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Week 8 Summary

Week 8 Summary

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Week 8 Summary: Mar. 6-12

Besides participating on Twitter #mscedc, I spent many hours this week exploring algorithms (as seen in posts HERE (Algorithmic Art), HERE (Villains and Heroes) and HERE (Music and Math) via my social media (mostly Facebook), through Amazon, YouTube and Google+, as well as engaging in and trying to connect the readings. I also discovered some other interesting content, found in these posts: kissing robot from Soundcloud and Facebook algorithm preventing the inclusion of Syrian refugees from LinkedIn and the Lifeline Syria Challenge from Soundcloud.

Although I was aware of the predictions and recommendations that algorithms produce, I was surprised to know to what extent their reach extends. For me, Week 8’s task on playing with algorithms culminated in the following two lifestream posts: Exploring algorithms part 1 and part 2.  I also posted Netflix for Me! and YouTube Predictive Results on my Tumblr site.

I also joined a Skype conversation this week with Chenee, Linzi, Dirk and Stuart; it was great to connect with my classmates and engage in some informal discussion. Linzi and I stayed on afterwards and discussed our upcoming collaborative video project for our final EDC assignment.

Photo of Linzi and I on Skype.

Carrying over from Week 7, Comments from Renee on my micro-ethnography project were very poignant; her remarks about how my Holocaust MOOC might’ve been more participatory due to the role of ‘empathetic listening’ around such a chilling subject matter made me think about the various roles people embody in online communities. Some people are cheerleaders, some are critical and others are ‘likers’ and/or ‘lurkers’. I believe I fall into the cheerleader/liker/lurker categories, but aspire to be more critical – yet empathetic – in my online communities.

I was also delighted to post a conversation I had with Deborah Wizel – a woman I met in my MOOC who wrote the Holocaust survivor poem I included in my micro-ethnography. I was thrilled about going beyond the MOOC community and exchanging in a personal email conversation with Deborah.

Week 7 Summary

Week 7 Summary

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Week 7 Summary: Feb. 27 – Mar. 5

This week I spent most of my time creating my micro-ethnography on Adobe Spark called Stories of a MOOC: thoughts & experiences (and also found here). I first began my MOOC micro-ethnography/netnography in FutureLearn’s The Internet of Things but after spending some time immersed in the MOOC community, realised it was not for me. Thankfully, I found The Holocaust: An Introduction – Part 2; this MOOC was very intense and I was able to get involved with this community at a deeper level.

I was delighted to discover Adobe Spark which I used to create my micro-ethnography presentation. Through my weekly exploration of the course content and readings, making notes, and in looking at my classmates’ blogs, I have learned a great deal; the value of online communities is definitely apparent. I also spent a lot of time creating three videos for my ethnography found here, here and here.

Additionally, I spent time engaging with our #mscedc community conversations on Twitter, with examples here, here and here. I made comments on others’ blogs, mostly in reference to the visual artefacts – such amazing work! I also pinned my location on Eli’s #mscedc community Google map; it’s interesting to see how our class is dispersed throughout the globe yet through the affordances of digital technology we are able to come together, collapsing time and distance.

Finally, in honour of community and camaraderie, I chose to respond to Dirk’s visual artefact with a robot voice video of myself… Perhaps a little silly, but I thought Dirk might appreciate my effort with keeping in ‘cyborg’ spirit!

Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/education-CPXKlTnyp8LoA