User talk:Nicolasmall

I'll be using the platform as part of the Living in a Connected World module.

Nicolasmall (discuss • contribs) 14:10, 28 September 2019 (UTC)

Wiki Exercise 1: Screen Time Survey
A couple of weeks ago, my classmates and I were faced with an intriguing task during one of our lectures; we were asked to estimate the number of hours we individually spent in front of various screens over a given weekend. At first, I found the exercise to be harder than I thought it would be. I’m very much aware that I spend a lot of time in front of screens, but just how much of my time does this take up? I thought the best way to start was to look at it from a different angle; how much time did I not spend in front of screens? I later came to learn that danah boyd worked out how many hours per day she spends online through the same process of subtraction.

A few calculations later, I estimated that I spent a total of 18 hours in front of numerous screens between Friday at 5pm and Monday at 9am in my third weekend living in Stirling. I got to this number by categorising my time in front of screens into three sections; Leisure (54%), Study Time (45%), and Travel (1%).

Having moved to Stirling approximately one month ago to study for my master’s degree, I chose to categorise my screen time in the same way I would categorise how I spent my time ‘offline’ for that given weekend. For example, on Sunday afternoon I walked into town for lunch, and that same evening I also watched a film on Netflix. Both of these events fall under the Leisure category, yet my estimate only includes the time I spent in front of my laptop watching Netflix. The class discussion also got me thinking about those screens that are not so obviously registered, such as the screen on the bus when paying for a ticket. Therefore, at many points throughout the day, I am either looking at a screen voluntarily, or coming into contact with one involuntarily. In this way, screen time has become intertwined into our lives, whether we like it or not.

Technology has resulted in mass digitisation, and being in front of screens for a total of 18 hours over a 3-day period is extremely overwhelming. Ironically, although Leisure is meant to be an enjoyable category, it is probably the most tiring. This is because it’s no longer about on or off really. It’s about living in a world where being networked to people and information wherever and whenever you need it is just assumed. This is what it means to be always-on i.e. being in a semi-permanent condition of persistent connectivity. As Sherry Turkle states, networked, we are together, but responding to every single notification from the people I am connected to online can easily feel like a chore. In response to a world of ever-increasing connectivity, developing our own personal strategies and finding a balance is key.

In conclusion, as Matt Hayler puts it so well, in order to understand technology we must understand its mess of relations, and by better understanding technology we also, in turn, open ourselves to better understanding how and what we know; how we act and how we can act; how we think and where we think it. The connected world we live in today isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and I look forward to embracing it over the course of this module.

Instructor Feedback on Wiki Exercise 1

 * Posts of this standard roughly correspond to the following grade descriptor. Depending on where your actual mark is in relation to the making criteria as outlined in the relevant documentation, it should give you an idea of strengths and weaknesses within the achieved grade band overall:

Merit. Among other things, merit entries will make a clear point in a clear way. They will relate concepts to original examples in a straightforward fashion. They will make effective use of the possibilities of the form (including links, as well as perhaps copyright-free videos and images, linked to from Wiki Commons). They may also demonstrate a broader understanding of the module's themes and concerns, and are likely to show evidence of reading and thinking about the subject material. The wiki markup formatting will be very clear.


 * This work is at the mid-point of this particular grade band, and a little improvement will go a long way to attaining a higher mark. I think in order to engage with the wiki exercises a bit more, it might be useful for you to take a closer look at the assessment brief to get more of an idea of how to hit those targets.


 * Making more use of the wiki functionality and markup would have gone a long way to improving fluidity and functionality of posts. I suspect that, as you become more familiar and proficient with the platform, that this will make a considerable difference.

Detail:
 * Very well written and articulated response to the brief. You use the citation markup effectively to bring your reading in seamlessly.
 * It’s great that you are using the set reading – I would be a little more careful in terms of attribution: the phrase semi-permanent condition of persistent connectivity is, in fact, my own take on Turkle, boyd, and others! But you do have fair attribution in here, and acknowledge the work of others where due.

General:
 * 'Reading and research': evidence of critical engagement with set materials; evidence of independent reading of appropriate academic and peer-reviewed material. Pass.


 * 'Argument and analysis': well-articulated and well-supported argument; evidence of critical thinking (through taking a position in relation to key ideas from the module, and supporting this position); evidence of relational thinking (through making connections between key ideas from the module and wider literature, and supporting these connections); evidence of independent critical ability. Merit.


 * 'Presentation': good use of wiki markup and organisational skills. Pass.

GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 12:06, 30 October 2019 (UTC)

Wiki Exercise 2: Annotated Bibliography Exercise (Part 2)
boyd, d. (2012). Participating in the always-on lifestyle. In The social media reader (pp.71-76). New York: New York University Press.



In this chapter, danah boyd, an exemplary academic in social media, delves into the phenomenon of always-on culture. boyd asserts that, in today’s world, people are interruptible at all times of the day. This is because being connected to networks of people online is constantly assumed as a result of developments in technology. In this way, the online world is always nearby and we never really go offline. In response to the growth of technology, boyd focuses on understanding how to embrace the notion of always-on by striking a personal balance between attention and time. This chapter is useful in developing a deeper understanding of our module, Living in a Connected World, in that it invites us to think about the ways in which an always-on culture can and is changing the ways in which society interacts, including how we participate and engage online as individuals and with others through this online network.

Nicolasmall (discuss • contribs) 18:46, 11 November 2019 (UTC)

Defining Social Movements
Numerous scholars have defined social movements as the collective action of a group to work towards solving a political or social problem present within society. Throughout history, we have seen people band together with others to create change, including the civil rights movement and the feminist movement. In other words, social movements are conscious, concerted, and sustained efforts by ordinary people to change some aspect of their society, whereby they make demands pushing for a desired and effective solution. In today’s digital landscape, social movements are able to create pressure upon powerful decision makers through mobilising and influencing online media. In this way, social movements may build a global coalition of people with the goal of establishing positive change. I will be using the Me Too social movement as a case study to further explore the subject in the context of today’s digital world.



Me Too Social Movement
In 2006, sexual harassment survivor and activist Tarana Burke coined the phrase “me too” on social media with the goal of creating an awareness that would see a world free of sexual violence. It wasn’t until 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted a message urging victims of sexual harassment and assault to reply to her tweet with the words “me too”, that the magnitude of the issue at hand became so clear. Within the first day, the hashtag #MeToo was shared over half a million times on Twitter alone. That same year, Time magazine named The Silence Breakers as their Person of the Year: dedicated to victims who broke their silence against such violence. Over the next three years, the hashtag became a global social movement.

The Public Sphere and Online Media
The dynamics of a public sphere are essential to the way democracy functions, and online media has become a transformative extension of the public sphere as we know it. According to Dahlgren and Alvares, the character of participation is changing, and digital media platforms have created essential opportunities for participation to take place. Online media has the ability to build a strong coalition of participating members through personal, raw experiences. Due to the nature of social media, the hashtag #MeToo brought real people together to take action against a collective issue. Similarly, a case study by Mundt, Ross and Burnett found that the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter played a key role in building a strong social movement pushing for equality because of the scale of participation that it created.

The Effects of the Me Too Social Movement
The Me Too social movement led to significant positive action taken by political figures. For example, the movement saw a ban on non-disclosure agreements covering sexual harassment, and increased sexual harassment laws. Furthermore, not only did the Me Too social movement bring about tangible change from decision makers, it also saw an intangible shift in the way people began to think about power. Drawing from the Me Too social movement, it is clear that strong participation is extremely important for public spheres to emerge, especially in the digital age. During a TED Talk in 2019, Burke asserts that movements only happen with a collective of people. In this way, social movements generate pressure from below, whereby non-political figures are able to influence political and social change in a democracy.

Is use of your talk page like this really allowed?
--DimensionShifter (discuss • contribs) 18:55, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

Hi! Thank you for your comment. Yes, this page is being used as part of a post-graduate module at the University of Stirling demonstrating our understanding of various topics related to today's digital world.

Nicolasmall (discuss • contribs) 15:34, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

Wiki Exercise 4: Collaborative Essay Critical Evaluation


According to Gauntlett, the Internet opened up a world of diversity and imagination where the content itself is created by everyday users. The Wikibooks platform is one example of such content generation, as it has been described as a public space that allows for the writing and authoring of collaborative books online. Like other wikis, the content available on Wikibooks is generated voluntarily through the shared contributions of its users. Writing on Wikibooks requires contributors to co-write content in an asynchronous fashion, therefore, it would not exist without its emphasis on visibility, as it is fundamental to the platform’s success. In this way, the Wikibooks platform also relates greatly to the notion of Wisdom of Crowds, as the collective contribution of the many is considered to be more valuable than the contribution of the few. Thus, Wikibooks allows for mass participation, collaboration and communities to flourish.

Wikibooks is useful in facilitating collaborative research in many ways, including communicating information, encouraging discussion and sharing knowledge, all of which is documented and can easily be referred back to, thereby organising the collaborative process. As part of our module, we were tasked to write a book collaboratively as a class using Wikibooks. The class was divided into different groups, each responsible for writing a different chapter within the book. My experience with Wikibooks in facilitating collaboration was a positive one. Firstly, amendments to the essay were made in real-time, and each group member was able to view the essay come to life over the weeks. Although this feature is extremely useful, other online platforms, such as Google Docs, also offer similar public elements. What makes Wikibooks so useful is that it allowed us, as contributors, to view, communicate and share information with other groups working on different chapters, and vis-a-vis. Even more so, it is the Discussion page on Wikibooks that made the collaborative experience so fruitful, as it allowed us to document our thoughts, and share knowledge and insight in the process, to produce a body of work built on teamwork.

It is clear that Wikibooks allows for virtual communities to form. The social factor is the foundation of a virtual community, and in our case, Wikibooks was used as a social tool for education purposes through the collaborative writing of an online book. Moreover, we collaborated with one another as a group both online and offline. For example, after sharing our thoughts and discussing the chapter assigned to our group online through the Wikibooks Discussion page, we would follow it up through an informal library meeting. Thus, both online and offline communication were useful in building a good body of work. Furthermore, it could be said that such communication and collaboration represent a digital commons as communities of people with shared interests come together to contribute to the platform in a meaningful way.

In conclusion, I believe that Wikibooks and other wikis provide users with a sense of creative liberation, whereby people may generate valuable content by connecting with other communities of people to output a collaborative piece of work. In this way, making is connecting: I strongly believe that the work we published collaboratively reflects a shared and unified understanding of the subject.

INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK: ESSAY DISCUSSION PAGE
Grade Description for Collaborative Essay (individual):


 * Satisfactory. Among other things, satisfactory contributions may try to relate an idea from the module to an original example, but might not be very convincing. They may waste space on synopsis or description, rather than making a point. They may have spelling or grammatical errors and typos. They might not demonstrate more than a single quick pass at the assignment, informed only by lecture and/or cursory reading. They may suggest reading but not thinking (or indeed the reverse) and will have little justification for ideas offered on Discussion Pages. The wiki markup formatting will need some work.

Evaluation of individual contribs:

Students should be engaging at least once a day, for the duration of the project. The following points illustrate how this engagement was evaluated.

Evidence from contribs to both editing and discussion of content (i.e. volume and breadth of editorial activity as evidenced through ‘contribs’). These are primarily considered for quality rather than quantity, but as a broad guideline:


 * Each item on a contribs list that are 1000+ characters are deemed “substantial”:there were a number of these throughout
 * Items on a contribs list that are <1000 characters are important, and are considered in the round when evaluating contribs as a whole because of their aggregate value: consistent engagement throughout the assessment period
 * It is expected that you will make at least one contrib per day, for the duration of the project:see above - no larger contribs evidenced, but severa smaller ones of good quality

Engagement with and learning from the community on Discussion Pages
 * Evidence of peer-assisted learning and collaboration
 * Evidence of reading, sharing, and application of research to the essay
 * Evidence of peer-review of others’ work

Reflexive, creative and well-managed use of Discussion Pages
 * Clear delegation of tasks
 * Clearly labelled sections and subsections
 * Contributions are all signed

Civility. Your conduct is a key component of any collaboration, especially in the context of an online knowledge-building community.

GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 12:49, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Instructor Feedback on Wiki Exercise Portfolio
Posts of this standard roughly correspond to the following grade descriptor. Depending on where your actual mark is in relation to the making criteria as outlined in the relevant documentation, it should give you an idea of strengths and weaknesses within the achieved grade band overall:


 * Distinction-Excellent. Among other things, these entries will probably demonstrate a complex, critical understanding of the themes of the module. They will communicate very effectively, making excellent and creative use of the possibilities of the form (including links, as well as perhaps copyright-free videos and images, linked to from Wiki Commons), and may be written with some skill and flair. They will address the assignment tasks in a thoughtful way. They will make insightful connections between original examples and relevant concepts. They will be informed by serious reading and reflection, are likely to demonstrate originality of thought, and will probably be rewarding and informative for the reader. The wiki markup formatting will be impeccable.


 * Even though this work is at the upper end of this grade band, a little improvement might go some way to attaining a higher mark to push you into the next grade band. I think in order to engage with the wiki exercises a bit more, it might be useful for you to take a closer look at the assessment brief to get more of an idea of how to hit those targets, attending to details further. But this really is an excellent portfolio of exercises. Greatuse of the wiki functionality and markup which helped fluidity and functionality of posts. Enaging writing style, well-researched and very well structured arguments throughout.

General: In addition to the common marking scheme, there are three broad criteria widely employed in the Division, which are used to help assessors evaluate your work in a more general sense:

Reading and research: is there evidence of critical engagement with set materials?; is there evidence of independent reading of appropriate academic and peer-reviewed material? For this element, your work has been evaluated as: Excellent

Argument and analysis: Is argument well-articulated and well-supported?; is there evidence of critical thinking (through taking a position in relation to key ideas from the module, and supporting this position)?; is there evidence of relational thinking (through making connections between key ideas from the module and wider literature, and supporting these connections)?; is there evidence of independent critical ability? For this element, your work has been evaluated as: Excellent

Presentation: academic writing style and structure, and organisational skills For this element, your work has been evaluated as: Excellent

GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 14:17, 19 December 2019 (UTC)