Resource Notes: Movies and Culture

(Movies & Culture by AntMan3001. Shared Under CC BY - SA 2.0. Web Source: Flickr)

For this post, I am discussing Movies and Culture and the effect it has had on Americans' way of living. This is perfect as my previous reading was on the book chapter of Popular Culture, which syncs up well with this reading on movies and its effect on society. To begin, when I am discussing movies, I am not saying that all movies contribute or exemplify our culture, but instead I am talking about the main stream movies that rack up money in the box office. In discussing how movies effect our culture, a movie's plot or themes usually discuss some sort of concern, belief, or following as it relates to that time period. For example, when 9/11 occurred, production of musical songs, movies, and tv shows were established to reminisce or remember an event that changed our way of life in a matter of seconds. With that being said, not all movies are well liked by society as they might portray events that people wish were kept under the radar or not brought up. This is best exemplified through the film The Birth of a Nation, which showcases social and cultural events that were being to shape America. However, some of these events related to racism and politics that received backlash as it brought about the non-traditional views of our society. To control this content, TV or Movie ratings were produce to classify the content that would portrayed in the shows to advise different groups from not attending or watching these films. These ratings were either G for general, M for adolescents, R for teenagers, and X for adults. This was astonishing to me as I didn't know that ratings for movies were implement in 1968 and has lasted through society and still classifies movies as we know it today. 

Reference:

University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing edition. (2016). Understanding media and culture: An introduction to mass communication. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Libraries. Article Link:Movies and Culture

Resource Notes: Pop Culture Reading

(A difference in culture by Franco Folini. Shared Under CC BY-SA 2.0. Web Source: Flickr)

The ideology of pop culture was proclaimed by its significance of categorizing movements or shifts in society's way of living that is believed to be non-traditional or unique. When I think of pop culture I think of the rap music, skinny jeans, or Justin Bieber fever, just to name a few. These ideologies signified society's change in beliefs and followings related to previously known ideas.  This statement was summed up nicely by the readings discussion related to the effects of pop culture. It stated that "pop culture has been the primary driving force behind social evolution," and it will continue to dominant our ideology in the future (Danesi, 2012, pg. 2). Furthermore, pop culture has changed the way we perceive and discuss art, entertainment, fashion, friend groups, etc. Additionally, these changes in perception and discussion of ways of life occur rapidly and has forced historians to classify eras based on the effects it has marked on society. For example, historians don't necessarily say the era of 1960's, or the era of the 1980's, etc. Rather they would state the hippie era, or the hip-hop era, etc. To me, this is great as it helps people foster an image or realization of what the people from that time period acted or believed in. However, there are things to be careful about when discussing eras, as not all people from those eras acted or believed in the activities that others were going on. For example, in the hippie era there was a lot of drugs and rebel like activity going on during that time; however, not everyone acted in that fashion.

Furthering away from the past and staying more current, the world-wide web has had the biggest effect on our way of life and ever changing thought of pop culture. The world-wide web has allowed for quicker changes to ideologies of pop culture due to instant videos streaming off of Instagram, YouTube, Snap Chat, etc. The reason for this is the greater ability for information to be streamed to thousands and millions of people in a blink of second. This change will create for a never ending cycle of the changes of pop culture. However, one thing we do know is that history does repeat ourselves. Even if it is not the biggest fad, one day it will be.

References:

Danesi, M. (2012). Popular culture: Introductory perspectives. Link: Pop Culture

Resource Notes: Big Data

(Big Data by BBVAtech. Shared Under CC BY 2.0. Web Source: Flickr)

Wow! Why Big Data is a Big Deal, was an eye opener into how data is collected and portrayed in the mainstream world. I had no idea that data is collected and put into an algorithm that can predict circumstances that may rise to affect our world. The video highlighted that data has been used to predict deadly outbreaks of diseases. However, if data and algorithms can predict occurrences, then why is that we can stop these diseases, killings, or attacks in our world?  Furthermore, it is crazy to think that more data has been processed in the past two years than over the past 3,000 years. Such data has helped companies like Netflix and Amazon provide recommendations for purchases or shows to watch for their consumer (Shaw, 2014). This is crazy as sometimes these recommendations are actually what you are thinking but haven't told anyone. It is like these programs read your mind.. Personally, I do not want people to ever be able to read my mind as that is my privacy that I should always have.

On another note, technology has been able to save businesses and researchers money as it has cut down on the cost of products. For example, it took over a billion dollars to create the first full human genome sequence. However, now it only costs $1,000 and can be completed in 24 hours (Shaw, 2014). This is crazy to think how fast information can be disseminated to others for use.

References:

• Jonathan Shaw (2014). Why Big Data Is a Big Deal. Article Link
• PBS documentary. The Human Face of Big Data. Video Link

Resource Notes: Ethics Reading

(Ethics by Kent Bye. Shared Under CC BY 2.0. Web Source: Link)

Ethics is a word that is used to describe behavioral standards for how one should act or use information on a daily basis. However, ethics in America are not always followed as individuals still steal, hurt, or kill others. Even though these points weren't discussed in the reading, they should still be considered when discussing what ethics is. In terms of the reading, ethics was discussed in relation to how information is disseminated to others. Before diving into ethics, it should be understood that there are many viewpoint to how one may interpret information or new ideas. Individuals comprehended information through one of the information competencies such as "communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competence, or sense of initiative and entrepreneurship" (Schultz-Jones, 2017).

Furthermore, these ideas have an ethical foundation that should be followed when used. This ethical foundation begins with four ideas for how information should be used. To begin, individuals need to have respect for ones work and should give them all the credit they deserve. This credit is what is considered respect for intellectual property. Additionally, individuals should respect one's request for how there information may be used. If information from another person is used, it should receive acknowledgement and credit for that work. Lastly, utilizing others information or thoughts should only be used without the intention of causing harm.

Understanding these ethical foundations leads to learning the frames of ethical use of information. A few main ones are competency, relational, and social impact. Competency is what they should be able to do. Relational is awareness of ways of seeing or experiencing situations. Lastly, social impact is understanding how information may impact society.

Reference: Schultz-Jones, 2017. Teaching the Ethical Use of Information as an MIL Skill. Text Link

Resource Notes: Social Media

(Twitter by Keiyac. Shared Under CC NY-NC 2.0. Web Source: Flickr)

Today's society is surrounded by all sorts of technological advancements. One advancement that stands out the most is the use of social media platforms. Social media is the newest and most widely used platform that is used to share and obtain new information as it relates to daily life. This information could be opinionated or produced by an actual news source. Furthermore, these platform have been capable in producing the fastest arrangement for news to go from one side of the world to the other. In the past, information was posted in a newspaper  and would take roughly 12 hours or more to disperse that information to the rest of the world. Now as I said, it happens within a blink of a second. This is crazy to think and envision if we grew up roughly 40 years ago when the Internet was barely a thing and was just being formed. Furthermore, the way we communicate with others has changed as well. It used to be that you would need to use a land-line phone to call a person. However, now almost everyone has a cell phone and use a social media app to communicate with one another. Some of these apps are Facebook Messenger, Twitter Direct Messaging, Snap Chat, etc. Instead of picking up the phone, now we just sit behind a screen and send messages through one of those social media platforms. I believe this change has and will continue to hurt the younger generation because they don't learn how to talk with people through their voice, but would rather use a text messaging platform to voice their opinion. This will hurt customer service, sport recruiting, and relationships such as friendships or dating. This needs to be changed and people need to begin calling people again instead of texting all of the time.


Reference:
Ariel, Y. & Avidar, R. (2015). Information, interactivity, and social media. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23, 19-30. Link: Article Link

Feedback Strategies Ideas

(Got Feedback by Alan Levine. Shared Under CC NY-NC 2.0. Web Source: Flickr)

The articles and videos we continue to watch as a part of this course can be applied to daily life. This application puts into perspective how many people act in ways that are not helpful or beneficial to improving an individuals success in a particular field or situation. However, Goldberg's article helped to provide information related to how one can assist others and improve ones success in different situations. Goldberg's starting paragraph was well phrased while talking about a children's ability to have a growth mindset and an ability to persevere and not be phased when challenges arise while they are reading a book. Furthermore, Goldberg stated that teachers and parents play a critical role in how a child perceives failure and growth and it is important to know how you are acting. To assist in knowing, Goldberg highlighted a few points that I will try to incorporate when I give feedback. These points relate to providing information relevant to the challenges the person is facing, what they are doing while reading, what they are doing well, transferable suggestions or critiques, and taking yourself or using "I like this" out of the feedback. All of these can assist in providing constructive feedback that will help a person grow rather than give-up.

The other article I read was by Goldsmith. Goldsmith's article discussed how we provide feedback and is trying revolutionize it in a positive form. The revolutionary way will be through feedforward feedback in which it is all about the future and not looking back at the mistakes, staying positive and forgetting about all of the wrong doings and not trying to prove others wrong, is suited for successful people, is process oriented, and people listen more when it is feedforward information.  Feedforward information is all about using useful information related to procedures, processes, and input effectiveness that can all wrap up to producing elite material that makes everyone happy!

Sources:

Article 1: Gravity Goldberg. Be a Mirror: Give readers feedback that fosters a growth mindset. Link: Article

Article 2: Marshall Goldsmith. Try feedforward instead of feedback. Link: Article

Project Topic Resource - Portfolio

(Website Portfolio by Chris RubberDragon. Shared under CC NY- NC 2.0. Web Source: Flickr)

The end of the semester project idea has not changed for me. I will be creating a portfolio to keep records of the work I have completed, not only in this class but others as well. The portfolio will be structured towards coaching and adding information related to growth mindset and the advancement our society has had with technology. To complete this project, I plan to complete each assignment with a tailored mindset towards how the material relates to coaching. In addition, I plan to develop my website within the next week so I can start adding information to it right away.

A breakdown of my idea will be to have a website that has three tabs at the top of the page. The three tabs will be classes took at Minnesota, baseball, and about me. Under the classes took tab, I will list what I learned and the key take away of each class. Under the baseball tab I will list different areas with the game, growth mindset, and mental skills training. Lastly, I will end the page with an about me page.

Even though I have this planned out, I may add and delete information I have or haven't said in this post. This post acts as a rough draft for my declaration, but I believe this project will turn out to be a huge benefit to me.

Resource Notes: Suspended Student Tweet

(Easy Access to Social Media by Jason Howie. Shared under CC NY-NC 2.0. Web Source: Flickr)

Wow, that was a shocking read. I am surprised I haven't heard this story before. This article and attached video highlight some important information related to ethics and what one should and shouldn't post on the internet. However, this subject is very touchy and should be taken with an open mind. My initial reaction to the article and the attached video was how dumb people can be on social media. In my opinion, social media brings out the worst intentions of some people. This is linked to individuals not comprehensively thinking through the consequences of their words or actions. In one sense, a post might have the intention to be joking; however, the post might come off or be portrayed in a serious manner. In a worse circumstance, the verbiage could even be portrayed with the intent to cause physical harm. However, I do see where the parents of the student are coming from because they are taking the stance that the post was a joke. However, it is so hard to identify the post as a joke when it comes down to ethical codes. A code that was brought out in this situation was justice. Justice in this situation comes down to always treating people with respect and in an equal manner. However, when one doesn't do that, justice is compromised. This is what occurred in the video and article which is why the student was suspended.  In addition, the student is also facing the ethics of his rights as well as the other students right. In this situation, he has the right to free speech. However, free speech only goes so far. Since, his post was linked to words that are intended to cause bodily harm, he is facing suspension due to verbal harassment. I do not see the family winning a court case because of the verbiage their son used in his post. This provides  a life lesson to be careful and think through all possibilities, whether positive or negative, the post could be portrayed before posting.


Website Source:
Monroe student suspended after social media post; father says school went too far. Article by Dan Griffin. Article Link: Student Suspended

Resource Notes: Ethics Reading

Budinger & Budinger (2006) article on ethical principles, reasoning, and decision making was very fascinating. The article dug deep into life choices by explaining situations that arose due to choices that have been made. Some of these choices include human cloning, theft or robbery, human and animal experimentation, etc. In greater term, each of these choices have had moral and ethical dilemma mixed in with the decision. However, I shouldn't get to far ahead of myself here, because it is not always our choices that are morally or ethically wrong, but it could be the access to technology that creates the dilemma. The advancement in technology over the past 50 years has allowed easier access for doctors to cure diseases, communicate in a matter of seconds, as well as track everyone's footsteps. Some of these are good, but some of them are over the line of good. A few examples will be used to help in explaining how choices are affected by someones perceptiveness of the decisions.
For example, one government might perceive stealing as a crime, whereas another might perceive stealing as normality. When we think of this in terms of technology it is crazy. This is because an individual suffering to breathe or live while going through cancer might want to end their life, but on the other hand the doctor cannot agree to end the person's life. To assist in these situations and get through the toughness of each occurrence, one should use the four A's as depicted by Budinger and Budinger. The four A's are acquire facts, alternatives, assessment, and action. Acquiring the facts is to gain all available knowledge so one can make a decision knowing all sides of the situation. Alternatives is listing other options for how one should make a decision. Assessment is figuring out what situation might arise due to the choice and have a back-up plan in check. Action is the last A, and that is going through with the choice and providing a backing statement in case someone doesn't like the original decision. Lastly, do you think it is possible to treat everyone equally without favoritism or bias? I personally do not think this is possible because their is always a voice in one's head that will create an argument or disagreement.

(Decision Making by Stefan Andrej Shambora. Shared under CC BY-NC. Web Source: Flickr)

Biblography:

Budinger & Budinger. Ethical principles, reasoning, and decision making. Web Source: 

Article Link