The end of Digi-Civ

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting when this class started. The idea of a history class centered around technology seemed somewhat of an oxymoron, but I was really surprised to see how much the digital concepts we discussed in class turned up throughout the centuries. More surprising, though, was how different the format of the class was, and how much I learned from it. Taking this class has really opened up my eyes to changes that have been going on in the world, ad I hope to change the way I learn, interact, and share because of it. But now, let's look into how I learned to meet the course requirements.

History:
The Internet Before Computers
The Motor of the Internet
Smartphones and the Digital Divide

The way we studied the historical concepts in this class was amazing. This was the first class I've taken where students were allowed to take control of the topics, do their own research, and share their knowledge with the class. I was able to learn a lot more about my century this way, because I was able to look into the areas that interested me the most and focus on that. Classmates who did the same and shared the highlights of their research made a good overview of the major themes, events, and people of those time periods, and how they related to the class. My reading for the class, "Ghost Map" was also a really interesting read into the time period. While there wasn't as much of a connection between my eBook chapter (openness) and the historical content, there were some examples we drew from, and the history played a lot into the other chapters.

Core Concepts:
Crowd Sourcing and Crime
Forced Open Source
If You Give a Business a Cookie...
Accessability

I feel these concepts made up a significant chunk of my learning this semester. Ever since I first booted up linux I've been an advocate of openness, but this class took my vision beyond the computer screen and showed me how the concepts that have become common place in the digital world can, and should, be applied in the physical as well. Not just openness, but all the concepts, including participation ( Crowd Sourcing and Crime ), information (If You Give a Business a Cookie...), and control (Accessability). I found classmates and professors posts highlighting these concepts throughout history and in modern society extremely insightful, and now I myself see them popping up everywhere. I've gained a deeper understanding of what openness really means, the deeper and further reaching effects of participation and control, and the true importance of information, both throughout time and in our ever-changing digital society.

Digital Literacy:

Henry Darger
Weaponized Media
Open Sources
Invitations

I feel like this class was a trial-by-fire in learning digital literacy. We were thrown into the deep end of connectivity with a goal and a deadline, and tried not to drown in the see of information. Honestly, though, the experience of filtering out who to follow on Google+, tracking down just the right information, keeping this blog, making presentations- it's been quite invaluable. Often in classes we're sheltered from the 'real world' in an ivory tower where we write our papers, turn them in, and pat ourselves on the back because a professor thought we wrote well. This semester, though, the leashes we had grown so used to were cut off. When I was told to go study the 18th century and present what I found, I was pretty lost. There were 100 years in there! Which ones am I supposed to research? But that's the point, I guess. I slowly realized that I was supposed to dig in and find what I liked. I bounced it off people around me, got their feedback, and shared it with the class via my blog, google+, and our presenations. Later, with the eBook, we took that model and blew it up to a larger scale, researching concepts like Openness, contacting actual professionals, and broadcasting what we made to the world. This class has really taught me how to find the right ideas, create my own, and share them in the right ways.

Self Directed Learning:
Under Your Nose

I feel this is kind of covered by the digital literacy- if you're not digitally literate, you're going to have a hard time learning on your own. The opposite is also true, if you're not learning on your own, then your digital tools are being used the wrong way. Everything we learned in this class about self-directed learning was a tool to help us learn about our time periods and digital concepts. So, if I had to point to a particular blog post about self-directed learning, I'd point to that one up there. However, the blog as a whole, as well as everything I threw up on my google+ feed, is a lot better evidence of how I grew and learned about self directed learning. I also had plenty of opportunities to try out what I'd learned here in other classes - it's amazing how much info is out there about computer science! I was completely floored.

Collaboration:
On the Shoulders of Giants

Most of what I learned about collaboration was learned during the eBook writing process. And during the writing process, I didn't post write many blog posts, because I constantly talked with the people who were writing it, and our work was released every monday anyways. Don't let that fool you, though, as this class's experience has been one of a kind in learning how to collaborate. I was able to look into how large projects like linux and other open software collaborate, and we applied some of their principles in our own group. I became a 'gateway' for the ebook, David for the presentation, Caleb for the social graph, and Alena for the visuals. By each of us focusing on less, we could accomplish more. I also learned the importance of collaborating with others outside your group. The input and feedback others gave us was invaluable in guiding our efforts and ideas. It was kind of a blow when my focus, the ebook, was delayed until after the class was over, but that in itself was a lesson in collaboration - just because you have a focus, doesn't mean you get to ignore everything else. Fortunately we were all still included in each others projects, and I was able to help out (albeit not as much as I would've liked) with the other projects we were working on. In short, while my experience with collaborating had its ups and downs, I learned a ton.


So that's how I met the learning requirements for this class! I learned a lot outside of those, and I'd like to write about that too, but I'm afraid that will have to wait until after finals. Best of luck everyone, and it's been a pleasure delving into the digital depths with you.