Week 10 - Web 3.0

There's alot of websites which actually compare the semantic web with web 3.0 because of their similarites in making the web smarter. However when i was looking at this website it seemed like Web 3.0 was more advanced http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2102863,00.asp. Not only does it try to improve search engines, but it also embraces a

• '3-D Web' - where a user becomes involved in this completely different world.
• A 'Media-Centric Web' - where a user can incorpate other pieces of technology to improve their search results.
• A 'Pervasive Web'- a web that is 'everywhere'. Such of like a mini 'Big Brother'

Im pretty sure that a Neo-Luddite might want to end it all when Web 3.0 comes around.

Week 10 - What is the 'Semantic Web'?

Semantic Web isn't a completelyt new idea but an extension of web 2.0. A concept coined by Tim-Berners Lee who saw how the web can somehow be improved, especially in terms of search engines. Berners-Lee observes that although search engines show much of the Web's content, they have little ability to select the pages that a user really wants or needs. For example,because of the hypertext link, 'anything can link to anything. Therefore there could be a mix match of commercial and academic material. At 'one end theres fice-second TV commerical to poetry' and then 'on the other end we have databases, programs and sensor output'.

However semantic web is trying to change all this. It will change how the current internet is made for humans and not for machines to understand. The semantic web is a vision of information that is understandable by computers, so that they can perform more of the tedious work involved in finding, sharing, and combining information on the web, rather than it involving human interaction




Berners-Lee, T (2001) 'The Semantic Web' http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~rfrost/courses/SI110/readings/In_Out_and_Beyond/Semantic_Web.pdf

Week 10 - Is there a potential problem being stored up for people if education is tailored to fit into their cultural and personal preferences

Of course there is a problem is there's tailored to fit into someones personal preferences, because how would that ever work? If everyone had their own preferences in what they wanted a course to be like, how much work they wanted, what aspects they found boring and therefore didnt want to learn about it, then there would be no structure to anything.

Some people find maths pointless. Does that mean that people shouldn't learn math unless they wanted to. I have encountered many times, where i've absolutely dreaded a course because either it was too hard i wasn't interested. This doesn't mean that it didnt mean that i just didnt bother, i gave it a go and after i felt like although it may have been hard, it stretched my education. I always thought that learning in German in secondary was pointless as their are many other main languages to learn, however believe it or not i tooka school trip to Austria, and there were many occassions where i was able to talk to the people there, i felt like it was totally worth it.

Week 10 - How might Wengers notions on practice communities relate to Prenskys on Education

There are some aspects of Wenger that can be applied to the work of Prensky. Wenger (1991) described a Community of Practice as 'a set of relations among persons, activity and world, over time and in relation with other tangential and overlapping CoPs'. Wenger studied the ways in which people naturally work and play together. Communities of practice are groups of people who share similar goals and interests. In pursuit of these goals and interests, they have common practices, work with the same 'tools' and express themselves in a 'common language'. Through these aspects they are able to form a community.

This ideology could be related back to Prenskys concepts of the 'digital native' and the digital immigrants'. They both are two different communites. The 'digital natives' have a 'common language' which bonds them all together, they know how to communicate with eachother, they can use technology in the same way and are able to learn. Whereas, the 'digital immigrants' have a completely different language, which puts them into a different community.

Not only this but they both speak strongly on learning. Prensky thinks that the education system needs to be changed, so that these 'digital natives' aren't being taught by an older generation who still believe in structure and endless amounts of books etc. Wenger then would believe that this could be achieved 'learning' an organisation can sustain their communties of practice and 'thus become effective and valuable as an organisation'. Therefore if people learn how to communicate with eachother, change could occur. In 1998 Wenger would describe this through the concept of 'negotiation of meaning'. If a negotiation between a 'digital native' and a 'digital immigrant' occurs, then there could be change.

Week 9 - d) daily frustrations of a fictional neolddite at university now in the UK

The term 'Luddite' came from the Industrial Revolution. A luddite was against the shift from people to machines doing most of the work. From the 1970's the Neo-Luddite was born, these were people who were against the use of technology and sometimes even chose life without the use of technology altogether. Their even against the use of life supprt machines which i find really odd.

Anyways heres Jim. He attends university. Although it was extremely hard for him as applying for uni involved the use of UCAS on the computer. Anyways he's here and wants to get stuck in. His first day of uni is very difficult. He is unable to look at his timetable as it needs to be accessed by logging onto his lincoln account. So he has to walk to the faculty office and they are able to tell him.

He attends his first seminar, and gets along fine with everyone. He disapproves with the use of a powerpoint as an introduction but listen anyways. The tutor then asks the seminar to form a group and swap mobile numbers and email addresses. There's absolutely no way for Jim to put down anything as he's never used email before and doesn't approve of mobile phones. So he has to write down his address so that if someone wants him, they have to visit him, which doesn't humour the rest of his group very well and from the on feels shut out.

He obtains bad marks because he writes he handwrites his essays and when he's asked to do presentations, he stands in front of the class with a flip board and a few pens, trying to express his opinions, whereas is fellow students are able to produce a powerpoint, with video's and images. He is shut out from social events because they are all organised on Facebook or through text. He feels shut out from most aspects of university life and finally drops out.

Week 9 - c) A person known to you who most threatens the notion of native/immigrant in digital culture

Well i could stick to my Uncle who is 45 and is finds computers natural. Supposedely anyone who's born before 1980 aren't capable of using computers and are considered a 'digital immigrant'. However im a 'digital native' and i'm forever asking him to fix my computer, as i've managed to get a virus, or i ask if he can sort out my internet because i've lost my connection. I've been to him for computer advice more than i've been to Mcdonalds. I'm even able to talk to him on IM and he uses the same language as what i do, he doesn't have an 'accent' like Prensky explains. He is more like a digital native than i'll ever be. I'm still learning about computers and i should be fluent in technology according to Prensky.

Week 9 - b) The youngest digital immigrant you know

The youngest digital immigrant is my step dad. I would to say my younger brothers and prove Prensky wrong but my stepdad who is 39 is absolutely useless. Everytime i go home, he asks me to do something, like to even change his mobile phone ringtone or upload some photos onto the computer. Im sure my youngers brothers who are 9 and 10 would be able to tell him now. He is learning though and is now on facebook chatting away. He just isn't as capabable of using a computer as my uncle who is a couple of years older than him. Maybe it comes with the job, my uncle having to learn about computers because of work? Maybe not though cause i know loads of family members who can use computers and their jobs dont need the use of computers. Who knows.

Week 9 - a) The oldest digital native you know

the oldest digital native i know is my uncle, he is 45. His job is based around computers and works for the American Air Force. He says he cant tell me much about his work because its 'secret' ha, but i know that on a day to day basis he specialises in being an IT Technician. I know Prensky once stated that the young and old use computers different, but i think that that my uncle uses computers just the same as any other youngster. After work, he would be on the internet, chatting on IM, buying and selling things, scanning photo's onto his computer etc. So even though he uses computers for work, he also uses it for entertainment purposes too. He is quite capable of using computers and definately a digital native in my books.

Week 9 - Should Education Stretch A Person?

In this context i think 'stretch' means to ensure that a person who's in education is able to get to their full potential. Sometimes people dont see education as a big deal, their not interested in higher education and only go to school because they have to. They dont mind if their grades are average but as long as they pass or even if they dont, it ok. I think education should definately stretch a person. If i hadn't of come to uni, i would have ran away from the thought of any presentation, but the more i do, the better i get and the less nervous i become, its only because i've had to do the presentations that i've done them, if i was given an option i would of chose the alternative.

Week 8 - Article 5 Abstract

Prof. Jim Lengel tries to explain how 'simply owning a computer abd subscribing to the interent does not bring you the advantage of connectedness, its what you do with it that counts'. Simply put, what Lengel tries to show is that young people aren't using their computers correctly, a divide stretched by entertainment pulling in one direction, and education in the other. He interviews a couple of his students to try and prove his theory, but it lacks in proper research methodology for the most part. His idea's are interesting as its a new approach to the 'digital divide' and shows hows it not just the young and old that use the net differently, but its actually the young that are using technology differently between themselves. What was left out of the equation was why?

Week 8 - Article 4 Abstract

Writing in 2004, Marc Prenksy develops his 'digital divide' concept from education, into how a young people behave online. The whole article is expressing how the way that these young people 'digital natives' behave online compared to older people 'digital immigrants'. He splits these differences into a variety of catergories, for example

• how the two groups communicate differently (email, IM, chat)
• how the two groups share differently (blogs, webcams ect)
• how the two groups exchange differently (music, movies, humour)
• how the two groups create differently (avatars, sites, mods)

The main part of his argument is how that because of the two differences in behaviour, the 'digital natives' are moving forward, whereas the 'digital immigrants' are 'afraid of the new technology'. A person cold either agree with his work or disagreem , however what Prensky has done right, is form a basis for argument. Many theorists have either followed him or offered an alternative. He is the king of the 'digital divide'.

Week 8 - Article 3 Abstract

Momino and Menesis decide steer away from the usual arguments on the ‘digital divide’ and talk about other theorists, for example Lievrouw (2000), DiMaggio & Hargattai (2001), who after much research on this subject seemed to be over shadowed by Prensky. What this article goes to explain, are the ‘digital inequalities’ for children, how it’s the lack of access to technology might create ‘digital illiteracy’, children need to learn about technology by using it and if they cant get their hands on it, then they become divided by everyone who can.

What is apparent is that this article isn’t about what technology does to the children, but what children do with it and how they can get to it. Ultimately there’s more of a focus on social aspects rather than a young and old difference. Therefore shedding light on a completely different ‘digital divide’, the divide between the ‘rich’ and the ‘poor’.

Week 8 - Article 2 Abstract

This article by Don Tapscott is in short, a timeline of how media has changed. By using his own experiences and a few references. His main argument is how there's a 'net generation'. A generation that consists of 0-20 year olds, who have different habits to their predecessors, 'they learn, work, play, communicate, shop, and create communities very differently than their parents'. Their use of media is different and find tv unfulling.

This article may not be relevant as it probably was back in 1998 but it does reflect on how the digital divide started and reflects back to Prensky's work, suggesting that this new 'net-generation' are the 'digital natives' and their parents being 'digital immigrants'. The article is split up into sections, with Tapscott explaining how these children cope with education, leisure time and fit this new media into their everyday lives.

Tapscott is explaining his views on american technological changes, however being that the UK runs alongside America in terms of technological change, and on some scale countries have become americanised, a reader like myself could easily understand what the author of this article is saying.

Week 8 - Article 1 Abstract

Livingstone and Bovill not only reflect on some digital divides like the work of Marc Prensky's, on how teachers may be 'digital immigrants' when the article states that 'teachers are increasingly faced with children with different computer experience and expertise', but the article also expressed other digital divides, between the children themselves. The article emcompasses how changes in the media are now being reflected in everyday lives and are being assimilated. Not saying how this reflects every child, but stating that it depends on lifestyle factorsa, gender and access. Therefore showing a divide between the children instead of it being between referred to age, like Prensky.

The article is based on numerous amounts of research, and although it may not be relevant today, it does give an account of how media has shifted; shedding some light on new media and saying how 'converging screen technologies may be contributing to the blurring of boundaries between information, education, work and entertainment', which although was a concern for Livingstone and Bovill in 2003, is still a concern nowadays, with numerous arguments stating that new media affects a children in some way, good or bad.

Therefore the article looks at how children consume media, the effect that it has on education, traditional media and a look at some aspects of new media.

Week 8 - List of Articles

1) Livingstone, S., Bovill, M. (2003) 'Young People, New Media, Media Culture Online' http://www.mediacultureonline.de/fileadmin/bibliothek/livingstone_young_people/livingstone_young_people.pdf [accessed 25/3/09]

2) V. Tapscott (1998) 'Growing up Digital: The rise of the Net Generation' http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jan98/feat_6/digital.html [accessed 25/3/09]

3) Mominó, J.M., Meneses, J. ‘Digital inequalities in children and young people: A technological matter’ http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/36/38359326.pdf [accessed 25/3/09]

4) Prensky, M. (2004) 'The emerging online life of the digital native: what they do differently because of technology and how they do it' http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-The_Emerging_Online_Life_of_the_Digital_Native-03.pdf [accessed 25/3/09]

5) Lengel, J (2009) 'Teaching with Technology: The Digital Divide' http://www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/the_digital_divide.shtml [accessed 25/3/09]

Week 8 - Article 5 Criticism

This article looks at approach to the 'digital divide', so far we've looked at the young and old, who has access and who doesn't and no its education against entertainment. Prof. Jim Lengel explains its useful for their to be technology present within education, however when he asked his pupils about 'what they actually know how to do with a computer', he gives some of his students responses to which one of them responded 'I do instant messenger with my friends, we email, and I surf the web. For what? Oh. movies, news, sports, that kind of stuff' because his pupils didnt mention anything about using computers for educational purposes, it seems like he's basing this one bit of information (which by the way is not representative of all of his students im sure), and going off on a massive tangent, saying how young people dont know how to use their computers effectively when it come to using them for learning. The fact that his lack of statistics and representative data ensure that his findings dont seem professional, its his actual conclusion. I know that i use my computer for entertainment purposes, by i always know how to use it productively. His theory lacks references and statistics and therefore makes this article seem unacademic and therefore hard to believe.

Week 8 - Article 4 Criticism

What better way to disagree with the 'digital divide' concept than to go to the main author of it. The main problem that i have with Prensky is that i feel that he stereotypes the two groups too much, he doesn't offer any other opinion but his own and i cant get over how someone who's a 'game designer' could say that 'digital natives' and 'digital immigrants' game differently, but the way he's describing how a young person may game, is similar to himself and if he was using his own theory he therefore wouldn't be a digital immigrant, and so basically shooting himself in the foot. After reading many other articles on the 'digital divide', who use the word 'divide' in other ways, i find myself more and more disengaged with what Prensky's saying. I can accept that at times young people are better at using technology than their parents, but i also know loads of adults who are perfectly fine. Becoming computer literate is a learning curve and anyone, if they have the access can learn the ropes. I have loads of older family members on 'facebook' and they use it more and in the same way as i do. Prensky doesn't think of the individual but thinks of the whole picture, which is wrong because everyone uses technology differently.

Week 8 - Article 3 Criticism

The article is composed by research carried out on 6,602 in depth questionnaires, being a representative sample of 350 primary and secondary schools in Catalonia (Spain). At first glance i thought that because of the different culture, the findings may be completely different and impossible in relating it back to some of the previous work that i've looked at. However i actually enjoyed reading this article. Despite the fact that the research doesn't even have a date, the lastest reference used was back in 2005, and the authors aren't recognisable with a background that hints at the authors being worthy of reading, what they do state are different approaches, that when i was questioning Prensky's work has been acknowledged, for example i questioned the access of technology. If a child doesn't have access to a computer, then how can they be working at become literate and therefore be considered a 'digital native'. This article however looks at these 'digital inequalities'

Their work sometimes looks at both sides of the argument, but there is one point that i may disagree with, the issue of a parent being a childs main educational agent, also passing on their uses of technology to their children. I disagree with this as i think children are autonomous, i think that a child would just use technology whether their parents use it or not.

Also the article may be easy to read but their main aim is to use the research to offer 'elements of reflection' for educators to try and make the technology more available. However i think society has already taken care of that already, with many schools adopting technology for kids no matter what their inequalities.

Week 8 - Article 2 Criticism

Article 2: On the surface this article seems note worthy however as i read, i realised that the article lacked on theoritical concepts and bibliographic sources. Most of what Tapscott stated was backed up by his personal experiences and although it was put across in a way that was easy to read, it felt like there was no substance and i had to use my knowledge to tie up loose ends. If i was an outsider of new media, i wouldn't trust it. Especially as like the first article, it kinda outdated being wrote in 1998; for example he makes a statement about 'how there's a decline in television viewing hours because viewers have no real power', unlike the internet. I think that putting that into todays society, would completely put the statement out of place. Think of 'channel 4 on demand' and the 'iPlayer', these can be accessed through the internet, plus tv has even evolved over the years, with its increase in digital television and therefore more choice, interactive tv etc. Tapscott may of referred to Prensky's work by stating that 'traditional approaches to education are linear' and kids dont like a structure but because this was a tiny section of the whole article, the rest of it being examples of his life and a run down of a history of old media, then the added fact that this was wrote in 1998 makes this article less appealing.

Week 8 - Article 1 Criticism

Article 1: This article may have been relevant when it was written in 2003. However, with the technology changing all the time, the article's claims seem to be outdated. For example, within the text a statistic was given saying how only around '1 in 5 (19%)' of children had used the internet. Now im taking a guess, but i doubt that the figure would be the same 6 years on. With change in acessibility of the internet nowadays, for example the increased access of the internet, whether its wireless or on mobile phones and how education system are making more units based around computer technologies, i could imagine that that the figure would have an increase. The article even states how music plays a significant role in their social interactions, which is fair enough but then it says how they would swap CD's and Video's with eachother. There findings on how depending on access, children and young people generate their own styles of media use is an interesting concept, and if applied more to new media, this article would be quite interesting as it does shed some light on a 'digital divide', but this 'digital divide' is just not as relevant to others.

Week 8 - What Is Digital Immigration

After looking at many different articles on 'digital immigration' i now can try and explain the concept in my own words. An 'immigrant' is a person that has moved someone new and so has to adapt (assimilate) to their surroundings. A 'digital immigrant' an analogy which shows how a person has to adapt not to surroundings but to technological changes. These are people who were born prior to 1980. These people don't find technology natural, and they have still have various accents, Prensky, a main contributer to 'digital immigration' says that a person with a 'thick accent', would ring someone up and ask if they had received their email.

On the other hand, there's the 'digital natives', people who were born between 1980 -1994. They have grown up with technology, they understand text message language, they can multitask and find technology natural to them.

Marc Prenksy uses these two concepts within the education system and says how the teachers are 'digital immigrants' and teaching 'digital natives' with different needs and therefore these teachers need to change their approach to teaching these kids, otherwise they'll become 'bored'. These teachers focus on step by step approaches, an array of textbooks which don't fit in with todays kids.

The main debate over digital natives is based on two key claims

1. that a distinct generation of 'digital natives' exist
2. that education must be changed to meet the needs of the 'natives'

There has been many different approaches to Prensky's concepts. Bennett, Maton & Kervin (2008) state how its merely a moral panic. Based on Cohen 1972, they describe how a concensus has been made that these 'native' school kids need a change in education style, without any arguments being made. As there's not much evidence to back up what Marc Prensky suggests.

Whilst looking at Prensky's concept i thought how much of what he was saying may have been relevant at the time, but now i think its become outdated. It says that 'digital immigrants' are people who were born before 1980. Nowadays i think there's an array of people who are able to use technology just as well as people who may be considered 'digital natives'. Personally i think, Prensky persumes that these 'natives' all had access to these technlogies. What if a child was born between 1980 and 1994, but didnt come into contact with technology and to this day doesn't have a wide knowledge. Ultimately, this would suggest that their traits are somewhat like a 'digital immigrant'. I think Prensky should allow more leverage. There's some people that could be hard to place. I know some adults who can use technlogy better than i can.

Im not dismissing Prensky, but i think that you cant just take what he says at face value. I think Dave Kenyon said the other day that we've been the best group so far to take this unit (maybe not me lol) and he suggested how it might have been because we have more knowledge of how to use the internet, compared to previous years. This could possibly be linked back to Prensky, maybe we are more 'native' than others, i just dont think that someone should be defined exclusively as a 'digital native' or 'a digital immigrant' because of age, i think it just depends on the individual, whether they've had access to technology, wheher they prefer old technology to new etc.

Week 8 - Website Url's

• Website 5 -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Immigrants

• Website 4 -

www.cheeps.com/karlmaton/pdf/bjet.pdf

• Website 3 -

www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

• Website 2 -

http://educationalissues.suite101.com/article.cfm/digital_natives_and_digital_immigrants

• Website 1 -

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=digital+immigrant

Week 8 - Website Criticism 5

This was a very risky website as anyone can input data into it. It shows a short summary of what 'digital immigrants' and in fact has some use as it focuses more on where the anology came from and on Prensky's concept of 'accents', which in other articles have been overlooked by his work on education.

It says that the site was modified on February 4th 2009, which is the most recent article that i've looked at so far. However if i was to compare this website to the others, i would say that this site would only be useful if it was an introduction to 'digital immigration' or like me a summary, as it only gives account of what the term is. There are argument for and against. Moreover, one argument is very strange and applies Prenskys work with 'Eloi and Morlocks' which are fictional species based on H.G Wells 1985 for his novel 'The Time Machine'. I suppose it could be linked to this concept but to me it seems to be a perculiar link.

Furthermore, there are other references, which if backed up with previous websites makes sense. Ultimately like i wrote, this site would be useful for an introduction or a summary, nothing more. It lacks in extensive reliable information.

Week 8 - Website Criticism 4

This website is very recent, which already makes the article on 'digital immigration' relevant and probably more relevant to the user as previous websites have shown articles that were written years ago and may now be outdated. It states how theres three writers, all from an academic background, which is promising. Prior to this i read someones blog, who worked for a mobile company, they said how 'digital immigrants' are just ignorant, no references but just based on experience. I decided not to focus my attention to this.

The article has 'draft' written on it, which said to me that maybe it wasn't finished properly, spelling mistakes etc. However as i read through the article, it was very easy to read, it had an array of references, which are all listed in a Harvard style at the bottom and most importantly it took both stances. It didnt preach about 'digital immigration', it said how it may be flawed,

Out of all of the websites so far, this is by far the most all rounded, not only did it tell me more about Prensky's work, but also answered many queries that i had from reading other websites.

Therefore, its up to date, uses references and comprises of a full academic argument.

Week 8 - Website Criticism 3

Already knowing that Marc Prensky is a main spokesmen on 'digital immigration', this article at first glance shows me that i can trust what im going to read. However you might then question whether it then might be biased; by the end i find this apparent. Again there's no counter arguments, im starting to think that their aren't any, but there must be.

However this didnt mean that i didn't agree with what Prensky wrote. He took the term 'digital immigrant' and 'digital native' from what i already knew and placed it within our educational system and whilst i was reading the article i felt myself argreeing with his statements 'digital immigrant teachers assume that learners are the same as they've always been, and that the same methods that worked for the teachers when they were students will work for their students now'. Then again whilst i was at school, this may have been the case, because he was writing in 2001, which might suggest that there has been changes and that there's no longer a divide between the 'immigrant' teachers and the 'native' students.

The site was useful, then again it may or may not be out of date, im sure that at the time however that what he was writing about did hold some truths, with many examples running throughout the text, 'monkey wrench' for example.

Week 8 - Website Criticism 2

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.

Compared to the first website i found, this website offers more insight into 'digital immigration' and even as far to state the opposite 'digital natives'. After reading the article within the website, i felt like i understood the concept more clearly. However there's still some flaws.

The article does shine light on Marc Prensky, apparently crediting the term 'digital native', what this does, is make the article seem more reliable, as the article has been written by Greg Creuy; there's a hyperlink that the user can click on to look at his profile and by doing so you can see whether the author is credible. This is beneficial but its also nice to know that a published author (Marc Prensky), who actually came up with the term, is acknowledged.

Moreover, there's no counter arguments, it seems that as a user, you have to take everything at face value, which definately isn't the case.

The date is very recent which is a plus as technology is changing all the time, so what a person might have said a few years ago, might not fit into todays society.

Ultimately, i dont know whether its the article that i disagree with or with the actual concept itself, but i found that the two terms 'digital native' and 'digital immigrant' were two broad. Whilst i was reading i thought 'surely theres a someone who could fit between the two'. Someone who remembers 'telephones that had to be attached to the wall by a cord', but then also find the use of technology 'natural'. The article states that 'digital immigrants' would still choose their 'dusty photo' over uploading them onto their computer. Well what if they prefer looking at their photo's that way and its not because they just cant use the technology? what if they have a mix between the two. Would they still be considered a 'digital immigrant'?

The site is useful for people who don't know anything about the concept. However it lacks in counter arguments. Therefore it seems less academic.

Week 8 - Website Criticism 1

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.

Considering that i didnt know what 'digital immigration' was before i looked on the website and now i have a slight knowledge, gives an indication that the site was useful. However because there's two definitions that are both different, how could i possibly determine which one is the right definition in this context

First definition: 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, and occasionally buy items if they are listed for sale.

Second definition: Someone who grew up before the digital age and is fairly new to the internet. Basically anyone over the age of 28

This however isn't the websites fault, its my knowledge of what 'digital immigration' is. However because the website is very basic. There's no theorists to back up the statements which brings up whether a user can even trust the sites information anyways. There is a rate system which allows visitors to the site to click a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' icon, but as a new visitor, its hard to know what the rating system is, if someone was to click a thumbs down is that because the statement isn't true or is it because they just dont like how its worded.

Overall a very basic website which needs to be backed up by other sites with more information.

Week 7 - ICS Distance Learning Courses

When i first looked at distance learning, especially in regards to China, i spoke of how i didn't think it should be the sole contributor to our learning unless it was pyschically impossible to learn otherwise, this still being my thoughts as i look into 'ICS'; http://www.icslearn.co.uk/ , an organisation that provides people the option to study at home. As i looked through the site, it told me how there were many benefits to the programme such as;

• Learn in your own time
• Learn while you earn
• Learn to earn
• Supported open learning

The website states that over '13million' people have benefited from the programme with '150 courses' on offer, from GCSE's, to BA Honour degree's. This all seems fantastic but there are some questions to raise about distance learning. For instance there are options for oversea students to be involved, however they have 'to come to the UK' to sit exams. Therefore this isn't really providing some people with distance learning.

Moreover, then there's the issue of whether you can trust this site in giving you proper resources that will be recognised when you graduate. It says it in writing, but if someone never has to come into face-to face interaction with them, then how would they truely know, as they are potentially anonymous. I watched 'Watchdog' on BBC1 a couple of months ago which showed how the company 'skillstrain' provided a student with out of date material, when he paid enormous amounts of money to the company. I couldn't find the original link to the programme but found a forum which goes into depth about it. http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=28705

Ultimately thats the main issue with distance learning, the face-to-face interaction. The ICS website does state that there is a 'student community' which allows them to interact and learn with other students, ICS members and experts. As a member of the community they'll be able to share information, engage in discussions, browse our resource library, and voice opinions through student surveys. This is all well and good but this brings up earlier arguments about communities online, will people respond to what you have to say straight away or will you be waiting days for a response? will some people be lurkers and not share information with you?. I personally feel that the best responses are recieved in person, when your talkin to someone face-to-face, you get feedback straight away and there's not a constant reliance on technology.

Week 7 - Africa eLearning

The first thing i noticed on the eLearning Africa website was the news article on 'cholera'. Basically it stated that many schools in Zambia have to remain closed until the outbreak of cholera has been calmed. The alternative for education, that Prof Sinkala has provided is technology '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,". You could question whether this would still leave many people at a disadvantage because of a potential digital divide, who really has access to these computers and the technology, who can afford them? John Zulu, a grade 12 student counter argues this by suggesting that these gadgets are 'more affordable' and how it might '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'. Then again this is a student thats saying this, there's no real statistical evidence to suggest that this is true.

Nevertheless, the fact that these children can't go to school anyway, would make elearning a potential option in the mean time. As schools aren't shut down just because of cholera, but if theirs strikes, bad weather and politcal unrest too.

Week 7 - China - Distance Learning

On 29th June 1982, the Chinese Minister of Education stated that 'the radio and television university has opened a new channel of developing another means of higher education and is a method of running universities, which is welcomed by the masses. It can train more people who can be used for the modernization project of the country in a faster and more economical way'. So basically what he's saying is that people are able to use the mediums of radio and television to learn at a distance.


However i'm going to be critical. As i was reading through Zhao Yuhui's article on distance learning, i felt like the whole system is an act of brainwashing, with many disadvantages to go with it. The system is comprised with an organisational structure, the top of the hierachy being the Central Radio and Television University, who are under the direct leadership of the State Education Commission (formerly called the Ministry of Education). The CRTVU, is responsible for making teaching plans and teaching materials. Altogether, are 4 levels of distance learning, the last level consists of work stations, which puts the students into groups for studying, and in cases the people responsible for setting up these stations are people that work in a 'particular industry', now this may question whether these people are capable of teaching the students, Yuhui brings this up by saying how there's 'a shortage of qualified staff for research on distance education'.

Furthermore this way of learning relies on multimedia, consisting of radio, television and even printed media. Printed media can be 'course books', 'reference books' and 'study guides', all of which are provided by the CRTVU. This is when i started to question distance learning. It has been stated that 40 million copies of these 'course books' have been published (and this was in the 80's), with the number of students in higher education being from '0.7 per cent in 1975 to 4 per cent in 1987'. The thought that this organisation is teaching all these people is a scary one, surely everyone would be gettin the same information, would anyone question what they see or hear, or would they take it as it comes and believe everything. This reminds me of a friend saying how she went to a Catholic school and when she was studying RE, instead of learning about other religions like me, all she got told was about the Catholic faith. I think this is wrong, people should be faced with other opinions, and be able to argue with what their taught.

Anyways, there's also the time that these radio and tv programmes are broadcasted, with '4pm-11pm' being very perculiar to me. Looking at table 4 there's some small print that states that in '1981, no students were enrolled because of insufficient transmission time'. This is a whole year of nobody being taught, what if a student is in their final year and therefore cant finish off their studies. Seems like there's an over reliance on the media. Something that i'm not doing anymore, as i already finished this blog 20mins ago but my the 'save button' didnt seem to work so im here writing it out again.

Nevertheless, im not saying that we should completely dismiss this way of learning altogether, i just dont think that it should become the only way of obtaining higher education. This approach has had some success, with what Yuhui says 'has given a second chance for yound school leavers' and it also gives people access to learning when the option of going to a proper university just isn't an option. I just prefer a face-to-face involvement at uni. Engineering majors in China 'have to go to factories to gain practical experiences during their vacations' and students doing 'laboratory-based courses cannot obtain their credits until they have completed their required practical experiments. If these students were actually at university, they wouldnt have to give up their vacation time to achieve something that would of been available to them on campus, during the semester. I think people to choice distance learning, if the distance from a univeristy campus is too far and so this is their only alternative, if not i just dont see why people should rely on a tv or radio.

Week 6 - Wenger

I would define an 'Organizational unit' as something thats unnatural, but conform to rules, regulations and objectives, an example may be a business of some sort, who may rely on money, a USP and people. People belong to communities of practice 'at the same time as they belong to other organizational structures'.

'Community of Practice' can be defined as a group of people who come together informally. They exist anywhere from in the home, businesses or school. Think about when you were at school, a big organisation ran by the governement who required you to achieve various outcomes, this would be considered an 'organizational unit'. Whilst your at school you develop theses communities of practices by being part of a group, from friends to taking part in the school football team. According to Wenger; this community is developed throught time and various stages

1. Potentional - First day of secondary school, people are unsure of everyone's personalities and capabilites
2. Coalescing - Start making friends, finding commonalites and negotiating a community.
3. Active - These people become part of your practice, you share the same language, understand how everyone behaves and have many common interests.
4. Dispersed - You leave school and maybe become part of other communties, maybe created through starting a job. Still talk though, maybe through social networking sites and so the knowledge of the community is still alive
5. Memorable - As you get older, this community is no longer central but you have kept a year book or tell stories about your 'community of practice', which consisted of your group of friends.

Nevertheless, sometimes there is a need to 'leigitimize a community', through the use of internal leadership. At secondary school, i remember being part of the school council; this was a group of students that made decisions about what activities should or may take place within the school. The common language and knowledge still existed within the 'community of practice', as it was fellow students who were involved, but there was one student who was in charge. This person would have been described as an 'institutional leader'. An 'institutional leadership' maintained links with an 'official hierachy',within a 'organizational unit' which in relation to school might be the head of year or the headteacher.

This notion of leadership creates what Wenger calls 'nurturing' and it can be formal or informal. This nurturing process could be referred to how im blogging within this unit. The 'community of practice' has been made through the friendships made be coursemates, we have a common language and knowledge of what were doing, the leadership would come formally from our tutors. There are many types of nurturing that Wenger outlines, in this case it may reflect on the idea of 'legitimzing particiaption'. This is recognising work of others, letting them participate in activities and an opportunity to talk; 'communities of practice do not usually require heavy institutional infrastructures, but their members do need time and space to collaborate', which when applied to our community on blogger, this is literally the case, we are able to share our own thoughts via posts, were given allocated time to do so, we can talk to one another and also have a leader to nurture us.

Week 6 - Analysis of a Website - The Sims 2.com

I've decided to look at 'The Sims 2' website http://thesims2.ea.com/ as its a really good example of how a good website is run. The Sims is a big franchise which is a simulator game that allows people to create people, from the way they look, personalities, what job they have and build their houses; basically a more advanced approach to what an avatar would be like online.
Firstly, after typing in the URL, a user is faced with a homepage, with an array of hypertext, which can allow the user to go to various pages within the site, which might be the forum, downloading content for 'The Sims 2' site, checking up on the latest news, and even listening to podcasts.

There's an obvious community apparent within the site. This may be from the option that allows visitors to the site to be able to put their own input into it and interact with it. If a user owns a game, they're able to bring the creations that they've made in the game offline, and put them onto the website onto whats called the 'exchange'. On the 'exchange', you can let other people download your content, so that it then becomes part of their game or download other peoples objects and 'sims'. This makes people become produsers of the website. Axel Bruns might suggest that this is user-led production, as these 'user-produsers often take the lead in the development of new content and ideas', as they are able to bring their stuff from there games into this website. Herz even writes about 'The Sims', saying how its 'prodused by the players rather than by the game publisher Maxis' (2005:335).

Just recently added is a 'The Sims 2 Store' http://thesims2store.ea.com/, which can be accessed through the homepage, which resembles any online shopping website like 'www.Amazon.com' or 'www.Play.com', there's regular 'deals' on sim objects, this time created by the creators of the game, but this time you have to pay these objects in 'simpoints', which can be obtained by exchanging real money. This is a very interesting concept as it keeps the player of the game in this virtual game world. You could even argue that this is techno-determinism; if the site ran with the purchases being in normal currency, it might change the way that people are kept in the game when their not playing it.

Nevertheless, there's also other content within the website, like the forum. Not only does the exchange create a sense of community, with people interacting with one another by sharing their creative idea's but the forum also allows this, with people able to post any problems that their having in the game, with answers from moderators; who are people involved with the game itself, which i would say brings an element of trust within the forum and also stops people from flaming because the language of this community is controlled by these people.

Flaming might even be discouraged because people have to register to the site to be able to exchange and to reply to posts on the forum. People can be anonymous because they have the option of creating avatars and fake names if they want, but because the site is run be moderators and mostly people involved in the website a fans of the game, there's an element of trust.

Users dont have to register to look at any other content which might mean that people may lurk and maybe not feel like part of the community if they cant interact. However McMillan and Chavis (1986) describe sense of community in four concepts:

1. Feelings of membership - 'The Sims 2' website would provide this through people registering to the site
2. Feelings of influence - 'The Sims 2' website would provide this by people being a produser on 'the exchange' , creating objects for other members to download
3. Integration and fulfillment of needs - 'The Sims 2' website would provide this through their forums, being able to offer support and people able to give support back
4. Shared emotional connection - 'The Sims 2' would provide this with the constant links back to the game ('The Sims 2 Store') and keeping the players or even non players who want the game interested.

I don't often interact with the site, so might be seen as a lurker but because i have the game, the sense of community is already been made for me as i have an interest and an 'emotional connection', in the what the site has to offer (reading up on news updates etc). So for me my sense of community would come from McMillan and Chavis's last point.
'The Sims 2' underpins alot of theory that we've been looking at in the past weeks but mostly concerns itself with how a website can create a sense of community within a group of people online.

Bruns, A (2006) 'Towards Produsage: Futures For User-Led Content Production'
http://snurb.info/files/12132812018_towards_produsage_0.pdf
Blanchard, A (2004) ‘Blogs as Virtual Communities: Identifying a Sense of Community’
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/blogs_as_virtual.html

Topic 1 Week 5 - Bruns

Being a produser is stemming off from something thats already been made and adding to it and instead of just being the user of a website but part producer. There are many different ways that a person can become a produser; to which Bruns describes, for example there's 'user-led production'. I've previously spoke of Meikle work and how he spoke of the 'Indymedia', a site that allows people to create their own news, instead of leaving it up to big news corpations on the tv, the site is very popular and people are able to produce texts that are news worthy. Secondly there's 'collaborative engagement', whereby people extend existing material, 'wikipedia' would be an example of how this is implemented, as people are allowed to add information onto the site.

Obviously there's flaws with the term produser, like flaming and being able trust these people are able to interact with these website's. However if there's too much control, does this then take away from the whole point. 'Indymedia' is available to anyone and has become a success without too much moderation. I think it just depends on the site and how its constructed, i think people immediately know how to behave when their on a website, there's like an unwritten construction there, maybe this is from the fact that some sites require registration,a fee, the sucess of the website or because of the content?

I think this trend will definately exist, commercial forces are apparent, 'YouTube' videos now have adverts within the video itself, but i don't think that the sucessful sites will be bought out and that will be the end of produsage. Afterall, websites need interaction, if there's no audience or sense of some community, then these sucessful websites will be overlooked by website that do provide these features.

Topic 1 Week 5 - Meikle

What do you think constitutes ‘news’ on the Web?

The news has completely reinvented itself from where one of the major ways of communicating events across the globe, was through the use of a the telegraph. Now there's numerous outlets, whereby news can be consumed. Radio, newspapers, the internet, tv, mobile phones etc are the main mediums whereby people can access the news. This would lead onto Burnett and Marshall's concept of 'informational news', whereby people are now faced with an array of news sources, that they can now choose the 'hierachy' of which these different sources lie. This in turn would cause a problem because you would need to ask well 'what constitutes news?'. I suppose it lies within a persons perceptions of what they think good news is and i'm not saying that in the sense of whether the topic is pessimistic or optimistic but whether the source is reliable, where did they get their sources from? is the news of interest to you, is it left wing or right wing? does it draw you in? who's delivering the news? is it someone with a camcorder in their bedroom because then would that be a blog rather than real news? There's all these question which someone would need to answer to know whether the news their viewing is worthy of being called news.

Going back to the idea of someone filming in a bedroom and posting on the web, which is apparent on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcOe2JF4EXI&feature=related. im aware that this guy is annoying) Would this mean that this made someone a journalist? or would it be like what Burnett Marshall said about how people are merely 'retrieving' the information from other news outlets and therefore not 'new avenues for new kinds of journalists to develop and publish new kinds of news'. I can understand their point because they could get there news source from anywhere and most of the time these people are criticising whats been said, and not coming up with anything new. On the otherhand some news organisations may do the same, but because they have the better production and the space to publish this news professionally, it doesn't look as bad. It all comes down to those previous questions; is it reliable? who's talking? etc.

Also if we then look at http://www.indymedia.org.uk/ who's described themselves as a website that a network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues. Which means that they break away from the news you might see at 10pm on BBC1. It's also obvious that this type of news is popular as its now in its third year or production, so i suppose i again depends on the person and what they think news is and whether they want to follow it.

Topic 3 Week 4 - Music Sharing Online

'Hard times hit the music industry with the birth of Napster in 1999 – a technology that allowed people to easily copy and distribute MP3 files, leading to accusations of music copyright violations. A generation of music consumers became used to downloading songs free. When the US Supreme Court shut down Napster in 2001, other sites popped up in its place. Since then, music CD sales have precipitously declined, dropping 20 percent in 2008 compared with 2007'. This may be a downside to music sharing online but this isn't to say that people aren't still purchasing music with '2.4 billion songs were purchased on iTunes as Apple expanded into overseas markets'

There's also been a study which states that file sharing has had a limited effect on record sales, researchers from Harvard University wrote that 'While downloads occur on a vast scale, most users are likely individuals who would not have bought the album even in the absence of file sharing' (2004). So basically if someone isn't going to buy an album they wont download it illegally. To some extent this refers to me, if i want to give an artist a listen i will download an album and see what its like; if i really like an artist i would go out and buy their album because i want a certainty that the quality will be good.

There's no doubt that the music industry has changed. Even if its effected record sales or not, the whole concept of listening to music has changed. The Top 40 on radio 1 on Sundays, now has an added download chart, people can listen to the radio online and through the TV, even through mobiles. Also there's an increase on user-generated sites like Youtube, where millions of music video's can be accessed, from different countries, before they've even been released in this country. This might change popular music; with such an array of music to choose from, people have more of a choice in what they listen too. This means that bands might be noticed and made famous, Lily Allen and Kate Nash were found through Myspace; a social networking site. These sites just create more outlets for musicians to express themselves and give the audiences something more in return. I think these changes are definately beneficial and good for society.



The Christian Science Monitor (2009) Can a 'Day of Sharing' save the music industry?http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0225/p12s01-ussc.html

John Borland (2004) Music sharing doesn't kill CD sales http://news.cnet.com/2100-1027_3-5181562.html

Topic 2 Week 4 - Social Networking Sites

'I often wonder whether real conversation in real time may eventually give way to these sanitised and easier screen dialogues, in much the same way as killing, skinning and butchering an animal to eat has been replaced by the convenience of packages of meat on the supermarket shelf,' - Susan Greenfield a neuroscientist, talking about social networking sites in the Daily Mail (2009). What she's saying could be argued but i personally think its over dramatic. I love facebook like anyone else, but there's no way that i could use the site as my base for social interaction.

Mark Vernon from the Guardian (2009) has countered this argument by saying that there's not enough evidence to suggest these claims by Susan Greenfield. He talks about a friend called Lisa who used these sites as a lifeline. She had problems in her life and talked about it on the internet, her friends and family did the best they could in supporting her but the emails and replies she got from these sites was uplifting. He basically says that all thats a bit of 'common sense', use it wisely and when you need it. I dont think anyone would live their life like that, their whole life on social networking sites.

He also looked at two Taiwanese psychologists who published results in a peer-reviewed journal, CyberPsychology and Behaviour, which suggested that hundreds of students who blog, say how they feel more socially responsible and better connected, not less. Their virtual exchanges complement their offline relationships, leading to a deepening of both. I think this is very true. I can talk to the people that i see out and about daily, then in the evening i can talk to my family who live in Brighton, even my 11 year old brother on MSN and people who might not talk to if i didnt use social networking sites. It sustains relationships instead of the other way round.








http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/25/socialnetworking-neuroscience


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1153583/Social-websites-harm-childrens-brains-Chilling-warning-parents-neuroscientist.html

Topic 1 Week 4 - Blanchard Question F

Is it fair to say that ‘community is in the eye of the user(s)’, in the sense that it is about what’s on offer and how people respond to it, rather than saying any collection of people interacting online is a community?

There are 4 dimensions in which a community is developed

1. Feelings of membership
2. Feelings of influence
3. Intergration and fulfillment of needs
4. Shared emotional connection

This all possible from forming a community online. To some extent i think that 'community is in the eye of the user', someone could constantly be a lurker, which might detach them from a community. However if a user has sense of one of the four dimensions, then they could be part of anything, especially the last point; if a person has frequent interaction with something, their going to feel like their involved. This is my opinion anyways. I often go onto my favourite bands fansite, i read the forums, never respond, but feel like im part of that community because of my 'shared emotional connection' to it.

Macmillian, D. W., & Chavis, D.M (1986) 'Sense of Community: A defintion and theory' Journal of Community Psychology, vol.14, pp 6-23

Week 3 Reading - Web Forums

A web forum being a more tradional version of a bulletin board system. In the lecture there was discussion over two forums on the web, www.well.com and www.craigslist.com . There was a question that was raised about the issue of flaming - which is whereby someone responds or puts a hostile or derogatory comment in forums or via emails.

The second website was rife with flaming and yet 'The Well', even at first glance looked more professional, with people being polite with one another, more like a community. I think the differences stem from the fact that if you sign up for 'The Well', there's different type of membership options and as a member have to pay. So ultimately why would someone pay to flame. Even though with craiglist you have to register, it would be easier to be anonymous and therefore some people might take this as an opportunity. Also it seems like any information can be accessed and lurked on a larger scale with 'Craiglist'. I started looking through the website and within seconds i was able to reply to someones post by clicking on a link, which then opened up my hotmail account, with this persons email placed into a new email ready for me to send my reply. So it seems that you dont really need to register, unless you want to use the site properly.

Surely this would also bring up the issue of spamming. With the email available to a non member and no details entered into the site, all that could be used to trace me would be my hotmail account, but then again i could set up a fake email and use it for these purposes. If i wanted to it could be easily achieved.

Therefore you've got these two forums, who are completely different, as 'The Well' can't be accessed at all, unless there's a payment and a registration, the homepage states that theres 'non-anonymous here'. 'Craigslist' however brings up many issues; spam, flaming, trust, do these people feel a sense of a community and so they feel like they can trust people and stay logged onto the site? who knows. Maybe this site is a place where people like to mess around and cause arguments or maybe this is a culture thats been accepted. I know that i wont be using it.

Week 3 Reading - Sherry Turkle

'Turkle's own metaphor of windows serves well to introduce the following samplings from her new book. Those boxed-off areas on the screen, Turkle writes, allow us to cycle through cyberspace and real life, over and over. Windows allow us to be in several contexts at the same time - in a MUD, in a word-processing program, in a chat room, in e-mail' (Wired 2008)

What Turkle is saying here is very true to my experience of the internet. When I'm on the internet i always find myself opening up Facebook first and once i've done checking up on my updates, instead of closing the window down, i leave it open and add a tab to go onto another website. So no matter what i'm doing, i'm accessing 'several contexts at the same time'.

'Computer screens are the new location for our fantasies, both erotic and intellectual'. This also can be true. Everything can be accessed on the internet, from sex, shopping and millions of information at a central point. People can say things that they might not in real life because they can be whoever they want and access websites which keep they're anonymity, which means that if they do have a fantasy, they can explore it freely without being judged. At first glance this might seem beneficial, but lets not forget that there needs to be regulations.





Wired (2008) Who Am We? http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.01/turkle.html

Topic 2 Week 3 Question A

Is withholding one’s identity ethically wrong?

If you were applying for a job and you put in a different name, age and address, this may seem unethical, plus it just wouldnt work within society. If everyone went around and everyday changed who they were, this would be wrong. Therefore why does this type of behaviour exist online. This isn't to say that when someone asks for your details you should tell them everything from bank accounts to how many pets you have, but people shouldn't live behind fake identities because this is where problems arise, for example pedeophiles. I think as a normal person, you should know when its safe and necessary to use your correct details. I use my details to shop on Amazon and i even bank online. I trust these sites to keep my identity safe. Just thinking back to applying to University; the majority of that process was done online and even if it wasn't, you would still have to put down elements of your identity regardless and trust who's viweing it.

Ultimately i don't think its ethically wrong to withhold your identity when you dont trust where the information is going, but i do think its ethically wrong when a fake identity or no identity is used in chatrooms in particular. Just because you might be talking to someone who you'll never meet, this doesn't mean that you should change yourself, most people wouldn't do that put into a real life situation, so why do it online?

Topic 1 Week 3 - Question E

Are online relationships the same as offline one?

Personally i dont think the relationships could ever be the same. There could be some similarities but as far as being the same goes, theres no way. Think of a conversation with someone on the phone, and then talking to that person face-to- face; theres some things you might say to them on the phone and not any other way, the conversation might be limited because of bad connection or the amount of credit you have, you might not be able to contact the person because their phone might be turned off. This would be the same as online, its asychronous; you could send someone an email and they might not respond to days and the response you do get might not be what you wanted.

Ultimately theres always the issue of people not being who they say they are online. In terms of online gaming, you've got people who might create avatars; a term that refers to an interactive representation of a human in a virtual reality environment. A person could change their name, their gender, their age etc. Therefore if a relationship was made through the use of avatars, there might be a possibility that its not the real them.

However Taylor that there's a 'tradition within online communities for online friends and gaming partners to get together for face-to-face meetings' (2:2006) Also there was an online newspaper article which shows how the chinese government 'will start real-name registration for online game players this year' (Peoples Daily Online january 2009). Therefore there are some controls within the web; to stop people creating false personalities, but this doesnt make online and offline relationships the same. It all comes down to the difference in communication, the interactivity, the navigation, its completely different.




Taylor, T, L. (2006) Play Between Worlds, Published MIT Press
Peoples Daily Online (2009) Online gamers have to give real names http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90781/90877/6575252.html

Week 2 - Hypertext

There are many different examples of interactivity. For instance on my previous blog i spoke about pyschological interaction and psychical interaction. On the web, an example of a website that includes psychical interaction would be http://www.miniclip.com/games/en/; a website which specialises on online gaming. This type of interaction would encompass 'Immersive navigation', the opposite being hypertextual navigation (Lister 2003:21). Peter Lunenfeld (1993 in Lister 2003:21) commented on this idea by comparing two paradigms of interaction 'immersive' and 'extractive'.

Firstly, 'hypertextual navigation' which is 'extractive', enforces users of the web has to create their own texts from a various amount of texts on offer, the web obviously using hypertext, in which objects (text, pictures, music, programs, and so on) can be creatively linked to each other. Thus making the web non linear and push a user to extract whats on offer into an individualised text. Online gaming being 'immersive navigation' would make it 'immersive'. Different from 'hypertextual navigation' because some games involves the use of 3D. This means that the users of online gaming would have to understand this 3D world, obviously being a different form of a media text. Nevertheless, there's also 'registrational navigation' (Lister 2003:22). If we were to look a website that specicialises in forums http://www.teenhut.net/; the user is able to write back to a text, expressing their opinions or even create their own. Or if we were to use online gaming, this could refer back to MUD'S and MOO's.

Ultimately, theses types of navigations wouldnt be possible without the use of hypertexts; 'a hyperworld -a new realm of published texts and graphics, all available instantly: a grand library that anybody can store anything in' (Nelson 1982 in Lister 2003:26). This is what makes the web so popular, moving from web 1.0 to web 2.0. It creates a democracy, something thats unstructured, allowing people to communicate with people at anytime of the day with people that they might not talk to everyday life. This may cause problems with people not being who they say they are (peadophiles). However many websites do have controls, whereby people have to type in personal information and even have gatekeepers, monitoring what people say. This could question whether thats allowing people to be free, but for the most part people are allowed to express their feelings freely http://www.craiglist.com/ for example; seems like anything is possible.


Lister et al (2003) New Media - A Critical Introduction, Published by Taylor and Francis

Topic 3 Week 2 - My Blogs

My experience so far, of blogging and online seminars has been interesting. The time that it takes to read, write and comment on other group members makes it completely different t other seminars. A normal seminar would last for 50mins, but this requires constant attention and it has taken me a while to adjust to this. I feel like because of this, the rest of my groups blogs have lacked response from me and even my blogs havent recieved responses. This is an obvious difference when compared to normal seminars; here you dont get direct responses.

However i have enjoyed how instead of relying on other people to teach me what i need to know; i have to contribute; by reading and getting more absorbed in the work and even having my own opinions.

I might not be myself, but who is online? I keep wanting to use slang words, as im so used to writing to peers on facebook and im never this confident around fellow students. Plus i know that im being assessed.

What i do like about blogs is that it allows you to take time in structuring what your saying and hypertext allows me to be a 'produser'. Sonya Livingstone stated that hypertext may lead people to create a new form of literacy to understand it. However, being brought up on this new media, doesn't affect me.

Topic 2 Week 2 - Asychronous Online Communication - How Does It Feel?

There are many apparent differences if were to compare the online seminars with the norm. The navigation aspect has is the obvious one; instead of face to face interaction and direct response, the user has to use different interactions (typing, clicking the mouse etc). The non-direct response can be an issue which could be avoided if the seminars were in real time; involving a completely different type of communication. However, there might be a case where a group member may not turn up, therefore still creating the problem. Therefore being able to write a blog and have the option for people to view it at their leisure ensures that what you've got to say is heard; in the form of a blog.

The benefit of having online seminars may also include confidence. In real life, you may hold back on something because of a lack of confidence, or even be shadowed by someone else. Blogging however, allows people to express their opinions more freely.

Topic 1 Week 2 - Question D

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?



DAB (digital audio broadcasting) is an interesting concept, a technology first developed in the late 80’s because it guaranteed three benefits; firstly more channels could be accessed, secondly that there was better sound quality and finally a clean interference free reception. Furthermore, sales of the DAB receivers since the 80’s have been increasing, with ‘28% of homes according to RAJAR’ (Campaign, 2008:14) having possession of them. In the book New Media - A Critical Introduction, Lister breaks down new media into 'manageable parts' (2003:3), one of which would be that new media brings about 'new relationships with subjects' (3), so with reference to DAB radio, this may be how people are able to recieve a better sound quality, how theres more plurality within stations etc.

However going by a modernist myth of the new, Bolter and Grusin, in their book titled Remediation (2000) stated that that new visual media achieve their cultural significance precisely by refashioning earlier media. They call this process of refashioning 'remediation'. Basically nothing is really new, its just altering what was originally there. Therefore referring these concepts radio, you could argue that thats exactly what DAB radio is conforming to, is improving sound quality, creating something completely new?


(2008) Campaign, 24th October 2008, pg 14
Bolter, J, Grusin, R (2000) Remediation - Understanding New Media, Published by MIT Press
Lister et al (2003) New Media - A Critical Introduction, Published by Taylor and Francis

Week 1 Topic 2 - The Internet and its impact on society

You might suggest that the interent has become popular because of its lack of structure, people have to ability to look at whatever they want on the internet, even as far as talking to whoever they want. There may be opportunities for adults to protect their children from what sites they view, however this isnt compulsory and so children may be exposed to all sorts.

The internet has even been linked to the suicides of many teenagers in Bridgend (Wales). It has been proposed that these teenagers "think it's cool to have a memorial website. It may even be a way of achieving prestige among their peer group." (The Times:2008) Also in 2001 'Simon Kelly, from Cornwall, was communicating with others on a suicide chat room right up until the moment that he killed himself`(The Times:2008). This may start a moral panic within society, with other forms of media showing these internet effects on young people.

The internet may not be the main cause of these teenagers deaths, but in the case of Simon Kelly in particular, gave the opportunity for other people to see his death, which can be argued that this might lead to other individuals being influenced in doing the same. A downfall of the internet?

The Times (2008) Bridgend, suicide and the internet: the facts http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3399528.ece

Week 1 Topic 2 - Goebbels

Goebbels expresses how the radio's purpose 'is to teach, entertain and support people', reaching 'the people' and 'works for the people'. At first glance you would think that this would be a benefit, however it seems that Goebbels use of the radio were for other reasons, ultimately this being for political gains. He speaks of the radio like its a political party; it has to have its 'own rules', 'eliminate excessive organisation' (to which he refers to rival political party the national socialists) and also speaks of how the use of radio is to introduce the 'leadership principle'; much like the Nazi party that he's affiliated with, even the term propagaganda was used. Therefore it may seem like Goebbels is working 'with the people', but maybe for selfish reasons, mainly using radio for personal gains, trying to make the German nation believe that their nation or even the Nazi party was the most notable. As Goebbels said 'One People, one Reich, one will and a glorious German future'.

Today radio might have completely different functions. It still may be used 'to teach, entertain and support people', but with technological advancements, there are many other mediums to either offer the same or even different purposes. Some people might use the radio for entertainement, tv for learning new things and the internet as a form of support. Radio itself has changed, theres not so much of a structure, with a range of radio stations, from classical stations, to stations that are dedicated to sport. Goebbels had a structure which meant that it would be more likely for a mass audience to be listening to the same radio station and therefore be more powerful. However with the ever increasing choice between stations and mediums, appealing to a mass audience might be harder nowadays.

Today the radio still has the capabilities to communicate with people. Radio may even be more accessible being that theres many stations that arent funded by the public, whereas german radio listeners in the mid 1900's had to pay a fee. The radio still a good source of feeding information, but this time doesnt resemble a political party. It could be argued that instead of 'working for the people', the people work for the radio, with people allowed to phone-in to express their opinions, request songs, send photos through via the internet etc.

Joseph Goebbels, "Der Rundfunk als achte Großmacht," Signale der neuen Zeit. 25 ausgewählte Reden von Dr. Joseph Goebbels (Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP., 1938), pp. 197-207

Week 1 Topic 1 - Websites

World Wide Web, is the name given to the hypertext part of the internet. It allows users to easily navigate through the internet by using various URL's (Universal Resource Locator's), an example being 'www.blogger.com'. The user can be on one website or URL and then click on a link and take them to another website. Thus making the interent more diverse.

Week 1 Topic 1 - MUDS + MOO's

A MOO or in other terms Multi Object Orientation, an environment which allows more than one person to talk at one time, often also allowing display of emotions and object manipulation in a given environment.

A MUD or in other terms Multi-User Dimension (Dungeon) combines elements of roleplaying in a virtual world. An example of this may be the 'World of Warcraft' game, whereby users can create a avatar and interact with a virtual world, giving commands which resememble natural language.

Topic 1 Week 1 - Chatrooms and Messenger Services

In real life (IRL) chatrooms and messenger services have gradually become a popular choice of communicating. Its sychronous and can allow many people at a time to communicate or one on one communication. You talk to people from across the world, disregarding the possible differences in timezones. This brings up the ideology of Benedict Anderson, who spoke of 'imagined communities' (1991: 1), different from an actual community because it is not (and cannot be) based on face-to-face interaction between its members. Instead, members hold in their minds a mental image. Members of the community probably will never know one another face to face, however they can have similar interests. 'MSN'; which is an example of a messenger service, has allowed me to talk to a friend in Australia, i have many interests with them but might never know whats real, an 'imagined community'.

Anderson, B (1991) Imagined Communities; published by Versa

Topic 1 Week 1 - Usenet and Bulletin Boards

The first bulletin board system (BBS) was created in 1978, which was named 'Computerised Bulletin Board System' and a reference to the typical cork bulletin boards that you place in homes and businesses. A BBS still runs on the same idea, allowing an online community to run on a host computer. The users involved can log in, post messages on public discussion boards, send and receive email, chat with other users, and upload and download files. BBSs are text-based and often related to the specific hobbies or interests.

Usenet differs from a BBS because its worldwide, instead of centralised, accessed through the Internet or through many online services. Usenet contains more than 14,000 forums, called newsgroups, that cover almost every imaginable interest group. Created years before the Web, it is still used daily by millions of people around the world.

Topic 1 Week 1 - Email

Email allows people to communicate electronically on the computer. Its inexpensive, convienient and also saves time. If, for example you need to contact someone whos not in your proximity and you need to arrange a meeting with someone just to talk, then you may be paying money for travel, and allow time to do so.

Theres been many times within university that i've needed to get in contact with a tutor and so i've used email, by simply contacting them, again saving alot of time and getting the information i needed in the comfort of my own home.

Another benefit of email is that it allows asynchrony. Email isnt in real time and so can be left for days or even weeks without being dealt with. Sometimes with phonecalls you may need to contact someone but cant because their phone is off or unavailable, but with email, you can send whoever you need and know that the email can be accessed at another time.

Interactivity

New media is interactive. In contrast to old media where the order of everything is fixed, the user can now interact with the media object. In the process of interaction, the user can choose which elements to display or which paths to follow. Suggesting that new media is more interactive.

However after i read a book by Lev Manovich, titled 'The Language of New Media', i realised that its not only new media thats interactive, 'old' media was/is interactive too. For instance if someone was to look at a piece of abstract art. They would have to interact with the piece, trying fill the gaps and work out what the art is conveying. The type of interactivity that's pyschological.

Measuring 'Newness'

To say that something is new, is to ultimately propose that its evolved from something. So if we were to talk about digital tv, we can suggest that its a form of new media because previous to this was analogue tv. However is it a new form of medium? Is it Its merely changing how the form of tv is delivered to the audience?

This would be the case of what Mackay and O'Sullivan decribe as an 'old' medium 'in new times' (1999:4-5). What does everyone think?





Mackay, H, O'Sullivan, T (1999) The Media Reader - Continuity and Transformation, SAGE