But its success means that it further devalues the traditionally female domain of caregiving, by continuing to enforce the idea that only making things is valuable.
This gendered separating in "making" is so important to recognize because without noticing it, nothing can change.
When new products are made, we hear about exciting technological innovation, which are widely seen as worth paying (more) for. In contrast, policy and public discourse around caregiving—besides education, healthcare comes immediately to mind—are rarely about paying more to do better, and are instead mostly about figuring out ways to lower the cost.
We are willing to pay more for the latest iPhone, than supplies needed to achieve in education.
Almost all the artifacts that we value as a society were made by or at the order of men. But behind every one is an invisible infrastructure of labor—primarily caregiving, in its various aspects—that is mostly performed by women.
The first thing that came to my mind is the film Hidden Figures about the women who helped put the first man on the moon. A story that many, including myself, had no idea about because our culture only displayed the image of men ruling the space program instead of widening the lens to show all the hardworking women helping to reach that end goal.
I’m uncomfortable with any culture that encourages you take on an entire identity, rather than to express a facet of your own identity ("maker," rather than "someone who makes things").
I find that this notion of only one identity is incredibly limiting to someone who has so many other talents and thoughts within them. We do this as a culture not just with professions, but also in terms of race, sexual orientation, and gender. A black individual is certainly more than a "color", a man who loves another man is not solely "gay", and acknowledging a women as a "female" and nothing else is simply confining someone's sense of self.
It’s about understanding the syntax of that language. It’s about understanding the logic. It’s about understanding the program: the series of instructions that tell a computer what to do and how to do it.
Exactly! For me, I feel like learning the syntax is the hardest part. Some of these "learn to code" books only focus on inputing random phrases, but that doesn't help the individual understand how the program is running or what they can do to change the structure of a Web page.
Should “learning to code” become a school requirement, and if so how do we cram it into an already overloaded curriculum?
This is an important point to mention because with an increasing amount of stressed out students, piling more heavy work on them may not be as beneficial as the STEM hopefuls might think. Maybe students could be introduced to coding at a slow pace and in a smaller amount of time and then if they find themselves interested then they can pursue studying the topic further in high school.
We are (increasingly, almost all) consumers of computer technology; everyone should have the opportunity to learn to be creators of that technology as well. Moreover, focusing on "everyone" is particularly important if you look at the technology industry’s woeful lack of diversity.
This idea is the same for any type of creation such as film, television, music, and the list goes on. When so many people are being exposed to these technologies, we must be sure that what is being shared reflects the reality its being offered to.
It’s hard to argue against what some are calling “the new literacy”
Coding is taking on its own life with more and more people attempting to "decode" the computerized language they are seeing in order to interpret the meaning of what those numbers and words can do together.
In our culture, girls are taught negotiation, compromise, and the capacity for intimacy as social virtues, while models of male behavior stress decisiveness, cool impartiality, and the imposition of will. It would not be surprising if women felt more comfortable, more "themselves," with negotiation and compromise among elements of thought, and men preferred to make decisive plans and impose principles on a separate reality.
Interesting to see how men and women differ in their computing skills based on how our culture has constructed gender roles. Women like some of those mentioned in this article have felt the necessity to suppress their ways of thinking and problem-solving in order to support the accepted practices of men.
The computer can be a partner in a great diversity of relationships. The computer is an expressive medium that different people can make their own in their own way. But people who want to approach the computer in a "noncanonical" style are rarely given the opportunity to do so.
Hopefully this has changed some in the past 25 years, but I think there is still a notion that computer scientists are primarily white nerdy males over any other type of person. The more the landscape of those creating the online world diversifies, the more the "real world" will be influenced by seeing what reflects our lives.
And when you yourself program (an activity within the reach of everyone), you can experience the degree to which your style of solving logical problems is very much your own.
You can add your own stamp on what the world is exploring and creating on the Internet. There is now a feeling of involvement that would not exist otherwise.
The computer has a theoretical vocation: to bring the philosophical down to earth.
This could not be more true than for when one is viewing animated objects on the web. Someone had to take the time to create the coding capable of producing the image, but when online users see the finished product, it's almost as if the creation becomes a living reality.
They show us how within laboratories there is a great deal of thinking that does not respect the canon and how "ordinary" people in their kitchens and workplaces make very effective use of a down-to-earth mathematical thinking very different from the abstract and formal math they were taught at school.
Everyone has a capability to use forms of mathematically thinking even if they are not as sophisticated as those working professionally with advanced algorithms. Knowing this helps more people be aware of the widespread benefits of computing knowledge for all and how it leads to ultimately servicing the community.
The simple solution is adding diversity to staff.
Short and sweet. Without diverse experiences controlling the screen, those writing messages of hate from home who have never lived beyond a certain set of trials will not be evaluated in the correct manner.
Since contract workers used by tech companies both in the US and abroad often lack not only equitable treatment but a true voice and influence at tech companies, we have to ask if workers closest to these problems are truly given seats at the table as decision makers and influencers at major platforms.
So even the workers examining these algorithms and reports set up primarily by those in power are being marginalized themselves. They are not being heard even though they are dealing with these issues constantly on a daily basis.
As Jillian C. York writes, ““Community policing” is intended to be a trust-based system. But users are human, and bring their own biases and interpretations of community guidelines to their decisions about who and what to report.”
Community policing can be viewed as a tool of erasure itself because if something that is offending mainly whites because of the post's uncomfortable topic of racial differences is deemed unacceptable and therefore deleted, then the ultimate message trying to be seen in the spotlight is now gone before many can view it.
most of the staff, across the board, for Facebook and Twitter are both male and white, leaving the people in charge ill-equipped to determine what is or isn’t bigoted on their platform.
I had never thought about how online harassment over social media could be viewed through a racial lens but after reading this paragraph it becomes clear that those in charge of monitoring these issues may not be equipped to decipher what is harmful. What a person of color perceives as mean might not be viewed that way by a white male who has never experienced particular hardships that come along with growing up a color other than white.
“There’s a lot of looking back and looking forward happening in this work,” Sandy said. “Celebrating those journeys whether they are intentional or forced journeys.”
Although Afrofuturism would seem to be set only in the future, I like the notion that this movement incorporates the past, present, and future. All three influencing each other in some shape or form.
But the actual term Afrofuturism was first used by critic Mark Dery in his 1994 essay “Black to the Future,” which examined why there were so few black science fiction writers at the time, given the genre’s inextricable links to the other and life on the margins.
This is an interesting point to make because so much of science fiction does revolve around how one set of people interact with the "other" group that typically consists of aliens or some other strange creature. So for African Americans, who have unfortunately been viewed as "others" throughout history, there is now an outlet in written fiction where their attitudes towards being marginalized can be alternatively perceived as in control.
It is not enough just to disconnect.
I agree completely because there are too many people who argue that if you do not like something just stop engaging in that problematic space. The problem with this thinking is that the digital realm has become such a fixture in the 21st century world that ignoring or "disconnecting" from it completely would be nearly impossible because so many other people would still be using the Internet.
… freedom is this: to be with oneself in the other.
I finding this quote interesting because when discussing freedom one often thinks of solely the individual, but in this case we are seeing how the autonomy comes from placing oneself in the world's continual flow of interaction. The question that then arises is, "if we are putting ourselves in these vulnerable situations to express our freedom, then are we not setting ourselves up to be watched?"
So how can a whole infrastructure of surveillance that was, elsewhere, so obviously wrong suddenly become right
I believe there are many people out there who are unaware of this duality because they do not know much about surveillance capitalism. Once the public can become more informed, then maybe more individuals will feel that their freedoms are being tampered with online and want to do something to limit the control.
it is as if the social itself has become the new target of capitalism’s expansion.
Our human life is no longer a strictly materialized entity because we have become so entangled in the Internet's web of networking. The mixing of the digital and reality has been positive for many, but capitalism now has a way to "exploit" what once could be a conversation between friends into surveying their Twitter exchanges to find something they can utilize in expanding their economic reach.
if every point in space-time is connectable to every other, then it is susceptible to monitoring from every other.
Until taking the digital studies course I am in this semester, I never really paid attention to how our Internet use is not only for each individual to share something interesting about their life, but it is also a way for businesses to track and record those interests to further their quest for market and advertising power.
So, to the “social media interns” of the world: Keep your chin up. We need you. In good time, everyone will realize it.
I believe ending on an optimistic note is just what those interns need to hear and eventually more and more people will acknowledge the benefits this job creates for businesses.
Stellar content is stellar, but stellar content that actually gets shared and gets views is much, much preferable — and that’s thanks to the social strategists of the world.
If you can get the information shared, then your audience will increase; thus, giving even more importance to the social media workers who are able to create a text, video, meme, etc. that is worth the views in the first place.
Create community, develop an audience, and develop trust — but don’t ever neglect the data.
I like the balance between recognizing the analytic data and forming the trust with a community in a social media job because this relationship goes back to the binary Vargas mentions earlier in the article.
Once, at an event, a man discussed how his former company has laid off “all the people that weren’t doing much”: “Like Facebook scheduling, all that social media stuff.”
I find these jobs to be crucial in today's online world because this is the new means by which millions of people are consuming their information.
Back then, I saw a gap between what I defined as tech and what I defined as art. Tech and creative writing existed on a binary — a binary I had grown up learning in school, and which I used to explain that I was a “words” person, a person who kept her head in a journal but couldn’t do any computer programming.
Why can't you do both? This question is being answered by many individuals who are able to combine technical skills with artistic creativity such as those who have set up their own sites to blog or have found other ways to express themselves online. Even though this is a basic level of the two, there is still that interaction occurring where people once thought it could not exist.
I had no shortage of people telling me I was going to be a starving writer, or that I wasted my collegiate experience learning “useless” skills.
This could not apply more perfectly to my current situation because as an English major who is graduating this year, I am constantly asked about how my degree will help me get a quality job in the future. Although this makes me begin to question my decision, I try and remember that even if I do not land a career doing activities directly relating to English, I can still take my learning experience and apply those tools to any job setting.
If having a social media job was ridiculous, wasn’t it even more ridiculous that companies offered internships for it?
As somebody who would enjoy maintaining a social media account for an organization, I have seen where some people find this career choice as quite silly when you compare it to those who are performing the advanced technical skills required to operate and run computers. However, there continues to be an increased interest in how social media helps promote businesses and their ideologies which can only benefit those companies in gaining more followers who have the same mindsets, or better yet, can help to persuade other's views in supporting them as well.
One of the beautiful things about filmmaking is the dialectic it creates between filmmakers and audiences to create jointly the universe being seen.
I think this relationship between filmmakers and the fans watching the material has been increasing in recent years because of involved online participation in the form of fan fiction. Viewers are able to create their own visions of what their beloved movies mean to them. For instance, I watch the television show Teen Wolf and many fans believe that the two straight male characters of Stiles and Derek actually have a homosexual connection because of their onscreen chemistry mixed with the often homoerotic tone of the show. Their desire for them to have a romantic relationship has inspired countless tumblr blogs and fan art. I believe these collaborations of sorts between viewers and films can only help foster larger conversations and inspire more active audience members.
And Finn should be wary of the planet, as he experiences what many black men on earth fear: he is accused (racially profiled?) of having stolen someone else’s jacket, which leads to being tased.
If one did not know that this was from a film they might assume the incident was just another headline in today's African American struggle. The fact that there is not only a parallel between racial profiling, but also unfair brutality can be provocative for many because of the reality that these events are not just a problem of the future.
But if all the stormtroopers are black, the Force Awakens can be read as a tale specifically rooted in black oppression and, more importantly, black awakening and rebellion; indeed, it could be read as the first science fiction film of the Black Lives Matter era.
Thrasher connecting the film to today's real life political struggles regarding the Black Lives Matter protests and message is really interesting. Applying this lens to films and television shows often enhances one's perspective on the material they are watching, elevating their mindset to that of a more socially conscious viewer. They now are able to see how the past and present are at play in a scene such as an oppressed regime of black stormtroopers under white costumes. Knowing about their own world's African American history now influences how they see a possible future for this same group in a film thats offering a futuristic setting for the human race.
FN-2187 is a slave name
This form of dehumanization can be related to the treatment of African American slaves during the slaves trades. These people were treated like pieces of property instead of living, breathing human beings who have names. In both cases the names are eliminated in an effort to make their identity solely that of "the slave" or "the stormtrooper" rather than an actual person.
I’ve always told students that they will continue to develop as writers throughout their entire lives, which means their growth as writers shouldn’t be centered around me as the instructor, but writing as a practice and a discipline.
Warner makes a interesting point here in basically telling students that their belief in themselves as writers should focus more on their own abilities instead of his own ability to hand out a grade. Teaching students for the sake of improving their skills will help them in building successful careers more than just forcing them to conform to a professor's idea of how they should write.
By defining that criteria, I gave students a clearer target to aim for.
This is crucial to student success because when one is able to clearly understand what is expected of them and what the outcome will be if they follow those expectations correctly they are able to perform at a higher level. When I am confused on how exactly the grading will go, I become more worried about how I am going to get the good grade rather than writing to the best of my ability in hope of furthering my writing process.
3. I like to fiddle with my teaching, particularly when I’m limited to a single course. Without experimenting, I’d get bored, and a bored instructor is a sure-fire recipe for unengaged students, which results in an unhappy instructor, and then we watch the vicious circle turn.
Could not be more true. When I notice a professor is lacking interest in what they are teaching my own engagement in the class becomes nonexistent. The more passionate the instructor, the more passionate the students.
1. When utilizing numerical grades, I’ve grown more and more dismayed over how much of my evaluation time is spent justifying that number. In analyzing my own comments, nearly 80% of my words were spent explaining what was “wrong” with the student’s work. Even when I would consciously try to focus on “process” and provide forward-looking comments, I just ended up writing more and longer commentary that seemed even less useful to students who are thoroughly conditioned to only care about that number anyway.
I had never really considered how much thinking instructors go through in trying to come up with a student's grade. In my mind I usually felt as though every numeric grade was a random number within the range of a letter. By sharing his own thoughts on having to justify an awarded grade, Warner is allowing students like myself to see how switching to a grading contract can limit the comments to areas of improvement rather than trying to explain every "wrong" component of one's paper.
But what about second chances, redemption and flexibility?
There should always be room for flexibility and chances for redemption for all students, but especially the ones who continually put in effort into their work. Various emergencies or simple occurrences that for whatever reason prevent one from completing an assignment on time happen and thats just life. Knowing that a professor understands that already decreases one's stress in the classroom.
And the 2015 National Survey of Student Engagement has found that only 54 percent of freshmen and 61 percent of seniors believe that they have been “highly challenged to do their best work” in college.
I have had many classes in college and high school where the instructor made me feel like getting an A was the only way to do well and succeed. There was no desire to actually learn further than trying to memorize for a final test or SOL. If the assignments focused more on discovering something new and why that discovery should matter to us as students, then I think many more students would try their best to understand the material because it applies to their life.
The specs may be as simple as “completeness”: for instance, all the questions are answered, all the problems attempted in good faith or all the directions followed (that is, the work satisfies the assignment), plus the work meets a required length.
Grading assignments on "completeness" has both pros and cons. Student participation in the work might increase because they find obtaining the satisfactory grade an easy"A". However, I think that the students who provide extensive knowledge in their assignments would think that their hard work does not matter because everyone is getting the same grade if they complete the assignment correctly.
Most employers of our graduates give grades little heed in hiring. They want experience. At the program and university level, accreditors eschew grades and demand independent evidence of student achievement of learning outcomes.
I feel as though this is what makes me question sometimes why I put so much effort into certain assignments to get an A in the course when at the end of the day all the future employer will actually see is my degree. Beyond that they will examine one's experience like Nilson points out, but if one is always striving to get the highest grade they often leave out time to go and participate in their field of work. Striving to balance between the two is what will benefit the student most in the long run.
the Web and the Internet are not naturally-occurring entities but are corporate and national forces bending towards certain ideological ends – privatization and profit.
The description of the Internet in this sentence is such a new concept to me, but after reading Watters essay I have begun to see how many of my preconceived views of how our digital sharing works is naive at best. I've always imagined the Internet being composed of two servicing tools, Google and social media, where I simply put in what I want to get out in return. However, there is so much more out there on the Web. Understanding that the forces behind those sites are working towards achieving a financial goal, not just aiming to share their information for the fun of it helps reveal a further complexity to what we truly own online.
Have you read the fine print of the Terms of Service?
I have never thought about how much we as consumers think we own in this world, but in reality nearly everything is apart of a terms agreement not a direct ownership. All of Watters examples are interesting to dive into, especially since many individuals "own" various streaming services. This lending of what we think is ours from these companies reminds me of my cellphone. I tell everyone that my iPhone is mine, but is it really? I mean my phone carrier and government have the right to take the device from my possession should they deem confiscation as an appropriate manner so in reality I am just a borrowing consumer. I guess we all are in one way or another.
But Woolf is not simply talking about having a piece of paper – a title, for example – that decrees she owns the room. It’s about having the financial freedom and a personal space to write.
Connecting Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" to the University of Mary Washington's new domain initiative is an excellent parallel. Owning something takes on so many various meanings as Watters points out in her essay and I think that understanding how owning a room or in many students cases a domain is not a chance to show off that you have the possession, but an opportunity to share information feely with others. Most of us want a safe place where we can get our feelings out into the world and knowing that for some people their voices are silenced by an opposer is all the more reason to push for a space of one's own despite what political ownership might decree as their own.
Increasingly, we work for free for major Internet technology companies, on their platforms. We post our photos, our status updates, our articles, our discussions. We share, we like, and we retweet. Our content and our data, shared publicly, become theirs to profit from.
This is an interesting point to make because I do not think many people are aware that their social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter are making money for groups of people. I know when I post a photo of where I went for vacation or tweet a song lyric, I feel as though I am sharing my personal life with all my friends and family, but as the word "public" suggests my information is being shared with numerous strangers. Watters is right, our freedom to share and in our minds own what that material being shared consists of is in actuality being controlled by another entity.