week 10 Qs 1 Wegner relating to Prensky

Both Wegner’s and Prensky’s theories focus on individual learning with the possibility of getting together with others in a ‘community’ to discuss the findings.
Wegner’s notion of Communities of practice is not as focused on doing everything digitally as Prensky but the sense of community is still the same digitally.
Natives can learn online individually as well as in groups which allow a larger number of people to be together and share ideas at the same time. A point that Wegner makes is that “Many of the ways we have of talking about learning and education are based on the assumption that learning is something that individuals do. Furthermore, we often assume that learning has a beginning and an end; that it is best separated from the rest of our activities; and that it is the result of teaching” (Wenger 1998: 3). Unlike face to face seminars discussions can continue online for as long as people continue responding to a certain topic and also the major thing this that people are no longer bound by geographical location.

week 10 Qs 2 digital divide

In socioeconomic society the digital divide could have negative effect digital natives with all the skills they need to access WebPages and downloadable files will not be affected but the immigrants might be. As we can see the government is now trying to push more people to use the internet and interactive television as their main source of information. Prensky speaks of the natives speaking in a digital language that new information should be present those outside the native society will be at a disadvantage because they might not fully understand what information is being put forward.
On a global scale the majority of the world still do not have access to computers and the internet and if global decision are being made without the majority knowing what is being agreed upon this could cause serious revolts in society or exclusions of certain groups.

Week 10 Qs 4 Tailored education

By tailoring education to suit a certain area or community instead of basing it on the national standard will affect society. The differences that will be included in this process will complicate situation when people move out of that community into another because their skills and/or academic grounding will not be the same as that of the new community and might not be compatible. Some cultural and personal preferences such as sex education in schools can be something that can be tailored to suit different communities but when it comes to fundamentals such as the basic maths and English this could prove to be a problem.
I believe that education has a major role in work culture because depending on ones qualifications this determines what career they will have and what promotions they are likely to receive. These qualifications are usually based ion a universal bench mark such as a masters Degree will entitle you to a higher position than a person with just a diploma, however if the educational system is tailored to suit different cultural needs in society giving promotions will be difficult because that universal bench mark will be removed.
A question that could be raised here is who gets to decide what the universal bench mark is? The dominant powers in society despite them being a minority society still needs to conform to their ideologies. The issue of culture also arises if cultural considerations were to be incorporated into education whose cultural values would it uphold? Again the dominant powers. In this we see the dominant powers exerting their ideas this process is known as hegemony, hegemony is a concept most popularized by the theorist Gramsci. He used the term to describe a process whereby “A condition in process in which the dominant class (in alliance with other classes or class functions) does not merely rule society but lead it through the exercise of ‘moral and intellectual leadership’” (Gramsci 2006 in Storey 2006:96)

week 10 Qs 5 what is the semantic web?

The semantic web is an idea coined by Tim Berners-Lee that search engines on the web might be developed to function better this could be done by making sure that the search results present what the reader only wants to see that is it would filter all the material not relating to the initial search without the user having to modify what is types into the search bar currently tricks such as using quotation marks or asterisks can provide a better search but Berners-Lee aims to seeks ways in which using certain features like self description can understand as to what context the search of the user is.

week 10 Qs 6 How does it differ from web 3.0 ?

It differs form web 3.0 because web 3.0 facilitates for the web to be a sort of database of enquiries which are not specific to different users instead it is the users task to sift through the information till they find what is relevant to them whereas with the semantic web the technology would readily do that for the user using filters specific to the user’s profile as well as context.

week 8 five different academic articles dealing with the notion of young people's facility with the new world of converged media

Brereton, P. (2007) “The Consumption and use of DVDs And Their Add-Ons” “Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies” Vol. 13 (issue 2) pg 115-117

Alexander. J (2008) “Media Convergence” “Computers and Composition,” Vol. 25 (issue 1) pg 1-8,

Griffiths, M. and Light, B. “Social networking and Digital Gaming Media Concergence: consequences for Appropriation in Habbo Hotel” (2009) “Perspectives On The Gamer”, University of Bedford

Johanson, B. et al. (2008) “Debate: Will Web and television Converge?” University of Stanford

Theunert, H. and Wagner, U. “Childhood and Youth: How Adolescents Deal with Convergent Media” JFF- Institute for Media Research and Media Education, München, Germany

week 9 Qs 6b digital technologically imbricated world (or not) part 1

a)Oldest digital native: this would be my dad (50) he occasionally buys things off the satellite channels by pressing the interactive button this enables him to get more information about the product as well as select which products he wants as well as which type of delivery he wishes to have. This then leads to the payment page and the purchase is complete. The next stage is to then go on the internet usually on his I-phone and check when the product is dispatched and when it will arrive, and just in case there are any queries the I-phone is close at hand and he can make a call from it. In this we see the use of three overlapping technologies satellite, internet and the phone with the last two converged into one technology
b)Youngest digital immigrant: would be my little cousin Caitlyn (3) when she got a new game for her Nintendo DS she had to go through the section that taught her how to use the game step by step before commencing the game and she had to play the game level by level before see could interact with other users interactively through wireless technology. In this we see the game console being used alongside wireless technology which was previously mainly used in computers and telephone systems.
c)Threat to notion of native/immigrant: this threat would be me :D I tend to alternate between the two in some cases I can be a native which technology that I was raised around such as computer I can expect the technology to teach me what I need to do because I am accustomed to the basics of the technology. Whereas with new technologies such as the Microsoft's Dream Screen I would need the read the manual of how to use it therefore I would take on the role of the digital immigrant.

week 9 Qs 6b digital technologically imbricated world (or not) part 2

d)With their resistance to technology the neo-luddite will the left out of the technological world. I think that communities of traditionalist neo-luddite will be formed and special courses will be run for them but with them being against technology most of the materials they will need will be outdated because book will have because a thing of the past and most of the current information will be online. With them taking up special traditionalist university study structure they will be limited as what subjects they can take up to study. With limited material to study as well as limited course choice the future prospects of getting a job will be heavily limited.
however we could have so neo-luddites who are willing to use some technology some of the frustrations of the 'enlightened neo-luddite' could be obtaining reliable information form the internet, since most of the work to be submitted on university courses is heavily reliant on computer formatted work most research is now being carried out on the internet. Despite there being a vast wealth on information on the internet it is not always correct and sifting through hundreds of web pages to obtain information can be really frustrating. Without the essential knowledge of how to use search tricks such as including quote marks to pin point your search or asterisks to make you search broader on that subject matter.
e)A technophile in 2020: which the now advanced society long gone are the desktop computers and laptops now the Microsoft's Dream Screen has taken over no longer to students need to carry around bulky computers but instead just need a flat surface on which to project the computer and keyboards because they have now been replaced by interactive virtual keys. With everything centered around technology human interaction is minimalistic lectures are now delivered through a master chip which can be downloaded within the university Wi-Fi range and virtual seminar will have taken over.

week 9 Qs 3 should education stretch a person?

I definitely think that education should stretch a person but only to a certain level, but stretch I mean that it should challenge the student to think further than just the material provided during lectures or seminars. The information provided should urge the student to want to find out more about the topic from other sources as well as contradicting sources to get a different point of view. The sources used should not just be the expected books that are on the reading list but books by other authors to give a different perspective of things, journals provide the most up to date information by academics before books are published as well as using web of science which has books and journals from authors that are not typically found in the everyday library, all these exercises help the user to stretch their mind as well as enrich themselves which new material.

week 8 absract 1

Commercialization remains a key subject matter in the media, which in which cooperation’s make money on products has been a fascination of scholars and academics alike. This article focuses on the way cooperation’s are capitalizing on new technologies in this instance DVD’s. DVD’s can be seen as a remediation of the video cassette. The convergence of film and documentary means full length documentaries of how a movie was made, extended features and other added features are all merged into this format. Convergence of DVD and cinema means that the two mediums are no longer two separate distinct media in the sense that the viewer can obtain the same product at the cinema as well as at home. Is this new merge creating a positive or negative effect? This question is answered by looking at the use of such materials outside the home and in public spheres such as schools.

week 8 abstarct 2

The article deals with the convergence of the computer and television, the factors that make them individually separate and add on’s which could merge them into one alternating medium. As with all products cost is a key factor, the author poses questions as to whether this venture will be commercially viable a) for the manufacturers and b) for the customer. He analyses the steps to which this combined product would have to go through to be made outlining the feasibility of this converged product. Positive elements of this are outlined throughout the article and the author notes that in some sectors such as business such convergence is already in place but on a small scale the argument could go either way with the negatives adding up to just as much as the positives.

week 8 abstract 3

Convergence can be seen by most academics as a positive implement in society but in this article we see that this is not always the case. The authors use a big phenomenon within the circles of young adults which is social networking and digital gaming and identify the pit falls of combing these two forms together as seen in the Playstation. Does it provide an all rounded product or provide a more lacking product? A key point which is noted is that this could affect how such media are classified and given meaning as well as the problem of future generations not being able to distinguish the separate media embedded within the one technology. In this study they use the case study of the Hablo hotel which as invented in 2000 and outlines the positive and negative aspects of the site. The article paints a pessimistic picture of a converged but lacking society.

week 8 abstract 4

The subject of convergence is very much an age related topic with the younger digital natives most associated with it. Technological forms that were once available in one format such as television, have spread to more formats than ever before and with the study focusing on the niche 6-19 market the authors aim to seek out the beneficial facets of convergence. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Analysis of various factors such as a age, gender, social and cultural backgrounds to obtain results from the children, by using different survey topics they broke down the research task into different sections to give a more accurate conclusion despite the study still being in progress.

week 8 abstract 5

Media convergence has been incorporated into everyday life for young people both for the educational and entertainment purposes. This article seeks to find out what methods are used and in what way, if they are effective and how they seek to replace the traditional with a new media way of thinking . new media is beneficial to those “Students fluent with digital and new media communication technologies...(whom are capable of) mixing and matching media to produce complex, multimodal, multimedia texts.” The key question still remains, what kind of literacy skills are students developing with the aid of convergence?

week 8 5 web pages dealing with dital immigration and digital natives

http://www.macinstruct.com/node/146

http://www.which.magazine.co.uk/easy_use_pc_guide.php?jchk=1&nolog=1&CMP=KNC-GOOGLE&HBX_PK=Jellyfish&HBX_OU=50&jtid=21003026&source_code=Y08EEJ

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-automatically-run-programs-when-windows-vista-starts.html

https://www.blogger.com/start

http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?cp=EUNS_KW_NS08_UK_Google_B&ref=http://www.google.co.uk&country=GB&lang_locale=en_GB#l=shop,nikeid

week 8 what is digital immigration prt 1

Digital immigration is a term used to describe people who have spent the majority of their childhood and teen years without digital technology such as computers and therefore are fairly new to the internet.
Within digital immigration there are a few terms that have been coined to describe different people within that community such as digital natives these are the opposite of digital immigrants. Our generation is to be one of the first generations of digital natives. Digital natives are those people that were born immersed in digital technology. These digital natives are thought of not needing instruction manuals to learn new programs instead they rely on technology to teach them how to use the program.
New terms are being coined within digital immigration such as “digital immigrant accept” this is the way in which a digital immigrant speaks online or for example the way they write or behave in front of computers which exposes their lack of ICT skills.

week 8 what is digital immigration? prt 2

This term was coined by Marc Prensky in his book “Digital Game based Learning”
“The digital immigrant accent includes going slowly, going step by step, and using outlines for organization, reading manuals, and going to the internet second rather than first. Digital natives find this accent and approach very hard to deal with”
Digital immigration is mostly focused on those of the older generation for whom technology is a new conquest, and those of whom obtaining technology difficult in obtaining such as those in less developed parts of the world. Thee people are usually looked down upon (or slightly ridiculed) by digital natives because of their lack of experience.

week 8 Article review part 1

Article 1
despite DVD’s taking over in the developed world, in less developed parts of the world VHS still pretty much the way to view movies after they have gone out of the cinema, the convergence of documentary and film is not yet observed in these parts of the world because the majority will still have the now considered primitive technology.

Article 2
In this article the author looks at the problems that the users would face with a converged product, this is a key problem that authors seem to make. They assume the reactions of the audience rather than conducting a study or presenting an argument that could go either way. In this article he poses the problems that the users would face from financial, mental and habitual difficulties however he doesn’t note the fact that we now live in a technologically advanced world and the majority of the population own a TV and a computer in their homes and the convergence both technologies would not (in my opinion) comes a major technological shock. New technologies are generally welcomed into society by younger generations such as seen by the launch of the I-Phone, which is a good example of how society is ready to accept two separate technologies and merge them to use as a single product.

Article 3
In this pessimistic article the author’s main concern is that with the convergence of technology future generations will not be able to distinguish different technologies as separate. This implies the dumbing down of the future generations, just as much as people can learn about new technology so can they about old. This can be seen with the first new media task that we were set of finding out about old computer programs. Another concern was that of fraud online. Such problems are being solved by websites introducing fraud control facilities onto the majority of social networking sites as well as warnings about the risks of online purchases.

week 8 Article review part 2

Article 4
My main concern with this article is that the study is only focused on 6-19 year olds; this puts limits in the study. People this age are still very much under the support and control of parents/guardians they regulate which and how much technology is allowed in the household and this is not universal amongst families and therefore the effects of this will vary since this is a relatively small study this will provide scattered results for the quantitative study.

Article 5
This article is concerned with the educational uses of converged media, especially how it teaches literacy skills, although it is not pessimistic it has a lot of questions of how the converged media will work and replace traditional methods of learning. Although we are heading into a technological future this does not mean that traditional educational implements will be abandoned, they very much work together. Books are being converged with other technologies such as sounds to make the learning experience better, and so we have evidence of convergence in practice already

week 8 Digital Divide Qs 3 part 1

1. This site is very up to date because it provides traditional teaching materials such as screen dumps on the site to show the user how to use the technology but also have other technologically advanced features such as podcasts and videos to further help the user to understand how to use certain features. These additional features are really good because the visual can give the user better step by step guide. The whole site is specifically designed to be simple for the user to use with out the use of digital jargon, the web page has a simple layout without which will make it easier for the user to use without the need of further help from experienced users ;)the content on the site is graded according to difficulty/usability so that the users know which features that they need or feel comfortable using which goes to really cater for digital immigrants. The site is always under constant review there is a new feature which includes a guide section where by more educational material will be featured, the issue of commercialization which will be spoken about in future posts still is there with additional upgrades to the existing material on the site.

2. this site deals with some of the major concerns of most digital immigrants, it offers online help as well as traditional paper based guide books again the layout of the site is basic with limited images which decreases the chance of the user getting lost on the site, the site not only deals with issues of digital immigration but other factors that might interest the user and urge them to practice and further develop their skills. However this site unlike the first one only features limited text informing the user of what products are available and what benefit they will give the user but in order for one to use them they have to subscribe to the site before viewing the material. The material seems to be limited to text and screen dumps unlike the first site which incorporated various media forms, another downfall for the site is that you cannot contact anyone if you have any questions or problems it seems to flow in a one directional way.

3. this site focuses on a range of topics but this particular pages deals with more complex questions that the digital immigrant might have it uses more native language however it is not too technical and the slightly experienced immigrant will be able to comprehend as to what is being discussed. The site up to date because it incorporates videos within the site as well as links to export the page to other sites as well as email the page to friends. At the bottom of the page there is facility to leave comments about what the user feels/ thinks about the site

Week8 Digital Divide Qs 3 part 2

4.This site is catered more for the advanced user, with the set up of the site requiring previous experience which using a similar structures site and technical language. This site incorporates various media and is highly interactive and correspondence between users can be instant or take a while depending on how many people are using the site. The Digital immigrant features not fully incorporated in the site past the first page and using the site can become quite difficult for digital immigrants however this can be seen as a positive/welcome challenge for the native users.

5.this site can seem quite basic to the accustomed user but or a digital immigrant it might prove quite difficult, the site does not offer instructions of how to use the site instead it assumes that the user has prior experience with using a similar site. The way in which the site is designed mainly caters for the native with the use of moving images and urban feel associated with the younger generation. The site follows a more modern structure with a majority of images rather than text and doest follow and top to the bottom of the screen instead text is scattered all over the page. This completely differs form site 1,2 and 3 that I reviewed.

Summary
in all the sites that I reviewed I found that the level of authority was in the hands of the dominant powers, the users could only use and in one site export the webpage to another websites however the element of digital immigration was covered in various ways in the first 3 sites but I found that some of the sites didn’t not cater for those who are not considered to be immigrants.

week 7 review of http://www1.worldbank.org/disted/Technology/technology.html

A wide range of technologies are now available for students to use in distance learning and these combine traditional technologies such as radio and television and newer ones such as online learning. The cost factor is noted in the use of modern technology as compared to traditional formats, but when considering effectiveness no one technology can singularly provide the best results in order to have the best results a combination of technologies has to be employed, however this is not guaranteed to provide the ultimate result. This ‘ultimate’ result is still dependant on the structure of the course; technology alone cannot educate distance learners.

I will look at two technologies used in distance learning, radio and television. Radio is one of the cheapest forms of distance learning and has been used literary since it was invented for educational purposes. Universities internationally use it as a learning tool because the radio format is readily available to most students. However with the development of new technologies radio is now considered to be an entertainment format and not as an educational one, Mp3s and podcasts are now proving to be the new media forms that students use for audio learning in the developed countries of the world however cassette recordings are still proving to be popular in less developed countries.

Television is an effective way of learning but it is quite costly to produce, a higher quality is needed as compared to radio because unlike the invisible medium, in television visual appearance in programs matters. The advantage that television has over radio is that scientific experiments can be shown, as well as case studies and this will “help (the students) to visualize dynamic processes and sequences of events.” However like radio, television is associated with being an entertainment medium, thus educational programs can loose their seriousness and be viewed passively by those cultures that view it as a recreational medium.

week 7 Dekin University

Online study is proving to be popular with older students at Dekin University because this allows them to balance work and/or family commitments, the use of various off-campus learning formats as been identified as being advantageous in the student’s learning. In addition to off campus learning the students still have additional learning support with the first being online conferencing. With the staff and students being virtually in the same place and contributing and seeking help, telephone conferences are still offered and the last and most beneficial in my opinion is weekend schools for face to face tutorials.

This online program is not just available to Australian students but is also offered internationally, this is beneficial for those living in area where there aren’t any universities such as the islands surrounding Australia. This can be seen as advantageous to some but it can prove to be costly in other areas since internet is not readily available in all societies. Telephone learning can also prove to be quite difficult to obtain. So is this only benefiting those with advanced forms of technology?

Like the Dahat International School all the units taught at the university have at least one online component, which enables all the students to develop their online skills.

week 7 Review of eLearning in the School System

Interactive Classrooms Initiative in South Africa Expands

http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/news124b.php

Interactive products such as the white board are proving to be beneficial to communities because a large number of students can have access to the internet and more technologically advanced forms such as CD-ROMs, but this is costly and will not be available or most schools in South Africa. Although South Africa is one of the most developed countries in Africa it still faces some economic difficulties especially in rural schools in stalling in these white boards will have a lot problems, with most rural schools running without electricity let alone internet this will prove to be very expensive for small schools to implement these technological devices in classrooms and therefore it will take a long time for them to move from the black board to the white board. Another problem that could be faced is training the teachers to use such technology.

However with the limitations out weighing the positives there is a great progress being made such as the expansion of the radio network in the North eastern borders of South Africa to link up five schools in the area.

Beyers says the original Ulwazi Project was established as a virtual classroom, but this is now expanding to become more of a community communications resource.
“By providing the technology, we can not only empower the learners but also the communities in which their families live. Rural clinics and business hubs can be connected to the network to assist with e-health and entrepreneurial services. There are many opportunities for social and community initiatives to use the technology installed at these schoolsIf the interactive whiteboards had not opened up a whole new world of interconnectivity and applications, the Ulwazi Project wouldn’t have made the progress it has.”

week7 online education in Malaysia

Dahat International School
http://www.dalatalumni.com/news/19172/eLearning-Dalats-New-Online-Learning-Requirement.htm

The Dahat international school in Malaysia have added an online course which is compulsory for the high school seniors to complete prior to graduating they believe that it is in the best interests of the students because it “capitalizes on it’s students natural affinity for technology…looking at the trends in education and the work place, there is no doubt that (the students) will need these skills …”

The school’s principal recognises that this course will prepare the students for the future after observing the trends that are in education as well as the professional world. Despite Malaysia being a third world country it introduced the concept of online learning long before the U.S.A had introduced it in their own schools.
“Dahat offers its own learning courses …which blend online coursework and face to face time with the teacher.”

The positive outcome of this is that the online courses are not offered at a higher price instead because Dahat International School designed some of the courses, the students get them at a reduced price. “It’s an enrichment opportunity for students to take courses we just can’t afford to offer”

Another key point which is noted is that it creates a great flexibility because courses can be available all the time not jus during scheduled class times. This has opened the courses to a larger number of students who wouldn’t be able to fit into a single room at the same time. The students interact with the teachers in range of various ways such as podcasts, flash activities, discussions boards and instant messaging. The teachers at the international school believe that students do not need to physically be in a classroom in order for them to learn.
“Dahat’s next goal is to offer a dual-credit online classes that allow students to earn both high school and college credit at the same time.

week 6 Website anlysis part 1

http://www.mtv.co.uk/ is a site that features a range of varied media formats on the homepage, there is a combination of text, videos forums, games as well as pictures which allow the visitors to the site to engage with the content in various ways as well as have options of what they wish to access. With hyperlinks which lead to other pages within the site the user has less of a chance of getting lost as compared as if the links were to external links. The site is owned by VIACOM one of the major entertainment companies in the world, the issue of bias can come into play because the reader is limited to the content within the site’s ideology and discourse. The issue of a bias in new medias culture is a prominent one, however what most key authors in this field neglect to recognize is that, although he site might be biased with certain ideologies the reader of the text is not passive. Most of the time user of the internet are often quite active and are discriminating regarding which content they access.

week 6 Website analysis part 2

Everyone is free to use the general features on the site but users are required to create an account with the site to use the interactive features such as playing games or writing on the forum http://www.mtv.co.uk/comment/edit/ . The interactive features of the site enable the user to participate in forums about programs featured on the MTV channels as well as the site with other users, and depending on the show in discussion the stars of that show such as “ The City” also interact with their fans. http://www.mtv.co.uk/channel/mtvuk/message_boards/the_forum
This interactivity can be classed as ‘social media’ “Social media describes the online technologies and products that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other” (Wikipedia:2007) Online forums/message boards allows the user to connect with others without being limited by geographical location or time, the messages do not need to be instant nor do people need to be gathered in the same physical location.

Week 6 Website Analysis part 3

Consumers control the online environment so brands need to think about facilitating ‘user-created actions’, not jus ‘user generated content’. “Unlike newspapers and T.V. where the advertisers are speaking at the customers, the internet allows for a back and forth interaction http://chinaseekinggalpha.com/article/30979
What I particularly like about http://www.mtv.co.uk/ is that to a certain extent the user has many roles such as being the customer in purchasing the products available such as music albums, the consumer in taking in the news material available, the audience by watching the videos featured on the site, the participant in the forum or message boards as well as the producer such as seen in video blogs. It think that all these feature make communication amongst different people in society, the main advantage that there is no right way to use it because it is non-linear because of the aid of hyperlinks. The site also has different levels of engagement and this is broken into three parts according to http://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/engagement/engagement-in-qld/engage-levels/engage-levels.html
Identification- the user identifies with the content on the site as entertainment as well as other users who like the program
Belonging- having a sense of shared values and common practice
Commitment- people who are passionate enough to devote a lot of time and/ or money on the site (I don’t quite agree with this last point though :))

week 5 Origins of Blogging

“A Web browser access to various meeting document information, such as minutes, tabled documents, reports and document indexes. Applications are being developed to take standard electronic meeting log files, postprocess them in a variety of ways, and generate a series of indexes and summary files. These files are formatted in HTML and exploit hyperlinks to the full in order to relate the different types of information.” (Raikundalia, G. & Rees, M.: 1995)
Used this description to explain what blogging was, it is thought that blogs started of with having web pages that had links to other external sites as well as comments on material featured on other pages other than that the reader was reading. One of the first noted blogs was that of Justin Hall in 1994 which contained links to other sites as well as daily entries from his online journal and all of the entries were linked through an index page, as observed with most websites these days.The word weblog came into popular use in December 1997 and later became shorten to blog by Peter Merholz in 1999 and from that point onwards that is when blogging really took off. Pyra Labs which was bought by Google launched blogspot which is a free blogging space for basically anyone which something to say

week 5 Burns part 2

I don’t think that commercialization on the site will cause people to leave the site however, I myself being an account holder the commercials get a bit annoying but other than that the promoted videos sometimes contain really good stuff.

Produsage however can cause conflicts in communities using YouTube as an example again the beheading of Saddam Hussein was recorded on a mobile phone camera and it was posted on the YouTube site. To some people this is viewed as entertainment to some it is highly disrespectful regardless of what atrocities that he committed. In the future I think that tighter regulations will have to be put in place because this type of produserism could spiral out of control and cause more damage than good to society.

week 5 Burns part 1

produsage will last because more games like the Sims are being developed like the new Nintendo games such as animal crossing in which the users create their own pets and can also interact with other users with their own environment. Programs such as YouTube also encourage produsage the process still continues to expand from just being text based to audio visual material. The only concern with using YouTube as a produsage site is that recently it was purchased by Google which is a big cooperation which revolves around advertizing and commercialization and the evidence of this is being seen on the YouTube sit with promoted videos as well as pop ups at the side of the screen. So a free space that was available for people to use is now being taken up by a majority of commercial material.

Week 5 Meikle part A

The web has an array of writers and commentators alike so there is a much wider range of writers and who they write to. News on the web ranges form local to international news as well as family news. On some websites the seriousness of newspapers is taken away, what is also classed as news also varies it could be anything with the majority of websites not having editors it is up to the author to decide what is newsworthy as well as the audience to be discriminating as what they class as news.

Week 5 Meikle part B

The internet has created a new avenue for qualified, unqualified as well as those without the right credentials to be employed in Fleet Street. Almost anyone with access to a pc and internet can post things online, most news channels are now urging ordinary people to submit their pictures and stories if they happen to be at a significant event and in this they become journalists in their own right.

Week 5 Meikle part C

I don’t think that DIY newsmakers should be classed as alternative culture in a sense they are the same as everyday journalists except for the fact that they publish most of their material online, the benefit of this is that their material can be updated and changed completely without the need to reprint the newspaper in a sense this makes them alternative but in my opinion it is that they have access to a medium whereby change is very easy to do.

Week 5 Meikle part D

I think that the audience has to be discriminating as to what websites they visit to read the news, the information quality level is highly depended on what materials the journalist is open to as well as their experience in news gathering and reporting. One cannot just base their opinion on previous stereotypes

Week 5 Meikle part E

News can never be completely open, it is virtually impossible to cover a story from all sides in a just manner. Bias and emotion can get in the way of open news reporting. This problem is not just noticed with different international news broadcasting cooperation’s it can also be seen nationally for instance with CNN and Fox News Network with both covering stories quite differently.

Week 5 Meikle part F

I think that the net can form a new media institution because it is a place where everybody is equal, one is not limited by the contacts he/she has or qualifications it is an open space ready to be filled with opinions.

Lister et al pg 174

It depends on what the online community subject is, if it is a site whereby health problems can be discussed with other people who have suffered form the same illness or by medical professions belonging to such a group can be seen as empowering however suicidal communities are also online and what has be said about these?
However relying on online advice is not always effective false advice might be given and which out proper consultation by a medical professional can cause certain implications. The other thing is that it limits people’s everyday skills with the crutch of the online community this can stop people making ‘real friends’ and instead might find themselves surrounded by virtual ones.

Lister et al pg 177

The internet definitely provides a ‘public sphere’ for people to interact without the limitations of geographical location, it offers people a wider range of others to talk and interact with. However there are some limitations with this, the technology is needed first before this type of communication can take place a pc for starters and internet connection. In the Western parts of the world this is easily attainable as compared to less developed parts of the world, so it is not something that everybody has access to.

Lister et al pg 181

In a statistic recently discovered by a lecturer who will remain unnamed J they said that 80% of the content on the internet is pornography to some this can me seen as a positive thing but to the majority of the population this is seen as a risk especially for young children. The internet regarded as an information highway and everyone has a right to post whatever they like within the restrictions of the laws that govern the country they come form, however this freedom is not always positive it can lead to such materials such as the beheading of Saddam Hussein to be posted on the internet. This type of material is highly immoral and could have harmful effects on vulnerable people.

lister et al pg 184-5

With social networking sites such as facebook and MySpace content made by everyday people can be posted online and viewed by many people. This is becoming a lucrative business an example of this is the couple who danced to Sir-Mix-A-Lot’s song Baby Got Back and their first dance at their wedding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqiw-Kqtlr0
One can definitely see a raise of people producing their own material it will take a while to overturn the material provided by big co operations into a majority of individual based material provided by the everyday people for the everyday person.

Blanchard reading

Some community analysts might argue that calling any online group a virtual community represents yet another example of the overuse of the term “community” to the point that concept has lost any real meaning (Harris, 1999).
There seems to be a continual dispute as to what is considered to be a community, is community only associated with face to face interaction? But doesn’t the word ‘virtual’ community clearly state that this type of community is virtual it really doesn’t exist outside cyberspace unless the members choose to expand it in that respect. Sometimes geographical limitations can be said to prevent that sense of community and that virtual communities have helped combat this problem
they would help replace the relationships lost as people became more isolated from their neighbors (Rheingold, 1993; Schuler, 1996

A question that is raised in the reading is that what makes a virtual community? Because not all virtual groups are virtual communities. Certain features distinguish the two.
Jones argues that we can understand virtual communities by understanding the artifacts of its virtual settlement: its postings, structure and content.

SOC (Sense of Community) as consisting of the following four characteristics:
Feelings of membership: Feelings of belonging to, and identifying with, the community;
This sense of membership can be felt but hose using blogs, on one hand one can feel this sense of membership without joining the blog but being a lurker, by adding a blog to ones favourites one can always check if there are any new discussions and just enjoy the reading aspect of the community. In real life not all people interact in a community or share their thoughts or feelings but still feel as though they still have membership within the group, should they be regarded as not being part of the community?
Feelings of influence: Feelings of having influence on, and being influenced by, the community;
Not all influence is good especially online, as previously discussed in my blog last week there as been a raise of pro-anorexia websites which influence people to live unhealthily, if a member belongs to that community and identifies with it doesn’t mean that the same outcomes as the Julie/Julia Project will follow. The next two characteristics can also be applied to this justification.
Integration and fulfillment of needs: Feelings of being supported by others in the community while also supporting them; and
Shared emotional connection: Feelings of relationships, shared history, and a “spirit” of community.


The issue of lurkers seem to be a key argument with the majority of people using blogs being lurkers
Nonetheless, lurkers may comprise the vast majority of participants of a virtual community (Blanchard & Markus, 2003)
Could it be said that lurker also make up part of the community? Or are thety still regarded as outcasts? Despite their vast numbers? Who gets to decide as to who will be frowned upon? Certainly people have personal opinion as to weather they choose to par-take in the discussions or not. Surely the internet was created for people to have access to whatever they chose to read or view. If certain groups do not wish for their material to be read surely passwords and subscriptions can be put into place to prevent the dangerous lurkers.
In the case study the blog used had hundreds of hits everyday but this doesn’t make it a community, a community has to have a minimal number of participants and in the case study conducted most people identified that they did not feel as though they were part of a community but rather visitors to the blog, some even identified the point that I made earlier that not all people in society communicate in real communities why should this change online?
it lacked a large enough group of people who considered it a virtual community. Without a critical mass of engaged, connected, and attached participants, its survival depended primarily on the blog author alone. Clearly, there must be a large enough subset of the members who have a strong enough sense of community for a virtual group to cross over to a virtual community.

Music sharing online

a) The way music is consumed has changed drastically form the past music is now on demand, before the internet boom people used to wait months to have access to a new album from a group. Fans can now listen to music form their favourite artist (Illegally of course)before the album even comes out, with so many loop holes on the internet music has never been easier to access and it is no longer regarded as a seriopus activity rather more passive because there is just so much material.

b)Which sites like MySpace new artists can upload their music and since it is on the internet virtually anyone can access it. With big bands also using the MySpace facilities they also have recommendations of bands that they like and this can influence their fans to listen to the new and up coming musicians

c) I think I has definitely changed pop music because there is so much material to listen to, with the rise of music sharing websites album sells have fallen because of people downloading them online legally but mostly illegally and the effects of this can seen with the closure of zavvi and some planned closures of HMV stores because of the decline in product sells

d) Media companies are becoming increasingly unneeded in society and they are catching on to this and are bidding to buy sites like MySpace which enable people to make and upload their own music. In this we see that the capitalist gain of the big cooperation’s is still being met.

lister et al pg 166

Assuming an online persona gives people more confidence to engage in things that previously might have not engaged in. online personas do not have to present the real self instead one can be whoever they want and express whatever they wish to a wider audience. This anonymity gives people a bigger boost of confidence, online personas can also be great when dealing with embarrassing illnesses, a multitude of help forums have appeared in the internet recently which enables people to seek help without the embarrassment of doing it face to face.

lister et al pg 167

Postmodern views which stress the fluidity of online selves is very true race or class are not required online one can express them but the majority of people chose not to. I think online personas create an online world whereby the physical and material have no effect on online relationships everyone is equal, it is more of a utopian world.

lister et al pg 168

cyber identities constitute an alternative to ‘normal social reality’ but to a certain extent, yes people can gather in a forum group and be called a community but they are not really together each person is individually sat at their work station and the most effective form of communication according to Socrates in Walter Ong’s book Orality is the spoken word because memory can store this for longer than written word. Some of the identities that people adopt online can be in the forms of animals or fictional creatures and live in fictional worlds whereby language is not expressed in letters or symbols but rather by code.

online discussions

Considering that the site that we were supposed to review did not seem to want to work , I decided to base my research on a documentary posted on YouTube:
a) The responses were varied in response to the documentary which was based on the political injustices happening in Zimbabwe, most of the reviewers understood that the atrocities that were being committed by the current president were wrong and the government was responsible for these but then some mislead people believed that it was the eradication of colonial rule that caused this and that ‘Africans’ were not capable of ruling a continent, in response to this were was a lot of swearing and heated arguments.
b) Screen names can say a lot about what the people are like, my screen name is smileysunnyrue which I think represents me hahaha
c) I don’t believe some of the discussions that happen online would take place in real life because of the controversy it would cause, using an alias people can speak about things that are considered inappropriate in society.

id and relationships online

Using facebook as a basis of this research task and my personal experience with the website. Usually when people ask me to add them but don’t have a profile picture or any friends in common with me I am a bit reluctant because it could be anyone, a nice person, psycho or a forgotten friend but with online stalking on the rise one always has to take precautions of people without a valid id.
I personally not use my full name on other sites but I do on facebook because I have a private profile and not anyone can access my information so I do have some reassurance that random people cannot just get assess to my whole life story. Forms allow people with like minds to get together to express their thoughts on certain subjects but can free expression really be observed within such groups very few people will question the main ideas that expressed within the group, the majority of the group will follow the general group consensus. So intend of personal identity being expressed it’s more of a group ideology that will be shown thus causing the loss of identity.
Sites on the internet such as pro-anorexia ones have started taking a hold on society whereby negative views are expressed as positive ones and mislead young and vulnerable people.

Lister:New Media and New Technologies Pg 33

Facilities such as YouTube have enabled a wider range of people to broadcast their material on the web, opinions on things that happen in everyday life such as the US presidential election a lot of people broadcast their support and thoughts on particular candidates, upcoming musicians also find facilities such as MySpace to be good launching pads for their material, big cooperations are also using these formats which were previously just for the common person to increase the distribution of their material. With the introduction of sites such as MySpace and YouTube a range of material that would not have previously published such as attacks on the Bush administration and racist material can be found on them, so however they allow people to broadcast their opinions on certain issues some issues in society that would not be tolerated can be accessed, the affect on society has to be considered.

Lister:New Media and New Technologies Pg 27

Non linear reading and writing captures the experience of the web because one does not need to read an article in its entirety or in a chronological order, surfing is very common, the reader of a text can skip from one topic to another and comment as they please. This enables the reader to read a range of material from a range of sources with great ease compared to going to the library and searching for different texts

Lister:New Media and New Technologies Pg 17

Digitality makes is easier to produce work and edit it without the need to start all over again. When typing, ideas can be expressed in a non-chronological order unlike what writing whereby everything has to be in order, computers also have facilities such as the backspace button which will erase mistakes and spell checkers so the risk of making errors is minimized whereas in hand-written work there are ways of erasing mistakes made but the evidence of a mistake made will still be present

Lister:New Media and New Technologies Pg 12

There isn’t a clean break between analogue and digital media, as previously discussed in the lecture last new digital media uses the old media as a framework to build upon new technologies so in this we always see commonalities in both for example with skype it still uses the basic telephone dialling system that we are accustomed to however the benefit is that it is a free service which is quicker and cheaper to use than a telephone system. I believe that in order for a particular type of technology to work it has to use certain aspects that are familiar to the target market otherwise completely new concepts might not be received as well as those that bear a resemblance to what we are pre-dispositioned to

Lister:New Media and New Technologies Pg 11

new media can be held accountable of pushing the ideology of progress, with the introduction of the internet the possibilities of what one can do at the touch of the a button are endless spheres of social activities have expanded with the introduction of virtual communities, and online forums boundaries that previously restricted people such as physical, geographical or financial difficulties has been eradicated. New media also seems to push the ideology of bettering yourself with the use of new facilities available online such as upgrading ones current system, pre-ordering a better version before it even comes out, which shows that the technological device that one has at the current moment can always be replaced by something better and newer thus it always pushes that ideology of progress

Lister:New Media and New Technologies Pg 3+

In order for any product to work there has to be an existing market for the product to be sold in, some pessimists might regard this as a capitalistic ideology that society is has been conditioned to believe, but the key argument that they fail to note is that society is a discriminating this is a key point that I have observed in most academic research the theorists seem to think that society is passive and will just wallow in everything that they are presented with. If we consider life without the technologies that we are accustomed to we would still live in a primitive society and is that what the analysts see as a non capitalistic society? if there hadn’t been developments of computer programs and other such technologies would we be able to achieve some of the things that we can such as running worldwide businesses from the comfort of one’s home, granted none of the basics of technology have changed but they have been used as a framework to build upon new ideas and concepts to enable us to live in a technologically advanced society.

Lister:New Media and New Technologies Pg 2

The upgrade culture can be considered by some as a way technology is developing in society and how ne facilities are constantly being incorporated into our everyday life. One can see that form the technology offered on programs such as windows 95 and compared to windows vista there has been some considerable change regarding what the packages offered the user. However if one takes a second look its if not really new media that has replaced the previous one instead it is more a development on the existing package, by tweaking and adjusting a few aspects of the program it can be repackaged and sold to consumers as a new product, which is generally regarded as consumerism, to the profit of big businesses.

Interactivity and all that

Reading this lecture I noted that there were several arguments that surrounded the topic of interactivity, some academics regard it as a force of nature or more technically known as techno-determinism. This can be seen as a negative because there is not controlling figure in the making of it and to some may seem like it is going to spiral out of control which would support the cyber- dystopian argument. On the other hand other analysts see the new technology as a form of control of those higher up in society this process is called socio-determinism. What this argument fails to note is that the audience is not a passive one they are discriminating and are aware that the material that they are being provided with might not be the gospel truth.
Another point that is stated is the same continuing one from the lecture last week which is new media really new? But a key point that has to taken into account is that the audience can influence what they read online unlike pervious media such as television which is a one way medium. The development of new technology as enabled society to take part in a range of communication formats/methods, but like Sonia Livingstone says, we must not assume that because the technology makes something possible it always happens. Issues such as globalization also have to be taken into account are they for the benefit of society or is this leading to a break down local cultures and traditions?

research on interactive websites

MTV recently launches a program whereby the members create avatars and then the avatars assume the role of the individual. These avatars were influenced by the popularity of the avatars used in the MTV commercials. After the creation of the avatar the user is then asked which one of the MTV avatars is their favourite (mine personally is the MTV Dance one) and you get taken to their rooms, in this facility you can speak to your favourite avatar, party and play games against other users. Technically this is a forum with the option of creating a moving virtual person to represent you and also it give you a virtual picture of what the other forum users might look like or dress like. In my opinion I think that hypertext does shape the www experience because apart from possibly television no other media can come close to the different types of text that are available on the internet. The internet incorporates all the media that we used in the past singularly and puts them in one place where by the user gets the full experience.

topic 3 week 2 part 2

e) In blogs no one is in charge really, everyone who chooses to take place in a certain respect is in control, the user can take charge but either preventing certain individuals from posting on the blog or by stopping comments from being posted till the account holder approves of them
f) I believe forums have a mixture of speech and writing, I noticed that between students speech was used more and a written form was used when responding to comments by the lecturer
g) I have just the basic user skills at the moment but that is because I am still new to the program, skills will improve as one uses the program more, I feel fairly confident with using the facilities but sometimes encounter slight problems

Topic 3 week 2 part 1

a) When looking at blogs that have been going on for years, in my opinion it is more than an online conversation it is more like an online version of the persons thoughts, things do not always follow a particular order such as found in everyday conversations. Some of the material posted can be very random (extremely random at times)
b) Depending on the type of blog being created determines how people will ‘speak’ in it, my blog for new media cultures contains a more formal structure of thought and a lot more thought goes into my sentence construction as compared to if the blog wasn’t intended for academic work it would contain much more informal language and more free flow thought rather than structured sentences. In a seminar formality is still required maybe (depending on who is conducting the seminar) the way people put information on their blogs is the way they would speak in a seminar. In an essay very formal and grammatical address is needed as it is part of the assessment. In blogs we take turns by waiting for someone to comment on the information presented and we can respond after that comment
c) The computer in general cuts down on what is considered to be ‘interaction’ so to speak, sure people can leave comments and feedback can be left on the blog it still lacks that personal touch that face to face has. Points can be expressed more clearly and meaning has less of a chance if being mistaken for something else
d) As with everything time management is essential, if careful planning is conducted it the tasks can be completed

the internet and society

The internet has been linked with several moral panics in society for example the suicide packs that were widely reported last year and the focusing of utopian ideals such as the introduction of avatars that can be designed to present people’s desired appearance, weight etc. The raise of paedophiles in the internet has also contributed to giving internet a bad name, when such things take place people tend to focus on the negative side of the internet and disregard all the positives it has brought to society. Never before has obtaining information, buying products or correspondence learning been easier. With facilities that cater for all age groups the internet has proved to be quite a huge phenomenon. But with this it is making society lazy, which every thing at the click of a mouse, people have lost that drive to research certain things any other way other than the internet. With this some in society are seeing this as a way of conning people with identity theft on the raise the internet has become a profitable business for hackers.

Goebell Speech

After reading the speech delivered by Goebell he seemed to push radio as the most reliable medium of the time he said it would be like the press was in the 19th century. This was to become the key source of information to the German nationals but with this we can see that the government’s ideologies would have been passed through the radio which had now been given the exclusive status of being the most reliable source of information. “The radio is the most influential and important intermediary between a spiritual movement and the nation, between the idea and the people.”
Goebell wanted to push radio because it was easily accessible to the people of the time (he refers to them as masses supporting the Arnoldian ideology that certain people in society were lower than others) he had already establish radio as a medium that would effectively carry out the government’s message, the radio would be used to impose the dominant group’s way of thinking to the less powerful groups and as the process of hegemony works, the ideas might be met with resistance and will later be accepted and incorporated in society.
"We live in the age of the masses; the masses rightly demand that they participate in the great events of the day. "
His key to selling this idea is that he would introduce radio as a demand form the people thus enabling the medium to be more easily be accepted into everyday life.
In modern time is it is quite difficult to convince people that they should use a particular medium over another because of the range of choice available. With the advent of television most people tend to use this as a key source of information, however our generation is a transitional one whereby the internet is replacing television with its ability to gather so much information and most importantly varied view points whereas the problem with T.V is that bias is quite often noted. In modern day society radio seems to have taken the back seat and is not really used especially by the younger generation as a key source of information rather it is more for background noise or entertainment.

Discourses in New Media

a lot of discourses surround this topic , the first being is new media really new? or does it only present an improved version of what was previously available. a point that was started in the lecture was that old media formats are used as a frame work to build upon new ones. so what we consider to be new is not new rather it has always been there and has just been modified. the advantages with new media is that unlike old media forms the products such as pc's and other such devices have become compact as compared to the products that were previously availbale. the transportation of data has also improved data and easily be imported and exported between different users and can be manipulated or edited. another benefit with using new media is that it is cheap to reproduce to a wider audience as compared to post, telephone calls or even conferences. new media such as the internet has enabled the users to have access to a range of multimedia, because on websites one can find text, videos, audio material and a range of other things such as games. games were one of the first types og media that were used as an interaction format between people. the level of interactivity has also changed ther are now different types and levels of interactivity on the internet. with services such as skype one to one free communication has never been easier, less interactive one to one formats like forums are still proving to be still popular with the advent of tservices such as facebook and myspace. despite this there have been some problems with new media especially the internet such as identity theft due to the use of alias names. new forms of internet such as wireless broadband have received complaints because of the loss of network or signal, these are problems that were limited when using cable broadband. in this we see that new medai has its benefits as well as pit falls.

research into usenet and BBS

usenet is a worldwide forum that started between two universities in America but now has become global. it is used to publish articles, usenet can be seen as a longer version of a blog, once you post your material everyone within that group can read your article and respond to it, however the artices that are posted are renewed every so often to make space for new ones. Bulletin Board Systems were very popular in the 70's till about the beginning of the 90's when they were replaced by the internet. they were used for uploading and downloading software as well as gaming these were accessed over a phone line using a moderm. advanced systems with multiple phones would enable users to have a chatroom forum however users had to pay to use this forum. without any personal experience i cannot comment on how using any of these sysytems is like :) however using services like IM (Instant messenger) which is a free service would have been much popular within the polulation.

Email and Email lists

email has become a very popular method of communication not just for personal use but also for large cooparations. emails allows one to to write in an basically an unlimited space using text and also has the option of attaching data and pictures within the massage, this makes it more effective than letter writting because a lot more information can be incorparated within it.
Email lists have become an essential part of businesses since they allow companies to retain information of customers for future reference and also allows them to send information in the future. the main problem with email lists, in my personal opinion is that spam message end up being sent by third party companies and also irrelevent materials can be bombarded to one's mail box. the use of email has enbled communication between people in different countries to be quick and easy as well as the cost factor ...it is cheap and as dave said in the lecture sending an email to a person across the world or even 100 will not change in terms of cost just maybe a few extra minutes to attach all those email addresses

hey everyone

hey ...
sorry i had to make a new blog my other one has completely gone crazy and wont let me do anything its crazy ..