Day 10 - New Media Ecology

Image By:Henry Lee
Media ecology is the study of media environments, which is commonly defined as "the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs. " There are lots of mediums of technology that people use to communicate, such as MSN Messanger, Facebook, Forums, discussion boards and even pen and paper are a form of communication. The uses of communication are to extend our thoughts to another person, whether it be in real time or is available online 24/7 to all parts of the worlds. Media ecology affects us directly, the way the mediums we use to communicate changes us as a race, whether better or worse is up to the individual.Each of the communication mediums have a particular environment that sends a message to the person by how it's set up, structured, layout, content, resources, services, affiliations, presented and how it functions. Neil postman says that media ecology "tries to find out what roles media force us to play, how media structure what we are seeing, why media make us feel and act as we do. Media ecology is the study of media as environments. The programs and mediums that we use to communicate are extensions of our human selves, just as a t-shirt is an extension of skin, the skin is controlled by the brain. (even though via hormones and sensory receptors with no real motor function, that's a different story!).

The media that we come in contact with can either wash over us like television, or be interactive like computer games and computers, as they result with the user commanding and controlling the medium. These controllable mediums have built upon existing mediums and are starting to converge until they are entirely on computers, the software is already available for the computer, but they are still not designed so anyone can lug around a laptop without inconvenience. When there is a suitable environment for a computer to be used like that in a classroom, there are alot of benefits from this technology because it is able to produce movies, images and sounds to help people understand a topic.


Computers are no just another tool, they have been integrated into our society and how we do things whether we like it or not. To submit assignments to the university the traditional pen and paper is no loner acceptable, they require you to submit it by the computer via the world wide web OR printed off computer. People are probably asking them selves who would want to submit anything hand written, well I myself don't know, I will have to try it at an academic level one day! This is an example of how a medium has impacted on our lives and now are a must for passing university and many other things in life.

Computer as a medium is now 100% implemented because even cash registers are a type of computer. We can though, help shape the mediums and therefore will lead to helping shape our environments. An example of shaping our environment is by creative commons and opens source, free software for a free community. Media ecology is everywhere, much of it is invisible, we should become knowledgeable of the topic so that we may learn how to either shape the internet, or, how it impacts in our life.


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COURSE REVIEW
Image By:KK+. This course was one of the most interesting, enjoyable and interactive classes I have enrolled in. I am a nursing student and have been quite skeptical about computers, but Adam has been kind, friendly and open about any questions that I may have had. The course content was extremely interesting and provided an outlook of computers and the world wide web in a completely new and fresh light. I never really knew anything about the world wide web, in fact, I thought it was a place where I didn't belong because I didn't really understand it's place and affect on us as people, but also how to interact with it as an art man (I like to draw). Adam presented the topic of creative commons and open source software, this was one of the biggest changing points in viewing the computers and how they are not this weird world, but a way to share information to try and make the net a better and free society.

The tutorials were organized and Adam was always willing to assist and help, but also treated you on a equal level not just the way most people have this "status over you", this allowed the tutorials to be much more engaging and personal, he wasn't just a lecturer, but a mentor. The content presented was amazing, it was clear and the concepts were easy and interesting to explore.

In writing this review, remember I am not a computer student but come from a medical school and to have a computer course presented in this way was excellent. This was the most enjoyable 2 weeks of class I have ever had and I hope that his teaching style and enthusiasm for creating a better internet society continue to inspire, inform and educate creative minds! We need to be guided and he has done it.

TUTORIAL
(1)Old Medium of Communication: TELEVISION

Image By: DailyInvention
ENHANCES: The television enhanced the way we saw visuals, not just from within our minds from reading books but brought into reality. Another ehnacement was sound was no longer a solo piece of creativity, but could be mixed with visuals. People who wanted entertainment would have had to see a play or musical, the TV brought that to the home.

RETRIEVES: The television retrieves programs that have been put together by individuals or groups of people so that it may be heard and watched at home. The information retrieved is what ever can be put on a video recorder, like the news, awesome cartoons, movie reviews etc. So basically it retrieves information that "broadcasters" may want us to see, than we choose a channel which will feed us the retrieved information.

REVERSES: This is a bit tricky, but I think when Tv is reversed it returns back to stage plays? The reason behind my answer is the acting on tv is reversed back to on the stage along with the audio.

OBSCELENCES: The TV has the ability to make stage plays and musicals obsolete along with the radio, but hasn't due to it's lack of portability.

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(2)New Medium of Communication: LAPTOP

Image By:Arbron


ENHANCES: The Laptop has allowed easier accesibility to computers by compacting there size, weight, power useage.

RETRIEVES: The laptop retrieves information that is inputted by the user. This can be from a cd containing any sorts of information, retriving commands from the user by using the mouse or keyboard.

REVERSES: The laptop will reverse back to the use of pen and paper.

OBSCELENCES: The laptop can make the use of pen and paper obsolete. The reason is becase people can type faster, easily access their files and even record sounds.