A Look Back in Time

If any of you have ever read Aristophanes' Clouds, you know that it's a little satirical and the main character is kind of a joke. Strepsiades is so steeped in tradition that he is essentially incapable of learning from Socrates, the master philosopher. Nevermind that Aristophanes has beef with Socrates and makes him out to be a bit of a lunatic in the play. The point is, I used to be Strepsiades. I was so concerned with my grade and with conventional methods of education that I was incapable of taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to me in this class. Looking back, however, I do think I'v changed. It was a long and difficult process, I really think this class has enabled me to grow beyond what I would have thought possible.

That said, I suppose it's time now to take a look back at my progress throughout the class, and evaluate how I met each of the learning outcomes.

1. Historical Concepts

One of my favorites. This
one really got the ball
rolling for me.

I really enjoyed studying the periods of history from the 16th century on. Within the last year or so I've discovered that I have sort of a passion for reading historical novels (both fiction and non-fiction). In the past, I've been rather indifferent. I did well in history classes in high school, but it never particularly sparked my interest. When I started reading about history on my own, however, I realized that history outside of the context of a textbook is amazing! When you have the opportunity to explore your own interests and find personal connections, it opens up this whole new world of understanding. I think that's why I enjoyed our methods of studying history so much. I loved the way we all brought different ideas to the table according to what we decided was interesting, rather than basing our curriculum on a hard a fast list of topics to cover. I did struggle initially with connecting historical concepts to the digital concepts that we were studying. It was like a mental puzzle that I had never even thought to attempt before. I did try to make connections however, some of which I ended up being pretty happy with. Here's a list of relevant blog posts:

• Pushing the Envelope
• Too Much of a Good Thing
• Jamestown: Cultures Collide for Better or Worse
• Finding a Balance
• Give Me Liberty

2./ 3. Core Concepts and Digital Literacy

I think in some ways our generation is lucky to have grown up with that technology that we have; in other ways though, I can see advantages to having grown up without it and having to learn to adapt. Mostly because I've always taken it for granted. Before this class, I never even considered the four tenants to digital literacy: control, information, openness, and participation. After our class segment of group presentations focused on these concepts, I feel like I have grasped a real understanding of them, and I find myself evaluating things I encounter online in terms of these concepts. Furthermore, before this class, I never would have thought to consciously evaluate my digital literacy or think in terms of creating, connecting, and consuming.I think I've really grown in that regard. In particular, after attending the event and hearing the many things we can do to be a part of the digital revolution, I feel like I am constantly thinking in those terms. 

• Create

• This sumer I'll be studying at Cambridge University, and I am already thinking about what I will create and contribute to the digital world as a result of my experiences. I'm wondering whether I should journal or blog (or both), whether I should tweet (that might be a stretch), and whether I should deactivate my facebook account (so as to avoid distractions) or keep it up and update my friends and family about my travels. Furthermore, I'll be doing a supervision, which means I'll be meeting weekly with a Cambridge professor who will help me develop a thesis over the term. The thing is, I'm not in the honors program, and don't really need to develop a thesis, so will I just write it and let it go to waste. Of course not. I'll have to find a way to make it authentic and useful. 
• Relevant post: 
• Go About Doing Good
• Create something worthwhile.
• Consume
• For my digital concept group presentation, we decided to talk about responsible consumption of information. Preparing the presentation was pretty enlightening. We noted the natural propensity to believe whatever aligns with our own inclinations, and accordingly presented a few ridiculous notions to the class as fact during our presentation. It was amusing, but also thought provoking. Thanks to that presentation I have been much more conscious of this tendency and have been trying (rather successfully I might add) to avoid it.
• Relevant post:
• Are You Sure About That?
• Avoid the temptation!
• Connect
• I think our use of Google+ has been a huge factor in my perception of what it means to connect with people online. I have never really used the Internet as a means to facilitate intellectual discussion with my peers, much less with people I don't know at all. I also never would have attempted to contact big name authors and professors about ideas that I have. Remember that supervision I mentioned? Well I'm thinking about doing it on changes in the non-profit industry that have resulted from the Digital Revolution. My parents recently attended a philanthropy conference in San Antonio, where they met a prominent figure in the industry who is very well informed about those digital changes. My mom got his email address and I'm planning to send him an email and hopefully bounce some ideas off of him that will help me refine my proposal for my supervision. Honestly, I think our ability to connect with anybody across the globe has been the most poignant realization for me from this class.
• Relevant post:
• Overcoming the Fool's Ultimatum
• Connect with others and employ synergistic thinking

4. Self-Directed Learning

I think my success in self-directed learning correlates to what I mentioned in the historical concepts section. I have found it so invigorating to learn for the sake of learning, just because it interests me. I have loved trying to find out more about things that I'm interested in. Furthermore, my awareness of responsible consumption of information has helped guide my learning quite a bit. 

I think the most important thing about being able to guide my own learning this semester has been that it has instilled in me a love of learning, self-directed or not. For example, the classes that I'll be taking at Cambridge (The Development of the City from 1890 to 1990, and Spooks and Spies: a history of U.S. and British Intelligence since 1909) have absolutely nothing to do with my major (Information Systems). I'm just taking them because they sound interesting! 

5. Collaboration

Wow, this class has been collaboration central. I don't even know where to begin. Between our historical groups, our digital groups, and our eBook/ presentation groups, I have learned so much about collaborating to create something meaningful. Right from the get go, our presentations were not meant to be typical. Our history group spent many hours collaborating in person, on google+, over google docs and over email trying to develop an idea that would resonate with the class. Likewise, our digital group used all the same tools to create the presentation that I mentioned in the "consume" section. Finally, our eBook/ presentation team went through many iterations of ideas trying to find the right product. I definitely learned a lot about what it means to collectively produce something great. I think the fact that we weren't all fighting for a grade, but instead focusing on the product, made the group experience much more authentic. I really think the skills I've learned from these projects will be incredibly helpful to me throughout my life.

Alright, I think it's time to bring this thing to a close. This class has been a real struggle, mentally, physically, emotionally and just about every other way possible. It was downright difficult to adapt. But I think I got there, and I feel so much the better for it. I think the most important thing that I learned (in particular from our eBook "failure"), is that it doesn't end here. The lessons I learned from this class are authentic, and I will continue to build on them. Even if it kills me, I will continue to adapt. 

Event Report

Alright, I'll admit it--I thought the event was going to be a bust. At least, I thought that at first. But that was before I actually started inviting people and getting excited about the things we were going to be talking about. I think I was just feeling stubborn. Anyway once I let myself feel a little more invested in the event, and once I started to put in a real effort to invite people, I got pretty excited. I definitely think that excitement paid off because the event was awesome! We had a pretty good turn out- both physical and online, and I thought all of the presentations were interesting, engaging, and thought provoking. So hats off to everyone!

As for my contribution to our audience, here's the report:

Word of Mouth/ Flyers

Not surprisingly, I started by inviting my parents. They showed interest both in the business presentations (biased I guess) and the science presentation, so they said they would tune in online. Next, I invited my Sara Plater, who is currently studying biology and may switch over to biological education, so she was interested in the science and education groups. She came to the event and thought it was great. I then invited David Gabrielsen, a biochemistry major who has actually shown interest in taking the class in the future. He wasn't able to attend in person, but he said he would check it out online. Next, I invited Davi Johnson and her brother Dalton Johnson, both of whom love TED talks. Davi caught the end of the event and her brother saw the webcast. Finally, I invited my co-worker, Alicia Pixton, a bioinformatics major, and my employer, Dr. Jessica Purcell, a professor in the math department. Alicia was unable to attend, but Dr. Purcell said she and her husband would try to check it out. 

Facebook Event

I invited most of my Provo area friends to attend the event. This wasn't particularly successful, as the only people the RSVP'd were in the class, and the only other person that responded at all declined immediately. 

Email... to friends

Marty, Jeanette, and Rachel Brooks, a family from my home ward recently moved out to Utah, so I invited them to attend the event in person. They have a thriving business and they expressed interest in some of the ideas that we would be talking talking about in our presentation. Unfortunately they had family in town and weren't able to attend, but they said they would watch the live stream. Next, I emailed each of the five people that I interviewed for our chapter - Chris Harris, Ken Clark, Kim Lake, Mimi Knudsen, and Maggie Wirtanen - and sent them both a draft of our chapter asking for feedback and an invitation to watch the event online. I haven't heard back from all of them yet, but those who have responded expressed interest in watching the event and said they would check out the chapter.

Email... to big shots

After hearing the many social proof success stories, I decided to try my hand at it. Well, I am here to tell you it doesn't always work. That's ok though, it was worth a shot. I emailed two of the thought leaders/ authors we listed at the end of our chapter. Vijay Govindarajan, a professor at Dartmouth and the 3rd most prominent thinker in the business industry right now (according Thinkers50), did actually respond to my email, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately though, he responded only by pointing me toward another one of his books. It's fine though. Scott Anthony, author of The Silver Lining: an Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times, didn't respond. That's fine too I suppose, it still felt pretty liberating to try. 

During the event, I sat in mortal terror until I presented. Haha I'm sort of kidding, but mostly serious when I say that I was too nervous to distract myself with twitter. Lame? Probably, but I feel like running through the presentation in my head for an hour should probably count as some sort of participation. 

In all, I'm very happy with the turnout and with the execution of the event. I think it's really amazing that we pulled something like that off, and I hope I'll be able to have more authentic learning experiences in the future. 

Business Presentation Plan

For our presentation we're planning on exciting the crowd about the major changes taking place as a result of the digital revolution, and then dial it back down to what they can do as individuals. We thought since we're talking about the digital revolution it would be funny to give our presentation without the use of technology, so we'll be using poster boards, and making it as cheesy as possible. 

• Thesis: Similar to the industrial revolution in the 19th century, the current digital revolution appears to be closing doors, but in reality, is creating a net increase in economic opportunities.
• Changing economy
• Changing business models
• amazon 
• drove borders out of business
• pandora and netflix 
• blockbuster out of business: streaming is the future
• Facebook
• -"social readers" - we no longer have to look for the news, news comes to us
• newspapers going out of business
• Action: Managing your online identity 
• prevention
• privacy
• settings on facebook, etc.
• managing who sees certain pictures
• google plus has circles, facebook has groups, lists, networks
• projection
• LinkedIn
• blogging
• "like" your favorite businesses and politicians
• get special deals and find out about promotional events
• link your profiles, blogs, websites
• Bing and Google show which of your friends like certain things when you run a search 
• people trust friends more than ads

Business: An Annotated Bibliography

Thesis: Similar to industrial revolution in the nineteenth century, the current digital revolution appears to be closing doors, but in reality, is creating a net increase in economic opportunities.


Further Reading:

Collins, David & Mike Ryan (The Strategic Implications of Technology on Job Loss. CBS Business Library, 2007) This article very closely mirrors the argument that we are setting forth in our chapter. It argues that technology will create job loss, but there will be opportunities for reallocation of jobs across the economy. Furthermore, firms willing to adapt can turn a difficult situation in to an opportunity for improvement. [I found this article in an attempt to find arguments that technology is damaging to the economy because it creates job loss, but I ended finding this and found it very applicable.]

Evans, Nicholas (Business Innovation and Disruptive Technology. London: Financial Times Press, 2002)  This book discusses methods and strategies to take full advantage of disruptive innovation to gain a competitive advantage in the workplace. This is very applicable to our exploration of the effects of technology on the average individual, and how those individuals can adapt. [Found on Google Books]

Phaal, Robert & Clare Farrukh & David Probert (Technology Roadmapping--A Planning Framework for Evolution and Revolution. University of Cambridge, 2003) This article presents a unique perspective on technological forecasting and social change as presented form the University of Cambridge engineering department. Their model is often used in industries to analyze business plans, the impact of new technologies on marketing, and threats and opportunities for stakeholders in particular technological areas. This article applies to our investigation of changing business models that have been brought to fruition by the digital revolution. [Found on Google Scholar]

Thought Leaders:


Anthony, Scott (The Silver Lining: an Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times. Harvard Business Press, 2009) In this book, Anthony addresses the need to carry on with innovation in the midst of tough economic times. It will be important to look at the effects of the recession in addition to effects of technological advancements on certain shrinking industries. This book will strengthen our idea that technological innovation advances opportunities even during uncertain times. [Anthony's book came up  as a related book to Govindarajan's, and I felt that his ideas fit well with ours.]

Christensen, Clayton (Managing the Threat of Disruptive Technology. Stanford CA: Stanford Video, 2000) This video is an excellent perspective on the value of disruptive technology and the need to embrace and adapt to change. Clayton Christensen's views on the benefit of technological innovation aligns with our argument that the digital revolution will create a net benefit for the global economy, and for individuals who are willing to adapt. [Found on HBLL website]


Govindarajan, Vijay (The Other Side of Innovation. Harvard Business Press, 2010) For our chapter we have been looking at the effects of innovation on industries and individuals, but we don't really address what it takes to become the innovator. VG introduces best practices for innovation, and emphasizes that innovation is not just ideas, but ideas plus execution. [I knew that Clayton Christensen had been awarded the number 1 spot on the Thinkers50 list of business thought leaders, so I decided to look at other leading thinkers in business. VG is number 3]

Changing Tides

Having recently joined the business team, I've been trying to do a bit of research about the shift in the job market thanks to technology. Actually though, I just came across this article by happenstance, which was reviewing the weeks new tech announcements but had just the information I had been looking for. Namely, this graph:

The job market has always and will always shift as a result of technological advancements, so I've not been terribly concerned that people in shrinking industries will be out of the job and out of luck for the rest of their lives. They will adapt. What does interest me then, is the kinds of jobs we're losing, and the possible effect that will have in the shaping of the next generation. As the above graph indicates, many of the industries that are losing steam traditionally require a lesser degree of expertise. Many of these jobs appeal to those who do not have an opportunity to pursue higher education, or do not wish to do so (there are obvious exceptions to this generalization - banking, newspapers, pharmaceuticals, etc.). Anyway, what will happen when the demographic that is attracted to these jobs is forced to adapt to a level that requires more training, education, etc. What will happen to the high school students, the empty-nesters with a bit too much time on their hands, the young men who can't go to school because they have to support their family? I suppose my question here is, will we really all adapt to the tech era? When tablets take over the role of restaurant servers and kiosks take over the role of grocers, will people be willing to make the jump to jobs like information technology or online publishing?

Really though, this is not nearly as black and white as I'm making it out to be. Of course there will always be a broad range of jobs, but I can't help but wonder if this shift might have real implications on the way we educate and bring up the next generation. Maybe for those already in the workforce it will be difficult to bridge the gap, but perhaps more of our children will be able to fit into the mold of the emerging job market. Further then, might this indicate the possibility of a future generation that is more motivated to excel academically, knowing that menial jobs will be fewer and far between? Might America become more seriously competitive on a global scale? Lots of questions here, not a lot of answers, but I'm looking forward to pursuing the topic it further.

Technology and Legislation

As a member of the government group, I'm excited to start looking at some of the effects of technology growth on government. Having just read an article about the need for more regulatory laws restricting the ability of corporations to use technology to gather private information about their customers, I want to focus for now on the legislative branch. I'd like to look at where we've been, where we are now, and where we're headed.

Yep, that's the one.
Note the Walkman capabilities.

As I read the article, a thought struck me about something that my ISys 201 teacher told us last semester. I don't remember the exact statistic, but the point was that if transportation technology were improving as fast as information technology, we'd be able to travel around the world... well, a heck of a lot faster than we can now. Really though, everybody knows technology is improving fast. In fact, just last night I was thinking about my little Sony Ericsson that I had not to long ago, and how I always felt like the internet on that phone was a joke, and I wondered why anyone would ever need internet on their phone. Obviously times change. The reason this concerns me though, is that our government was not designed to be a fast moving entity. On the contrary, it was designed to take quite some time and a fair amount of hassle to get anything done, mostly to prevent rash decisions. It seems, however, that this does not coincide well with the ever adapting world of information technology.

For the next few posts then I'll begin outlining the life and works of three congressional subcommittees:

• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology & the Law (which I'll likely have to abbreviate from now on as PTL, for obvious reasons)
•  Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet (CTI)
• House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation (TI... admit it, "whatever you like" is now stuck in your head). 

For each subcommittee I'll be focusing on the following areas:

• History
• Foundation, development, past legislation
• Recent and ongoing activity
• Growth
• Ability to adapt to rapidly changing technological environment
• Jurisdiction
• Areas of expertise 
• Members
• Representation according to political party - impact on legislation

I'm looking forward to focusing in on this area, and hopefully I'll be able to find some insights about the short and long term effects of technological growth with respect to congressional legislation. 

Hindsight is 20-20

I was really dreading the moment that I would have to look through the muddled waters of my blog posts and try to extract some sort of coherent tweethis, but I mustered up the courage and did it. I'll begin by summarizing the main points of past posts:

Pushing the Envelope - keeping up with and taking advantage of digital resources

Go About Doing Good - being willing to take risks and develop ideas that will have a positive effect on the world

Too Much of a Good Thing & Overcoming the Fool's Ultimatum - battling stifling societal polarity and argumentative thinking

Jamestown: Cultures Collide for Better or Worse - evidence of positive and negative effects of cultural convergence in the past and present

Promoting Self Reliance - a higher form of philanthropy

Finding a Balance - noting the need for harmony and civil order, and finding a place for "civil disobedience" in productive societies

Open Government: Hope for the Future of Campaign Season - potential of open government to encourage a return to fundamental issues during campaigns

Let's Make This Fun - fun theory applied to voter education

Are you sure about that? - responsible use of internet information

Give Me Liberty - account of troubling governmental invasions and attacks on personal liberties

So You Want to Write the Next SOPA? - examination of current forms of open government

What I found after reading through these posts didn't surprise me (although I was surprised that I found anything at all). There are undertones in each post of a psychological principle that I have found to be very poignant throughout my studies of civilizations past and present: Maslow's Hierarchy. In 1943, Abraham Maslow first introduced his idea of human motivation, which includes 5 levels of social growth that humans progress through, beginning with basic survival needs, and ending with self-actualization.

This triangle is not the traditional 5-teired representation of the hierarchy, but I chose to include it because it makes note of an even higher level of human progression: transcendence, or the need to help others reach a state of self-actualization. And so, thanks to Maslow, I have determined what I'm all about. We can see examples of social progression up the pyramid from the beginning of time. In the 17th century, for example, society was not yet at the self-actualization phase. More likely, they were somewhere in the cognitive needs phase, developing more complex ideas about science, religion, and political thought. Since then society has increased at an exponential rate, and a great deal of the world's population is currently self-actualizing. But we aren't all there yet.

Tweethis: Digital resources should be employed for the continued advancement of individuals and societies to a higher level of human motivation and development. 

One of the great blessings of technology is that it enables us to do better. We are in a constant state of progression, and contrary to Professor Umbridge's counsel, we should continue to strive for social progress.

"progress for the sake of
progress must be discouraged"

It is important to remember that the Internet is a blessing, and Heavenly Father most likely had a very good reason for giving it us. I would submit that we should use the Internet to foster as much good as possible, progressing where progress can be made, helping others to reach their full potential, and transcending the levels of societal development that we inherited from those that came before us.