Class Discussion

In class on Thursday we discussed many things about Reed and Tapscott. We talked about online identity, new technologies and equality, internet in our personal relationships, internet and politics, and video games.
With online identity we talked about how we represent ourselves online. On Instagram people can post pictures that look professional and they are strictly for showing the best parts of your life. Facebook has also become more and more professional as time goes on. We share less and less information about ourselves. Facebook is again showing more highlights and achievements more than personal stories. It is also used to share news articles and videos that you think are interesting. Facebook and LinkedIn are becoming very similar in a sense that companies use both to test for recruiting and seeing if they are potentially good employees by what they post. We know that online identity is important because we are constantly being watched so it is important to keep everything private.
With new technologies, the digital divide is a present in our culture. It creates problems with equality and socioeconomic classes. The book review that was on Tuesday really talked about the digital divide and how big of an issue it is. Some people can't afford internet or laptops so it is an important issue to bring up. I don't believe that the digital divide has much to do with gender as much as it did 20 years ago. More and more women are entering the workforce as engineers, accountants, and jobs that use to be a mans job. Gender is not as much as an issue as it used to be. I do believe that new technologies create the digital divide between socioeconomic classes because some people can't afford the latest and greatest technology.
The presence of the internet affects our personal relationships in a few ways. One way is that we are always connected. We can talk to our friends without having to see them. We can communicate to people across the globe and stay in touch. This is a problem though because we become attached to our phones. When I'm hanging out with friends they are always on their phones talking to other friends. That is where the presence of always being connected affects our personal relationships. But other than that I think that it is used for communicating and talking to each other.
The internet definitely helps with politics unless it is ignorant friends posting on Facebook about the election and taking their parents views and not doing their own research on the candidates. During the time of elections I always have friends that post their views about politics on Facebook and it is incredibly annoying as they don't always know what they are talking about. So I personally choose to avoid Facebook during that time. I do think that the internet is a great tool for candidates to spread their campaign. Obama was the first one to really use internet as a tool for campaigning. Instead of going town to town, candidates can say what they need to say online and the readers can feel closer with the candidate and the candidate can reach a wider audience. The internet is great to persuade an audience if they are really using it as a tool. Most of the democratic party is taking advantage of the internet as most of the younger generations are online and they understand that and they think that most of the younger generation is liberal, and they aren't wrong.
Video games was the last thing we talked about and we talked about if they make you less or more violent, understanding or learners. I personally think that if the person playing video games is violent before they started playing video games, then they will be violent during the game and after the game. If the person isn't inherently violent when they start video games they will come out without violence. The only thing that I can think of that is bad about video games is that it desensitizes people to things like war and violence. But other than that it is okay in the grand scheme of things.

Ubiquitous Computing

Pervasive computing (also called ubiquitous computing) is the growing trend towards embedding microprocessors in everyday objects so they can communicate information. The words pervasive andubiquitous mean "existing everywhere." Pervasive computing devices are completely connected and constantly available.
The group that did the presentation on ubiquitous computing did a great job at helping the class understand what it is. The discussion was most helpful. In groups we had to choose things in certain spaces that were ubiquitous computing. The five groups were home, wear, automobiles, commercial and healthcare. In the particular group that I was in we discussed automobiles. 
The first question on the discussion paper was: what are some technologies that would be considered ubiquitous computing. We thought about GPS, self driving cars, keyless entry, automatic parking, automatic breaking, temperature control, bluetooth, self monitoring sensors. Many of these technologies are now built into our cars and they are always on and always present. Since these technologies are built into our cars it is built in our minds and we don't have to think about the mundane things. We don't have to think about unlocking a car door because the keyless entry allows us to be near the car without actually unlocking it manually. Cars with automatic parking and breaking are good features for distracted people. Self driving cars would be amazing for drinking and driving because it would be the best safety feature in the world. I loved Darion's argument that he brought up during class though that so many people get speeding tickets and that is tax money and they would rather get money than have people be safe. Self driving cars would be fantastic and Google has proof that it can be safe and every accident that the Google car has been in has been because humans aren't good enough drivers. 
We also discussed the pros and cons of each aspect of the automobile ubiquitous computing. One of the pros is that it makes life much easier and you can be distracted. Bluetooth for music and phone is brilliant because people can answer phone calls in the car if the phone is connected to the car stereo system. 
The biggest con is that people get used to it. People become familiar with backup cameras and sensors and blind spot sensors that if we transfer to cars without it, there could be a huge accident because we have become use to things being done for us. If technology fails, we forget how to do those simple things like brake and parallel park. 

Book Panel Presentation

In the first book panel presentation they discussed peer networking then had us get into groups and discuss it. The social media platform we discussed was Groupme which is an app for texting and messaging. It is incredibly useful for many things then it isn’t great for other things. It is a mobile group messaging app owned by Microsoft. It was launched in May 2010 by the private company GroupMe. In August 2011, GroupMe delivered over 100 million messages each month. By June 2012, that number had jumped to 550 million. It creates an equal platform for group messaging across different phones. With Groupme you get texts from everyone in the group message. That is both a pro and con because you want to keep updated in the conversation but then you’re getting billions of notifications.

I personally thought that the second book was more interesting. The author brings up the digital divide and how being digitally connected becomes more critical to economic, educational and social advancement occurs each year. More issues brought up throughout the book is that no, not everyone has to be on the bandwagon of technology but the more “plugged in” you are, the better off you will be. Monroe suggests that everyone should be connected to the internet. It is a personal choice to keep up but everyone should be connected. The areas that are not connected are called the “have nots” and they are the rural areas and central cities. Which isn’t wrong because inner urban cities are clearly lacking in technology as are rural areas. So it could be a personal choice to lack of opportunity to be connected which creates a riff, therefore brings the digital divide. Technology and latest technologies creates divide between people who have the right thing aren't behind. Technology is crucial to learning. Another issue brought up in the book by Monroe was the impact of race. Social interaction through language differs among socioeconomic classes and ethnic groups. This is interesting because socioeconomic classes and ethnic groups are studied frequently on use of technology. So the race and cultural differences can cause a rift in literateness and it all has to do with technology. Culturally there are differences between classes and technology which makes it all different. So while we do live in the Net Generation, not every has access to the internet which is interesting because I feel that everyone in all my classes and schools is accustomed to technology so it’s crazy to think that not everyone has access to the internet. Something brought up in class was if the information was outdated. The book was written in 2004 and then now we are using it in 2015. To me, most of the information is still relevant and important. We clearly are still stuck with the digital divide and it grows each year.

Virtual Reality

The virtual reality group did such a good job on their presentation. I loved so many aspect of it! There was a lot that they covered and the fact that they had an oculus made the presentation so much stronger. The oculus is probably the future. Soon we will only see through simulations and it will be awesome. We probably won't but it's still a cool idea.

I think something that was interesting was the history of virtual reality. It started as early as 1940 and is now on the road to perfection. I think that the history of virtual reality affects how we look into the future of virtual reality. I think that because people will believe that virtual reality is a game and for entertainment then there's the argument that virtual reality will be used for medicine, journalism, education and just improvement of life in general. I think that is the direction that technology is definitely going towards. I think that the beginning of virtual reality really started with games me it was for entertainment! I think when arcade games came out in the 1980s those were huge because it was into article and exciting and purely for entertainment.

The YouTube 369 videos I thought were great! I mean they had some flaws but it is a great introduction to virtual reality. I found that when I moved my phone the simulation moved with me which was something new to me and it was pretty cool. Virtual reality is something that is such a new idea that most people probably don't think too much about it. I do think that since companies and people are posting these kinds of videos about virtual reality they are opening it up to everyone and everyone has the ability to use it and understand it. The 360 degree video on YouTube is such a smart way to advertise the oculus and it's a great way to get people interested in virtual reality.

While people were experimenting with the oculus, I could see what they were seeing and it was amazing to see what technology can do now. I can imagine that being inside the oculus that everything around you sort of comes to life. I think it's fascinating that technology has the ability to do that and transport us into the virtual reality life. I believe that virtual reality will be helpful with education, journalism, tourism and medicine. I think that virtual reality will change how we look at current technology. Derek talked about how virtual reality could support doctors appointments without really being at the doctors which would be a game changer in how doctors appointments work. I think the idea of virtual reality is great but there's not quite a market for it yet until more people get on board with it.

Tapscott Part 3

So today in class we discussed chapters nine ten and eleven of Tapscott's Grown Up Digital. Chapter nine talked about politicians and chapter ten talked about the Net Geners and volunteering. These have so much in common. In chapter nine we discussed the seven guidelines for government leaders and internet strategy. Tapscott discusses how the government uses the Net Geners as a strategy and embraces the internet. Something we talked about in class was how the politicians use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Politicians can use Facebook and Twitter to share personal and close information so that the users can feel closer to the politicians. There isn't as much face to face interaction with the politicians so it makes sense that social media is the platform they would use to reach out to people. Fundraising is also something we mentioned in class and how the old style of fundraising has changed within even the past 20 years. So the Net Geners have figured out that politicians effectively use social media to reach out.

Chapter ten talks about the ways Net Geners work effectively for civil society organization. The first thing I personally noticed was that the title sounds condescending. The advice in the list wasn't too far off but the way that Tapscott presented it was a little condescending. Something I did agree with was "let them develop your web strategy". Tapscott talks about how Net Geners can help online and he's not wrong. Online we currently have all of these strategies and sites that we use to help others online. We have websites like Go Fund Me where people can donate and the way that it is set up makes it easy to share and gain more funds. Also the guilt trip is something that was very true. Guilt tripping and bullshitting on the Net Geners does not work.

Chapter eleven he gives advice to Net Geners. Personally I thought that the first piece of advice seemed a little rude. "Go to college". Not every one can afford college without going into super debt. I do get the idea he's going for and I understand that the idea and capability of learning is more important so school is a great idea. I think the be patient at work tip is great because some things take time. Learning doesn't happen overnight and it could take time. Overall his advice is sound and reasonable and a bit ahead of its time. I don't remember when this was published but I do have a feeling that his advice is helpful and will be passed on to the next generation and still be relevant. Especially the last three pieces of advice. Don't discount experience, aspire to live "a principled life of consequence" and don't give up. Those last three tips are great and are the pieces of advice that you pass on to friends, kids and the next generation.

Mediated Spaces

Today the expert group presentation was on mediated spaces. After we counted off into fours, we went to different spots on campus. The bookie, ground level of the cub, main floor of the cub, and the stadium. My group went to the stadium.

In the stadium we went over what we're allowed to do and how that's all mediated. So we first went over what the stadium walk like when its full and usually at football games. We noted that there isn't any formal dress code. At a bar you would be required to wear shoes, shirt and pants and all that. But at a football game people can wear whatever. I've seen girls wear swim suits, dresses, and I've seen guys that don't wear shirts. Something else we noticed was how you can scream in the stadium but it is socially unacceptable to just yell profanity even though I've seen it happen at games. There's also no drinking allowed in the stadium but there is a beer garden in the field behind the stadium. So there are mediated drinking spaces. Then we talked about how the space was organized. We all know the field is in the center and it is to be the main attraction and focus. But something else I noticed now is that in high school there is usually a track around the football field and now in college there is literally just the field as the main stage. There is just the field and the bleachers, lights and TV's are all based around the football field. There are also sections of the field that are marked. For example there's a section 28, 27 and so on. Then the seats are also marked as are the rows. But on a larger and social scale there is the student section, visitor section, alumni and guest seating. There are also box seats where people can sit covered and warm during cold games. The student section isn't assigned seating it's socially acceptable to stand on the bleachers and they aren't really used for the purpose of sitting and watching the game. People usually only sit during down times like half time, and before the game starts. The stadium is also set up with the football complex on the side that was created just for the football players. They have their own gym, huge locker room, restaurant and everything they need to be successful. The audience is the students, alumni, visitors and any football fans. Another audience is the audience watching on TV. The technologies that are used throughout the stadium are the lights, scoreboards, screens, and the audio (speakers, announcer, canon, etc.). These are all factors that contribute to the cougar football experience.