REMINDER: BIG SISTER SAYS, TURN IN ALL WORK AS SPECIFIED BELOW BY 3:00 on Friday
America, for many, has been a kind of Utopian vision: democracy, freedom, the "pursuit of happiness." This unit focuses on a type of Utopian vision we are all familiar with: Technotopia - a society in which technology is seen as the savior of society, rescuing man from all his woes.
Yet there are fears about this particular type of utopian vision, this technotopia. Everyone remembers Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in which the invention (a human being) destroys the inventor - and that author's warning is now nearly 200 hundred years old!
As we study the fears and promises of technotopias, we will conduct the class in as "technological" means as possible, utilizing the advantages of the Internet while, at the same time, remaining aware of our own responses to the method of learning we use as well as the subject matter. This weeklong project is designed to give you a glimpse of an online course, with all its advantages and pitfalls!
Jennie Fraser, Senior English, Middle College High School
(fraserjen08@yahoo.com)
DO NOT MAIL ANYTHING UNTIL ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE COMPLETED!
For a checklist of these assignments,
Assignment #1: Background and History of Utopias
A) To start you thinking about the hopes and fears we humans have had about technology, read over the following timeline. What conclusion can you draw about society's hopes of technology in the last hundred years or so compared to the reality of these inventions today?
B) Then, read the standard definition of Utopias and Dystopias from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Read and take notes . Your notes should be thorough enough for you to be able to answer questions like these:
Who wrote the first novel considered utopian in subject?
What was the irony in the term, "utopia?" (Consider its Greek origins.)
List three authors who criticized utopian visions, their novels.
What "class" of utopian writings does Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travel fit into?
Name and identify the location of two actual communities who attempted to create utopian societies.
Assignment#2.Technotopias
Our second assignment regarding utopias and dystopias ties in with "techno-topias"- societies which heavily rely upon technology to solve our problems. As you might have guessed from seeing numerous science fiction novels, a major "dystopic" result is that the technology begins to "control" man, not physically, but by his over-reliance upon it.
A) To start, read the excerpt of Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves To Death"
Answer these questions:
What was the fear expressed in Brave New World?
In 1984?
W
hat is this
article's author's fear?
Extra credit: Read the sequel article:"Informing Ourselves to Death" and summarize it.
B) Read the article from Atlantic Magazine entitled, "Techno-Utopia" from the Atlantic Magazine article; "Five Utopias") Summarize the hopes - and fears of this utopian model. Include at least two specific quotations as reference.
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C. Of course, when you put a fear of technology together with a fear of man's nature itself, you get a unique science fiction creation: the cyborg. On University of Michigan's science fiction page which describes types of modern day monsters, read the definition of a cyborg and write it down. Then on the same link, read the description of any two films which deal with cyborgs and explain for each film a) what is the nature of the cyborg b) what fear does the particular cyborg represent?
D) Read the short story by E.M. Forster before Wednesday. This story is available online or you may get a hard copy in advisory period.
Be prepared to discuss the entire story and the answers to the following questions in an on-line discussion on Wednesday. (These do not have to be answered in writing.)
By the way, this story was written in 1907,before World War One!
Questions to consider for our discussion:
What is the relationship like between Kuno and her son?
What indications do you have that the society has begun to consider the "Machine" as a god?
What are the goals of this utopia and what do they sacrifice to achieve these goals?
What events in history might have prompted Forster to write this story?
Who are the Homeless and why have they chosen this lifestyle?
What is the warning for our society and is it a valid one ?
What are the similarities you see between our own society and the "Machine Stops" society?
Assignment #3 : What are the Implications for Education in a Techno-Topia?
A) Consider that in the world of the future, you may very well be taking a college course on-line. Take a look at the webpage of history professor Stanley K. Schultz at University of Wisconsin.
Click on two of the links.
Describe what you looked at. Then comment on what might be at least two advantages and two disadvantages of online courses such as his.Be specific by referring to links you viewed.
B) Consider HOW you learn using computer technology compared to how you learn in a traditional classroom. (Think about how you learned to use a computer, to play a video game. ) Discuss how you think this style of learning affects your ideas of how to learn in general.
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ASSIGNMENT #FOUR: THE NET COMES TO THE RESCUE: SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS FOR THE CYBERNUT
TIME Magazine publishes each year a list of the 50 Best Websites (and the Five Worst)! The sites they survey help you do everything from find a life partner to pick a promising stock.
Look at at least three of the BEST and three of the WORST from last year.
For each, write a two- sentence summary of what the site is useful for.
Then, based on what aspects they praise for the BEST and the complaints for the WORST, come up with five general requirements for a great and highly useful website.
ASSIGNMENT #5 : ART AND ARTISTS ON THE INTERNET
Due to the recent explosion of personal blogs and individual webpages on the internet, artists, photographers, musicians, and writers can now get instant access to a public - no matter what their level of talent is - or isn't. Look at two sites dedicated to art.
The first is a traditional museum (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). The second is website produced by digital artists who allow visitors to interact with the art they post.
Play around with them. Then explain,
What is the major difference in the way art is displayed in the new site versus the older, more traditional website?
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art - a traditional museum, the New York City Museum website
http://www.interact10ways.com/usa/home.asp - a modern art website, produced by digital artists who sell their graphic images to companies. (See description of artists below)
Pioneers in digital media
In 1995, Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein founded Getty Images to bring the fragmented stock photography business into the digital age. And that's exactly what they did. We were the first company to license imagery online - and have continued to drive the industry forward with breakthrough licensing models, digital media management tools and a comprehensive offering of creative and editorial imagery, microstock, footage and music.
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Assignment #6. Trends of the Internet....
In any utopia that is based on technology, citizens need to have a way of accessing information. Today, the internet serves that purpose. Trends for internet sites change by the week. Follow this link to explore current trends (Spring of 2008!) Read the article. Choose one link to explore. Then answer the questions.
******WEDNESDAY CLASS******"The Machine Stops" ON-LINE DISCUSSION
Finish your reading of "The Machine Stops". The story is also online at this link; however, it is long and hard to read on a computer, It was written in 1917 although you will have a hard time believing that when you read it! Read the entire story- it will take about an hour. Prepare questions for an online discussion in the lab on Wednesday!
The classroom of the future will most definitely include an electronic form of discussion. Today you will have that experience. Check out the list of questions under assignment #2 as jumping off places.
DIRECTIONS:
Today we will be in a Discussion Board designed for the discussion of "The Machine Stops". You will go to the discussion board we used for the trial run last week. You will need to register with your REAL last name (no clever pennames, please)
You should "reply"to at least four comments and start at least
three"new topics" of your own.At the end of the discussion, copy and paste all your responses on the WORD document on which your other assignments were written.
ASSIGNMENT #7 SOCIAL NETWORKING
One of the biggest areas of growth with the internet has been social networking systems, the most active of which is Facebook, that allow people to connect with each other - a human desire, apparently.
With this innovation come problems. Read at least two of the following articles and explain what these problems are...and how to avoid them.
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| involving potential colleges | involving potential employers | Legal issues of privacy and Facebook |
Finally! You've almost finished a mini-unit that only skims the surface of the incredible resources of the internet. Are you exhausted?
There's just one
FINAL ASSIGNMENT:
(senior at end of online unit)
Write an extended paragraph essay of approximately one page , single-spaced , in which you deal with these topics:
a)Reflect on your experiences this week with this unit. Do any of the hopes and fears of techno-topia writers that you have read during the unit have relevance to your own experiences in this"cyber-classroom"? Give examples from the specific articles you read on this online unit assignment for full credit.
b) Discuss both the advantages and pitfalls you experienced in such areas as: class discussions, submitting your assignment and receiving feedback, degree of individualization and independence, experience, and interest level!!
E-mail all work to fraserjen08@yahoo.com as one attachment.
Make sure you write in the SUBJECT box of the email: utopiayourlastname (example: utopiaJones)
REMINDER: ALL WORK IS DUE SUBMITTED AS ONE ATTACHED FILE BY FRIDAY at 3:00.
This website was created and is maintained by Jennifer Fraser, English teacher at San Mateo Middle College High School in San Mateo, CA. In 2002, the website won an Internet Innovator Award from National Semiconductor Corporation. (Updated February 25, 2009)
For information about the Middle College program, go to the program site at http://www.smccd.net/accounts/smmchs/
For information about the English program, go to www.howhist.com/jfraser/index.html
