Final Reflections: Spencer Marks

My self-directed learning:
I loved the format of this part of the class. I enjoyed being able to learn in whatever way we pleased, and felt this greatly enhanced the learning experience. By far, my favorite activity that I did was looking at and handling the Wycliffe Bible in the Special Collections section of the library. I felt like I was turning history in my hands! I also enjoyed being able to look through different, more modern books on the subjects, as well as a movie I watched about Martin Luther. I really appreciate the Luther movie because it made Luther seem so much more real. It used a real quote from him in the beginning and ending scenes, where he is an old man at the end of his life, and where he talks about how the world hates him for doing what is right. He seems very tired and broken down, and I never really thought of him being like that, but it makes sense! He spends his life fighting an institution that controls most of the known world, and which was once an integral part of his life, of course it's going to take a toll! To me, it helped cement his heroic role in my mind, because he really did give everything for God.

My Evolving Project:
My project definitely changed over the course of the semester. I started by looking at critical information consumption, but when I looked at the class, I found that between Jordan Argyle and Eli Hainsworth, everything I'd said was basically covered, so I switched to crowd-funding. The collaboration group that I was part of then had some issues trying to lay down exactly what our central claim was, but then we realized that in a world where many people focus on the disadvantages and the problems which arise from the digital age, we were talking about the great new opportunities and abilities which it gives us. We had this realization as we were watching one of the prototype group movies of the group that was arguing on all the negative effects technology is having on our society. Besides giving us a claim to work with, this actually helped me be a lot more positive in my outlook on technology, and gave me a new paradigm to view it with, not just as something to be watched and guarded against, but as a tool to be used to accomplish grand, previously impossible things.

Communication and History:
Communication is an integral part of history. It not only has a critical role in the events, attitudes, and ideas that make up what we think of as "history", but it also defines the creation of history itself, as we create documentaries, books, articles, and more. We define as "prehistoric" the times before recorded communication existed, and in this way, tacitly accept history as implicitly connected with communication.
Communication shapes events and thinking because it is, in essence, how human beings connect with and affect each other. Ideas like religion, freedom, war and peace are spread and affect the lives of all of us, and this very spread is communication. Peoples opinions on what should be done are shaped in this way, and the people then shape the world around them.
New methods of communication allow people to spread ideas further and more effectively than before. Protestantism would have been dead without the printing press, freedom behind the iron curtain was greatly supported by the radio, and cat videos would have never caught on without youtube. History is then our record, and our stories, about how these things changed the world.
To be honest, entire books could and probably have been written about the interchange between communication and history, but in the end, it can be seen that history and communication are inseparably intertwined. History is how we communicate the stories that happened, which were often caused, affected, or stifled by communication.

Social Media and Digital Tools: A Force for Good

As social media and other digital tools are more and more prevalent in society, the debate over whether or not these tools are having a positive impact has flourished. Some argue these digital tools are destroying our society and dividing people. However, we claim that these digital tools are actually helping society by facilitating connection and collaboration in new and more effective ways.

$5 to Save the World

"A Single Raindrop Raises the Sea"

The summer of 2015, a girl at my school was involved in a terrible car crash. A car swerved across the  median into her lane, collided with her car, and then she was hit from behind. She survived, but was badly injured, and her family didn't have the money to provide her with the long-term medical care she so desperately needed. That was the first time I learned about GoFundMe.

$5 to Save the World V2

$5 to Save the World

Our new digital age has many exciting new opportunities, both for the better and for the worse. While  many claim that computers and technology are separating us from each other, they are also connecting us in various ways that were impossible just 15 years ago. One way this occurs is through crowdfunding.

The summer of 2015, a friend of mine was involved in a terrible car crash. A car swerved across the  median into her lane, collided with her car, and then she was hit from behind. She survived, but was badly injured, and her family didn't have the money to provide her with the long-term medical care she so desperately needed. That was the first time I learned about GoFundMe.

GoFundMe is a member of an ever-growing family of websites that engage in what is known as "crowdsourcing". Crowdsourcing allows a project to be placed online, such as an idea for a product or business, or a personal need, and it can then be shared on social media. People can then donate money, five dollars here, ten dollars there, until a funding goal is reached. This allows the power of the masses to be applied to worthy causes.

My friend's medical fees became one of those "worthy causes." Somebody posted a GoFundMe, and it was soon shared across the Facebook profiles of many youth and young adults in the community. In the end, enough money was raised not just to cover her basic medical costs, but to help provide her money for college, since she wasn't able to work while she recovered. The collaborative power of crowdsourcing was able to harness the desires of normal people to do some good in the world.

At its base, this is what crowdsourcing does. By allowing us to work together, it gives us power beyond our own. Historically, if a person has needed more money than they could earn in a short time, they have had two options: petition close friends and family, who might not have the resources to cover large expenses, or go to a bank, which would charge interest and require payment plans. The communication infrastructure to harness small donations from huge amounts of people was simply not available. The new Digital Age has changed this.

Before the advent of the internet, this kind of work was the domain of large non-profit organizations, churches, and governments. While in truth, these organizations still play a major role, the influence that the layperson has on them is negligible. I might give five dollars to the Salvation Army man with a bell around Christmas time, but in the end, I don't know where that money is going, or what Salvation Army will use it for. With online crowdfunding, we can each decide exactly what cause, company, and project will receive our help.

There are now a myriad of crowdsourcing websites, each with its own focus. Kickstarter is a website primarily focuses on funding artists, authors, and designers. Kiva gives micro-loans to people in third-world countries, who use the money to start businesses, and then pay it back, allowing you to use your money to help even more people. GoFundMe is primarily used for personal causes, such as medical bills, disaster relief, and school tuition.

I personally am preparing to set up a crowdsourced project as well. I want to go to Kiribati, the Pacific island country where I served my mission, and set up an adventure-themed tourist company. The idea is that while some tourists prefer the ultra-resort feel of Hawaii, there are some that would like a more authentic island experience. At the same time, people in Kiribati do not have any major inflow of money, besides exporting coconut. Bring the rich white people to Kiribati and have island people give them an authentic island experience, and voila! You have a great opportunity to help people. Unfortunately, I do not have nearly enough money to cover my plane tickets there and the cost of building and organizing the company on site. Through the power of crowdsourcing, I hope to get the funds so that I can make this dream a reality.

Crowdfunding is a great way for us all to make a difference in the world, and it is only made possible by the new media of our digital age. Through this and other exciting avenues, modern technologies are allowing us all to work together to make the world a better place.

Connecting and Collaborating: Technology is Having a Positive Impact on Society

 As social media and other digital tools are more and more prevalent in society, the debate over whether or not these tools are having a positive impact has flourished. Some argue that these digital tools are destroying our society and dividing people. However, we claim that these digital tools are actually helping society by facilitating connection and collaboration in new and more effective ways.

Connecting and Collaborating

In the words of the writer and researcher Brene Brown, "We are psychologically, emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually hardwired for connection, love, and belonging. Connection... is why we are here, and it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives." Today, advancements in digital technologies have allowed people to connect and collaborate in new and meaningful ways. Our group aims to show how connection and collaboration have advanced in the digital age as well as address some important issues that have been raised with these new forms of human connection. We will do this through a series of four individual blog posts:

Social Proof for Crowdfunding Project

I posted this on my facebook page, and though I've had several "likes", the only comments are as follows.

Amber Hunter What opportunity?

Like · Reply · 13 hrs

 Jon McEwan 💯💯💯 10/10 would watch again

Like · Reply · 13 hrs

And that's after asking for thoughts. So I bounced the idea off of some friends in the Social Innovation Leadership Council, and they thought it was interesting. That's a crowd, however, that's more likely to be interested in the topic. So I'm going to try to get some more feedback from people who might not be so naturally interested. I also need to work better on a claim that could actually be an argument, as it currently is not very controversial.

$5 to Save the World

The summer of 2015, a friend of mine was involved in a terrible car crash. A car swerved across the  median into her lane, collided with her car, and then she was hit from behind. She survived, but was badly injured, and her family didn't have the money to provide her with the long-term medical care she so desperately needed. That was the first time I learned about GoFundMe.

Critical Consumption: A Map for the Digital Age

I've always been a bit of an explorer. As a kid, I'd read stories of explorers like James Cook and Daniel Boone, great men who went to exotic places, blazing trails and recording the grand places they went. I myself would hike through the rugged mountains of North Idaho, exploring unknown (at least to myself) reaches of the world, and even buying myself a ridiculously good-looking adventuring hat.

Me, looking crazy good in my adventuring hat

 I quickly learned that there are two ways to get to a place you've never been: the first, wander for who knows how long, hoping to eventually run into the right place, or secondly, have a good map.

As we navigate our new digital wilderness, with all its new opportunities and grand unexplored informational expanses, we are met with many different facts, arguments, and ideas. One of the guiding rules of the internet seems to be, "Don't believe everything you read online." This begs the question, what CAN we believe online? How can we use the great web of information to become better people? Is there a kind of digital "map" to show us the way?

Hybrid Pedagogy Articles of Interest for Content

Here is a list of articles from Hybrid Pedagogy that concern our topic.

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/plagiarism-is-dead-long-live-the-retweet/ A modern look at academic rules

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/creating-empowering-school-environment/ social media's potential educational use

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/the-dark-knight-vs-the-ivory-tower/ The pedagogy here seems to closely describe Dr. Burton's

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/multimodality-frame-individual-institutional-change/ Has elements discussing the use of multi-media learning

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/technological-panic/ Brief thoughts on dangers in tech-based learning

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/the-student-2-0/ How digital tech is changing how we teach

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/trading-classroom-authority-for-online-community/ Short, but insightful, on how online classrooms are different from classic ones

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/online-learning-a-manifesto/ More focused on MOOCs, but a discussion in general of how teachers can use online courses effectively

http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/the-victorian-mooc/ A more historical approach to the beginnings of what is now online learning