What did we do before technology?

This is something that people discuss frequently. Back in the day where you couldn’t solve all your problems via Google, did people really venture into an encyclopedia? It seems we have all became greatly dependent upon technology in our daily lives, not even just for social reasons but also for business. With video conferencing, emailing, and everyone constantly attached to their mobile phone, it seems even human contact for the business world is not necessary these days. This increase in the different modes of communication available enables international businesses to liaise, without expensive flight costs and the equally important loss of productive work time. This instantaneous communication therefore greatly supports the world of business.

Even on our journey towards the working world, technology plays a substantial role in our university life. Like most UoB students if ‘WebCT’ goes down I’m lost! It is something of a norm now for universities to make use of these online blackboard systems. Students have access to their lecture and seminar preparation, exam questions, feedback and so on, without endless pieces of paper and at the click of a button.

But I’ll bring us back to my initial question now, what did we do before technology? As I have noted technology is not just an additional extra to provide entertainment but it is a vital part of our daily lives. Therefore it seems impossible for us to comprehend how people coped. I think its pretty safe to say however, that most things that feel vital to us are not essential and instead as merely speed up the process increasing efficiency.  Nevertheless we wouldn’t want to be without them!

Therefore to what extent should we rely on technology?  If a companies system goes down it often brings business to a halt. As I mentioned, if WebCT goes down, it can bring students work to a halt. Consequently, I believe we have to appreciate the benefits of all that technology brings whilst stopping ourselves from becoming so dependent upon it that in the odd (luckily infrequent) times where technology fails us, life goes on!

UoB School?

Ayup everyone,

As this is the first post of this academic year and I only know one person in the whole class, I have little idea about what interests the majority of you. What I am sure of though, is that we are all students of the University of Birmingham. Therefore, I hope this story, released this summer, will provoke at least a slight reaction from you.

In a nutshell, the government has approved plans for the university to open a school, based near the main campus, for 11-18 year olds. It's due to open in September 2014 so only those staying on for a fourth year will see its completion. If it means more kids clogging up the Spar and Joe's at dinner time though, I'm already not looking forward to it.

Full story here: http://www.redbrick.me/2012/07/government-approves-university-school/

Google's Change in Privacy Policy

Recently Google have changed its Privacy Policy, which could herald the kind of advertising seen in the 2002 film Minority Report. The change seems a simple on. Google wants to merge all the data it collects from all its different outlets, for example Youtube, search engine's, e-mails, where you are in, if you have a Google smart-phone, to create a comprehensive 'reading' of your digital life. This all could seem very innocent, but there in lies the danger. Google is then totally responsible for a whole world of data which could be used for advertising, or more sinister ends by state secret services or governments themselves. As Jonathan Freedland states in his article, cited below, 'Yes, the Department of Health holds your medical records, but Google has almost everything else. If you worry about one, shouldn't you worry about the other?' (Freedland 02/03/2012)

Freedland, Jonathan (2012) From Google downwards, our digital masters much be watched.http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/02/digital-masters-must-be-watched-google. Accessed: 03/03/2012

Group Project- Eva, Ben, Sarah

We aim to provide an interactive account of the UK Riots (August 2011) where the main webpage will be a map of the UK with flagged areas to represent where the activity occured. By hovering the mouse on these flags, one will see a bubble of information about the disruptions (When/What/Who) accompanied by an image, and also links to cultural responses, i.e. articles, interviews, video footage.

It will be a centring of information about the riots, a database that will let you travel
from place to place, day to day, and access responses across different media
platforms. This site will represent cause and affect over the period of the
civil disturbances, possible roots of the problem, and the aftermath across the
U.K.

Group Project - Sam Murphy, Jack Brumby, Joey Davey

Our project is going to be based around World War One and the cultural responses to that event. Which will include paintings, poems and audio from that period.

The main page will be about relevant information about the project, and links to various other pages for which there will be a maps, timeline, images, various texts and Wordle maps.

A timeline of all the things we included battles, cultural aspects such as publication of poems and diaries, important speeches.

The project will include several pages for each piece of text. (Poems, speeches, anecdotes and diary entries) Each one will have an interpretation of the text through Wordle, in an image, or link to an image of the text through Wordle.

For poems there will be a link to an audio recording of that poem, if possible from poetry archive or other sources.

There will be a page for a map of the different locations which will be linked to the timeline, to show battles, births and deaths of authors and poets and politicians.

Throughout the whole few pages 4 or 5 there will be several images of paintings and photographs

Group project proposal: Lucy, Amy, Tom, Jonny

We want to create a website covering Shakespeare’s life aimed at secondary school children: Shakeitup

The homepage will consist of a timeline of Shakespeare’s life, including key events and the plays by him covered in secondary schools.

Text will be minimal on the timeline, as each event will be primarily represented by an image and a caption. These captions will be clickable and will link to other relevant webpages (a few of which we will also create), or further relevant images, clips of plays in performance or of film adaptations.

We also want to include a feature whereby hovering over images/captions reveals a text bubble of brief facts.

Hack the Book from Home

Yesterday the Observer published an article entilted 'Welcome to the desktop degree...'

Perhaps this module has the potential to explore the restrictions of in-class teaching, by exploiting the resources of the digital age, which we so often discuss. Throughout we have been analysing the difference and comparing the importance of the physical versus the digital- how the humanities are keeping up with the technological shift. How do we think this module would work if fully taught via online classes? Would we be learning more or less?

And to go even further, how likely do we think it is that (in the not-so-distant future) online classes will dominate traditional modes of teaching, where lectures and seminars are merely digitalised classes, students never again answering "yes" to a register but checking a login box, perhaps, on an online forum?


Link to the article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/05/desktop-degree-stanford-university-naughton