploration will suffice for me.
The only thing I'm worried about, though, is the fact that I have to use "ample citations and/or quotes" from the Postman book....seeing that it was the second reading we did, I don't quite remember every little detail. Hopefully I will have enough time to re-read the book and have a clear idea soon enough!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World PART III
After reading the final section of David Kirkpatrick's "The Facebook Effect:The inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World," I realized how little I actually knew about the way facebook works, despite my earlier prconception that I would be among those who were on top of their "facebook knowledge."
Although the third part did include more of the background of the company and its finances, I was mostly engulfed by the way it can and has been helping people around the globe. Regular people can become activists and leaders in their communities with the start of an event on facebook, such as Oscar Morales, who was mentioned again in this part as a speaker to a conference of youth activist groups. Facebook was one of the 5 companies who helped to organize, fund, and carry out the conference, which discussed the importance of web 2.0 and how these groups can help each other in their journeys (p. 291). Facebook acts as a 'safe' nd 'guanranteed' medium for dissatisfied people to express their thoughts, and as illustrated on page 289-290, the majority of them do get the effect they wished to get in the first place. State scholarships, drug raids, and jail expansions were among those which prompted people to speak out.
Not only do individuals gain from facebook, big companies also have the opportunity to reach out to the people and reap in benefits. For example, Mazda was able to get its name out to millions of people by asking its fans on Facebook to help design a car for 2018. Similarly, Ben & Jerry's asked its fans as to what their next ice cream flavor should be. Every time their fans contributed, their friends would see that so-and-so participated in an event hosted by Mazda or Ben & Jerry's. In other words, this was a genius way to get the companies' names out to people for very cheap, if at all. Small companies can also benefit from facebook by purchasing ads and having the ability to present them to a very specific market, made possible by the real information facebook has of its members.
Another thing that really caught my interest was the first chapter of this section, which dealt with applications, especially the games. Although I had to stop, I was an avid user of facebook games, such as Restaurant City, Country Story, and even the infamous Farmville. It was really interesting to see how the whole community of applications progressed from a small group of fun albeit useless ones, such as Food Fight and Fluff Friends. Mark Zuckerberg was "disappointed at the silliness of many of these apps" (p. 228), but I feel that's the reason why so many of these applications were so successful. People were on facebook for enjoyment and entertainment, not to be "serious" all the time.
As a final note, I was just wondering how the new facebook profiles are to be impacting the users as well as the creators. I know that a lot of people dislike the new profiles, but I wonder if we will all just get used to and come to love it, as we did for almost everything else. Also, I wonder if the creators can see all the negative responses they are getting and are considering changes.....
Although the third part did include more of the background of the company and its finances, I was mostly engulfed by the way it can and has been helping people around the globe. Regular people can become activists and leaders in their communities with the start of an event on facebook, such as Oscar Morales, who was mentioned again in this part as a speaker to a conference of youth activist groups. Facebook was one of the 5 companies who helped to organize, fund, and carry out the conference, which discussed the importance of web 2.0 and how these groups can help each other in their journeys (p. 291). Facebook acts as a 'safe' nd 'guanranteed' medium for dissatisfied people to express their thoughts, and as illustrated on page 289-290, the majority of them do get the effect they wished to get in the first place. State scholarships, drug raids, and jail expansions were among those which prompted people to speak out.
Not only do individuals gain from facebook, big companies also have the opportunity to reach out to the people and reap in benefits. For example, Mazda was able to get its name out to millions of people by asking its fans on Facebook to help design a car for 2018. Similarly, Ben & Jerry's asked its fans as to what their next ice cream flavor should be. Every time their fans contributed, their friends would see that so-and-so participated in an event hosted by Mazda or Ben & Jerry's. In other words, this was a genius way to get the companies' names out to people for very cheap, if at all. Small companies can also benefit from facebook by purchasing ads and having the ability to present them to a very specific market, made possible by the real information facebook has of its members.
Another thing that really caught my interest was the first chapter of this section, which dealt with applications, especially the games. Although I had to stop, I was an avid user of facebook games, such as Restaurant City, Country Story, and even the infamous Farmville. It was really interesting to see how the whole community of applications progressed from a small group of fun albeit useless ones, such as Food Fight and Fluff Friends. Mark Zuckerberg was "disappointed at the silliness of many of these apps" (p. 228), but I feel that's the reason why so many of these applications were so successful. People were on facebook for enjoyment and entertainment, not to be "serious" all the time.
As a final note, I was just wondering how the new facebook profiles are to be impacting the users as well as the creators. I know that a lot of people dislike the new profiles, but I wonder if we will all just get used to and come to love it, as we did for almost everything else. Also, I wonder if the creators can see all the negative responses they are getting and are considering changes.....
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Final Assignment: WHAT DO I DO???
So last night we were given the instructions for the final assignment for the Technology and Culture in America course. The topics are not that bad; actually, both are pretty doable, which is the problem. I don't know which one I should pick because both interest me but seem a bit difficult when I start to delve further into them. Another factor I'm worried about is the quality of outside sources I will consult for the assignment. Since both topics are arguable and can even be controversial, I'm afraid I'll be linked to wacky blog posts or really biased pages. Hopefully, I'll be able to find decent articles and not have to rely on Wikipedia or something like that (haha).
The first topic regarding universities as technopolies brings up an interesting question of whether or not higher education is negatively affected by the growing technology. Without much thought, most people would agree that technology has improved higher education, as it made information readily available and helped students and faculty alike become more efficient with innovations. However, the truth is that because of such accessible information and such convenient tools, people are becoming less competent and more dependent on outside factors. Inventions such as calculators are amazingly helpful; however, people tend to forget how to actually do the problems, rendering them useless without a calculator. Despite all this, I don't know how I could take the topic further to expand for 6-8 pages and present a well developed essay.
I think I slightly prefer the second topic because there seems to be way more that I can talk about. Among other things, America is known to host a wasteful and ungrateful bunch of human beings. The society described in Slade's Made to Break is of obsolescence. Despite the rise of the environmental movement in America, it seems like America is miles and miles away from the path of going green. Sure, there are commercials and programs advocating "going green" here and there, but in reality, the society as a whole has not made much changes. The fact is that going green is expensive and too out of the way for greedy and lazy Americans. The possibility that putting too much resources into going green can hinder further technological development may also play a factor in America's reluctance of going forth with the green movement......I'm pretty sure I can find decent articles regarding America's wastefulness and how often new products come out and etc., so I think I'll be looking into this topic!
The first topic regarding universities as technopolies brings up an interesting question of whether or not higher education is negatively affected by the growing technology. Without much thought, most people would agree that technology has improved higher education, as it made information readily available and helped students and faculty alike become more efficient with innovations. However, the truth is that because of such accessible information and such convenient tools, people are becoming less competent and more dependent on outside factors. Inventions such as calculators are amazingly helpful; however, people tend to forget how to actually do the problems, rendering them useless without a calculator. Despite all this, I don't know how I could take the topic further to expand for 6-8 pages and present a well developed essay.
I think I slightly prefer the second topic because there seems to be way more that I can talk about. Among other things, America is known to host a wasteful and ungrateful bunch of human beings. The society described in Slade's Made to Break is of obsolescence. Despite the rise of the environmental movement in America, it seems like America is miles and miles away from the path of going green. Sure, there are commercials and programs advocating "going green" here and there, but in reality, the society as a whole has not made much changes. The fact is that going green is expensive and too out of the way for greedy and lazy Americans. The possibility that putting too much resources into going green can hinder further technological development may also play a factor in America's reluctance of going forth with the green movement......I'm pretty sure I can find decent articles regarding America's wastefulness and how often new products come out and etc., so I think I'll be looking into this topic!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World PART II
The second part of the Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick revolved around what was happening behind the scenes with Facebook, mostly regarding its financial status. The more I read, the more weirded out I am of Zuckerberg. He is certainly a character.
Despite the huge success Facebook had even back then, it was hard for them to be financially stable and independent. Because they had such an incredible growth rate that even they were not expecting, they had to spend more and more on storage space to make sure their database did not overflow and crash the entire site. Nevertheless, they were able to survive and stay on track with the help of VCs and smart negotiations from Parker and the likes. Not to mention, there were numerous CEOs of really BIG name companies such as MTV, Viacom, and even Yahoo who were willing, even desperate, to negotiate a deal to buy out Facebook.
It was really interesting to see how certain features of Facebook I use and take for granted were developed and received initially by users back then. When I first joined, the photo albums were developed but definitely not as widely used as they are used nowadays. Then, when the news feed option came to be, it drove people to participate in an endless chain of take pictures, upload onto computer, make facebook album, upload pictures to facebook, tag people, repeat! It became a competition of some sort to be tagged the most by others, to upload the most albums, and even to get the most comments on one's photos. As a side note, when the news feed feature first came to be, I saw all the negative feedback. In fact, I was one of those who just didn't understand the need for such a thing. However, I'm really glad Zuckerberg decided to keep the news feed because it really is a convenient way to see what my friends have been up to while I was out, in class, sleeping, or working. I never have to worry about what I'm missing anymore (haha).
In a short amount of time this social networking site grew from a small project at one college campus to a site with over 10 million members from early teens to adults in their 50's and older. This shows the immense power the web has in this new technology-centered world. How else could this small project have been turned into the crazy addicting site we all know and "love" today? Yet, this brings up the controversy over privacy. In a virtual world where we can be friends with even strangers, how can people be safe and secure? As explored in the last chapter of this second part, Facebook is not at fault. In actuality, it can help us to better control our privacy; we can control what we want to share and what we don't want to share. Ultimately, it's up to us to decide what should and should not be plastered all over our facebook pages.
Despite the huge success Facebook had even back then, it was hard for them to be financially stable and independent. Because they had such an incredible growth rate that even they were not expecting, they had to spend more and more on storage space to make sure their database did not overflow and crash the entire site. Nevertheless, they were able to survive and stay on track with the help of VCs and smart negotiations from Parker and the likes. Not to mention, there were numerous CEOs of really BIG name companies such as MTV, Viacom, and even Yahoo who were willing, even desperate, to negotiate a deal to buy out Facebook.
It was really interesting to see how certain features of Facebook I use and take for granted were developed and received initially by users back then. When I first joined, the photo albums were developed but definitely not as widely used as they are used nowadays. Then, when the news feed option came to be, it drove people to participate in an endless chain of take pictures, upload onto computer, make facebook album, upload pictures to facebook, tag people, repeat! It became a competition of some sort to be tagged the most by others, to upload the most albums, and even to get the most comments on one's photos. As a side note, when the news feed feature first came to be, I saw all the negative feedback. In fact, I was one of those who just didn't understand the need for such a thing. However, I'm really glad Zuckerberg decided to keep the news feed because it really is a convenient way to see what my friends have been up to while I was out, in class, sleeping, or working. I never have to worry about what I'm missing anymore (haha).
In a short amount of time this social networking site grew from a small project at one college campus to a site with over 10 million members from early teens to adults in their 50's and older. This shows the immense power the web has in this new technology-centered world. How else could this small project have been turned into the crazy addicting site we all know and "love" today? Yet, this brings up the controversy over privacy. In a virtual world where we can be friends with even strangers, how can people be safe and secure? As explored in the last chapter of this second part, Facebook is not at fault. In actuality, it can help us to better control our privacy; we can control what we want to share and what we don't want to share. Ultimately, it's up to us to decide what should and should not be plastered all over our facebook pages.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wikipedia Auditing for Midterm Presentation - EDIT
My group and I decided to audit the Wikipedia page for Scientology. Yes, Scientology, the infamous 'new religion' that has gained national and international attention in the past years. The objective of the assignment was to evaluate the page itself and see if Wikipedia was indeed an "encyclopedia" that people can use as a scholarly source. Because maintaining objectivity would be hardest regarding a controversial topic and it would provide us more content to work with, we had to pick a topic that would be under the "controversial" category. After much agony and brainstorming, Sara (I think) blurted out "Scientology!" It was an epic moment.
After the whole process, I do believe that Wikipedia should not be used as a scholarly source. Sure, the articles do have their merits, but the overall reliability is not too great. In my personal opinion, I think it's a great site to get a slight overview of many topics. There are enough truths, albeit presented in a specific way, to give the reader a decent summary of various subjects. The brief overview is definitely there. However, its weakness lies in the fact that editors all have their own biases and no one site can be free of that. In some instances, different sections have conflicting views because the editors had conflicting views.
Yet, I don't know if I can even avoid the temptation of using Wikipedia for school, despite my findings. I know for a fact that students still use Wikipedia as their primary source, finding ways to go around the citation by using random citations at the bottom. While it may fly by for some teachers, as Wikipedia possesses legitimate information, the danger is that for other teachers, it may be obvious to them that their students are a lazy bunch of sneaks. Technology, as we discussed in class, is making us a lazier society.
From this project, I learned how even the sources presented in the bottom of the Wikipedia article are not as scholarly and reliable as they seem. I will be more careful the next time I look at Wikipedia as a reference. If I ever want to use information from a Wikipedia article, I will make sure to verify my facts from other sites before going through with it.
After the whole process, I do believe that Wikipedia should not be used as a scholarly source. Sure, the articles do have their merits, but the overall reliability is not too great. In my personal opinion, I think it's a great site to get a slight overview of many topics. There are enough truths, albeit presented in a specific way, to give the reader a decent summary of various subjects. The brief overview is definitely there. However, its weakness lies in the fact that editors all have their own biases and no one site can be free of that. In some instances, different sections have conflicting views because the editors had conflicting views.
Yet, I don't know if I can even avoid the temptation of using Wikipedia for school, despite my findings. I know for a fact that students still use Wikipedia as their primary source, finding ways to go around the citation by using random citations at the bottom. While it may fly by for some teachers, as Wikipedia possesses legitimate information, the danger is that for other teachers, it may be obvious to them that their students are a lazy bunch of sneaks. Technology, as we discussed in class, is making us a lazier society.
From this project, I learned how even the sources presented in the bottom of the Wikipedia article are not as scholarly and reliable as they seem. I will be more careful the next time I look at Wikipedia as a reference. If I ever want to use information from a Wikipedia article, I will make sure to verify my facts from other sites before going through with it.
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