| "The
New Texting Wave" Description:
This article discusses the use of cell phones for texting, which it
defines as
“trading written messages over cell phones and other devices.” Why text
messaging is popular, what text messaging is used for, and some advice
and
instructions on text messaging are all included in the article. Janet
Kornblum
states that “text messaging combines the portability of cell phones
with the
convenience of e-mail and instant messaging” and that is why the use of
text messaging
is on the rise. In this article, various ways of using text messaging
are
discussed and quotes are included from individuals who use text
messaging in
those ways. Examples:
interactive entertainment, flirting and dating, instant
messaging, and political organizing. Kornblum discusses how businessman
Steven
Chan, who was interviewed for this article, uses text messaging. The
article
states that Chan asks people to text rather than call him. Chan uses
text in
such places as bars, class, in his car, and “on dates with his
girlfriend (she
doesn’t like it but tells him texting is better than talking).”
Teaching Tip:
This article contains information
pertaining to several chapters in Interpersonal Divide.
It discusses a digital
communication tool – text messaging – which requires no interpersonal
interaction between the participants. The article states that text
messaging is
becoming popular because of the convenience it offers. Interpersonal
Divide posits that the greater the convenience, the
greater the interpersonal consequences and ethical concerns.
Another
aspect of this article
that would generate relevant discussion pertaining to Interpersonal
Divide is how people are using text messaging. The
two uses described in this article that really demonstrate
interpersonal divide
are the use of texting for political organization and for flirting and
dating.
The topic of using texting for flirting and dating could spur a lengthy
Interpersonal Divide discussion on its
own. How has something as interpersonal as flirting and dating, an
activity
where subtlety and body language are essential, become technological?
Possible Discussion Questions:
|
| "Amalgamated
Lifestyles" Title: “Work, Home: Home, Work-High Tech Gadgets Blur Life Boundary” Description: Author Don
Fernandez articulates the fact that “work and home are no longer
distinct for
many, but part of an amalgamated lifestyle that appears to have no
limits.” He also quotes Terry Swanson
who states “technology makes you think about your family while you are
at work
and think about your work when you should be focusing on your family.” The author points out the fact that
there is
more than one issue at hand with the work/home situation, which is that
while
individuals are doing more work at home, they are also more focused on
personal
issues at work. He uses the examples of
checking personal e-mail at work, paying bills on-line and shopping.
Finally,
the author questions if individuals are fighting the intrusion of work
at home
or fostering it. He quotes Lisa J.
Whaley, author of the book Prisoners of Technology,
who states, “a company
will get as much as it can from you. It’s
up to each individual to set those boundaries.”
Teaching Tip: This article relates in several ways to Interpersonal Divide. It will provide an opportunity for discussion on boundaries between home and work and whether or not employees blur the two because of a perceived “need” to do so or because it has become the “norm.” On page 119, Dr. Bugeja states this “blurring of place—what comes in and out of your home, virtually or otherwise—affects our peace of mind.” What type of effect does this have on our interpersonal relationships? A discussion on multitasking can take place as the article begins by introducing a couple who are watching TV while checking e-mails and returning calls via cell phones. Ask students about the high-tech habits of their parents. Do they check e-mail, talk on cell phones and/or utilize the Internet while at home? Did this affect their interpersonal relationships at home? If so, how? Ask students if they have ever e-mailed a professor after Additional Discussion Questions: In what ways are these high-tech ecosystems intensifying our need to belong? What are some of the ways that individuals can set boundaries between home and work? |
| "Threads
of Affiliation" Title: “Using Technology to Build Community” Description: Author
Darryl Drayer writes this paper with
the premise that “technology can be used to establish and foster a
sense of
community in public places and that improved community leads to
improved
security.” He begins by describing a
vacation that he and his wife took to
Teaching Tip: Select four different color “bands” and give each student a band. Have them wear the bands for two weeks. After two weeks, discuss any “interactions” that may have occurred due to the bands. For example, did the students with similar band colors tend to group together? If students saw each other outside the classroom, did they immediately connect? Did the author’s correlation to wearing a ‘band” match the students’ experiences? Did the bands create a sense of community? Additional Questions: What is “cybernegotiated flocking?” Is it necessary or just another way that interpersonal communication is avoided? Reference Interpersonal Divide, page 104, where Jock Bicket describes the phenomena of birds that feather flock together and how “successive generations of those birds flocked in similar fashion.” Do wireless technologies increase a thread of affiliation and does this thread increase our sense of community? Does the perception of community increase our feelings of security? Note: Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. |
| "RFID:
Mark of Satan" Title: “An
Internet of Things: Is RFID the mark of Satan, a tool for Big Brother,
or just
a technology that could someday connect a billion inanimate objects to
the Web?”
Author: none
listedCitation: Newsweek Web Exclusive, posted URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3068871/site/newsweek Description: This
article discusses the technology of radio frequency identification
chips
(RFID). An RFID chip is a tiny silicon chip that can be placed in
objects or implanted
in people. This chip carries information that can be read by a device
called an
RFID reader. When objects or people pass by the reader, the information
contained on the RFID chip can be accessed. The first proposed use for
this
technology is placing the chip in merchandise in retail stores. A
reader would
be placed on every shelf to keep track of merchandise that is running
low and place
a restock order. Readers would also be placed at the check-out to
reduce the
amount of shop-lifting and allow consumers to walk by the check-out
with their
merchandise and have the total cost withdrawn from their account.
There are opposing sides to the use of
the RFID chip. Groups
for the use of the chips say they could be placed in money to reduce
counterfeiting.
Chips that contain a complete medical history could be implanted under
people’s
skin so hospitals could access someone’s medical records even if they
are
unconscious. Groups that are against the use of the chips are concerned
about
privacy. “Already civil libertarians are raising the issue that RFID
chips in
clothing–to take just one example–could be used to track individuals.”
Currently, there is a way to “kill” the RFID chips at the
point-of-purchase,
but the “killing” of these chips is a controversial topic, since “many
dreamers
envision exotic post-purchase uses for the tiny chip…A reader-equipped
washing
machine could properly adjust itself for the clothes that have been
loaded.”
Teaching
Tip:
This article contains information pertaining to Chapter 5: The Blurring
of
Identity and Place in Interpersonal
Divide. More specifically, it ties in with the section “Mapping the
Consumer Genome” (pages 105-109), which discusses issues of privacy and
mentions
RFID technology. The article discusses the use of the RFID technology
to
simplify tasks and collect information. Retailers would no longer need
people
for inventory, ordering of merchandise, or point-of-sale transactions.
Consumers would no longer need to think about how to wash their clothes
or what
they were running out of in their fridge. All for the sake of
convenience,
which, as discussed in Interpersonal
Divide, has interpersonal and ethical ramifications. Such as,
consumers
could be tracked and information collected through RFID chips located
in
clothing purchased or even implanted in the body.
Possible Discussion Questions:
|
| "Misdirected
Brain Cells" Title: “Study: Cell phones take up driver attention” Citation: CNN, posted URL: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/06/21/drivers.cell.phones.reut/index.html Description: New research
regarding cell phone use while driving indicates that drivers cannot
effectively handle these tasks simultaneously. Imaging tests of the
brain
conducted at
Teaching tip: People
believe that the brain can handle visual and auditory tasks
simultaneously, but
the research shows: “When attention is deployed to one modality . . .
it
necessarily extracts a cost on another modality.” People using the
cell-phone
technology while driving are either not paying close attention to their
environment, their visual modality, or to the person to whom they are
speaking,
the auditory modality.
In
discussing the above article, make reference to the concept of split
consciousness found in Chapter 6 of Interpersonal
Divide, challenging Marshall McLuhan’s biological model and
replacing it
with a physical model to explain the consequences of multitasking. One
cannot
be in two places at the same time (and this applies to virtual and
physical
habitats).
Possible discussion questions: Dr. Steven Yantis, the professor who led the study, states that people change “the volume on visual input and auditory input depending on where they were supposed to be directing attention.”
|
| "CVSecurity" Title: “CVS pulls web service after data leak” Citation: MSNBC.com, posted URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8305849/print/1/displaymode/1098/ Description: CVS
Corporation, a drugstore chain, experienced a security hole that
allowed anyone
with the corporation’s loyalty credit card to access lists of the
purchases of
their 50 million card holders. Access to an emailed list of purchases,
sometimes embarrassing purchases such as condoms, could be easily
obtained.
Teaching tip: This
story relates strongly to the concept of the interpersonal divide not
only
because the technological advances
serve to be damaging, but also because CVS has been able to amass much
personal
information about its customers. Katherine Albrecht, director of
Consumers
Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN), stated:
“This
underscores the amount of data—the very sensitive data—about us that
CVS has
been collecting.” Keep in mind that these cards were marketed for
customers to
receive discounts on purchases. Interpersonal
Divide notes that this is “the best case market scenario.” A bad
case
scenario would be if CVS had collected this information about
consumers,
violating their privacy. The worst case scenario is that these data
could be
stolen.
Possible discussion questions:
|
| "Digital Indulgence" Teaching module designed by Deneen Gilmour, North Dakota State University Title: “We Know How to Pray” Citation: Help Me Pray.com URL: HelpMePray.com Description: Online service offers prayer assistance Analysis:
Are you ready
to pay to pray? My grandmother was the original “church lady.” She was
the most
faithful, prayerful person I’ve known. My mother, at age 37, was
diagnosed with
breast cancer. I was in fifth grade at the time, and my younger twin
sisters
were in third grade. My grandmother immediately impressed upon us the
need to
pray. At first she led us to pray for healing for my mother, and then
as it
became apparent she was not healing, my grandmother guided us to pray
for peace
and acceptance. In addition, we watched as the young pastors who cycled
in and
out of our small town congregation (a training ground, actually, for
pastors
straight out of seminary school), consulted my grandmother for
spiritual and
prayer guidance. By the time I was a young adult I was convinced that
my
grandmother had a direct hotline to God. Many times, when my sisters
and I
struggled as teenagers without a mother, we called our grandmother and
asked
her to pray for us. We continued, as adults, to rely on grandma’s
hotline to
God until she died two years ago. We considered her an expert at
praying, and
believed that her prayers held more sway with God than our own prayers.
For
two years the expert pray-er in my life has been gone. But I recently
learned
that by going online I – or anyone else – can access expert pray-ers
who will
pray for whatever you ask, whether on your own behalf or another’s
behalf. The
prayer service, if that is the correct description, is called
HelpMePray.com.
The Web site begins with these words: “From time to time, each of us
needs the
help of others. It is not necessary for you to bear the burden of
life’s
challenges alone. There is strength in numbers and Help Me Pray can
help you
share the burden by praying for strength or relief for you or a loved
one.
While you enjoy the comfort of your home, we can help you by praying
for your
cause.” The site goes on to say that its expert pray-ers can help
people attain
world peace, health, happiness, wealth, power, success, and
forgiveness.
Prayer
is available for $4.95 per day, $14.95 per week, and $24.95 per month.
The site
says its fee-for-service approach is superior to church-based volunteer
prayer
chains that are overwhelmed and cannot get to each request they
receive.
HelpMePray guarantees to recite every prayer request it receives, and
to do so
using a staff of specially trained pray-ers.
Teaching
Tip: What
do you think of the concept of paying to have somebody to pray for you?
How does the concept of “pay to pray”
demonstrate the interpersonal divide? How is online pay-to-pray
different from
the Fourteenth-Century Catholic Church practice of asking people to pay
for indulgences; in other words, soliciting money so that professional
pray-ers
could hasten relatives from purgatory to heaven (p. 110-112,
Interpersonal Divide).
|
|
"Sell Engines"
Title: Search Engines or Selling Engines? Author: Citations: Levy, S. (2004, March 29). All eyes on Google. Newsweek, 48-58. URLs: Search Engine Watch: http://www.searchenginewatch.com. Description: Most people have a favorite search engine – one they habitually use. What you’re about to hear may change your mind about the content and trustworthiness of that utility. However, you’re not alone if you don’t know much about the inner workings of search engines. The Pew Center’s Internet and American Life Project completed a survey recently that concluded most Internet users are naïve about search engines: Most people could easily identify the difference between TV programs and infomercials, or newspaper stories and advertorials. However, only a little more than a third of search engine users were aware that search engines produce paid and unpaid results. Only 1 in 6 searchers say they can consistently distinguish between paid and unpaid search engine results, the Pew Report concluded. Neither government regulations nor ethical codes have swayed search engine companies to scrupulously label paid material as opposed to “factual” material. Background: In his book Interpersonal Divide, Michael Bugeja notes that students today know very little about using a card catalog to find research material, nor do they have much experience asking a librarian to retrieve what they seek. Rather, students prefer to “Google” their way to research-paper results. Students who use the online-only approach are unlikely to snare the information they need to succeed as scholars. Nationwide surveys in 2003 and 2004 found that computer users view search engines as electronic libraries. The surveys found that the leading metaphor in citizens’ minds for the Internet is library, and nearly 70 percent of search engine users trust the results they find. In contrast, those who sell information or products on the Internet tend to view search engines as a marketing tool. The difference between public expectations and search engine operators’ actual practices creates an ethical and interpersonal divide. Search engines have become a tool for sellers to place advertisements in front of people without those people realizing they are viewing an advertisement. Two types of deceptive ads are most common. First, paid placement is advertising that is outside the editorial content of search results, sometimes listed to the side or above or below the editorial content. The second type, paid inclusion, is advertising within the editorial content of the search results; however, such inclusions are not guaranteed a high placement within the results. Either practice is deceptive if the search engine fails to disclose that the search results are actually advertisements in disguise. Computer users believe they are viewing a list of information that most closely matches the query typed into a search engine. In fact, the opposite is true on most search engines. A decade ago, search engines were considered a “backwater” in the computer business, “not very interesting and certainly not very profitable” (Levy, 2004, p. 52). Last year Piper Jaffray reported annual search engine revenue at slightly less than $4 billion, with 25 percent of it belonging to Google, the world’s most popular search engine. In the course of one day, Google performs more than 200 million searches of 6 billion Web pages, images, and discussion group postings. For more info: Want to know how your favorite search engine rates in credibility and use of paid placement and paid inclusion? Go to searchenginewatch.com. It publishes an annual list of search engines ranked by ethical and credible practices. Possible discussion question: Ask students to write a synonym for “Google,” and then collect and discuss the results. |
| "Blogs
as Focus Groups" Title: “Blogs growing into the ultimate focus group” Author: Brian Morrissey Citation: YaHoo! News, posted URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/adweek/20050622/ad_bpiaw/blogsgrowingintotheultimatefocusgroup; ylt=A86.I0cAGbpCfKUAqQojtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl Description: To
promote a new calling plan this spring,
U.S. Cellular wanted to reach college-age consumers.
To accomplish this goal, a
To get useful data from blogs,
researchers have developed the
means to correctly identify the gender, age range, and the ethnicity of
bloggers, allowing researchers to group the participants into
demographic
categories. As
a marketing tool, using the demographic
analysis provided from blog analysis, companies can create buzz with a
target
audience concerning their product or service.
Additional Questions:
|
| "'Ads'
and Daughters" Title: “Fatherhood activists protest TV ad” Citation: FoxNews.com URL: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,138068,00.html Description: The national
advocacy group Dads and Daughters is protesting a Verizon DSL ad that
shows a
computer-illiterate father trying to help his Internet-savvy daughter
with her
homework. The mother in the commercial tells the dad to leave the
daughter
alone and go wash the dog while the daughter roles her eyes at his
incompetence. A spokesperson from Dads and Daughters says the ad
portrays
fathers as “second-class parents” and “not really necessary.” The
Verizon
spokesperson said the ad has been running for months, but only caught
the
attention of advocacy groups when it was launched in front of the media
by
radio commentator Glenn Sacks.
Teaching Tip 1: If parents are generally less
technologically skilled than their children,
what would be the prevailing criticism if gender roles were reversed
with a boy
berating his mother? Has
the
generation gap gotten larger because of technology as children
stereotypically
become more technologically advanced than their parents? The
description of the
commercial portrays the isolation of family members due to technology
use as
described in Interpersonal Divide. Does the father’s inability
to use
technology also isolate him from his family? Is the Verizon
spokesperson’s
accusation of the radio commentator creating undo attention warranted?
Teaching Tip 2: Should commercials be required to live up to ethical standards beyond truth in advertising? Aside from the ethical implications in the commercial, splitting the text of the article on Foxnews.com was an ad to “find deadbeat dads.” Does the placement of the ad influence the message? |
| "Virtual
Commencement" Title: “ Citation: PRNewswire, posted URL: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050620/clm040.html?.v=13 Description: In a recent news release,
Teaching Tips: Do our academic ceremonies, such as
commencement, create a sense of
identification with the university as physical place? At this juncture,
the instructor
may try to tease out from the students their thoughts on commencement:
do the
students plan on participating in commencement? If so, why? If not, why
not? Is
it important for them for their family and loved ones to attend and
participate
in such rituals with them? Do they foster a sense of shared community?
In
Chapter Five, “The Blurring of Identity and Place,” of Interpersonal
Divide, Bugeja warns of the potential psychic
consequences of how technology places us in two places at once.
|
| "Balancing
Life and Work" Teaching module designed by Lori DeWitt, North Dakota State University Title: "A work-life balance for all?" Author: Will Hutton Citation: CNN, posted URL: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/06/17/visionary.hutton/index.html Description: Will
Hutton believes that the English workforce will find a way to balance
their
work and family time by 2020. He cites
changes in market competition, workforce demographics and people’s
desire to
spend more time with their children as catalysts for the change to
flexible
work schedules. He believes that the
biggest question is how to make flexible work schedules available for
the lower
paid service workers.
Teaching Tip: Hutton
believes that inherent in a flexible work schedule will be increased
family
time. This seems to be a common
assumption even though statistics do not support it. According to a
recent
Harris poll, leisure time has decreased by 7 hours a week since 1973. As the use of technology has exploded since
the '70s it is not a leap to surmise that increased technology has not
given us
more family time. Early in
the Interpersonal Divide the trend of “life-balance
training,” a “new, primarily technology-based self-help industry…to
help people
distinguish between work and play and thereby control stress” (p.8), is
held up
as a prime example of the ironic implications of this assumption that
increased
technology leads to increased leisure. The
blurring of the line between work and family is discussed throughout
the text of Interpersonal Divide as
one of the key issues that create distance between self and community. Telecommuting and having a choice of which
days/hours are spent at the office are reliant on technology or
worse-outsourcing. This raises
significant questions about the future structure of work and family
life.
Possible Discussion Questions:
|
| "On
Books and Bits" Teaching module designed by Kimberly Cowden, North Dakota State University Title: “Turning books into bits” Author: Michael Rogers Citation: MSNBC, online, URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8258453/print/1/displaymode/1098/ Description:
Professor John Lenger recounts assigning students at Harvard’s
extension school
to research the Harvard land deal of 1732. After a week, the article
states,
most of the students had little research to report as they used the
Internet
almost exclusively for their data collection. One student reported,
“anything
that was important in the world was already on the internet.” This
article
cites the trend of digitizing libraries. Those seeking a digital
archive argue
that virtual libraries better meet accessibility and generational
expectations.
Despite the time intensive, and costly process of scanning each page,
proponents of Internet based libraries argue physical libraries are not
“dependable repositories of information,” citing the demise of the
great
Library of Alexandria which housed Aristotle’s personal collection.
Teaching Tip: What is the difference between the experience of physically reading a book and scrolling down to digest text? In chapter eight of Interpersonal Divide, Bugeja posits, “communication skills are honed in real community and experienced on three levels: linearly, horizontally, and deeply” (p. 171). He writes, “those who seek balance and wellbeing must gauge the impact of media and technology on their values, interactions, and relationships. Otherwise too many individuals will continue to seek acceptance through the very vehicles that have deprived them of it, feeling disconnected in a wired world.” (p. 175). What happens to the next generation if the library becomes extinct, as more than 40 public libraries have closed across the nation, including the one that launched John Steinbeck’s career (see: http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2004/12/28/Arts/steinbecklibraries041228.html). Discussion Questions: When you go to the campus library, do you interact with anything beyond the computer or books? What, if any, is the value of interpersonal interactions in the library? Should we embrace all virtual technology as good and forget the physical in the name of advancement? Activity: One minute essay: ask the students to spend one minute writing about the library. Ask them to close their eyes and recreate the library environment using the categories of physical senses. What is the ambiance? What are the smells? What are the expectations when you are in the traditional library? After one minute, ask students to share their writing and reinforce their contributions by writing on the board. What kind of feelings does experiencing a library, physically touching a book, generate? Is the library experience of merit in today’s tech world? |
|
"Overcoming
Techno Threats" Author: Susan Greenfield Citation: CNN, posted URL: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/05/13/visionary.greenfield/index.html Description: Susan
Greenfield believes that people are afraid of the future.
She claims that the cute robots of Teaching Tip: This article tries to
achieve what Interpersonal Divide
does but arrives at different conclusions. While
there is agreement between the authors on the
overwhelming nature
of technology there is a clear division on how this threat to humanity
should
be remedied. Bugeja appeals to our need
for community and communion with others as a means to find and define
ourselves. Greenfield suggests that we do this through individuality
and
creativity--but what does she mean by these terms?
Possible Discussion
Questions:
|
| "Teens Turn Away from
News" Teaching module designed by Cindy Larson-Casselton, North Dakota State University Title: Industry Frets, but Kids Say Media Underestimates Them Citation: Fox News, posted URL: http://www.foxnews.com/printer-friendly-story/0,3566,160165,00.html Description: Jane Roh
in this article examines the idea that fewer and fewer teenagers are
reading
the news, watching TV newscasts or checking the headlines on the
Internet. This story states that some of
the reasons
why teenagers have turned away from reading the news are because of the
high
demands of school and the explosion in entertainment, both online and
on the
television. Another reason offered in this article is the fact that
teenagers
simply do not trust the media and don’t think that keeping up with what
is
happening in the world is important to them. David
Mindich, chairperson of the Journalism Department at
St. Michael’s
College states, “One essential thing we need to do as citizens is to
make sure
the media survives.” Many newspaper
owners across the nation struggle daily with readership concerns and
agree that
a declining interest in the news has very serious consequences. As a result, several news organizations are
experimenting with how they package the news. FoxNews.com
interviewed about 109 high school students and
an
overwhelming majority said they thought the media’s efforts to reach
them
betrayed a skewed understanding of who they are.
Teaching
Tip: While
teenagers spend a lot of time using the Internet and watching
television, they
use these media for everything but information. Young
people today are very suspicious of the media and
agree that most
of the news they hear is biased. Mindich
offers, “The strategy can’t be the continuing trend of a shrinking news
hole,
cutting back on foreign correspondents and adding more entertainment
and
frivolous news, because that has been
the strategy and it hasn’t worked.” Dr.
Bugeja in the Interpersonal Divide states,
“The emphasis on entertainment has given us icons and caricatures,
rather than
role models and mentors. Media and
technology tend to flatten perception of community, prodding us to
believe that
every person and issue has two sides rather than many” (p. 10).
Possible Discussion Questions:
|
| "Web
Hoax Revisited" Teaching module designed by Denise Gorsline Title: “A Web Hoax, Transformed” Author: Amy Harmon Citation: New York Times, URL: http://nytimes.com/2005/06/19/weekinreview/19spam.htum?pagewanted=print Description:
The article
references a web hoax that has a history, as follows: In 1995 a letter
bemoaned
cuts to NPR/PBS. A hoax based on that document was perpetuated. Ten
years later
undersimilar political circumstances, the hoax was resurrected by
MoveOn.org,
only this time the original fabrication seemed authentic
Possible
Discussion
Questions:MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group, recently circulated an email petition asking readers to help save NPR and PBS. The petition was sent in response to a House committee vote to cut federal support of public broadcasting. One of the biggest challenges turned out to be persuading recipients of the petition’s authenticity. In 1995, two students at the The executive director of MoveOn.org said the success of the original “hoax” email was part of his group’s inspiration to send out their current petition. The 2005 version included links about the cuts to help establish its authenticity. So far, the group has collected 750,000 signatures. Teaching Tips: Inspiring public involvement is challenging and the use of mass email to do so has become commonplace. At the same time, mass email is also used to distribute many misleading or unethical messages. Because of our past experience with technology, we may be skeptical of the authenticity of such letters. The positive potential of technology may be obscured because of the negative experiences we have had with it.
|
|
"Multitasking
and You" Background:
Michael Bugeja’s Interpersonal
Divide (2005) discusses the interpersonal effects of
multi-tasking with
technology. We all multi-task. Additionally, on page 113 of
interpersonal
divide, Bugeja makes an analogy between symptoms of drug abuse and
media
addiction, also citing Marie Winn’s 1977 book The Plug-in
Drug. In fact, multi-tasking is taught as a skill for
success. Yet study after study finds that when we multitask, we
actually use
more time and accomplish less during that time.
Title: Are we a nation of ‘pseudo-ADD sufferers? Society’s breakneck pace encourages lack of focus, concentration, some say Author: ABC News original report URL: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/MedicalMinute/story?id=842263&page=1 Description: Teaching Tip:
Additional sources: Title: Multitasking makes you stupid, studies say Author: Sue Shellenbarger, The Wall Street Journal URL: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/living/5293299.htm Title: Multitasking Madness Author: Larry Rosen and Michelle Weil, Context Magazine URL: http://www.contextmag.com/setFrameRedirect.asp?src=/archives/199809/InnerGameOfWork.asp Title: The Art of Multitasking Author: Alison Overholt, Fast Company URL: http://www.fastcompany.com/online/63/multitasking.html Title: Why More Is Less Author: Megan Santosus, CIO URL: http://www.cio.com/archive/091503/reality.html |
|
Title: “Menopause doc fudged data” Description: Dr. Eric
Poehlman is facing jail time for falsifying the results of medical
studies.
Utilizing $2 million in government grants, Dr. Poehlman claimed to have
found
that the risk of heart disease for women increases during menopause.
The
renowned researcher’s findings were so significant that doctors across
the
country began prescribing hormone replacement therapy for menopausal
women. Dr.
Poehlman’s research assistant at the
Teaching Tip: Chapter 1 in Interpersonal Divide describes technological networks. The technological medical network connects everyone from the researchers who distribute data, the publishers who mediate those data, the doctors who receive medical data through e-newsletters, and finally the women who access that data through self-help media. Millions of menopausal women who were prescribed hormones are now facing the potential risks of the therapy, including an increased risk of breast cancer, without realizing the promised results of the treatment. Who is responsible for putting these women at risk? Further Discussion Questions: How prevalent do you think falsified results are in academic and medical journals? Who is fact checking this data in our converged and convenient world? |
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"GetWellNetwork"
Title: “Techworking: GetWellNetwork” Author: Andrea Caumount Citation: The Washington Post, posted URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/19/AR2005061900821_pf.html Description: Andrea Caumount of The Washington Post provides insight into a new medical technology and how it is marketed and used by the company. The company is called the GetWellNetwork (http://www.getwellnetwork.com) and uses technology to assist doctors and nurses in providing care to patients. The technology developed by the GetWellNetwork “turn[s] hospital bedside monitors into interactive portals” (para 1). The interactive portals allow: for doctors and nurses to educate patients on their conditions and operational procedures through interactive videos, real time messages to be sent back an forth between patients and caregivers, and movies and games can be watched and played from the digital units. The technology allows for more virtual care to be given to patients, giving doctors and caregivers more time. In discussing what employees would say the best reason for working for the company is the article states “They would say that we have a very powerful opportunity to create change in a place that needs it” (para 2). Teaching Tips: Several concepts from the Interpersonal Divide relate to the discussion of this article. Chapter one discusses displacement in the global village and how a sense of community is lost with the overuse of technology. Real space and linear time are replaced by virtual community. In this application, real doctors and nurses discussing conditions and talking through what complications might occur with procedures are replaced with interactive virtual doctors and nurses interactively discussing the same elements. As Interpersonal Divide documents, until recently, "communication was mostly interpersonal, or face-to-face. People spoke plainly to each other – sometimes appropriately and sometimes, inappropriately – but usually authentically because of facial gestures, tone of voice, time of day, occasion of place, possibility of witness, and so on…we now live in cabled enclaves" (Bugeja, 2005, p. 23) Possible Discussion Questions:
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Teaching module designed by Jeffrey T. Child Title: “Rewinding a video giant” Author: Daniel McGinn Citation: Newsweek, posted URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8259044/site/newsweek/ Description: The article is
about the video retail giant
Blockbuster. The story addresses the issues the company is facing today
in the
video and game rental and sales industry with retaining their target
market and
increasing profits from the annual 6 billion in revenue the company
currently
rakes in. Problems include competing
with stores like: Wal-Mart – who sell videos and games for dirt cheap;
Netflix
– the online DVD-by-mail rental company with a small but virtual
existence; and
cable and satellite companies – which offer video-on-demand directly
through
the television, eliminating the need to even go out into the community
to rent or
purchase videos and movies. Market
analysis shows a strong seven-year trend for DVD sales rising. Lieberfarb, the former Warner Home Video
chief indicated that “for busy families, in which not everyone can
watch at the
same time, buying DVDs will remain more appealing” (Para. 14).
Teaching
Tips:
Many issues discussed in this article relate well to principles in the Interpersonal Divide. In
chapter one, the discussion of big box
displacement is relevant. In this
example the number one video retailer – a big box displacer for smaller
video
rental companies – is complaining about bigger box displacers such as
Wal-Mart. Furthermore, companies with a
complete online existence, Netflix, also have the capacity to displace
Blockbuster as computers communicate with computers about processing
video
rentals in a similar fashion as Amazon.com processes book orders.
In chapter two, the discussion of
survival in virtual environments is relevant when Bugeja (2005)
indicates
“Because of media and technology, community has gone virtual” (p. 45). Blockbuster was the cause of eliminating some
of the need to go out and watch a movie at a theater and now they are
being
replaced by Netflix and video-on-demand.
In chapter four, the evolution of
technology from group to personal activities is relevant.
The existence of companies can disappear
because of technology and the evolution of a digital environment. Bugeja (2005) indicates “evolution in virtual
habitat is similar to that in actual habitat, with a few differences. Occupations, rather than species, disappear
from the cyber-landscape. Because there
is no “there” there, the fittest survive not by claiming territory but
by
performing more tasks in less time involving fewer people” (p. 83-84).
Possible Discussion Questions:
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| "Wiki Gone Awry" Teaching module designed by Cindy Larson-Casselton, North Dakota State University Title: Descriptions:
This
article discusses how the
Teaching Tip: Developers offer that the Wiki is evolving in such an open way that they allow for a small number of people to make an impact as a collective community. Wikis seem to be best suited for factual information where the content can become accurate because of the contributions made by a group. This concept of the importance of community is connected to Chapter Eight in the Interpersonal Divide. Wikis seem to be a way of democratizing the news process. Possible Discussion Questions:
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| "Overheard Online" Teaching module designed by Denise Gorsline Title: “Overheard Conversations and Jungle Guides” Author: Lisa Napoli Citation: New York Times, URL: http://tech2.nytimes.com/mem/technology/techreview.html Description:
Morgan Friedman was in a café in
Teaching
Tips: Michael Bugeja’s Interpersonal
Divide has reminded us that we can misperceive reality because of
an
overuse of technology. We know we should
be concerned about the privacy of any information shared over the
Internet, but
now we have to consider what we say in face-to-face conversations, and
the
potential of their posting.
Possible Discussion Questions:
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| "Orwellian
Bullies" Title: Cyber-bullying Author: Joan Leishman Citation: CBC News Indepth, updated March 2005, posted URL: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bullying/cyber-bullying.html Description:
This news story explores how cyber-bullying,
while being similar to traditional bullying in its intent to hurt
others
through control and power, is different due to the use of new
technologies. Today kids are always connected or
wired, and
communicate in ways that are often unknown to adults. This can make it
hard for
parents and school administrators to both understand the nature of
cyber-bullying and to be able to do something about it.
The article goes on to describe what life was
like for David Knight as he suffered humiliation each time he logged
onto the
internet because someone had set up an abusive website about him.
“Rather than
just some people in a cafeteria hearing them yell insults at you, it’s
up there
for 6 billion people to see. Anyone with
a computer can see it,” says David. Nancy
Knight, David’s mother, states in the article, “One
of the most
frustrating aspects of the whole affair was that the bullies who went
after her
son hid behind the anonymity of the internet.”
Teaching
Tip: Cyber-bullying can be seen as more damaging
than a face-to-face confrontation. Internet
bullying is tough to investigate unless it
crosses the line
into death threats or other criminal acts and schools often say their
hands are
tied. Yahoo, who was the website host, wouldn’t comment on the David
Knight
website. Jay Thompson, president of the Canadian Association of
Internet
Providers stated, “It isn’t the job of the providers to decide what
should or
should not be on the Internet. The
champions of free speech on the Internet strongly support Thompson’s
position. David however, strongly
disagrees. Issues of personnel responsibility and free speech are
central to
this discussion. First Amendment
discussion needs to continue especially in regards to cyber-bullying. Chapter One in the Interpersonal
Divide would aid in framing these first amendment
issues. Perhaps more serious, with
respect to interpersonal communication is the fact as described in
Chapter
Seven of the Interpersonal Divide,
that our homes have several virtual ports of
entry where our safety is not assured and our privacy is at risk
whenever when
connect to the internet. Orwell foresaw
how media would violate our privacy, as with cyber-bully, hurtful
personal
comments are now for the entire world to see.
Possible Discussion Questions:
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| "The
Anonymizer" Title: “Review: Anonymizer for Safe, Author: Glenn Fleishman Citation: securitypipeline.com, URL:http://www.securitypipeline.com/shared/article/printableArticleSrc.jhtml?articleId=164900249 Description:
Anonymizer’s Total Privacy Suite is an
application which was created to protect a computer user’s identity.
This is an
improved version of an earlier product that was somewhat effective, but
difficult to use. The Anonymizer can
protect your identity and data from spyware being dropped into your
computer.
One particular element is called Digital Shredder, which destroys
stored
tracking information. This was tested on Amazon’s website, and the
application
took away Amazon’s knowledge of who the user was. This application also
includes some anti-spyware programming, which many experts believe is a
good
addition to protecting the security of your computer.
Teaching
Tip: Before asking questions, establish the
objective of your discussion-in this case, where are we headed as a
society
with software that “anonymizes” or “shreds” files seeking your most
private
data. That teaching goal and the following discussion questions augment
the
discussion of Chapter 5, Blurring of Identity and Space.
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| "Technology
Comes 'Naturally'" Note: Interpersonal
Divide refers
to the "Unnatural Order of Things," (p. 135) which speaks to the
evolution and
normalization of technology and technologized behaviors. The chapter
closes with
a quote from Thomas Paine, who states “In no instance hath nature made
that
satellite larger than its primary planet” (p. 140). Is
technology use natural? What is natural about technology?
Description:
Title: The Relationship between Feelings and Behavior Author: Sidney D. Craig, PhD. URL: http://www.naturalchild.com/sidney_craig/feelings.html Title: Human Nature Author: Wicpedia online encyclopedia URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_nature Title: Overview of sociobiological anthropology Authors: McGee, R. Jon and Richard
L. Warms. 2004
Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History.
URL:
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/anthropology/Sociobiologycal%20Anthropology.htmlTitle: The Hunting Apes: Meat Eating and the Origins of Human Behavior Author: Craig B. Stanford URL: http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/chapters/s6549.html Teaching Tip: Have students write down their personal definition of natural human behavior.
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| "Intercultural
Teamwork" Title: Students wait to launch their dream baby Description: In a cooperative project spanning two
years, European
university students put their book learning to practical application
and built
a satellite that will be launched from
Teaching Tip: Though the article does not include
particulars in relation to the
students’ communications, decision time frames, and location, speculate
some of
the steps involved in building a team linked primarily online. The
article
states that students came together in a single location once every six
months.
Discussion questions:
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| "Phisher
Tales"
Title: “Phisher tales: how webs of scammers pull off Internet fraud” Citation: Wall Street Journal, posted URL: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB111922540322063658-k2iziFe2OaO0z3gRtu_AvHbEtKk_20060620,00.html?mod= tff_main_tff_top Description:
Author Lee Gomes examines research conducted by
Teaching Tip: Do online criminal
communities have values, too? In chapter nine of Interpersonal
Divide, Bugeja posits
values should be “socially beneficial, morally focused, personally
edifying,
and culturally inclusive” (p. 191-92). Bugeja writes “Without a social
benefit,
a value can be misused or misapplied. Loyalty, for instance, may be
essential
for organized crime; however, such crime doesn’t serve community” (p.
191).
This discussion about virtual and real communities allows instructors
to bring
in the concept of the Golden Rule and opens a forum to discuss good/bad
and
right/wrong.
Discussion Questions
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| "Reference groups shape opinion" Teaching module designed by Mary Frances Casper, North Dakota State University Preface:
We
shape our perspectives of the world through discussion
with people in our reference groups. When we select our
reference groups, rather than interacting with the people around us, we
filter our perspective of the world, and limit our ability to act
within it, consigned to our own
comfort zone and experiences.
Title: "An introduction to network analysis" Author: FAS Research Network Analysis for Science and Business URL: http://www.fas.at/science/learning/sna_3.htm Description: This article describes core
networks and their influence on
opinion
formation and adoption of innovation. This ties into who we communicate
and share
information with and helps understand the concept of reference groups.
Excerpt: "The
individual consumers do not make decisions
by themselves. Rather, it is their core network
that exerts enormous influence. Someone selects a certain cell phone
provider,
because his friends are already with this provider. Someone consults a
certain
doctor, because his colleague at the office has already had good
experiences
with this doctor. Someone selects a certain destination for his/her
holiday,
because someone in the family had already been there and really liked
it."
Teaching Tip: Solicit examples of times when
cell phone users have caused
problems for your students. You might begin discussion with an example
from your own experience. Then ask:
When you see something happen (accident, driver going wrong way on a one way, etc.) do you: a) call a friend b) maybe take a picture on your cell to send c) talk to the people around you d) assess your own behavior with cell phones e) take corrective measures Discuss the implications of
forming views through
mediated interactions instead of with people around you, especially if
those virtual interactions delay or take precedence over interpersonal
emergencies.
(For an example, visit Interpersonal Divide's section on campus riots
and cell phones on page 155.)
Classroom/Journal Exercise: Teach through role play. Put
students into groups. Select
one student with a cell phone from each group to view a video segment
of
an ambiguous event such as news segment or movie trailer without
commentary
(with audio off). These students are "The Callers." Select another
student from each group with a cell phone to receive information. These
students are called "The Receivers." The Callers will view the segment
in one room and the Receivers will await calls in another. The
remainder of each group waits in the hall. The Callers will explain the
segment or trailer to the Receivers. Re-assemble everyone in one room
and ask the Receivers to explain the segment or trailer. Then ask the
Callers if there were any errors in the reports of the Receivers.
Finally, play the segment or trailer with audio off and then on.
Discuss:
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|
Title: “ Author: John K. Wiley Citation: URL: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-06-20-chatroom_x.htm Description: John
Wiley of the Associated Press discusses how a local Spokesman-Review newspaper hired a computer expert to
research three
gay chat room names suspected to all belong to the city
mayor, James West. The newspaper was
able to obtain gay.com chat transcripts, connect them to the major, and
publish them. The
mayor had been offering city jobs to young men he met in the gay chat
room. The article deals with expectations
of privacy for virtual chat room environments. A sentence
of the article that connects well to Chapter Five
concepts about the blurring of identity and place:
“A chat room is more
like having a
discussion in a bar. Anyone can come in and listen and participate,”
said Chris
Hoofnagle, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center-West
in
The article questions the
assumption that an individual can
expect to have any sort of privacy or anonymity on the Internet or any
online
communications.
Teaching
Tips: The first part of Chapter Five
provides a
great back drop for the discussion of this specific article and case in
Class discussion can center
around the ethical dimensions of
the situation given the nature of the gay.com chat room transaction and
how the mayor constructed
his virtual environment. In fact, the mayor indicated that in his mind
he
considered the conversation to be taking place in the back corner of a
bar where
people would only be able to hear faint whispers. Contrary to that
imagined environment, his conversations were one-on-one digitally,
physically conducted on government computers. A
written record was recoverable, negating his virtual
identity and
establishing his real one.
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|
Title: "Identity theft is crossing state lines" Author: Chris Welsch Citation: Star Tribune, posted URL: http://www.startribune.com/stories/1513/5464520.html Description: Chris Welsch
reports in the Star Tribune
that while traveling home to Teaching
Tip: In
an eerie case of life
imitating art,
Patton’s experience is much like that of Sandra Bullock in the 1995
movie The Net. In
the movie, Bullock’s
character’s identity is stolen and replaced with that of a villain. In real life, what is more central to our
sense of self than our identity? In
chapter five of Interpersonal Divide
the concept of being “grounded” is defined as people knowing “where they are and who they are (p.
98)…Many people lose perception because of
conflicting depictions and stereotypes about identity”(p. 99). While this quote refers to our concept of our
self, how much more disturbing would it be to lose that actual self
because of
a virtual thief who commits a crime in real habitat-for which you
are
held accountable?
Possible Discussion Questions:
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| "Wireless
Woes" Title: “Wireless web puts personal data at risk” Citation: CNN, posted URL: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/06/21/hotspot.hacking/index.html Description: CNN
reporter Daniel Sieberg investigates
public “hot spots,” made up of
almost 30,000 parks or cafes where wireless Internet access can be
obtained.
His work describes a frightening new type of hacking—one in which
hackers
piggyback onto another’s wireless Internet connection in these
locations, enabling them to steal confidential information. Computer
security technician
Richard Rushing elaborates by saying, “It’s great to be able to sit
somewhere
and work without having any wires attached, no nothing attached, but
you have
that risk that it comes back to.” Sieberg also describes wireless
theft:
“There may be no wires attached, but the convenience still comes with
strings.”
Teaching tips: This article complements the core concept of the interpersonal divide, noting, once again, that the greater the convenience, the greater the interpersonal consequences and ethical concerns. While technology creates an interpersonal divide, the loopholes that allow cyber hackers access only serve to widen this already wide chasm. This is the technological equivalent of the community pickpocket. Only, in the virtual environment, there is no touching of the victim. The crime becomes personless. The social more of mobile communication technology is—someone somewhere else, is more important than the person next to me. This mindset establishes a crime-ready zone in which the victim is unaware of the crimes about to happen next to him or her. Possible discussion questions:
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| "Online
Welsh Dating Practices" Title: “Lonely Welsh seek help in dating” Author: BBC Wales Citation: BBC News: World Edition, posted Description: Almost
half of the population of
Teaching Tip: This
is
connected to Chapter Three, “The Hype of Self-Help,” of Interpersonal
Divide. Bugeja points out in this chapter that “[t]he self-help
industry
generalizes the ‘self’ to sell help using media and technology.” Do
these services market themselves as promising to relieve people of the
natural fear and anxiety that may come from asking someone they meet in
a real-time environment out on a date? Another reason that people cite
for using these services are busy lifestyles. In the same chapter,
Bugeja describes the concept of the “accelerated biological clock”
brought on by our over reliance on technology which “warps time, and
place, transcending it.” Do people believe that they are “running out
of time” to find romantic partners and no longer want to invest the
time effort it may take to meet and develop relationships with people?
Can this account for why they do not use their preferred method of
meeting new people, arranged blind dates? Could it be because such
dates require effort and help from third parties to arrange?
Possible
Discussion Questions:
Ask students what they think about the practice of using
the Internet to find dating partners.
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| "Failing
E-Mail Grades" Title: “Students who flunk courses get e-mail listing all who failed” Description: The Office of Student Financial Aid at the
Teaching Tip: Is the mistake excusable because it can be
pawned off as a mistake of
the medium? If the medium truly is the message, according to McLuhan,
what type
of environment are we creating because of these online institutional
practices? These
discussion questions focus on the allowances accorded to the medium of
email. The
university would never send a letter by snail mail with everyone’s
names on the
top of the page. Are they to be forgiven because of the nature of the
medium? Chapter Six, “The Medium is the Moral” of Interpersonal
Divide,
discusses the social consequence of the medium. We make allowances for
professional conduct in email in regard grammar, capitalization,
punctuation
and spelling because people are in a hurry. We make allowances for
professional
conduct in email in regard to abrasive messages because we may not know
the
intent of the message. Do we also make allowances for professional
conduct in
adhering to privacy laws simply because it is an email? Is
unprofessional
behavior a social consequence of the medium because errors, when they
do occur, affect scores rather than a handful of students?
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