Welcome to Computers & Culture. We'll be using this GitHub project to collect together almost everything of relevance to the class. This will not be a static project nor page for the duration of this class so you'll want to check back regularly each week since updates will not be pushed to you.
2 - First Class. The first class will feature only a quick review of the mechanics of the class since the details are all in the syllabus and then move into a review of foundational concepts and authors related to the rise of computers both in and of themselves and as machines that both shape and are shaped by culture. This first class will focus less on authors and more on general concepts, questions, and ideas of relevance, some of which will be prompted by the ITU database and the ITU's Measuring the Information Society Report.
5 - Labour Day, University Holiday, No Class.
7 - Community Service-Learning Introduction. This class has an optional CSL component. A representative from this program will be in class to make a short presentation and answer questions. We will continue the introduction begun on the first day of class, shifting focus to look at particular authors at a glance.
9 - Visit to EPL Makerspace. All students in the class are expected to meet the instructor inside the Makerspace at the Stanley Milner Branch of the Edmonton Public Library at 1pm. The visit will last until 1:50pm. Students who are not able to join the class at this time will be expected to make arrangements with the EPL Makerspace for a tour at a mutually convenient time. Here are instructions from Google Maps on how to get there by transit from the U of A Transit Centre.
12 - Continuing the Introduction. We will carry over the introduction from the 2nd and 7th by looking at important writing from Vannevar Bush, Douglas Englebart, and Alan Turing.
14 - Concluding the Introduction. We will conclude the introduction from the previous classes by looking at the ideas of Ted Nelson, H. Marshall McLuhan (just Chapter 1) and Donna Haraway. Here's a shared notetaking space for this topic.
16 - Introduction to Topic. Today we'll look at the current state of computer programming education in K-12 schools, using articles from CBC and USA Today as our jumping off point.
19 - Should computer programming be taught as part of early education? That there is demand for computer programming to be taught in schools should be clear, but we shouldn't do things just because they are in demand. We'll take seriously the question of whether computer programming should be taught is schools by building on the content from the previous class and adding the voices of [Guzdial] (http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/173870-the-danger-of-requiring-computer-science-in-k-12-schools/fulltext), Duckett/Abbott, and Bajarin. We will also spend some time prepping for our first all discussion class (next class) by going over the criteria for good discussion questions and developing questions to be used next day. Keep in mind that these questions will form the basis of writing assignments and could appear on the final exam as well.
21 - Discussion 1. Input on the question can was available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/62NGB62. The results of the survey can be seen at:https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-WCQRJ67X/. The winner by just a few votes: Should hacking have a role if programming/coding is taught and, if so, then what role? The runner-up: How do we ensure that all children are (approximately) equally benefitted by learning to code/program initiatives? Both questions assume the answer to "Should we teach programming/coding in elementary school?" is at least a tentative "Yes, but the details need to be worked out." Here is a shared space for notes during the discussion.
23 - How have people thought about teaching coding historically? While not a good question for discussion in its own right this question will lead us to look into the past and in doing so discover questions of both relevance to the main topic and of interest to this particular class. We'll be drawing directly on the work of Papert, (Pages 19-37 and 78-93 from Mindstorms: children, computers, and powerful ideas), Kay and Goldberg, and returning to look at Nelson (pay close attention to "No More Teacher's Dirty Looks") again.
26 - Discussion 2. The two questions for discussion today (via two separate groups) will be: Will learning how computers think--and thereby learning to think like computers--affect us in ways and to degrees that it should not be taught within the K-12 system (except, possibly, in high school)? and How do our current computer interfaces constrain or enhance the ways that we learn or retain information and what should be done to improve them? The shared notepad can be found HERE. Feel free to come prepared with some light background research via a few internet searches. If you are looking for class content connections then consider Turing for the first and Paper and/or Nelson for the second.
28 - Coding vs Training? One of the "Don't teach kids to code!" responses sees coding as the past and insists on looking to the future: training. Wired magazine has been pushing this idea a lot with articles from Sehringer, Tanz ("The End of Code" was the June 2016 cover story), and Metz. We'll start poking at this idea to see what life is in it and select the subtopic to conclude this topic as a whole with. We also need to select the final education subtopic for October 3 & 5.
30 - Discussion 3. Today's discussion topic is What are the consequences (so far and predicted) of giving increasing control to computers and how should we respond to this? and it will be divided across three groups. The communal note taking space can be found HERE. Please remember to contribute to the choice of a final subtopic by this evening.
3 - Class selected subtopic, State of AI Research, Education, and Training. There is clear interest in AI as seen from Discussion 3 and from the suggestions made beyond the class. So, we'll review what the current state of the art is for both the fields AI is operating in and how training and education is being provided. Once this is done then we'll look to our discussion questions, the front runner of which is "Are there specific fields that AI/Computers should not control?" For reading you must each find two articles or other sources, one of each to answer each of these questions:
- What fields is AI currently operating in and how?
- What training/education is available for people in those fields, either in producing the AI or in working with the AI?
If you'd like to share your answers you may do so HERE.
5 - Discussion 4. Two questions on the table today:
- Under what conditions, if any, should we allow AIs to provide education as the primary instructor?
- Is killing via autonomous drone different from other methods and, if so, how?
Etherpad for notes, complete with content shared from last class is HERE.
7 - Topic Review. We will clean-up any lingering questions or ideas related to teaching programming/coding in schools, including making sure that we have solid understandings of strong responses to the questions raised during the discussions. Put another way, we will review the questions that have been asked so that everyone is in a strong position to produce their first piece of refined writing.
10 - Thanksgiving Day, University Holiday, No Class.
12 - Introduction, Part 1. We lay a foundation for critically examining social media with a crash course in Marxism and some historical communication/media theorists, specifically pieces by Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Jean Baudrillard.
14 - Introduction, Part 2. With some historical background and Marxist foundations laid down we turn to the only full text we will be using this term, Christian Fuchs' Social Media: A Critical Introduction. We'll be looking at the first four chapters (80 pages of reading) so make sure that you've looked at it well in advance.
17 - Special Guest. Marnie Ferguson will be leading the class today. She is a teacher and counsellor with Elk Island Public Schools and will be presenting on social media trends that she sees in here work within the public school system. Note that John will not be in class today since he will be speaking with MPs in Ottawa about Canada's supercomputing infrastructure.
19 - Economics and Production. We'll look at Chapters 5 & 10 today, looking at some of the core economics that seems to be driving social media sites. If necessary we'll spend time at the start of class finishing the introduction.
21 - Discussion 5. A three part question today:
- Argue for or against Fuch's position that most social media platforms are exploiting their users.
- In doing so address whether or not it is ok to exploit someone in general and particularly in the way that Fuchs' claims is being done on social media.
- Given your answer, what should you do and what should be done in general, if anything?
Here is an Etherpad to collect your thoughts on this discussion (apologies for posting this late, it seems that GitHub has been down for much of the day).
24 - Good, Evil, and Blowing the Whistle. Chapters 6 & 9 will frame an investigation into the ideology (the framework of perceptions/ideas through which our experiences are filtered) of social media. Contribute to the discussion question by adding your thoughts to the Discussion 6 Etherpad.
26 - Discussion 6. Two questions today:
- Google Inspired Question: When, if ever, is it ok to use an advertisement blocker on the web? (Make sure to assess both that advertisements are a revenue stream for websites and that such a practice is both exploitation in and of itself and very likely targeted based on previous surveillance/exploitation.)
- Wikileaks Inspired Question: When, if ever, is it ok for Wikileaks (or any similar service) to do what it does? (Make sure to take into account that some of the data has been acquired through offensive hacking, and most (if not all) of the data is private such that those that held it previously would not want it released.)
The etherpad for both is HERE.
28 - Public vs Private. Rounding out Section II of Fuchs' text we'll look at chapters 7 & 8 while considering just what the public and the private are in terms of social media.
31 - Discussion 7. Interest from the class seems to have landed more directly on the constraints of the messaging features of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter and on their role in activism so this is where our questions will be drawn from. The questions available for today are:
- Use a critical theory approach and assess the ability of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to bring about political change. Make sure that you are taking into account Fuchs position on this but also to make sure that this is extended/challenged.
- Use a critical theory approach to assess the communication styles/modes/methods that are promoted by social media platforms like Twitter (short/terse messaging) and Facebook ("likes" and now emoticon responses). Yes, Fuchs needs to be drawn on to make this assessment but keep in mind earlier authors like Baudrillard and Enzensberger.
The etherpad for both is HERE.
2 - Class selected subtopic: Internet as a Right and Internet Addiction Disorder. Based on the suggestions here HERE today's subtopic will amount to "The rapid and deep integration of the Internet and Internet services in contemporary culture". Readings will include this article and this article about enjoyment of human rights on the Internet as a (The UN said they should be maintained online in June this year), which suggests that Internet access might be a right on its own, and this summary article on Internet Addiction Disorder.
4 - Discussion 8. Two questions today:
- Should Internet Access be a human right? (You can ask this with an "is" instead of the "should" but if you do so then you can't take it in a legal sense that would allow you to just say something like "The UN says so so it is". There's a lot of legalese to pick through to make such a case and this would likely take you too far off track.) The answer must include consideration of degrees of access (hint: if you think that it should not be a human right then you are arguing against event the most minimally reasonable degree of access; if you think it should then you need to be clear how far this goes as in what is the minimum level of access, such as "people can walk to the library" or "15Mbps to homes" or "Anyone could purchase it" or, or, or), and who is responsible for seeing that such a right is maintained.
- Is there something special about the Internet—and important technologies built on top of it—that promotes dysfunction or otherwise modifies individuals/cultures to degrees and in ways that other media are not capable of?
Etherpad for today's discussion is HERE.
7 - Fall Term Reading Week, No Class.
9 - Fall Term Reading Week, No Class.
11 - Remembrance Day / Fall Term Reading Week, No Class.
14 - Topic Review.
16 - Introduction. Critical reading of texts and related works is fairly well established and there are good primers on how to do this available (cf. Ullyot). Critically reading video games is newer---and some might argue more multivariate---and so there is writing on it but the field is still actively developing. Drawing on two influential gaming studies authors, Ian Bogost (chapter 1) and Mary Flanagan (chapter 1), we'll begin down the path of critically evaluating video games. (Note that this is the second bit of heavy reading since the piece by Bogost introducing "Procedural Rhetoric" is 60 pages). If you need some raw facts about who is playing what game then look HERE.
18 - Can There Be A Feminist War Game? For this investigation we'll draw on Jon Saklofske's 2016 DHSI/ELO presentation by the same title (emailed separately) and on a piece by Iris Marion Young that outlines Five Faces of Oppression (Full copy / Summary copy (make sure to read and understand the important section on social groups in the full copy)). We'll use Saklofske's piece as the principal focus and Young's piece as both a paradigmatic example of solidly good feminist scholarship and as a resource to draw further concepts from.
Aside: If you would like another explanation of social groups that compliments Young's then consider listening to this interview from the November 18 edition of CBC's The Current.
21 - Discussion 9. Today's discussion follows straight from the theme of the previous class: can there be a feminist war game? If you think there can then you need to make sure that your answer does three things:
- Proves this to be the case by outlining such a game.
- Tying together that outline to the goals of modern, third-wave, feminism as outlined in class.
- Defending your example against claims that it might look like a feminist war game but in reality it is something else (e.g. a regular war game or not a war game at all), meaning that you are going to need to be very clear on what makes a war game in the future and how yours is different.
If you think that there cannot be such a war game then there is really only one path open to you: Argue from the definitions and principles involved that a feminist war game would be a contradiction and is thus impossible.
In either case you should also consider the practicalities of developing and deploying such a game (e.g. could it be popular? would it necessarily be expensive?) but do not let these considerations distract you from the core question, which is whether or not a feminist war game is possible.
Etherpad for today's discussion is HERE.
23 - Is Gamification Bullshit? Ian Bogost argues in a blog post that gamification is bullshit (a la Frankfurt's On Bullshit). Bogost expands the shorter blog post into a book chapter (Ch. 2 of The Gameful World) which we will use alongside this more optimistic paper Gamification in Education: What, How, Why Bother? as our grounding for considering the trend and its impacts. For a look at the techniques used to keep people playing see this clip from CBC's Spark.
25 - Discussion 10. When, if ever, is it ok to use known to be addictive techniques when designing a game? In your answer take into account what Bogost has to say about exploitationware and gamification.
Etherpad for today's discussion is HERE.
28 - Cheating. We'll look at cheating in general and as it applies specifically to video games, drawing on work from Suits, Huizinga, and Consalvo. We'll also take a short, cursory look at what is known as the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis. If you want a list of contemporary cheating practices in video games then look no farther than Wikipedia.
30 - Consequences of playing video games. Whether it is single studies like Hasan et. al., 2013, or meta-analytic reviews like Greitemeyer & Mügge, 2014, the evidence that experiencing violence and similar anti-social behaviours in video games changes player's attitudes and behaviours in the real world in the negative (and the opposite is true for pro-social in-game experiences and outcomes). Of course there are studies to the contrary but as Anderson points out, these are typically either poorly designed or within the expectations of randomness in small trials. There are positives to playing video games though, Bravelier reports improved 3D-spatial and tracking abilities brain and Granic, Lobel, and Rutger add even more beneficial outcomes to the list. So, is this a mixed result or is there a clear way forward when it comes to offering parents, present or future, advice on raising their children in a world of almost inevitable video game exposure?
2 - Discussion 11. Two questions will be up for discussion today, one from each of the previous topics:
- When, if ever, is cheating acceptable in video games?
- After making an assessment of the research on both sides of the divide and while keeping your eye on the complications of the real world, what advice should be offered to parents wondering about how they should raise their children in a world that surrounds them with video games?
Etherpad for this discussion is HERE.
5 - Topic Review.
7 - Course Review.
15 - Final Exam. 2pm in BUS 2-5.