Week 10 - Question 6

How does this differ to Web 0.3?

Image found on google images. http://www.digitalrhetoric.org/course/web1to3.jpg This image shows the change between web1.0, web 2.0 and now web 3.0 on a time scaled chart. Web 3.0 and the Semantic web differ because Web 3.0 is the current Web 2.0 with an upgrade. It is the Web 2.0 that has been improved. The Semantic web however is an extension of the web 2.0/3.0.

Week 10 - Question 5

What is the 'Semantic Web'?

http://semanticweb.org/wiki/Main_Page This webpage states that 'the Semantic Web is the extension of the World Wide Web that enables people to share content beyond the boundaries of applications and websites' and from this video on youtube we can see how this happens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGg8A2zfWKg. This short video outlines and introduction to the semantic web.

A defenition to what the word 'semantic' mean is ... 'The meaning behind what is said'. More than just words and letters in a sentence can be used for example the use of images can get across the same meaning. This video simply says that communication is key to the semantic web. computers connect with each other through the web as people do through their months etc. By expressing the possibilities of the semantic web this video states that our search engines etc will be alot more accurate in the future than they are today. By not depending on just key words the search engine also refers to the semantics of that page so your search is more advanced.

By using google images i found this image of the Semantic web http://blogs.nesta.org.uk/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/26/semantic_web_2.gif This image clearly seperates Web 0.1 Web 0.2 and the Semantic Web. These images will also become handy when defining Web 0.3.

Week 10 - Question 1

How might Wenger's notions on practice communities relate to Prensky's on education?

Wenger says that 'Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.' http://www.ewenger.com/theory/ The concept of a community of practise, to me, is reference to the process of social learning. Wenger talks about how communities of practise can help us better ourselves through education. i suppose a benefit of CoP's is that people are communicating with each other, which leads to a better understanding of education.

Prensky states 'Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach' http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf which brings up to notion of digital natives and digital immigrants. It could be argued that both the natives and immigrants come from different CoP's. The natives and immigrants have different goals, different passions and certainly a different understanding of education and social learning.

So i'd say that Wenger's notions on practice communities links to Prensky's notions on education by the educational native, immigrant divide being linked to different CoP's as well as specifically being different CoP's.

Week 9 - Question 5

5) Each student write your own abstract for each article. (5 abstracts each)

1. The purpose of this article, in 2001, was to answer the question ‘What should we call these “new” students of today?’ and ‘How do the people not born in the digital world think about this?’. Prensky expressed this opinion ‘Digital Immigrant teachers assume that learners are the same as they have always been, and that the same methods that worked for the teachers when they were students will work for their students now. But that assumption is no longer valid.’ this lead me to the conclusion that Digital immigration is ‘The Change’. Where one unskilled media alliterated person collides into the world of the digital age with an advanced Digital Native. An explanation about methodology, content, results, legacy and the future was briefly spoken about to begin an investigation into proving he was right in saying ‘But that assumption is no longer valid.’ Easy to understand to Immigrants and Natives.
2. As a ‘Part 2’ of the website above this article had the same structure but different content. In part one was a discussion about how the differences between Digital Natives and their Digital Immigrant is the root of many problems in today’s education. So naturally in this article was evidence. ‘these educators know something is wrong, because they are not reaching their Digital Native students as well as they reached students in the past. So they face an important choice. On the one hand, they can choose to ignore their eyes, ears and intuition, pretend the Digital Native/Digital Immigrant issue does not exist or they can chose instead to accept the fact that they have become Immigrants into a new Digital world, and to look up to their own creativity, their Digital Native students’. I found this very easy to relate to. I am a digital native being taught by a digital immigrant. Prenskys comment above, I feel, basically ‘it does what it says on the can’. I agree with what he is saying.
3. This website introduces a generation gap between the digital immigrants and the digital natives. From the 1980’s onwards the digital natives have been born leaving the digital immigrants, who had been born anytime before 1980 behind in a none digital age. They are called immigrants because they are seen as not belonging to the new age. This website sums up what a digital native is before reading the full article. ‘Digital Native - Noun - a person who has grown up in a world with digital technology such as the internet and mobile phones - opposite - digital immigrant.’
4. After reading a few other articles about digital immigration and after gathering an understanding of the term there were a few lines in this article that have made me agree with the term digital immigration. A few examples are ‘Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast’ ‘They prefer their graphics before their text’ ‘solution is for today's teachers to learn the language of the Natives, to speed up instruction’. The difference between this website and the others so far is that the author at least questions where the immigrants and natives are blurring as the older generation becomes more zavvi.
5. This article is expressing what Digital Natives are use to rather than the immigrants are. The internet, mobiles, digital cameras etc. (everything after 1980’s (again)). Glogowski suggests that this is what the digital natives are very comfortable with - the way they perceive reality is based on oral listening. Glogowski also has a different argument however compared to Prensky. Glogowski argues that ‘the two catagories of digital natives and immigrants do not accurately represent what is now happening in education’.

Week 9 - Question 4

4) In the Harvard manner, name five different academic articles dealing with the notion of young people's facility with the new world of converged media.

1. Prensky, M, (2001), ‘Digital Natives Digital Immigrants’ MCB University Press, Vol.9 No.5 http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pd
2. Prensky, M, (2001), ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part 2: Do they really think differently?’ MCB University Press Vol.9 No.6 http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.pdf
3. Maxwell, K, (2008), ‘Macmillan Dictionary - Buzz Word: Digital Native’ http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/digital-native.html
4. VanSlyke, T, (2003), ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: some thoughts from the generation gap’ http://www.wisc.edu/depd/html/TSarticles/Digital%20Natives.htm
5. Glogowski, K, (2005), ‘Blog of proximal development: Teaching. Blogging. Learning - Digital Pioneers?’ http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2005/08/01/literacy-in-the-digital-age-part-ii/

Week 9 - Question 2

2) Identify five different websites/five-pages-on-different sites dealing with digital immigration and its counterpart. Give their urls.

1. http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
2. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=digital+immigrant
3. http://www.blogscholar.com/content/view/72/2/
4. http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/12/reconsidering_digital_immigran.html
5. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/digital-native.html

Week 9 - Question 1

1) Find out about 'Digital Immigration'.
What Is it? Who cares about it? What sort of general attitudes have been based upon it?

Before understanding ‘Digital Immigration’ I think it is easier to explain who it involves. A ‘Digital Immigrant’ is a person over the age of 28. Those who were not born into the digital age, but do at some later point in our lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology are, and always will be associated as a ‘Digital Immigrant’. The opposite of a digital immigrant is a ‘Digital Native’, in reality anyone under the age of 28.

Marc Prensky uses the example of the difference between tutors and students ad does
Timothy VanSlyke. There is a general attitude that students are the digital native and the tutors are the digital immigrant, no matter how hard they try and adjust and work into the new digit age. He says ‘our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.’

With this in mind ‘Digital Immigration would appear to be the immigrants using new media but not using it to the full advantage or understanding it properly. Just as illegal immigrants, digital immigrants have a whole new world to adapt to. An online urban dictionary describe a digital immigrant as ‘Somebody who has popped up on an Internet site because of clicking on a link (sometimes accidentally). They don't have the slightest idea where they are at, but read the site information out of curiosity’ which shows an example of a digital immigrant trying to be a digital native. This would also help the identification of digital immigration to be the new age unknown ‘stuff’ for digital immigrants.

Week 8 - Question 6

6) In your blog, write a paragraph (or two) about your disagreements with each article -don't give away the proper name and title yet!

• The main argument I have with the first 3 articles is that I personally think that times are changing and the digital immigrant is a lot more alert today, at least if not slightly educated, about digital media. I think I agree with the 4th website about the natives and the immigrants merging together and almost becoming blurred. I think today’s digital immigrants are trying to become native’s and a little bit more ‘cool’ and ‘with the times’

• The other argument I have is with the last website I analysised. They spoke about digital natives being ‘comfortable’ and I’m not sure I agree with this. Yes the digital natives have grown up with digital media all around them but I can think of 2 explanations they would be uncomfortable. Firstly new media is still to this day always changing and upgrading and so are the people, which you would think is not an easy challenge. Secondly no-on in these articles mentions anything else about the digital native except the are born from the 1980’s onwards, into the digital age. However I’m sure if you were to show a computer or a mobile phone to someone in this categories but also someone who lives in a third world country they would also have no idea about it. doesn’t that make them a digital immigrant as well?

Week 8 - Questions 3

3) In your blog criticise each website (without giving details that would send a reader directly there) in terms of up-to-dateness, usability and practicing what it preaches.

1. This website was produced in 2001 so is slightly out dated. Using www.alltheweb.com this website was easier to find rather than just using www.google.com etc. Having said this the topic ‘Digital Immigration’ was a hard topic to research anyhow only finding topic titles such as Digital Immigrant. Especially not knowing anything about Digital Immigration before this topic I found it specially hard with limiting information. This website was simple enough for a first timer to understand and get to grips with what a Digital Immigrant was, using an every day-to-day example. With the understanding of the term Digital Immigrant, it was fairly easy to work out what the term Digital Immigration was. Practising what is preached was not so much of an issue with this reading but more relating it to my personal current situation. I could easily relate to what the text was saying and thought it was strange that I didn’t know about this term before hand even though I was living it (if that makes sense).
2. This seconds website I visited actually came up first on the web search, so very easily accessible. The website held 2 sources of information both with different dates. One 2005 and another 2007. As you can see these are more up to date than the website above. The other reassuring this about this website is there are rates for each dated text about whether people agree or not, and the majority did. This was reassuring as I was researching a topic which I didn’t understand or know anything about. As with the website above you can relate to the texts and put yourself and other around you into these situations.
3. This website is dated 2006 as is published by a trustworthy academic source. This site has a page dedicated to Digital Immigration even though the information is short it is interesting. With links to the publisher of the first website I analysised and links to other sources such as a ‘Sunday Times’ report this website talks about the 2 counterparts. As the first website this mentions ‘Digital Immigrants, but also about educational gaming which also helped me come to my own conclusion about what ‘Digital Immigration’ actually is.
4. The fourth website I analysised had a lot more information than the others so far. Even though it went along the same theory lines as the others it also went into more detail about Digital Immigration, Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives. I was compelled to believe the information on this website because of a comment at the bottom of the page which I thought was more than relevant. It discussed how technology is changing kids and their learning with the use of public events designed to celebrate the launch of a new series of books about the discussed topic. This website wasn’t wasy to find and took some hunting for using the search engine www.alltheweb.com and also www.worldofscience.com. This web site also has a blog attached so there is the chance to interact with the author of the webpage and other people interested in the subject of Digital Immigration. With dates on the blogs such as Dec 2007 this information is relatively new and interesting. I can relate to what … is saying on this website and feel like I am ‘practicing what it preaches’ on a daily basis. However since I didn’t know what the terms meant before researching this subject I was doing this unknowingly.
5. The author of this website was also an author to a book called ‘Brave new Words’ which seemed relevant since I didn’t know the words Digital Immigrant before this search. This website was very easy to find using a search engine and not hard to understand at all. Out of all the websites I would say this was probably to easiest to understand and the most useful. Dated in 2008 it is the most recent out of the 5 websites which also makes the information more relevant.

Week 8 and 9 - Explanation of topic

Use the follow information from ...
http://mchome.lincoln.ac.uk/units/placeholder_for_Digital%20N.htm
to answer the following questions - Blog the black questions only this week (8) and have the answers to the red questions ready to post in week 9

1) Find out about 'Digital Immigration'.
What Is it? Who cares about it? What sort of general attitudes have been based upon it?

2) Identify five different websites/five-pages-on-different sites dealing with digital immigration and its counterpart. Give their urls.

3) In your blog criticise each website (without giving details that would send a reader directly there) in terms of up-to-dateness, usability and practicing what it preaches.

4) In the Harvard manner, name five different academic articles dealing with the notion of young people's facility with the new world of converged media

5) Each student write your own abstract for each article. (5 abstracts each)

6) In your blog, write a paragraph (or two) about your disagreements with each article -don't give away the proper name and title yet!

Week 7 - New Zealand Elearning

http://www.elearn.govt.nz/elearn/elearn.portal

This website has produced a online community of practise. These few lines sum up the website pretty well... 'eLearn has been developed as a resource and tool to support those with an interest in tertiary e-learning. The portal's success depends on contributions of knowledge and information from its users across the tertiary education sector and in government' The New Zealand government was first alerted to the need for collaboration in the Highways and Pathways report that the e-Learning Advisory Group (eLAG) developed for the Ministry of Education in 2002.

This eLearn portal for New Zealands Trinity University provides...

• tools and information to support collaboration, networking and information sharing between e-learning practitioners, tertiary education organisations and government agencies
• communications, news and other updates relating to tertiary e-learning
• overviews, resources, projects and contacts associated with each of the Framework's seven action areas
• robust advice to assist in the development of e-learning and information on what e-learning enabled courses are available in New Zealand, and where

There are a number of benefits that collaboration, networking and sharing of information and experiences in a collegial manner can bring. These include reduced duplication of effort, leveraging shared expertise, and ensuring that developments are coherent and have strong and well considered foci.

Week 7 - Africa's Elearning

Education in a Health Disaster – Is eLearning a Solution?
http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/news164.php

this article is about the closure of schools in Zambia and how the situation is effecting education. the article intorduces the idea of Elearning and how this is helping the school pupils.

the first part of this afticle is just introducing the current situation to its readers/viewers. 'the Ministry of Education that all schools in the cholera-affected areas, scheduled to re-open on January 12th, should not open until the Cholera outbreak that had affected Southern Zambia was fully under control'. these few lines alone reveal to the audeince alot of information. Location (Southern Zambia), Situation (cholera outbreak effecting education and schools), Who (Ministry of education, Zambian Government, School children).

the paragraph goes on to speak of the negative effects of the schools closure. 'pupils argued that they were all going to write the same exam at the end of the year and that it was not fair for them to stay home while friends in areas unaffected by cholera continued going to school' This comment made me think is there a possibility or are the government making a big enough effort to maybe re-route some students into the other schools to get the full hands-on education which they are missing out on? i can understand that some schools are going to be at a fair distance but supplying public transport to the closer schools could have been an option.

'It is in this vein that the government should develop preparedness for times of health disasters by providing alternative eLearning lessons to children attending school' why hadnt this been thought of before? preparing the community for an enviroment change such as Elearning is going to be a big deal and natural disasters have been taking place for years so i wonder why the idea and concept of Elearning has not been apparent before. further on through this report Professor Sinkala states 'technology-enhanced learning would come in handy. "Pupils would not have to miss their lessons as they would access their teachers’ lessons through either an Internet cafe or from home or any convenient place arranged for that matter,"' The issues i personally have with this statement are if theres a cholera outbreak within the schools and local area that the children live in should going to an internet cafe be a safe options. The cholera virus is going to be in more places than just the schools and the other issue is the professor is assuming everyone will have contact with the internet, which in such countries is unreasonable. my reaction is backed up by the Professor himself as he states 'he did not think that there was an ICT tool that was available to all Zambian students that could effectively be used by students during health disasters such as a cholera outbreak'

As long as the students can get to the internet in a safe enviroment and all being well, an online Elearning process would make sence if nothing else can be done. it also states 'eLearning would also help to boost awareness of cholera' which will be an advantage to the community. Other advantages of Elearning would be - access to tutors as well as pupils and interaction, subjects such as english, science, history and geography can all be uploaded online as a lecture/lesson.

Radio is the Zambians number 1 ICT tool so are the government doing enough to advance this and make it avalible. on the other hand though it is good to know some people are making an effert to make a difference ... 'On the affordability of gadgets, John observed that the prices were now coming down and that parents should be able to afford them for their children. However, he suggested that it would be easier for all students to access these eLearning programmes on the radio, which was an ICT product that was found in almost every home, including rural households'

Week 5 - Analysising a website

The website i have decided to analysis is ... Darlington College - Homepage
http://www.darlington.ac.uk/

a) How is your chosen site structured.

Any website needs a basic structure to hold and organised the information and content. The three essential structures that are used to build a web site are sequences, hierarchies, and webs.

Sequences - A sequence is a logical way of ordering your information. This is simple to organise as well as simple to follow. Linear navigation is used to set a simple path to find different content on one site using links. More complex but still sequencial webpages may have more links on each linked page.
Hierarchies - The best way to orgaise a more complex web site, normally organised around a single home page, is to use hierarchies. Most users find this structure easy to use becuase it is the most common structure used. A hierarchie organised website also imposes a useful discipline on your own analytical approach to your content, because hierarchies are practical only with well-organized material.
Webs - A web organised structure has few restrictions on a pattern to hold the information and content. This structure allows the user to follow their interests in a unique 'free-flow' pattern of ideas. Web structures are often the most impractical structure for websites because they are so hard for the user to understand and predict.

With this information in mind i can see that the Darlington College website uses a logical but complex Sequenced layout. The home page to the website has captions such as 'courses and enrollment' 'apply online today' 'student support and resources' and these are hyperlinked to other pages. There is also eyecatching colours and your eye is directed from left to right - top to bottom. The user can be in-control of going straight to the chosen information by clinking on a hyperlink or brouse the website in good time - which is a positive thing.

A website like this, and may other college and university websites, where the user is being a researcher, needs to be simple but effective structure. Ive found a lot of shopping websites, such as large supermarkets that make online shopping avalible, use the same logical structures. A benefit of using a logical sequenced website is that the user, who wants to be able to explore freely but not get lost or confused, can do.

b) What is it about on a cultural level?

On a cultural level this website is helping persuade and inform young people, as well as middle aged people, to come to this college and be educated in the many different courses provided. The ideology from this website is promoting education to be the way forwards and offering chances as well as guidence for many people. Class is mainly built upon wealth and social experiences and education helps develop this. You could say that this website and many other university and college websites are guiding people into different cultures - cultures of personal choice.

c) What is the appeal for you as a user?

As a user for this website you are being a researcher. To explore this website you have a personal need and reason to find out information.

Personally i used this website, althought it has been slightly more update since, when i was looking into which college was best for me. As a user of this website i was attracted by the layout, it was easy to use and basic to follow which was helpful as well as useful. (finding the right college was hard enough without having to fight with a website too).

The home page looks youthful but practical, which is good as the site is aimed at adults as well as teenagers. Its attracting the right audeinces by the immediate look. The home page also gives the main links to other helpful pages and these are outstanding (but easy on the eye) so i didnt feel like i was searching but being guided (polietly).

Week 5 - Explanation of analysising a website

BY/FOR WEEK SIX: Briefly analyse a website (not blog, forum nor SNS) you like that you have come across recently.
a) How is your chosen site structured.
b) What is it about on a cultural level?
c) What is the appeal for you as a user?
Refer to some of the concepts we have discussed so far in the unit and link to pages you discuss as examples in your blog. You should write enough for you to feel that you have done your chosen site justice, and also your current level of understanding of the issues in the unit.

Week 5 - Meikle A-E

Meikle

a) para. 7-9 What do you think constitutes ‘news’ on the Web?

In paragraph 8 it says 'audience members are transformed into researchers.' News on the internet can be viewed in many different ways by the audience. Videos, pictures, text as well as newsgroups and news blogs. Having news online means that more imformation and different concepts of the imformation can be shared with people all over the world who are interested in the specific story. The audience trusts the intenet as a source of imformation and become comfortable with a wider source range. To summerise news on the web consitutes as a shift of comsumption from newspapers, television etc to a mix of all in one area - online.

b) Para 9 Are there ‘new kinds of journalist’ online? If so, how so?

Line 5 - 'newsgroups and Weblogs are considered as additional sources for information retrieval, rather than as new avenues for new kinds of journalists to develop and publish new kinds of news.' I'll be interested in seeing other peoples opinions on this matter. I agree and disagree with this statement made by Meikle. By new journlism im thinking about online interviews instead of face to face interviews. But i also think that online journalism is just the same as journalism but used in a different way e.g. instead of the information being processed and made into a newspaper (text form) its processed as an online text document or instead of a reconstrusction of news being played to the audeince on a television its uploaded online so it can be watched on a computer instead. Whats does everyone else think about this question?

c) Paras 14-15 Are those who want to make DIY news online, best thought of as part of an alternative culture (that also exists offline) or is it more diverse than that? Think of examples beyond Indymedia.

IM NOT SURE ABOUT THIS QUESTION, ANY OPINIONS AND HELP WILL BE APPRECIATED! THANKS!

d) Para 18 Is open news quality news?

I think that open publishing online is more quantity rather than quality. Para 18 line 8 says 'One issue was the large number of items being posted to sites, which meant that even especially well-researched or significant stories would be replaced quickly on the front page;' I think this statement sums up that well-researched 'quality' stories are not online long enough for the audience to read them and take notice of what the story is. So no i dont think open news is quality - however i also think there is more information about this subject to be read as well as this 1 paragraph so if anyone disagrees i do have an open-mind on the matter.

e) Para 19 Can open news ever be completely open? Do people take different (possibly unequal) roles in collaboration?

Para 19 line 7 'automated open-editing... or translate the story from one language or style to another' (Arnison, 2001). Peronsally i do not think that open publishing will ever be completely open. If the online news can be edited by anyone then how do we know that the story is definatly true? The quote states that audeinces can contrabute - this means anyone. facts can be checked and sources can be added - but how will we know that these facts and sources are true on an open site?

Week 5 - Explanation of topic 1 - Meikle

Things to think about. Meikle

a) para. 7-9 What do you think constitutes ‘news’ on the Web?

b) Para 9 Are there ‘new kinds of journalist’ online? If so, how so?

c) Paras 14-15 Are those who want to make DIY news online, best thought of as part of an alternative culture (that also exists offline) or is it more diverse than that? Think of examples beyond Indymedia.

d) Para 18 Is open news quality news?

e) Para 19 Can open news ever be completely open? Do people take different (possibly unequal) roles in collaboration?

f) What do you think of the overall claim that ‘the Net could facilitate new types of media institution’?

Week 4 - Social networking sites.

I think its important to express that you can get general and specific social networking groups. personally i have more use for general social networks however after some research i also have a knowledge about specific networks too.

Specific

Amie Street is an alternative online music store and social network service created in 2006 byBrown University seniors Elliott Breece, Elias Roman and Joshua Boltuch. Users have a individual customizable account where they add other users. comments can then be posted onto each users 'space' freely. There is also a "fan" feature so users can easily connect with bands on the site. Artist can upload their own musicdirectly to there site as an mp3. As the users buy the songs the artists get credited. Amie Street is simply decorated - and slightly simuliar to facebook in the use of colours - white and blue. the layout is easy to follow, from left to right, well indicated links to different pages etc.

Broadcaster is a video entertainment community and live webcam social networks . The site allows users to create personal profiles, post pictures, upload videos, and chat with the site's other users through a live webcam chat feature. Broadcaster is often refered to as an 'alternative media'.

General

Facebook is one of the most popular general social networking websites at the moment. This is a website i use daily. A personal account is set up easily by entering basic information about yourself, e.g. email address, age, create a password. Once your account is set up you can add photographs, videos a little like Broadcaster, but not live videos. Users can also add applications. A few applications i personally use on my facebook account is 'pet society'. this allows you to create a pet, feed it, look after it, complete races againt other pet etc. some other avalible applications are 'what colour are you?', 'super pokes', 'top friends', 'sticky labels', 'bumper stickers' and so on. Facebook also provides the users with private chat. you dont just have to post messages on 'the wall' because as long your your friends are also online at the time you can instantly chat.

Myspace and Bebo are also social networks that i have personaly been a member of. They work in the same way as Facebook by having personal accounts and the creativity of being able to upload pictures etc. adding friends and family members is the high idea of these social networks so people can keep in touch from afar and near. Myspace is well known getting unsigned bands noticed. Users create not an individual account but a band account. they add pictures, links to www.youtube.com of videos of the band, and their music. there music can be downloaded and added to profiles.

A good thing about all these social networks is that they are monitored. if any user feels that unappropriete footage, images or comments are being used this can be reported to the administraters and delt with.

the manipulation of personal identiy is not really an issue on Facebook and Myspace etc. the people you are friends with online are your friends also in 'the real world' so you dont have to pretend to be someone your not. also you can pick and chose who are your friends. if you do not know someone you can reject them.

as you can see there are a lot of simularities.

Week 4 - Explanation of topic 2

Start considering user-generated content / social networking sites.

In terms of the themes of the unit discuss with your study-group peers your own experiences and views on them, and give some links to examples.

Week 4 - A,B,C and D

a) p. 174 What do you think of the notion that online community can be empowering/disempowering?

I think the empowering part of an online community is that you (the online user) can be anyone or anything you want to be. you have the power to manipulte and control your personal identity to the extreme, if needs be. it is empowering to think that your online community share 'the same common relationships, shared values and shared spaces' pg174. as much as this is empowering to you, it could be empowering to another. knowing that personal identity can be manipulated, changed and false puts a trust issue on everyone within that online community.

the other way of looking at this question could be if you are popular in your online society, or if you started the only community you will have more power than less popluar or visitors to the community. belonging in a society or community can be quite empowering because you'll have a sense of belonging.

b) p. 177 Does the Net provide a ‘public sphere’ where citizens can engage with each other? If so, how, and are there any limitations?

Yes i do think the internet provides a 'public sphere'. people (citizens) from all over the world can engage and interact with each other. newsgroups, forums, bulliten boards, emails, MSN messanger and more all provide citizens with the technology/equipment to be part of the 'online public sphere'. communication, either instantly e.g. MSN or over a period of time e.g. fourms, provides a one on one as well as group interaction. these networks 'encourage us to take part in online debates and offer us a chance to talk back to the media' pg177.

this active consumption of the internet give us (the public) change to speak back to the media, for example newspapers and some magazines are now online with the ability for us to email them, complete online competitions, most have blogs that can also be interacted with. newsgroups for example the BBC online web, gives the public the chance to have their say using forums/ blogs etc about culture, enviromental issues, class, shared beliefs, politics, religion etc.

c) p. 181 To what extent are ‘dangerous materials’ prominent on the Internet (or ‘junk and jerks’ as Kollock put it)? What do their existence mean in terms of the ‘freedoms’ the Net allows? Is freedom always positive?

Freedom is not always a possitive thing on the internet, especially not for children and the younger generation. pornography and paedophilia alert panics. 'the internet is often seen by the consumers as a potentially open channel for frightening materials to enter the home' pg181. i can personally think of suicides that have been uploaded for people to watch, sadam's exicusion was almost immediatly put online. images such as these are not good for anyone to watch but children especially should not have the freedom to access all of the internet for reasons such as these. chatrooms are another network where freedom is not nessaserially positive. with the change of identity between some users, conversations that are obsense and inapropreiate can immerge.

hackers are also dangerous to us on the internet. 'revolutionaires of cybersociety' pg181. hackers can distroy and vandalise our personal electronic files. this is classed as trespassing. file exchange e.g. people can send photo files over MSN and downloading e.g. from websites such as bittorrent can mean computer viruses, set up by a hacker, can get into your system. meltdown. as we can see the internet has a lot of negative issues as well as positive e.g. interaction with friends and family, entertainment. it can be a dangerous place for many users.

d) p. 184-5 To what extent can ‘ordinary’ Net users become producers of culture, rather than people who ‘respond’ to culture supplied for them?

i think the obvious example i could use is music on myspace. depending on the defention of 'ordinary', ordinary people who form bands and produce music of a different and new genre are creating a new culture and are doing this online by creating a myspace page. myspace is a social network where people can post and comment on friends pages. but it is also a good way to get new and up coming bands music heard and noticed.

Week 4 - Explanation of topic 1

Respond to some of the points raised in the reading, Lister pp.172-82

a) p. 174 What do you think of the notion that online community can be empowering/disempowering?

b) p. 177 Does the Net provide a ‘public sphere’ where citizens can engage with each other? If so, how, and are there any limitations?

c) p. 181 To what extent are ‘dangerous materials’ prominent on the Internet (or ‘junk and jerks’ as Kollock put it)? What do their existence mean in terms of the ‘freedoms’ the Net allows? Is freedom always positive?

d) p. 184-5 To what extent can ‘ordinary’ Net users become producers of culture, rather than people who ‘respond’ to culture supplied for them?

Week 3 - Sherry Turkle 'Who am we?'

some interesting points picked up from the reading by Sherry Turkle ...

• online, windows allow us to be in more than one place at the same time playing different roles in different settings. does this mean that our real lifes are just one open window but there are also others that we may or may not know about?
• conversations online manipulate persona, romance and what can be counted on as 'real' in virtual space.
• being online links millions of people from all over the world. people from different cultures, with different genders, race, class, sexuality etc.
• 'we are using life on computer screens to become more comfortable with new ways of thinking about evolution, relationships, sexuality, politics and identity.' does anyone agree or disagree with this? i think i personally agree with this. i think people find it easier to express themselfs on screen rather than face to face because people are scared of judgement. also you can go to chatrooms etc where people have the same views as you about sexuality, race etc so you do feel more comfortable talking about these issues.
• being online makes us the creator/ producer of our own world. we have control.

Week 3 - online identities

a) In what way can the Net be thought of as an 'open architecture?'
HELP. does anyone have any ideas about this question because im not sure. good start i know!

b) Do you think that assuming an online persona (via screen name/handle etc) encourages people to play with identity they present online and take risks in the ways they express themselves?
i think people take many risks by experiementing with there online persona. pg 166 it is suggested that our online idenity is different to our writing a letter idenity and i agree with this but i also think it depends what manner you need to be in. for example if you were righting to a friend on a postcard you'd be relaxed, quick and prehaps quirky - which is how the friend would know you be to. however if you are writing to a new boss the letter would be more formal with expression such as 'dear sir/madam' or 'yours sincerly'. i think online idenity can be seen in the same way. who ever you are perceiving to be online will have different characterisics which will be expressed. a huge risk is pedophilla. a 35 year old white man could be online i either a chatroom or MUD etc pretending to be someone there not e.g. a 12 year old girl, someone there not to become closer and gain the trust of unsupected victims. being caught is a huge risk. there is a advantage to chaging your personality, which is you can be who ever you want to be if you dont like your real self. your online identity could be seen as a get away from the real life you!

c) What do you think of postmodern views which stress the fluidity of online selves and their apparent disembodied status, which has been argued frees people from being represented through signs of their race, gender, class etc?
pg 168 'online experiences are determind by social reality, material resources, by gender, sexuality and race.' i think this is suggesting that your real self influences who you are online (unconsiously or consiously) but i agree that these issues can also free people online. for example a lower class, female, who has poor education but enjoys playing tennis could interact online with a upper class, male, who plays tennis in his private school. these two people may never think of interacting together face to face because of the class and gender differences but online there real identities can be manipulated.

d) Do cyberidentities constitute an alternative to 'normal social reality'?
'Who are you when you are online' pg 167. i have mentioned before that your identity online can be an escape from your real life. for example - if your were being bullied, or if you were in foster care and you didnt think you life could get any worse, online you dont have to be that person. you could be a superhero if you wanted to be. i do agree that cyberidentities are an alternative to 'normal social reality' but they are maybe not the answer to some peoples overall problems. if you were being bullied you couldnt pretent to be a superhero forever in hope that it might change how you really are. the other thing id like to think about is what is normal? to people who are use to sitting in front of a computer in cyberspace it might be normal to them to not be themselves. other people online will actually talk about their true selves, to try and get help with any issues they may have. (i may have trailed off a little bit there)

e) Are online relationships the same as offline ones?
your never going to get the same atmosphere/representations online as your are face to face. althought you could be who ever you want to be online you in real life you have to be who you are, so deluding yourself i the long run isnt going to work to your advantage. people can make friends and chat online just as easily online if not more easily an this could be seen as an advantage to shy etc people but you are also missing human contact, body language, touch etc which you would get from a face to face relationship. i dont think online and offline relationships are the same but whos to say which way of having a relationship is right for who? i do think that now a days, since cyberspace etc has beena round people are more likely to sit at home and form virtual relationships than going out in the real world and actually making friends face to face.

Week 3 - Explanation of topic 1

This weeks topic 1 consisits of ... Respond to some of the points in the reading Lister et pg 164-172. raise any issues yourself on your blog.

a) In what way can the Net be thought of as an 'open architecture?'

b) Do you think that assuming an online persona (via screen name/handle etc) encourages people to play with identity they present online and take risks in the ways they express themselves?

c) What do you think of postmodern views which stress the fluidity of online selves and their apparent disembodied status, which has been argued frees people from being represented through signs of their race, gender, class etc?

d) Do cyberidentities constitute an alternative to 'normal social reality'?

e) Are online relationships the same as offline ones?

Week 2 - web forums/blogs

Consider web forums and blogs.

a) Navigation – how do you get around the web forum; is it an online conversation?

a forum, also seen as a message board, is set up so people can interact from all over the world. people who enter the blog (which is generally about a specific topic) write a post which could be questions to one another and comments to gain knowledge and share experiences. this provokes conversation between people who dont even know each other as people reply to posts on threads, which is why it is suggested that a forum is an online discussion site. to describe a forum as an online blog would be correct but unless you are online at the time the messages are not instant (such as a phone call). this is not a problem however as once the post has been posted it is saved online so people can view it whenever is suitable for them.

private messages can be sent from one forum member to another for personal questions. ignore lists can be used to hide posts from members that other members do not want the blogs to be shown to.

b) Expression – do you express yourself in the same way? How do we ‘take turns’?

when talking online, you can be whoever you want to be as your behind a screen only telling people what you want them to know. expression is difficult to put forwards through text, rather than face-to-face. body language, eye contact and tone of voice is an important part for expressing ourselves with seriousness, sarcasm, worry etc. however is it a good way of voicing your opinions without worry of the emotional details that would be evident face to face.

c) Interaction – how does it compare to face-to-face seminars

a seminar over a forum is alot less formal. there is not so much interaction between students and tutors but more mini discussions between students. when speaking face-to-face to a tutor a more fomal language is used. students are more likely to use text language for example - c u sn - however we have been told not to do this on our own forum, it does still happen. online learning has an advantage that it is easy to contact the other members and authors of the forum. it might be easy to contact them but the time period of getting an reply is not as quick as face-to-face, which is a disadvantage.

d) Time – activities being over a week?

as i have just said above the time period of getting a reply, from the right person, woth the right answer, is not predictable. on our forum we do only have a week to answer and complete topics so within that week we should get the information we want, however if we feel like we want to get on with the work and cant complete one bit before another time does become an issue.

e) Authority and identity – who is in charge?

forums are govened by a set of individuals, commonly known as administerators or moderators. they give permission for people to become members and make sure rules and regulations are followed. in the case of our seminar forum this would be our tutors.

forums require a regestration to post from all members. once you are a member of the forum you create a name and idenify yoursef however you see fit as long as it meets the rules and regulations of the administerators. to know the rules of the university forum we were given 'the rules of engaement' to read through.

f) Speech / writing – does the forum have features we would associate with either? A combination.

because a forum is used by any member of the public it has to have well known features. a forum maybe a new media but it has elements of old media as well. if this was not the case people would have to be tought different skills, languages etc.

a forum uses a combination of texts, images, sound and videos. they can all be added to relevant posts by individual members. uploading and adding files onto a forum is simuliar to adding them to an email or a blog.

g) Do you have the knowledge, the media ‘literacy’ to be a user, an advanced user? If not how does it feel?

i wouldnt say i was an advanced user of forums or blogs but it is quite easy to pick up. all skills needed to set up a forum/blog i have used before. for example regestering for MSN is more or less the same process regestering for a blog. as i have said above simularities such as up loading and attaching photos and files are very easy to do, because i have experienced the process before on such things as emails, social networks (facebook, bebo) etc.

Week 2 - Explanation of topic 2

From - E:\Uni work\Year 2\Semester B\New Media Cultures MCM2130\Weekly study guides - for blogs\week 2.mht

Consider web forums and blogs.

To go back to Livingstone’s point in lecture 2, is the asynchronous online seminar just doing what we would normally in a seminar do but online, or does the shift online change the nature of the communication and potentially the nature of your learning?

Some things to consider:

a) Navigation – how do you get around the web forum; is it an online conversation?

b) Expression – do you express yourself in the same way? How do we ‘take turns’?

c) Interaction – how does it compare to face-to-face seminars

d) Time – activities being over a week?

e) Authority and identity – who is in charge?

f) Speech / writing – does the forum have features we would associate with either? A combination

g) Do you have the knowledge, the media ‘literacy’ to be a user, an advanced user? If not how does it feel?

Week 2 - G,H and I

g) p.27 What do you understand by ‘non-linear, non-sequential reading and writing?’ Does it capture the experience of the Web?
through hyperlinks on the web the user experiences non-linear reading. example - if you were research world war 2 online you can jump from one web page to another using hyperlinks. this means you are not getting the arguement, narrative or observation as you would if you were reading a book. Linear and sequential reading and writing takes place through structures. a structure of a narrative etc means a pattern appears whilst the audeince is reading or writing and this helps everything to make sense. non-linear behaviour has less structureal patteren btu sense can still be made out of the information the reader is gaining.

h) p.33 If new media allows more people to be involved in cultural production (compared to mass media) what are these new voices saying in public? In a DIY and click-to-send setting, what kind of things are people sharing with others that comes from their private/domestic world and might otherwise not be distributed?
a range of different media has been launched that is for both customrs as well as professionals. for example - a video camera. the price ranges are different and so are the uses of the equipment. customers are more likely to be using their video cameras for home videos and also the hobbyest consumer. the consumer can now use wedsites such as youtube to upload their own videos for entertainment and infomal purposes. they could also set up there own private website and distribute their personal video footage, e.g. pornography.
CAN ANYONE ELSE CONTRIBUTE TO THIS?

i) p. 42 (and preceding discussion of interactivity) Is there such a thing as ‘ideal interactivity’? What form might it take? You can also refer to Meikle’s four types in the week 2 lecture.
doesnt an ideal interactivity depnd on the user? the users needs and want from the intractivity are important to answer this question. different forms of interactivity online consist of communication via e-amil. the emailer can be waiting for the recipient to respond either instanly or a period of time. however things like computer games, MUD's forums and blogs etc are different. interactivity with a computer game allows the auidence to be inside a 3D world, to operate the space and control the characters. this can work on a individual basis, so the audience is interacting with the computer or it could become multi-particapational. MUD's allow you to do the same but also be part of a online society. a virtual world where you can talk etc with the other members of the virtual society. this communication with one another takes place whilst both (or more) people are online.
THESE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLE I CAN THINK OF - IF YOU HAVE MORE PLEASE ADD THEM.

Week 2 - D, E and F

d) p.12 is there a clean break between analogue and digital media (cf. Bolter and Grusin’s concept of ‘remediation’)? Can you identify any commonalities? For example, is email based on the language of ‘letters’ and ‘the postal service’ because we have tried to fashion its communication functions in terms we are already familiar with?
digital means to be made smaller by the use of digits. once the physical properties of the input data light and sound waves are usedto convert the what was the physical form into numbers, not another physical object. whereas analogue means one set of physical properties can be stored as another physical form. for example a photograph from a non-digital could be saved a negatives or the actual photo itself. because of this i think there is a clear break between digital and analogue. digital (a new media) will always be faster and more sufficient than analogue.

e) p. 17 Digitality and code. Imagine you couldn’t compose your assignments on computer. How would a hand-written editing and composition process be different?
compared to a computerised assignment, the handwritten one would have to be writen more than once. to complete a rough draft, then edit mistakes, rearrange paragraphs etc. this would be made a lot easier on a computer via copying and pasting the selected texts. editing would take a lot more time and effort which could be avoided.

f) p. 21 What do you make of Lunenfield’s concept of ‘immersive interactivity’? What could we apply it to?
basically lunenfields concept of immersive interactivity, which is gaining access to data represention and 3D world, can be applied to computer games. the user can use this immersive interactivity to enter 3D worlds. the user can enter these virtual worlds and be inside the game, navigating characters, using the space and have potentional to explore this virtual world.

G,H and I coming soon.

Week 2 - A, B and C

a) p. 2 With Windows Vista replacing XP and Office 2007 replacing Office 2003, (and so on), what is ‘upgrade culture’ all about? Is some new media change just consumerism thought up by big business? upgrading culture is basically representing the rapid pace of change within the media. the example of office 2003 and office 2007 is a perfect example of. because consumers who use technology have expectations the 'newessed' is always going to be the most popular, however theres always going to be a 'newessed'. i do think that big businesses have an impact on the consumers ideas about new media.

b) p. 3+ According to Lister et al., some commentators stress the ‘newness’ of new media, but others (such as Kevin Robins) can be seen to be saying that nothing fundamental has changed, because new media technology is another product of capitalism, and therefore will fit into and serve a pre-existing capitalist society and culture, rather than transform it in any fundamental sense. Any thoughts? Can we critique this position? i can understand and see the points of view from both Lister et and K Robins. robins is right when says that new media will 'fit into and serve a pre-existing society and culture' because we already use new media and are expecting the new. it will probably fit into the pre-existing because almost anything new is a upgrade of something old and this would not transform the current situation a great deal. however for some societys that have not had certain technologies before this would not be an upgrade it would be a transformation in their society and culture.

c) p.11 Are new media a source of ‘progress’ in the sense that they enhance things we do in spheres of social activity – business, education, shopping, democracy etc? Could we say that such a proposition involves an ‘ideology of progress’? new media is another way of representing 'the most recent', 'the most modernist' and ' the cutting edge'. if we use the technology that is being advanced/ progressed then yes i agree that our social activities will be advanced - if we want them to be. e-mails, mobiles, MSN, social networks and blogs etc are communication technologies that are undergoing progress all the time to advance them for social activity. so id have to agree that new media are a source of progess that enhance our social activity sphere.

ive wrote this once... then my comp died so my answers are now only short as i had to do them again.
D, E and F coming soon.

Week 2 - Explaination of topic 1

Basically this weeks first task consists of answering a few questions, which can be backed up from last weeks reading (lister. p.g.1-44)
this questions needed to be answerd, see below, have been copied from the mchome webpage.

a) p. 2 With Windows Vista replacing XP and Office 2007 replacing Office 2003, (and so on), what is ‘upgrade culture’ all about? Is some new media change just consumerism thought up by big business?
b) p. 3+ According to Lister et al., some commentators stress the ‘newness’ of new media, but others (such as Kevin Robins) can be seen to be saying that nothing fundamental has changed, because new media technology is another product of capitalism, and therefore will fit into and serve a pre-existing capitalist society and culture, rather than transform it in any fundamental sense. Any thoughts? Can we critique this position?
c) p.11 Are new media a source of ‘progress’ in the sense that they enhance things we do in spheres of social activity – business, education, shopping, democracy etc? Could we say that such a proposition involves an ‘ideology of progress’?
d) p.12 is there a clean break between analogue and digital media (cf. Bolter and Grusin’s concept of ‘remediation’)? Can you identify any commonalities? For example, is email based on the language of ‘letters’ and ‘the postal service’ because we have tried to fashion its communication functions in terms we are already familiar with?
e) p. 17 Digitality and code. Imagine you couldn’t compose your assignments on computer. How would a hand-written editing and composition process be different?
f) p. 21 What do you make of Lunenfield’s concept of ‘immersive interactivity’? What could we apply it to?
g) p.27 What do you understand by ‘non-linear, non-sequential reading and writing?’ Does it capture the experience of the Web?
h) p.33 If new media allows more people to be involved in cultural production (compared to mass media) what are these new voices saying in public? In a DIY and click-to-send setting, what kind of things are people sharing with others that comes from their private/domestic world and might otherwise not be distributed?
i) p. 42 (and preceding discussion of interactivity) Is there such a thing as ‘ideal interactivity’? What form might it take? You can also refer to Meikle’s four types in the week 2 lecture.

ill be answering these questions before i begin the next task.

Week 1 - a) What are the characteristics and b) How do you use them if you do

a) What are the characteristics (in terms of the kinds of communication they allow) of the following?:

Email and email lists - email stands for electronic mail. it is an instant text messaging service that is free as long as you have the internet. all you need is an e-mail address which you can easily and quickly create on sites such as www.hotmail.com. as well as sending texts through email you can also send images and files to the recipiant. this way of communication is very diverse because information through emails can be sent globally and by anyone. i regulary send emails to keep in touch with my family whilst im at uni and alos to keep in touch with tutor and fellow co-students.

IRL’s chat rooms, messenger services - MSN and skype are example of messenger services. chatrooms and such services allow people to comminucate instanly as long as the 2 (or more) people are online. an online community is formed where keeping in touch with old friends as well as making new ones can be made easy. people from all over the world can connect to each other through forums and blogs through posts, however private messaging can be used to. i use MSN everyday to talk to friends and family. it is a chaep and effective way of communicating.

MUDs + MOOs – merging with online gaming - MUD stands for multi user dungeon. virtual worlds are very popular now a days. anyone with the internet, from all over the world, can become part of a virtual world. computer games online allow people to form indiviudal characters who can communicate with other virtual characters.

Website - websites are a specific selection of web pages that are individualised by an address or URL and can only be acsessed on the internet. texts, images, sounds, videos etc are all used within webpages to interest and attract the viewers. often websites will use emails to contact you for example if you have bought something from a shopping site. personaly i use website a lot for reseach purposes. to find out information on a varitie od different subjects.

Week 1 - Dispersal - can anyone help???

hey guys...

can anyone of you simplify 'Dispersal' for me? im not sure im understanding it correctly!
is this the kinda thing i shud be blogger or putting on the forum?

thank you

Week 1 - my reading notes

well the basic meanings ive got from this is...
1. new media is used in everyday life and is all around us e.g. computers, cameras, mobiles etc
2. new media means the most recent, which shows loads of changes in media production
3. communication is involved alot

some important words linked to the discourse of new media are...
1. digital
2. intertextuality
3. hypertextuality (which i need to look up again) - anyone?
4. dispersal
5. virtuality

the difference between...
1. analogue - media existing in a fixed physical object in he world
2. digital - media may exist has analogue hard copy but contents are name of binary numbers stord in the computers memory


more intense meanings in a bit - lol

Week 1 - explaination of topic 1

of mchome you can see the weeks reading and some tips/hints/questions about the reading we need to think about... extract below from mchome...

TOPIC 1 wk 1
Please familiarise yourself with the range of communication forms on the internet.
Do some online research and share your thoughts with others (IRL or online)
a) What are the characteristics (in terms of the kinds of communication they allow) of the following?:
b) How do you use them if you do; what for; what’s your experience of using them?
Email and email lists
Usenet and Bulletin board systems
IRL’s chat rooms, messenger services
MUDs + MOOs – merging with online gaming
Website
(Lister et al. p 166)

basically i think we all did a pretty good job today of familiarising ourselves with the internet/blogs/IRL...

im begining the reading asap... tonight probs (let me know once u get through it) or bits of it. and of course what you think of it. if theres a certain bit you think could benefit us all etc...

ill be lookin at a and b (above) whilst ready and let you know what i thought too.

awesome

Lecture 20-1-09

hey guys...

just wondering what everyone thought of the lecture and seminar which explained this module? plus im trying to get my blogs up and running! lets really encourage each other to keep at it... even if you hate life etc etc lol

personally i thought it was basic, understandable and quite interesting. it was easy enough to set up a blog... im even thought this is my 2nd blog im enjoying being a blogger. thgouth the lecture was long and repeated things from the seminar but it was useful. remember RINCY... read it no comment yet. anyway...

how about you lot... what are your thoughts about the project?

my love for german sausage

i have never eaten a german sausage...

love for german sausage...

none