Course:Recurring Questions of Technology/Keywords
A Keyword Map for Recurring Questions of Technology
This Keyword Map was assembled, at the helpful suggestion of Institute Instructor Mary K. Bryson, by the participants in the UBC/SFU Summer Institute: Recurring Questions of Technology, July 9-14, 2012. This work is based on Raymond William's book Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, in which he described “keywords” as important elements in a living vocabulary. Keywords invite research and reflection because debates about technology, culture, and society can be enhanced by an increased understanding of the multiple genealogies of their structuring terms and the diverse conflicts and disagreements embedded in differing uses of those terms. If you have questions about this collection, please contact [Meike Wernicke-Heinrichs]
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Access
Derived from the Anglo-Norman accesse, accese meaning in part, right or opportunity of approaching (14th cent.) and, right or opportunity of entering (15th cent.). In the noun form, the usage of the word is first seen in the Bible ("By whom we han accesse" Wycliffite, 1384), related to the "power, opportunity, permission" and "the right to opportunity to benefit from" (OED). It is this form that best describes the word usage with regards to 21st Century Learning and Education. Related is the next form of the word which describes it as a "right or opportunity to benefit from or use a system or service" (OED). Through this use of the word we are reminded of Locke’s (wikipedia/John Locke) fifth property principle which suggests that property should “increase the common stock of mankind” (Two Treatises, 1988) In this way, access, or more specifically, granting access, means that all may benefit from the efforts of the creator of a work. Libraries are perhaps the first means that access was granted in a democratic sense. The Library created a public space where information could be freely shared. Furthermore, all citizens had access to the space, thereby effectively eliminating status and privilege as barriers to knowledge. The goal of the library is to circulate knowledge as well as to publicly store information. Aside from the monies received though taxes, libraries ask no monetary exchange for information. Technology has continued to dismantle barriers. In its simplest form, this is done through the access to the Internet, and continues with the availability of online databases, journal articles and other online materials (Bishop The Collection Program in School Libraries 2007) . In fact, we are moving to a time where one need not enter a library to access its stacks. Literature is quickly being digitized and made freely available as it enters the public domain. Along a similar vein, many scholars are pushing for greater access in the open access movement. Many, suggest that scholars should make their work publicly available to benefit the academic community. (Lisa MacDougall)
Activism
Activism is a term used widely across many disciplines to describe work done or action towards a movement. The movement may be social, political, economic, environmental, related to health care, business, media, and industry among others. The word has its origins in continental Europe during the Great War and was first used in 1915 to describe advocating for policy in support of the German war effort. The term has since evolved to represent active engagement or campaigning to bring about a desired change or outcome and was first used in this sense in 1920. “Above these people is the ‘brain proletariat’, restless, alert, dissatisfied, repressed... The thought of this brain proletariat has many aspects—from Buddhist passivism to Bolshevist activism.” (Atlantic Monthly, Mar. 397/2, 1920) With regards to technology, increased use of new media has increased the ability of activists to reach broader as well as like-minded audiences. According to Myers in “Communication technology and social movements: Contributions of computer networks to activism” (1994) “activists will send items of relevance to friends, colleagues, and fellow activists, who in turn may be spurred by the content of the message to act. Each person who receives the message then has the option to forward it to their acquaintances. The result is an effective information network powered by electronic mail forwarding. Using this method, activists can relay messages to thousands of like-minded computer users in a very short time.” Kahn & Kellner (2004) indicate this new media has influenced not only the efficiency of social (and other) activism, but that activism has also evolved as a result of “the diverse amalgams of social movements and subcultures that have matured along with the new media over the last five years.” In terms of political activism, Amoranto, Chun, & Deolalikar (2010) indicate that in particular the middle class has been mobilized towards political activism as a result of new media. This is likely because the middle class has greater access to technology and are more frequent users of digital technologies on a daily basis. “the middle class appears to have a greater role in political activism compared to the poor and upper classes, indicating that the middle class may be especially crucial in demanding greater political accountability.” (David Cadman)
Affordances
In Yochai Benkler's development of technology and social change, digital technologies in our networked society generate different affordances than industrial technologies. Affordances, in keeping with JJ Gibson's Theory of Affordances, refers here to the different kinds of human action or interaction a technology may enable or constrain (17). What Benkler terms the 'networked information economy', emerging from advances in digital technologies and accompanying shifts in the organization of production, affords individuals greater autonomy than the previous industrial mode of production. Benkler identifies three ways in which autonomy is enhanced—the greater ability to produce by oneself, with others, and outside of traditional market relations. For Benkler, these are the same core values conducive to the development of the liberal individual. “The basic claim is that the diversity of organizing information production and use opens a range of possibilities for pursuing the core political values of liberal societies—individual freedom, a more genuinely participatory political system, a critical culture, and social justice. These values provide the vectors of political morality along which the shape and dimensions of a liberal society can be plotted” (7 - 8). While this may be the potentiality, individuals participating with digital technologies do not do so in the abstract. In actual practice, Benkler argues, the liberalizing ethic of the networked information economy encounters constraining forces in the form of government or corporate power, to name only two. Benkler seems to construct digital technologies from instrumentalist and humanistic positions. Digital technologies linked together in the networked information economy enable autonomizing and participatory ethics, and these values are liberal, allowing for human progress. Networked digital technologies afford sets of values in this analysis that correlate to a humanistic conception of action in the world. However, while the postulation of technological affordances derived from the essential character of networked digital technologies allows Benkler to posit a potentiality of radical change for the liberal individual as networked agent, this construction, perhaps inadvertently, isolates the technology and the human from their part in what are in fact complex assemblages of the human and the non-human. This is perhaps a failing of the concept more generally, in which the theoretical abstraction of user from tool, tool from user assumes a clean separation. Constructing values in this way allows Benkler to open a space in which the liberal individual may enact or construct alternative, perhaps less alienating, productive realities. To accomplish this, however, Benkler seems to generalize digital technologies as universal facilitators of liberal values and humans as economic agents. In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari retroactively highlight this failing: "…[T]ools only exist in relation to the interminglings they make possible or that make them possible. The stirrup entails a new man–horse symbiosis that at the same time entails new weapons and new instruments. Tools are inseparable from symbioses or amalgamations defining a Nature–Society machinic assemblage. They presuppose a social machine that selects them and takes them into its ‘phylum’: a society is defined by its amalgamations, not by its tools." The distinction Benkler makes between liberal individual and digital technology in the networked information economy belies a more complex reality of use. Indeed, technological affordances are not universal. As a counter-example to Benkler's optimism, the substantial literature on the panoptic or nonoptic society suggests networked technologies may just as quickly afford totalitarian values as liberal. This is not to say that technology is neutral--subject to the determining forces of power. Rather, Benkler's reduction and isolation of technology allows him to posit a path upon which the liberal society and individual might progress, wherein networked technology is integral; he does so, however, at the expense of technological and human complexity and the assemblages which act as their gathering place. (Matthew Greaves)
Agency
Agency is derived from medieval Latin agentia and is used across scholarly disciplines as a description of action or as working towards an end. It was first used in English in the late 17th Century “The Agency of the Romish Factors with the King of Spain, for the procuring a second Invasion of their Native Country.” (W. LLOYD Difference Church & Court of Rome 17, 1674). In the marketing world, Zwick, Bonsu, & Darmody “[1]” (2008) describe marketing as moving toward a position of partnership with consumer agency. “Rather, the idea is for marketing to position itself as a mere facilitator and partner of consumer ingenuity and agency.” This suggests that consumer agency is influential in shaping marketing decisions. This is apparent in focus groups and other types of market research. With specific regards to technology, Crang & Graham “[2]” (2007) quote Cuff (2003) to argue that agency is transferable, and that agency is not exclusive to humans, but can also be enacted by objects. “Our own agency is enhanced by the cyburg, for we can know and act in more powerful ways. Complementing our empowerment is the newly enacted environment. Not only do the walls have ears, but networks of eyes, brains, and data banks to use for purposeful action. Although we are reluctant to attribute agency to objects in our surroundings, it is a stance that won’t survive long. (Cuff 2003, p. 44)”. Within the sociology of educational research, Schilling “[3]” (1992) argues “the dominant conceptions of structure and agency employed in the sociology of education are characterised by a dualism which makes it difficult to conceptualise adequately the processes involved in social change.” This indicates that research attempting to identify why students may act in certain ways is posited in a dualism that needs to be deconstructed and framed in new ways. (David Cadman)
Ambient Intelligence
(AmI) refers to smart electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people. A term first used by Simon Birell and Brian Epstein of Palo Alto Ventures in 1998. [[4] The term is a combination of the word ambient meaning- surrounding, encircling, encompassing, environing. From the Latin ambīre to go about, and intelligence- the embodiment of intelligence or understanding; a highly intelligent person. OED. It is an extension of Mark Weiser’s vision of ubiquitous computing. “The idea of a technology that will become invisibly embedded in our natural surroundings, present whenever we need it, enabled by simple and effortless interaction, attuned to all our senses, adaptive to users, context-sensitive, and autonomous.“ (Geirheuser, AmI workshops,2008) The idea is not for the technology to dominate but for it to enhance our daily lives, what Weiser refered to as calm computing. Ambient Intelligence is in every area of our lives in a positve way it is addressing issues of accessibility for people with disabilillties. In more sinister applications are the concerns of data mining and surveillance. Krang and Graham examine the positive and negative aspects of Ambient Intelligence in Sentient Cities. They describe how the surrounding environment tracks and responds to us, processess information, and monitors our behaviour. Although addressing some interesting positive applications of embedded technology culturally with the idea of people mapping and adding stories to place. Or the possibility of organizing carpooling for the masses. What is more disconcerning is the ability for the military and market to make visible our every action, that by code and algorithms a person or 'target' can be found quickly and easily in the city landscape. (2007) (Holly)
Amor fati
This Latin phrase meaning the love on one's fate, is used to describe an acceptance of all of the things that happen in a person's life, including the good and the bad, for the purpose of building character. In George Grant's class book Time as History, he writes "To live on earth, to be masters of the earth, to deserve to be masters because we can live in joy, requires the act of amor fati, held outside any assertion of timelessness". Butler (2005) argues that Grant is unable to see one's ability to love their fate "without resorting to a conception of transcendent or other wordly justice". He further argues that for Grant "some conception of the eternal justice of the creation, along the lines of classical and Christian thought, is necessary in order to affirm a love of fate. One can manage to accept the torturing of innocent persons only if the face of Christ is revealed in such persons". The phrase is also commonly used in Friedrich Nietzsche's work. Writing about his views on the world, Nietzche states "I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful. Amor fati: let that be my love henceforth! I do not want to wage war against what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want to accuse those who accuse. Looking away shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer" (The Gay Science, 2001). (Jennifer Barker)
Assessment
The origins are not certain however, the Oxford English Dictionary determines it is probably from Anglo-Norman assessement. It has referred to the action of assessing, or amount being assessed (OED). Until recently the word is most often associated with taxes and fines for example in 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. ccx, The assessement of whiche fines, were appoynted to Thomas Cromwell; and, 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 112/1 Income arising from some sources, being capable of direct assessment, cannot be concealed. Later in the 20th century the term comes to be more associated with school evaluation of students' abilities however, that too, is attached to a monetary cost: 1965 Nursing Times 5 Feb. 205/1 Agreement was reported upon the payment of £5 to nurses in non-psychiatric hospitals upon passing the preliminary or hospital examination or assessment. It is not until the 1980s that the term comes to be associated within an elementary school setting: 1972 N.Z. News 26 Jan. 3/5 The Post Primary Teachers' Association is pressing for internal assessment in place of the examination at fifth form level (OED). The idea of assessment being a 'snapshot' or summary report has since been used broadly in recent times. Frequently, it is used in the context of a report. In the case of Saudi Arabian Millennium Ecosystem Assessment for Asir National Park it was used to present the findings of various data and models in order to meet the needs of decision-makers to create an appropriate environmental plan for the region. Currently, the British Columbia government's Education Plan frequently refers to the notion of assessment in terms of feedback with the purpose of judging ability or product "Sharing forums were held at which students presented their work together with an assessment of the quality of their learning and received peer feedback." (Yvette Cassidy)
Augmented Reality
Compound of augmented (derived from Latin augmentum, meaning increase) and reality (derived from Anglo-Norman real and Middle French reel). First used as a compound term in 1992 by Caudell and Mizell at the 25th Hawaii International Conference of System Science in their presentation entitled “Augmented reality: an application of heads-up display technology to manual manufacturing processes.” Caudell and Mizell described a system that would allow airplane engineers to see and identify complex electronic components. Although this is the first reference to this technology in actual use, such a device was imagined as early as 1901 by L. Frank Baum in his novel The Master Key. Baum described a device similar to eyeglasses, called a Character Marker. Baum explains that “While you wear them every one you meet will be marked upon the forehead with a letter indicating his or her character. The good will bear the letter 'G,' the evil the letter 'E.' The wise will be marked with a 'W' and the foolish with an 'F.' The kind will show a 'K' upon their foreheads and the cruel a letter 'C.' Thus you may determine by a single look the true natures of all those you encounter." This type of information is consistent with Azuma’s (1997) “A survey of augmented reality,” in which he explains “AR allows the user to see the real world, with virtual objects superimposed upon or composited with the real world. Therefore, AR supplements reality, rather than completely replacing it.” Galloway (2004) provides a similar definition of “overlay[ing] physical objects with virtual objects in real-time [to allow] people to experience the virtual as if it were real” (cited in Crang & Graham (2007); “Sentient Cities”). Many modern devices such as smartphones and tablets have inexpensive augmented reality apps that overlay information from the internet on top of live images captured by the device’s camera (link). Many such apps can be easily used as engaging enhancements for student learning. (Ian Felgar)
Autonomy
Derived from ancient Greek (αὐτονομία) of a state of freedom to use its own laws and independence, and from Byzantine Greek (αὐτονομία ποιητική) to refer to poetic licence. This keyword is utilized within such arenas as politics, mathematics, linguistics, art, philosophy, and biology. Significantly, autonomy was earliest understood as the condition or right of a group to administer its own affairs, not specifically referring to individual autonomy, and was understood as such in Latin (autonomia), Middle French and German (autonomie), and Russian (avtonomija). It was first introduced to the English language in this context of self-government of a group in 1623, “Autonomy, liberty to liue ones owne law” (H. Cockeram English Dictionary). Benkler reconceptualizes autonomy "as a practical lived experience, rather than [. . .] a philosophical concept" (The Wealth of Networks). Individuals have greater freedom to seek out, create and impact the world through today's diverse "Nonmarket" networks, rather than rely on traditional corporate media mechanisms. Moreover, through the multiplicity of ideas flowing across different media channels, individuals' autonomy increases in their ability to develop "[. . .] new communities based on affinities of interest, politics or any form of cultural identity" (Totally Wired). Here, our ability to self-govern extends beyond traditional boundaries of time and space, from local to global. Through the "networked information economy" our autonomy as individual and collective creators and agents in our world has increased. Nonetheless, intellectual property rights still govern the exchange and re-appropriation of wealth available in the information economy. Yet attempting to balance the propulsion of the public good with the autonomy of individual authors are Creative Commons, "[they are] a form of political activism and is best understood as a social movement seeking to bring about a social change" according to Koren in "Exploring Creative Commons". Thus, as both individuals and fluid communities the "networked information economy" has increased our autonomy as a daily "lived experience" in self-government, creation and agency. It is not absolute, but it has grown, and continues to do so. (Michelle Bertrand)
Avatar
Derived from Sanskrit (avatāra) descent, (ava down + t'r, tar to pass over). Originally used in Hindu Myth representing the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form, it later came to mean manifestation in human form or an incarnation of any deity; a presentation to the world as a ruling power or object of worship; and eventually simply just a manifestation, display or phase. Its first use - not as a Hindu deity - occurred in the early nineteenth century in reference to Napoleon Bonaparte ("A third avatar of this singular emanation of the Evil Principle," W. Scott, 1816). More recently, in Computing and Science Fiction it has come to mean a graphical representation of a person or character in a computer-generated environment, esp. one which represents a user in an interactive game or other setting, and which can move about in its surroundings and interact with other characters and was first used in 1986 ("Once a human being enters Habitat, he or she takes on the visual form of an Avatar, and for all intents and purposes becomes one of these new-world beings," RUN, 1986). In Regards to Co-creation as a notion of modern corporate power that is working with and through the freedom of the consumer, Zwick, Bonsu, & Darmody in "Putting consumers to work: 'co-creation' and new marketing govern-mentality" (2008) attested to Second Life expropriating cultural labor, its monetary value conversion and this particular online game exemplifying the "prevailing co-creation discourses." They further explain that Linden Lab, the company who owns Second Life, credits the policy of allowing players and designers of their own aspects such as houses, clothes, and even the skin of their avatars in the game to retain full intellectual-property rights to their designs for being the single biggest factor behind their growth. This raises the issues of 'ownership' in a game context where significant economic value is produced by the intellectual work of gamers or essentially non-paid 'workers' and may see future legal disputes. For instance, if aspects of my avatar become appropriated and incorporated or mass available does that constitute identity theft? Relating to Stuart Poyntz's lecture on "agency, activism and democratic enunciation made possible through young people’s practices with various social media" (Vancouver, July 10, 2012) and the notion of sub-activism revealing democratic habits nurtured in youth through digital contact and virtual worlds or identities, Dyer-Witheford & De Peuter, offer the grittier side of virtual life in describing the details of an international labour protest (2009). This protest took place in Second Life at IBM's virtual, in game "corporate campus." By prompting a virtual journalist to ask "Avatar-based workers unite?" the aforementioned possibly of issues, legal or otherwise does seem to be on the virtual doorstep; more importantly, it speaks to the re-purposing of politics in a virtual world and the meaningful configurations for youth today of their virtual identity - their avatar - which may have real world ramifications. (Jim Shaw)
B
Blog
Etymology: "1998, short for weblog (which is attested from 1994, though not in the sense "online journal"), from (World Wide) Web + log. Joe Bloggs (c.1969) was British slang for "any hypothetical person" (cf. U.S. equivalent Joe Blow); earlier blog meant "a servant boy" in one of the college houses (c.1860, see Partridge, who describes this use as a "perversion of bloke"), and, as a verb, "to defeat" in schoolboy slang. The Blogger online publishing service was launched in 1999" (Online Etymology Dictionary). Blogs allow for individuals to digitally post opinions, ideas, facts, and online forums on any topic of choice. In their article Why We Blog, Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht, and Swartz (2004) describe blogging as something sometimes viewed as "a new, grassroots form of journalism and a way to shape democracy outside the mass media and conventional political parties" They speak to blogging versatility as a medium, "employed for everything from spontaneous release of emotion to archivable support of group collaboration and community". Indeed, within education blogs have reflected this definition of versatility, in the forms of professional development material for teachers, sources of information for curriculum-related activities, and informing parents and other members of the school community (Clyde, 2005,Educational Blogging). In the instance of Lapp, Shea, and Wolsey's article Blogging and Audience Awareness, the blog served as a vehicle for strengthening young writers sense of awareness of audience. They cite blog features such as "near-immediate feedback provided by their peers [and the ability] to provide substantive feedback on the work of others" as critical factors in improving student writing". Blogs as an classroom forum may serve to strengthen communication and involvement and provide a digital bulletin board for students to showcase, share, and expand their learning. Of risk, however, is the permanency of blog postings. A "spontaneous release of emotion" in grade 6 may not be something that student wishes to follow them. To that end, educators and parents need to exercise caution with regards to the level of digital permanence in online learning, including blogs. (Katherine Spence)