EDUC 8848 - Module 2 Post

==

McLuhan, an educator, philosopher, and scholar is well known for The Medium is the Message. But he also has contributed to the technology with his Laws of Media.

Thornburg's video (Laureate Education, 2009) describes McLuhan's tetrads in two different categories: social implications and technological implications. I have, therefore, created two tetrads for the cell phone. The first one based on social and the second one based on technology.

Social:


Enhances: The ability to communicate anytime, anywhere. This may be a benefit to doctors, business owners, and others who can benefit from being available anytime and not just "when in the office." It may be a benefit in some social situations such as when a woman is going to have a baby. She can contact people immediately. On the other hand, I am uncertain if it is truly a benefit to everyone.

Obsoletes: The words, "I couldn't reach you." This is almost the opposite of the social enhancement.

Rekindles: The desire to communicate. Long ago, the telegraph and the delivery of mail was generated from the desire to communicate.

Reverses: 24/7 contact. Eventually, people may be in constant 24/7 contact with anyone, anywhere. It may be normal to be having several conversations simultaneously.


Technology:


Enhances: Original "mobile" car phone. At one time, you could only chat while in your automobile.

Obsoletes: Landlines. Many people do not have a "home" phone number or a landline in their house.

Rekindles: Portable home phones. At one time, the state-of-the art technology was a portable phone, one you could carry around in your house (but it was wirelessly dependent on a wired base phone).

Reverses: The next generation of Smart Phones. Cell phones have merged with other handheld technologies to be much more than just a method of talking to a person. One cannot also speculate if something like the Star Trek "communicator" could be coming up next - or is that the reversal of the walkie talkie?





Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). McLuhan’s tetrad. [DVD]. In emerging and future technology. (Available from MBS Direct Virtual Bookstore, http://www.mbsdirect.net/Index.htm)found on our

EDUC 8848 Module 1 Post

.
From Parties to Facebook





Gathering with your friends used to take place at parties, and meetings with people in your industry used to occur at conferences. They still do convene in these face-to-face environments, but now online social networking has added a new dimension to meeting places. Thornburg (2009) discusses transformations in society that are occurring due to technology, and this blog post is an extension of his paper.

The concept of online social networking begun in the late 90's but really began to emerge in the mainstream in 2006. Perhaps one might speculate that the early majority (Rogers, 2003) may have begun using online social networking in 2007-2008.




The upside to this technology is the increased amount of business networking that can take place through such general sites as Linked In or industry specific sites such as The Hospitality Club. Such sites as Facebook bring friends together, and today students are beginning to use their Facebook page as their primary means of communication even above email.


The advantages are quite obvious, but the disadvantages still lurk both children and adults. The news, 60 minutes, and various similar shows have aired specials on predators, pedophiles, and identity thieves who use social networking pages as their playground. (Sample article.)

In the same vein, others are saying that the danger of online predators is not as prevalent as we had once thought. (Article) On a personal note, that article, to me, is unfounded because it says that the number of arrests has only slightly increased. I do not believe number of arrests is necessarily an indicator of number of crimes. Many people do not report the crime due to embarrassment and humiliation. Yet in the same article it discusses how there is a "significant number of sting operation arrests" (Magid, 2008).

The question for this week is: What would make the technology even better, avoiding the pitfalls? Honestly, I do not have an answer and welcome anyone's perspective on that question.

References:

Magid, L. (2009). Online predator study dispels hysteria. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/31/scitech/pcanswer/main4908379.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press.

Thornburg, D. (2009). Current trends in educational technology. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/Courses/14936/crs-wueduc8812-3526271/when_is_a_technology_emergent.pdf