Today is day one, week three, of presentations! Is this the halfway mark? Indeed, I do believe it is!
Quiet Mark
Online Enabled Activism
Argument: "Cyberspace and online communities are two of the most important tools in saving the environment." Good approach, liked the example of EcoSnoop and similar iPhone applications, and I can't really find a chink in the armor, so to speak. Broaden your scope a bit to include a couple other examples of "then" versus "now," (excepting Hanford, of course), and focus on what's already being done in response to current eco issues, and I think you'll have a very strong paper.
Sarah
Presenting yourself differently in cyberspace
Yes, true, we are familiar with this concept. Make it about the "why" of these actions and the control we have (or don't have) over the presentation of oneself online instead of rehashing ideas we've heard before. You have good research already, and the potential for a good paper. Just push it to that edge of "so what?" and this paper will go beyond what's already out there.
Cassie Lane
Social Networking Sites in the Classroom
"Social networking sites should be used by teachers and students in a classroom to enhance the learning of different content areas. Not only do these sites enhance the learning, but they also draw in the students who aren't engaged in the classroom learning." Good examples of sites that could benefit this method. Include the issues of access and parental knowledge to fill in some gaps in your paper to solidify your argument.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Week two, more presentations!
Today marks week two of presentations!
Katie Shaw
Bridge the Divide
Katie proposes bridging the gap between underprivileged students and privileged students with regard to technology. Beyond just students, getting parents and teachers involved is a great approach. Utilizing charts to compare before usage and after usage to see the effectiveness of this proposed project is also good for reference. I could see this project, if it ever gains footing, being implemented well within our community because there really is such a wide divide between the haves and have nots in our school systems. I feel this is something that could have real-world implications outside of the classroom environment.
Beau Yancey
Technology benefits greatly from gaming
Good contrast of "what your mother told you" and "what your mother doesn't know" to address both sides of the argument. Great examples of how video game technology past is influencing medical and military technology of today. It seems like you have a good, strong arguments on striking a balance between "hardcore gamers" and the idea of gaming and how both influence everything around us today.
James Cavanah
Learning can be based on the symbolic processing the mind undertakes when playing a game
Strong, potentially super cool topic. Make the connections a little more obvious to your thesis (learning leans heavily on symbolism, knowledge and access) and I think you will have a very strong paper. What you told me this morning about your paper was AWE-SOME. I think if you'd just chewed the cud on that in the class presentation instead of worrying about Prezi, your topic would have come across so much clearer :). It was an awesome topic then, it will be a strong topic in the end too.
Hans Wellenbrock
Social networks bridging the chasm
The thing that went "BAM!!" to me was this point from Silva e Souza: "The shift from static to mobile interfaces brings social networks into physical spaces." RUN WITH THIS, plzkthx. I feel like a lot of your points went back to that particular line. I like that you addressed that poor does not necessarily mean technologically illiterate, particularly among the younger generation. I like, also, that you had fun with making your presentation.
Spencer Towne
Do games generate better soldiers?
Have you addressed the video game "America's Army"? This was a game released by the U.S. Army specifically for the purpose increasing the public opinion of the army and increasing recruitment. Could you perhaps address, if not the quality of soldiers, perhaps the quantity of soldiers as a result of military fighting simulators? Excellent list in comparing the consequences of real versus virtual space, I think this will go a long way in your argument.
Katie Shaw
Bridge the Divide
Katie proposes bridging the gap between underprivileged students and privileged students with regard to technology. Beyond just students, getting parents and teachers involved is a great approach. Utilizing charts to compare before usage and after usage to see the effectiveness of this proposed project is also good for reference. I could see this project, if it ever gains footing, being implemented well within our community because there really is such a wide divide between the haves and have nots in our school systems. I feel this is something that could have real-world implications outside of the classroom environment.
Beau Yancey
Technology benefits greatly from gaming
Good contrast of "what your mother told you" and "what your mother doesn't know" to address both sides of the argument. Great examples of how video game technology past is influencing medical and military technology of today. It seems like you have a good, strong arguments on striking a balance between "hardcore gamers" and the idea of gaming and how both influence everything around us today.
James Cavanah
Learning can be based on the symbolic processing the mind undertakes when playing a game
Strong, potentially super cool topic. Make the connections a little more obvious to your thesis (learning leans heavily on symbolism, knowledge and access) and I think you will have a very strong paper. What you told me this morning about your paper was AWE-SOME. I think if you'd just chewed the cud on that in the class presentation instead of worrying about Prezi, your topic would have come across so much clearer :). It was an awesome topic then, it will be a strong topic in the end too.
Hans Wellenbrock
Social networks bridging the chasm
The thing that went "BAM!!" to me was this point from Silva e Souza: "The shift from static to mobile interfaces brings social networks into physical spaces." RUN WITH THIS, plzkthx. I feel like a lot of your points went back to that particular line. I like that you addressed that poor does not necessarily mean technologically illiterate, particularly among the younger generation. I like, also, that you had fun with making your presentation.
Spencer Towne
Do games generate better soldiers?
Have you addressed the video game "America's Army"? This was a game released by the U.S. Army specifically for the purpose increasing the public opinion of the army and increasing recruitment. Could you perhaps address, if not the quality of soldiers, perhaps the quantity of soldiers as a result of military fighting simulators? Excellent list in comparing the consequences of real versus virtual space, I think this will go a long way in your argument.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Feedback on thesis presentations, day one
Today kicks off final paper thesis and progress presentations in the course. Constructive feedback, only; no dislikes based on slide colors!
Lorena Swift
China: Communication in Crisis
A good starting look at the Great Firewall of China. I definitely second the notion of trying to route your Internet through China via Firefox plugins. The word for "America" in Mandarin is "mei" (美). I hope that this helps with your "search for America from China" searches :).
Sheila Newsom
Gender Roles and Social Networks
I think the look at Facebook/MySpace/StarDoll presents a good background for the traditional social networking "gender" norms, so keep that information in (but with less emphasis). Analyzing children's/young teen's social networks is a good approach to this topic. To further bolster your paper, I would suggest taking a look at Neopets and Webkinz, or even some Disney-based networks, to see how gender is approached in those realms as well.
Maurice Smiley
Mobile technology and how it's changing the agricultural world (I think)
No comments. Sounds like you know exactly where you're going and what you're talking about with this topic. This sounds absolutely brilliant and I kind of wish I had your brain power for this course.
Corrinda Lathan
Educating through Gaming
Loved that you got the class engaged by means of a memory game :). Are you looking at games across all platforms or specifically board games or specifically video games? (I think video games may tie more into our overall course theme, but gaming is gaming and the same rules in board games apply to video games as well, so... not sure where I'm going with that.) At any rate, I think Lorena had a good question after your presentation. Perhaps you should take a look at how the education world is embracing the technology to go with these changes in gaming (or, conversely, not embracing) and how this is (or isn't) impacting changes among children and how they learn.
Kathleen
Old school politics, new school media
A question: Does political standing (left-wing vs. right-wing) indicate how technologically savvy a candidate may be? Or the demographics they are reaching successfully? To say that McCain/Palin barely scratched the surface is something of an understatement; I would argue that Palin goes beyond the norms of her party and internet use. Her e-mail was hacked, which dealt a harsh blow to the campaign; she used Facebook and Twitter then and still uses these tools to rally her followers to her cause, even though she isn't running OR in a position of political power anymore. BUT, that being said, you've got a strong start. I like the main question you're addressing of if the use of new social technology was a critical factor in the outcome of the election, and was actually going to ask if you were going to address that (but you beat me to it in your presentation).
Good job to everyone. You've set the bar high. Good luck to everyone who will present next week!
Lorena Swift
China: Communication in Crisis
A good starting look at the Great Firewall of China. I definitely second the notion of trying to route your Internet through China via Firefox plugins. The word for "America" in Mandarin is "mei" (美). I hope that this helps with your "search for America from China" searches :).
Sheila Newsom
Gender Roles and Social Networks
I think the look at Facebook/MySpace/StarDoll presents a good background for the traditional social networking "gender" norms, so keep that information in (but with less emphasis). Analyzing children's/young teen's social networks is a good approach to this topic. To further bolster your paper, I would suggest taking a look at Neopets and Webkinz, or even some Disney-based networks, to see how gender is approached in those realms as well.
Maurice Smiley
Mobile technology and how it's changing the agricultural world (I think)
No comments. Sounds like you know exactly where you're going and what you're talking about with this topic. This sounds absolutely brilliant and I kind of wish I had your brain power for this course.
Corrinda Lathan
Educating through Gaming
Loved that you got the class engaged by means of a memory game :). Are you looking at games across all platforms or specifically board games or specifically video games? (I think video games may tie more into our overall course theme, but gaming is gaming and the same rules in board games apply to video games as well, so... not sure where I'm going with that.) At any rate, I think Lorena had a good question after your presentation. Perhaps you should take a look at how the education world is embracing the technology to go with these changes in gaming (or, conversely, not embracing) and how this is (or isn't) impacting changes among children and how they learn.
Kathleen
Old school politics, new school media
A question: Does political standing (left-wing vs. right-wing) indicate how technologically savvy a candidate may be? Or the demographics they are reaching successfully? To say that McCain/Palin barely scratched the surface is something of an understatement; I would argue that Palin goes beyond the norms of her party and internet use. Her e-mail was hacked, which dealt a harsh blow to the campaign; she used Facebook and Twitter then and still uses these tools to rally her followers to her cause, even though she isn't running OR in a position of political power anymore. BUT, that being said, you've got a strong start. I like the main question you're addressing of if the use of new social technology was a critical factor in the outcome of the election, and was actually going to ask if you were going to address that (but you beat me to it in your presentation).
Good job to everyone. You've set the bar high. Good luck to everyone who will present next week!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Catching up
This weekend, I will be playing catch-up in my blog entries to get up to speed. I will post an extended proposal on a new final paper topic relating the startlingly aggressive behaviors of online "alpha women" to the hegemonically masculine environment of the Internet (and how we've seen it before and how, potentially, this could alter the state of gender balance on the Internet [please note that this last one is a stretch and may not actually be presented in the final paper]).
I will also attempt to write summaries for the articles I missed, and will tackle some of the extra credit entries as well. Upcoming blog entries will be (gasp!) on-time and the arguments within will be well-presented.
While I do care some if this late work is seen as "too little, too late" with regard to my blog grade, I at least want to make the effort, because damnit, I'm tired of feeling anxious. I want to be able to enjoy this class (and care!) again, like I did when the semester started. And perhaps when I get up to speed, I can stop having panic attacks whenever I start thinking about this course and its workload.
I will also attempt to write summaries for the articles I missed, and will tackle some of the extra credit entries as well. Upcoming blog entries will be (gasp!) on-time and the arguments within will be well-presented.
While I do care some if this late work is seen as "too little, too late" with regard to my blog grade, I at least want to make the effort, because damnit, I'm tired of feeling anxious. I want to be able to enjoy this class (and care!) again, like I did when the semester started. And perhaps when I get up to speed, I can stop having panic attacks whenever I start thinking about this course and its workload.
Lights out across the globe
On March 27, 2010, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time, people around the world were encouraged to turn off the lights and go off the grid. The World Wildlife Foundation organized this event primarily online (and through various printed materials and QR codes in larger metropolitan areas) as a call to action against climate change.
Climate change itself is a fairly controversial topic in the science world and, admittedly, in the "I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, but I'm jumping on the bandwagon anyway!" world as well. I say this with regard to both extreme stances: "climate change isn't real" and "climate change is mankind's fault".
Participants were directed to the official "Lights Out" Earth Hour site, where they could click on one of hundreds of compact fluorescent light bulbs to declare that, for one hour, they would go without their power-drawing doodads and go by candlelight instead.
There are no official numbers, but on the event's website it says 500 people participated. It is assumed that thousands more across the globe participated as well without declaring officially that they would take a stand too.
The idea was, that by "millions of people" working together, mankind could make a positive impact on global change and, ultimately, the overall health of Earth.
It is interesting that an event that focuses on turning off power requires, in part, the use of computers to declare that you're taking part in said event. It almost seems counter-intuitive to do so through such means, but it is understandable that the WWF would want to be able to reach the widest number of users who would, in fact, have at least basic access to electricity-driven lights. This, I suppose, is the point of the campaign after all. It is not to go completely off the grid, but to just be aware of the impact of turning off your machines (or shutting off the main breaker in the house) for only one hour.
Even the use of the QR codes mentioned earlier in this write-up requires some form of advanced(-ish) technology, such as a smart phone, to be able to read and decipher the message hidden within. This seems to be, to me, a reflection of the digital divide we encounter daily. Again, it's interesting that this seems to be directed more at the people who are more likely to already be interested in the goal of this sort of campaign, or these sorts of technologies. Those who have smart phones, who are on the Internet more often, who know how to decipher a QR code -- isn't it shown that they are more likely to be left-leaners or more liberal than their smart phone-less, TV-watching counterparts? (This is a sincere question, not rhetorical, since I don't presume to even begin to know the answer.)
With regard to the mainstream media, it seems that this event was, to some extent, reported. The first page of results from a Google News search shows reports on this event from March 28 up through a couple of hours ago. The former are more along the lines of "this is what this event is!" and the latter are reports of the impact the event made on energy use in several cities. One city reports that its consumption of energy went down 3.4 percent during the event.
Newspapers, online and printed alike, seem to have reported adequately enough on this. Even twitter is still talking about it (and participating) almost two weeks later, which I think really speaks to the power of word of mouth on this medium. I cannot comment on television news media, however, because I don't watch the tele and didn't check the sites of the major organizations on that day.
(Related to Twitter and news: This past week's earthquake in northern Mexico/southern California had massive hashtagging on Twitter. The hashtagging was so fast, apparently, that theoretically users just outside the boundary of the quake zone could receive tweets about the quake before they could feel it. For a funny take on this, check out XKCD.)
In summary, Earth Hour was, and continues to be, a success due in large part to the Internet and in small part to contemporary mainstream media. This was this event's second year in action. It will be interesting to see what digital media it uses next year to get the message out (website, QR codes, iPhone app, widespread text messaging, in-game "product placement"?), how pervasive the message will be because of the Internet, and how much more successful it will be next year.
-------
For more on Earth Hour, check out these links:
http://earthhour.hadw.com/
http://www.hornallanderson.com/#/project/121/
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=%22earth+hour%22
Climate change itself is a fairly controversial topic in the science world and, admittedly, in the "I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, but I'm jumping on the bandwagon anyway!" world as well. I say this with regard to both extreme stances: "climate change isn't real" and "climate change is mankind's fault".
Participants were directed to the official "Lights Out" Earth Hour site, where they could click on one of hundreds of compact fluorescent light bulbs to declare that, for one hour, they would go without their power-drawing doodads and go by candlelight instead.
There are no official numbers, but on the event's website it says 500 people participated. It is assumed that thousands more across the globe participated as well without declaring officially that they would take a stand too.
The idea was, that by "millions of people" working together, mankind could make a positive impact on global change and, ultimately, the overall health of Earth.
It is interesting that an event that focuses on turning off power requires, in part, the use of computers to declare that you're taking part in said event. It almost seems counter-intuitive to do so through such means, but it is understandable that the WWF would want to be able to reach the widest number of users who would, in fact, have at least basic access to electricity-driven lights. This, I suppose, is the point of the campaign after all. It is not to go completely off the grid, but to just be aware of the impact of turning off your machines (or shutting off the main breaker in the house) for only one hour.
Even the use of the QR codes mentioned earlier in this write-up requires some form of advanced(-ish) technology, such as a smart phone, to be able to read and decipher the message hidden within. This seems to be, to me, a reflection of the digital divide we encounter daily. Again, it's interesting that this seems to be directed more at the people who are more likely to already be interested in the goal of this sort of campaign, or these sorts of technologies. Those who have smart phones, who are on the Internet more often, who know how to decipher a QR code -- isn't it shown that they are more likely to be left-leaners or more liberal than their smart phone-less, TV-watching counterparts? (This is a sincere question, not rhetorical, since I don't presume to even begin to know the answer.)
With regard to the mainstream media, it seems that this event was, to some extent, reported. The first page of results from a Google News search shows reports on this event from March 28 up through a couple of hours ago. The former are more along the lines of "this is what this event is!" and the latter are reports of the impact the event made on energy use in several cities. One city reports that its consumption of energy went down 3.4 percent during the event.
Newspapers, online and printed alike, seem to have reported adequately enough on this. Even twitter is still talking about it (and participating) almost two weeks later, which I think really speaks to the power of word of mouth on this medium. I cannot comment on television news media, however, because I don't watch the tele and didn't check the sites of the major organizations on that day.
(Related to Twitter and news: This past week's earthquake in northern Mexico/southern California had massive hashtagging on Twitter. The hashtagging was so fast, apparently, that theoretically users just outside the boundary of the quake zone could receive tweets about the quake before they could feel it. For a funny take on this, check out XKCD.)
In summary, Earth Hour was, and continues to be, a success due in large part to the Internet and in small part to contemporary mainstream media. This was this event's second year in action. It will be interesting to see what digital media it uses next year to get the message out (website, QR codes, iPhone app, widespread text messaging, in-game "product placement"?), how pervasive the message will be because of the Internet, and how much more successful it will be next year.
-------
For more on Earth Hour, check out these links:
http://earthhour.hadw.com/
http://www.hornallanderson.com/#/project/121/
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=%22earth+hour%22
Friday, March 19, 2010
Let's try this again.
Taking a stab at this again, because I was a bit, erm, vague in the first attempt:
For my final paper, I want to take a look at the digital divide w/r/t gender and access, specifically being female and how this may or may not impact one's use and access (and perhaps gender dominance) of digital and social media.
An article I found recently asks, essentially, do ladies dominate Twitter? And the blog writeup that accompanied the link argued, "No, they don't. But they dominate other sites." How is this so? And how, exactly, is this accounted for? If not Twitter, where do women dominate? What about ChatRoulette? It's a social medium (ladies!) with a gambling- and voyeur-type preface (dudes!), so who are you most likely to "next" upon? Early statistics show it's more likely to be a guy, but why?
Do societal expectations of domesticity hurt or help women in the digital divide? Does it depend on the area of technology that determines how adept (or inept) women may be? Does it depend on cultural values and where they live? Do women see less of a divide in social media, but more of a divide when it comes to video games or programming? If so, why? Where do forums, generally social in nature but more text based in execution, fall along the social media spectrum, and does this affect how many users are of the female persuasion?
These are all topics that I hope to address in my paper, and perhaps a few more that I haven't touched on that may come to me in a "Eureka"-type moment.
I anticipate that research on ChatRoulette will be sparse because of how new it is, but I also imagine that what I do find with be pretty helpful in the long run. Though limited in number, amounts of data and reports I've seen so far seem to be surprisingly in depth.
Suggestions? Tips? Questions I maybe haven't considered that I should? Leave it in the comments.
For my final paper, I want to take a look at the digital divide w/r/t gender and access, specifically being female and how this may or may not impact one's use and access (and perhaps gender dominance) of digital and social media.
An article I found recently asks, essentially, do ladies dominate Twitter? And the blog writeup that accompanied the link argued, "No, they don't. But they dominate other sites." How is this so? And how, exactly, is this accounted for? If not Twitter, where do women dominate? What about ChatRoulette? It's a social medium (ladies!) with a gambling- and voyeur-type preface (dudes!), so who are you most likely to "next" upon? Early statistics show it's more likely to be a guy, but why?
Do societal expectations of domesticity hurt or help women in the digital divide? Does it depend on the area of technology that determines how adept (or inept) women may be? Does it depend on cultural values and where they live? Do women see less of a divide in social media, but more of a divide when it comes to video games or programming? If so, why? Where do forums, generally social in nature but more text based in execution, fall along the social media spectrum, and does this affect how many users are of the female persuasion?
These are all topics that I hope to address in my paper, and perhaps a few more that I haven't touched on that may come to me in a "Eureka"-type moment.
I anticipate that research on ChatRoulette will be sparse because of how new it is, but I also imagine that what I do find with be pretty helpful in the long run. Though limited in number, amounts of data and reports I've seen so far seem to be surprisingly in depth.
Suggestions? Tips? Questions I maybe haven't considered that I should? Leave it in the comments.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Feminism and games: A paper topic (or, My black and blue pony)
Sorry for spacing the Friday at 5 p.m. goal. I even had my topic picked out! I was just busy getting ready for a weekend at Emerald City Comic Con, which was sadly a bust because I didn't get to see Stan Lee OR Leonard Nimoy. But I got a neat shirt and some cool prints out of it, so it wasn't so bad.
But more on to the topic: what is my paper topic? I've decided to revisit a subject I wrote about for a 500-level class last semester: video games and gender. I enjoyed this topic quite a bit, and feel like I may even have some new views to throw into my paper blender thanks to another semester of theory education. I have new material (thanks, FF13 and Bayonetta!) to use, new studies to pull from, and new lessons on a "feministic" approach to digital media with respect to video games.
I'll probably end up pulling from my original paper (but not the entire thing, because that's academic dishonesty right there) and using The Big Pink Reader, as well as a couple of other books I have scattered around my house, for my academic sources.
Moreover, this topic will be a challenge to address again because it has been such a short period of time between papers. But I also remember finding great new studies literally the same day I'd turned in my paper and being so frustrated that I couldn't include that data, and also feeling like I hit the page limit on that term paper before I'd even really begun to get into my arguments. I may have some material I'll be able to sweep up from the cutting room floor, polish up and present as new-new.
We'll see how it goes. I may even end up trashing the original topic and going for race and video games, which should present a fantastic challenge thanks to my Wonderbread upbringing and, thus, perspective on games.
SHOULD BE EXCITING. I can't wait to start writing this the weekend before my presentation! (I won't, really, but procrastination is how I roll more often than not.)
Happy spring break, digital savants!
But more on to the topic: what is my paper topic? I've decided to revisit a subject I wrote about for a 500-level class last semester: video games and gender. I enjoyed this topic quite a bit, and feel like I may even have some new views to throw into my paper blender thanks to another semester of theory education. I have new material (thanks, FF13 and Bayonetta!) to use, new studies to pull from, and new lessons on a "feministic" approach to digital media with respect to video games.
I'll probably end up pulling from my original paper (but not the entire thing, because that's academic dishonesty right there) and using The Big Pink Reader, as well as a couple of other books I have scattered around my house, for my academic sources.
Moreover, this topic will be a challenge to address again because it has been such a short period of time between papers. But I also remember finding great new studies literally the same day I'd turned in my paper and being so frustrated that I couldn't include that data, and also feeling like I hit the page limit on that term paper before I'd even really begun to get into my arguments. I may have some material I'll be able to sweep up from the cutting room floor, polish up and present as new-new.
We'll see how it goes. I may even end up trashing the original topic and going for race and video games, which should present a fantastic challenge thanks to my Wonderbread upbringing and, thus, perspective on games.
SHOULD BE EXCITING. I can't wait to start writing this the weekend before my presentation! (I won't, really, but procrastination is how I roll more often than not.)
Happy spring break, digital savants!
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