On the Kitzmiller, et al. V. Dover Area School District

In the Trial concerning the mention of creationist beliefs it was attempted to be standardized that a grand ideal of science be used in education. This scientific view of spiritual energy involves scientific explanation with deductive reasoning. In the same manner as an equation solving for (x) such as “6 / x = 2” we cannot see the number that “6” is divided by, but scientific methods of algebra reveal to us that the missing number “x” is in fact 3. In much of the same way, some scientific fact cannot be disproven. An action has an equal and opposite reaction.

The author compiles a contrast to typical evolutionary hypothesis with a grande idea. The organisms in life are composed of fixed patterns which are combined in myriad patterns. “The fundamental claim of intelligent design is straightforward and easily intelligible, namely, there are natural systems that are in principle incapable of being explained in terms of natural causes and that exhibit features that in any other circumstance we would attribute to intelligence.” (Dembski 2004)  The issue regarding school systems which reject the usage of the belief of God is a regard as it is something oppressing the free-belief environment of student-citizens. If science proves the theoretical nature of our origins in a “divine” mechanical reaction which was intentionally brought about I wanna know about it! There is nothing more that I want than for science to defeat its older-self.

As an alternative to religion-science dualistic issues, there is a holistic view to the composition of the universe around us. Its up to us who value scientific integrity to revise this new ideology. It is imperative to developing our routines in society further beyond limitation and depletion.

On: Evaluating Credibility of Information on the Internet

The process of evaluating an academic article involves peer-review before an article is published. A professor of physics, Alan Sokal, fabricated an article which was intended to contain false information, theories and the like. This was evidence that the integrity of information, which is aggregated on a platform so large as the internet, is not so high if we consider the review filter that existed at that period in time.

Open source is a whole other philosophy as a dynamic, always integrating and interacting standard of innovation. This very moment somewhere in cyberspace a person is editing information on Wikipedia. This is solid proof a better formed scrutinization of political action can flourish. There are many instances where the government organizes and votes  on critical issues and involvement of citizens is lulled by particular media events. In response to this, the government should be reduced- not in size, but in domination of its people.

Another pass made to critique the validity of a source should always be the credentials of the author. Is it an accredited University? Is the information coupled with contact information? Here, Dr. Ronald B. Standler offers us some insight:

“Truth does not depend on the number of experts who endorse it. There are many examples in history of science where new ideas were opposed by established experts, who perhaps felt personally threatened either by new and unfamiliar ideas or by technology that might make them obsolete. Endorsement by authorities is more characteristic of religious dogma than scientific truth.”

In the subject concerning technology, it is obvious that there are problems with the way our dominative essence is counter-intuitive to our scientific exodus. Ideas are to be expanded, to be built. We are taught to climb a Megamachine through the systematic levels of society. This is no longer technically, socially, consciously sound. The superordinate pattern in our society can return to us the power we have relinquished to our elite. I am not anti-government, but I am against the ideal that we can contain the functions of technological innovation solely for the benefits of the plutocracy.

Youtube is dying

Thanks to the rapid nature of technology, we can bring down large entities that are spawned on the internet. This is to keep the Internet’s integrity when we say it is a medium that is democratized. It is far from true. Youtube and Google basically run the place if we really scrutinize the Internet.

What is good that will come from this, is the innovation. Through times where a dominant force is the only driving force, it is only a matter of time before someone faces the obstacle to make something unlike what has been in existence. These “game-changers” or “purple cows” are ways to disrupt the business environment with new products and capitalizing on them. The problem faced by societies and nations is the currency aspect. Scientific Progress is stifled by these endeavors to profit.

It is in a healthy equilibrium of these factors which will come something good out of a money oriented model. As information becomes more heavily aggregated on the web, we will see industries die. Most of them will be synthesized into newer, better models.

Like a Macintosh 2 the Youtube behemoth will come down one way or another. For this, I am thankful and not afraid of big business overwhelming the markets.

Musical freedom

In an Article by Waltey B. Bailey, Shoenbergs’s Transformation of Musical Language the time period of the early 20th century was a great non-conformist movement where musicians were challenging the tradition of classic art. This movement appears to be prevalent in our society from generation to generation. Through the ages, we have seen resistance to the way things are to be paralleled by the ideologies of how things can become. These new opportunities, or possibilities that arise from the possibilities that are inherent in chaos illustrate our uncomforted consciousness and willingness to change. BUt like all dualisms, there are a few who traditionally hold on to 90% of the influential or beneficial at the top of the pyramid of society. This “elite” sector determines how things play out- be they war, politics, or even free-market capitalism [economics]. It is due to our inability to wake up our nations to the situation that is going on behind their backs which will inevitably create a disparity between classes. This is however good for us who identify this superordinate pattern early on, in a gambit to prevent the enslavement of ourselves through a higher state of ideas and being economically adaptive (true freedom).

On Taiwanese Style Switching

Hsi-Yao Su, an Academic from UT Austin did a study regarding the Taiwanese language. This special form of Mandarin, the native language to China, is used poetically and is reverse engineered to attribute new meaning to words. We have a much less sophisticated language in the west which enables us to misinform and confuse meaning to the point that after passing a message through three people, the original message is expanded and diluted. One correlation which I make between Taiwanese and the Internet is that the Taiwanese people have been striving to define their nationality through this exclusive language.

This resembles the same effort online where people try to define and ally themselves with many identities. The Internet is the new culture mixer which will draw many types of relationships that, before the technology, could not have existed. Along the course of technological development we have made language a barrier that has since divided us by nations. The reconfigured social practices and linguistics are constantly reinforced which in turn cultivate new genders or ideals.

Unification is a prime force behind the Internet movement. Our Nations stand divided. There is a revolutionary step that our society needs to take- this involves abolishing the plutocracy (Gov’t run by the rich).

Education of Technologies

ON:

Journal of Technology Education Vol. 22 No. 1, Fall 2010

EnviroTech: Enhancing Environmental Literacy and Technology Assessment Skills

In the creation of our devices, beginning with primitive developments such as the wheel, the Technological Process (Techne’) of waste is not considered to be relevant to the rising generation. In an article by Marie Annette Rose, she discovers issues that have been at play all along the saga of Techne’ while it has (and still does) evolve Human Kind.  She strongly implores that, “interdisciplinary understandings and assessment skills that stress the interconnectedness of the human-built and natural environments, teachers and students of technology will not be able to understand or assess how these systems interact and influence each other.” With a complex structure of information existing in the internet, the system is arbitrary of the natural occurring external environment. This is where Philosopher, Bruno Latour derives his first level of interaction called “Social Complexity”. In the education system the environmental impacts are therefore crucial to not only focus on social considerations but on local, regional, national, and continental environmental awareness. If we learn to dance to the rhythm of the sun, true innovation will procure.

A few scientific research tests have been conducted on the topic of mercury awareness/disposal, in the pursuit of learning about the amount of professional experience that teachers of Technology possess. The test focused on systems holistically. The research test “EnviroTech was a web-enabled professional development project, which occurred in the spring of 2009. This document describes the results of EnviroTech in terms of the impact it had upon a cohort of 19 practicing technology teachers. The mission of EnviroTech was to develop (1) understandings of environmental processes and systems; (2) skills for identifying, analyzing, and assessing the impacts of technology upon the environment; and (3) skills in the use of guided inquiry, an instructional strategy where teachers structure and scaffold the examination of problems and gaps in knowledge.” With the revival of educating a larger picture of technology and spreading awareness to the public, we can effectively work together in a society.

Scientific sight is stifled by our western focus on profit. In the research project “An open-ended question was also posed to teachers:

“What is the most important thing you have learned about assessing the impacts of technology on the environment?” The most frequent response related to the value of taking a life cycle or systems approach to teaching about impacts. One teacher wrote, “[we] must consider overall impact, not of the device after manufacture and during its useful lifespan alone, but impacts surrounding creation and final disposition of the device as well.” Another teacher pointed out the importance of data-based decision-making when he stated “teaching students to use data collection and analysis in every phase of a product life cycle will enable them to make much more accurate asses[s]ments and informed decisions about technology.” Those who are well informed in technological processes recognize the essential qualities of all around educational focus on the environment.

 

 

 

The Chatroom Experience

In class today, the online chatroom was chaotic. The understood topic was the comparison of Male and Female online communication. Only after talking to each other for sometime, I began to see a pattern. Women were more concise in the comments they would make as men were brief and to the point about responding. IT also seemed as though the men would comment on the questions or topics introduced by the women. This is a pattern i normally see day to day and in class. There are typically a few catalysts of topics who start a chain reaction of conversation. This was evident in the chatroom as I was probing the chatspace with random and unrelated topics which were either ignored or initiated upon. The most relevant topics were addressed by both parties in short frequency which gave light to the motives of classmates. The common cause as I would like to call it is focused and anything pertaining to that subject is elaborated on. The haphazard retorts I made were met with humorous replies or stood alone until a new catalyst initiated another premise for conversation.

There were two control factors at work in the experiment which were the “raise hand” function, which sucks, and participation grade. These two factors maintained order and held the class together- my other implementation of typographic visual exchange or “Emoticon Battle” was immediately replied to because of the prospect that makes chatting fun. This made me consider the aspects of the classroom that were not apparent and missing from the educational experience. It is clear to me that without the analog experience, the regulation of topics and ideas s very hard to sustain. This speaks volumes to us as the classroom becomes digitalized… what will come of our future if the educational process is stifled to the point of chaos? I believe this is a serious issue that is being created by our culture, or lack of culture that we call “progress”.

Cultivation of Students’ Scientific and Technological Ability for Innovation

In a scholarly article by Zhanjun Ma from Dezhou University it is brought to light that much of the lifestyle and academic practices of chinese educational theory which producing children lack a sense of innovational techniques. The student structure in human society should focus on the innovators of tomorrow. There are many ways the structure of most flawed educational systems can alter the negative effects that are marginalizing content in entertainment industries and scientific industries. Zhahnjun states:

“At present, all countries take the cultivation of excellent innovational talents with high quality as the direction and breakthrough of the education reform, and the current education system of China also emphasizes the knowledge transfer but ignores the ability cultivation, and how to cultivation students’ innovational consciousness and innovational ability has been the important task for the education system of China.”
Innovation will be refined through the education process as time progresses. The scientific method is applicable. The article also brought light to the short creative states exhibited by students as a direct effect of the educational structure. The folly was evident “when Chinese students participate in innovational activities of science and technology, most of them depend on “brief period of enthusiasm”, and they lack in insistent wills and quality, which makes the innovational activities of science and technology only stay on the surface, and lack in systematic organization and long-term material support, so the good effect is difficult to be obtained.” To fully change this situation, colleges should:

1. grasp the change of the education ideas and concepts, and make clear what talents should be cultivated in the 21st century

2. what comprehensive qualities the innovational talents should possess and-

3. what knowledge structure and ability structure students should be cultivated in school.

Through focusing on the creative process and refined educational approaches we can effectively conduct a better way to stimulate students’ creative states. Our focus as a society will hone on the rising generation and how they problem solve. “Therefore, the modern education ideas and concepts should be accepted by people as soon as [possible].” A dilemma that we face in education these days is the inability to recall fact and conceptual abstractions to introduce problem solutions and synthesize new ideas. This is because of many factors including google’s convenient search. Innovation should focus on the theory and through processes the students will encounter in a more western, gregarious setting will prepare them fully for a more advantageous position for the real world.

The newer trend in our educational structures will cultivate students’ innovational ability. The author focuses primarily on the Chinese fallacies in education but I assert that these follies are universal. By fortifying educational focuses “colleges should cultivate students as the talents with innovational spirit and ability, who could be adapt the future competition in the society.” To acutely represent a socially and scientifically inclined scholar-student-body and produce leaders in the next generations to come, and by focusing on creative states and the innovational processes the new standards of education will reinvent our social standards and inspire students to explore new solutions to technological obsolescence.

Article:

[1] Ma, Zhanjun. “Cultivation of Students’ Scientific and Technological Ability for Innovation.” http://www.ccsenet.org/ass. Asian Social Sciences, n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.

On Glenn Schellenberg: Music and Cognitive abilities

The article is here: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/20183055.pdf

“It is precisely the human ability to acquire complex novel aspects of our environment (acoustic and otherwise) that constitutes a core adaptation of our species.”

“Thus, comparative studies of animal “song” production and perception can play a crucial role in understanding the evolution of human music.”- W. TECUMSEH FITCH

Current directions in psychological science are exploring the origins of music along with how it has had influence on our evolution. Leading research has discovered that  music is connected to our language and the way we have communicated for our entire existence. These functions are limited to humans, as most other animals are capable of basic vocalization but communicate at a more superficial level for biological predispositions. Whales and other mammals have used specialized languages to communicate with myriad tones that are far more effective than human communication (whale-song). “Songs” import qualities of experience that are expressed tonally or percussively. Through traversing the ecology of music and its purpose, I suggest that Humanity will cybernetically evolve its language with the help of music-media technological recombination. Influencing our languages en mass will have profound effect on the way our Human Empire functions and rate it learns.

Like a great, symbiotic organism Humans have used communication to seamlessly interact and confirm objectives. In a mass-media driven society, it is integral to our understanding of day-to-day activities to reflect on the foundations we have under our syntactic language. Carrying within the Power of Words are varying degrees of psychological implications that animals instinctively react and respond to. When these words are coupled with music, a greater sense of understanding is brought to light. Heart palpatations often occur when individuals hear a familiar tune. It may carry with it, a memory or emotion. This is a key facet of technology we can focus our energies on in an act of enhancing the human communication experience phenomenon.

The article “Music and Cognitive Abilities”, by Glenn Schellenberg examines the effect music has on our performance of cognitive tasks. “Manipulations of a mozart piece’s speed in an experiment indicated that the arousal levels and moods shifted which resulted in varying spatial abililties… the available findings reveal enhanced cognitive performance after listening to music that is thought to be arousing and pleasant for the age group.” (Shellenberg 317) The psychological term “Childrens Play Song” is  a form which enhances flow (in other words, creative processes). The flow is dependent on the environment, musical-nonmusical. If integrated correctly with language, communication will become the most engaging experience known to Humans alongside the videogame. So much research has been focusing on where music fits into our psyche and not enough placed on How it works.

Schellenberg offers illuminating evidence of the effectiveness in musical evolution of the mind.:

“This experiment provided evidence that music lessons cause improvements in intellectual ability. My finding of broad intellectual benefits of music lessons is also consistent with the literature as a whole (Shellenberd, in press), which includes reports of positive associationas betwenn music lessons and reports of positive associations between music lessons and reading, mathematical, verbal, and spatial abilities.”

Through directing our attention to the more entertaining and stimulating forms of communication it becomes clear that music will eliminate the indifference and misinformation caused by fallacy in existing language. Using networks of power and embracing the chaos of a democratized musical process will create jobs and spawn newer, better business for the entire human race. Growth with replace the depletion our companies and their affiliates have let build up to the point it is at today: Marginal musical endeavors for profit.The next segement is establishing nich markets that will compete with major economic entities that showcase popular music. These niche markets will contain original genres which artist/engineers will use to enhance the quality of demanded music supplimented by the consumer.

 

Proposal= Transforming ATEC: University of Texas at Dallas

There are many opportunities available to the student body, faculty and staff when alternative platforms are considered for introduction to the ATEC program-at-large. Many considerations the student body has organized as itself. The representative artistic works already taken on and completed by students that reflect the tenacity to influence and make a difference in the environment have shown (on a local scale) that using the available tools to change processes is beneficial. This transformative feature is essential to identifying new market opportunities AND ACTING ON THEM. The technological drive behind the program, as is, sustains artistic projects in-class. An issue with these projects is the generalized portfolio that contains numbers of the same final outcomes from student to student. There must be time devoted to original work by students.

In order to redirect our focus here at ATEC, from generally vague concepts of progress (i.e. a diploma) toward variety and competitive edged work, that is necessary to survive in the media world, there must be a collaborative entity to mediate outside-of-the-class work done by students. Suggestions of platforms are analogous to Atecpresents.com. This student created website ran for two years only to be met with complacency and a lethargy that would discourage the most diligent scholars. Unfortunately the website left with the students once they graduated. The idea was a little soon to put into motion.

Was it, “Ahead of its time”?

Hardly!

There are several student created website portfolios every semester in Internet studio classes. This exponential growth strategy can be given a domain with the right direction and assistance from Faculty Sponsors to establish the agenda of encouraging new student innovations.

Recently a new organization within ATEC was created, The Animation Guild. This entity lacks deliverables for now as a leadership be needed to account for its development. The formation is a tangible group that increases stakeholders day by day. A main focus for the Guild meeting two Fridays ago was to manage and create demo-reels for 2d and 3d artists per future job prospects.

The growth strategies at play consist of four main entities:

Student created content

Collaborative Demo Reels

Student group-study

Forming markets between the University and Industry Clients

Many students offer original ideas that, with the right direction, can generate revenue streams. The main focus for students in this program is to collaborate and interact with one another. In the industry in order to ensure you get a job, you must be a team player. In an unintended contradiction, traditionally the classes here were user-centric, independent projects worked on by students per class. This is where the deviation can contribute its inspiration from. In order to innovate further upon what we have developed here at ATEC we must investigate what is currently at work here.

To illustrate how structures are reforming around technological tools, look to the science of networks as an example. Its not what you know, more-so who you know. What is in demand in the ATEC program is a platform to synthesize information and generate competitive work. Not only that, but this platform is to link this work to companies and the mainstream. Student created content not including websites would be music and student formed organizations that loosely (and unofficially) conduct meetings or workshops.

To drop some Networking terminology these “small-worlds” otherwise known as unofficial student formed organizations, form outside of class to work on original work. We may not be being taught to compete more than how-to compete.

There is an opportunity for students and the staff alike to form classroom-internal project teams that declare a deadline for the work of their interest [concerning the subject] and work on that unique and original piece. This will eliminate the marginalization of student final projects as opposed to the objective to emulate the original piece. This agenda of “uniqueness” can be applied to upper-level courses excluding the introduction classes.

I have seen a steady shift towards this agenda since I arrived at the program in 2009. Merely two years ago!