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Openness in digital technology

Openness in digital technology. Fredrick W. Baker III. Resources Page. www.fredwbaker.com /2013usabaldwin. Plan. Assumptions Philosophy of Technology Technology Issues Alternatives Current Efforts. http:// upload.wikimedia.org / wikipedia /commons/f/f6/ Pelton_wheel _(patent). png.

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Openness in digital technology

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  1. Openness in digital technology Fredrick W. Baker III

  2. Resources Page • www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  3. Plan • Assumptions • Philosophy of Technology • Technology Issues • Alternatives • Current Efforts http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Pelton_wheel_(patent).png www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  4. Have you ever stopped to think about the assumptions underpinning the things in our lives? www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  5. Assumptions Underpinning Technology • Use a shovel with one hand. • Write in a notebook left handed. • Use a computer with your eyes closed. • Use a telephone with your hearing inhibited. • Change the theme design of your office suite software. • Technology is rife with bias, favoritism, inequality, barriers to use, learning curves, etc. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  6. Assumptions Underpinning Technology • By the very design DNA, tools give preference to certain skills, abilities, behaviors, cultures, etc., over others. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  7. Assumptions Underpinning Technology • Worse, we are often powerless to change these preferences. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  8. Assumptions Underpinning Technology • Is technology making the world a better place? • A worse one? • In 100 years will we be living in an Orwellian nightmare or a blissful Eden? • Do we even have control over technology? www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  9. Philosophy of technology Matrix Utopian 1 UtopianDeterminist 2 UtopianSocial Constructivist Social Construction Determinsim 3 DystopianDeterminist 4 Dystopian Social Constructivist Dystopian www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  10. Philosophy of Technology • I tend to believe that: • We collectively (not individually!) decide the characteristics of our technology. • Desirable content, aesthetics, technical aspects, etc. • We exert SOME level of control over the development, use, and dominance of technology. • There are disruptive, “genie out of the bottle,” moments where we can’t return to the old. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  11. Philosophy of Technology • Utopian or Dystopian? • I believe we have a choice… • sort of… www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  12. Philosophy of Technology • I think that whether we create a utopia or dystopia is really completely up to society, but it depends on whether or not we are critical consumers of our technology. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  13. Technology Issues • Issues of: • Empowerment or Restraint, • Ownership or Lease, • Equality or Preference, • Oppression or Freedom, • Open or Closed. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  14. Technology Issues Boils down to: • And • Choice & Availability of Alternatives Freedom & Ownership Restriction & Lease vs. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  15. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • What if you want to use a computer or service without being commoditized and sold as a product? • This is the focus of this presentation. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  16. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • Are you renting your software? • Are you blocked from easily collecting your data, usage patterns, content, etc., and leaving at any time? • Are you being advertised to? www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  17. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • Does your grocery store know when you are expecting a child even before your family? **Source on resources page • Does your credit card company know if you are headed for divorce? **Source on resources page www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin ** Links to Sources available at:

  18. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • Does your social media platform know your age, gender, ethnicity, religious and political views, personality type, sexual preference, intelligence level, habits of substance use, tendency toward creativity, parental separation status, etc.? **Source on resources page www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  19. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • The answer is probably • YES!!! • And if it isn’t, there are people making lucrative salaries to make it “yes”!! www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  20. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • Closed source technologies are primarily concerned with money. • If you aren’t paying to be a client, you are generally being sold as the product! www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  21. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • Open Source technologies are generally concerned with creating a functional product that embraces certain value structures. Freedom Accessibility Sharing Inclusiveness www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  22. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • It is often the work of volunteers and paid project leaders working in a community of practice. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  23. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • Open Source technologies are often updated more frequently, and reflect a broader range of design considerations and therefore generally meet a wider variety of needs such as accessibility, flexibility, etc. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  24. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • BUT… • Money is a big motivator. • It definitely impacts quality, functionality, stability, etc. in many products! • Corporate products are often sleek and functional. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  25. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • And… • Open Source is not always the best option. • Projects lose support, tools may be unstable or don’t always function well, or there may be a steep learning curve instead of a neat Graphical User Interface (GUI). www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  26. Freedom & Ownership Vs. Restriction & Lease • The point is that we must be critical consumers! www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  27. Choice & Alternatives • Do you have a choice in whether you use open or closed source? • Sort of… www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  28. Choice & Alternatives • Tools with great open source options: • Operating systems: • Linux (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Trisquel) • Web Browsers: • Chromium • Firefox • Office Suites: • Open Office • LibreOffice • Web Search: • Duck Duck Go • Startpage • Photos & Graphics: • GIMP • Inkscape • Website Platforms: • Wordpress www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  29. Choice & Alternatives http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Ubuntu_11.10_EO.png www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  30. Choice & Alternatives http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2472/3581622563_2e9e69be73_o.jpg www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  31. Choice & Alternatives • Tools with problematic/difficult open source options: • Phone OS: • Android (Google Dominated) • Ubuntu (new) • Social Media: • Diaspora • GNU Social (know anyone here?) • Twitter • Computer/phone Hardware • Statistics Programs: • R Statistics (Huge learning curve) • Email: • Self-hosted (requires know-how) • Obscure services • Social Bookmarking? • Dropbox/cloud services? • Ubuntu one www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  32. Choice & Alternatives http://www.rensenieuwenhuis.nl/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/2-r.jpg www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  33. #ProjectReclaim www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  34. Project Reclaim • Purpose is to extricate yourself from dependence on corporations and reclaim your data from third-party services. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  35. Project Reclaim • Started in 2011 by Boone Gorges • Picked up by D’arcy Norman and Doug Belshaw • One is a programmer, one works for Mozilla, and one researches software effects on teaching in CoP. • All discovered that it is not easy to free yourself. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  36. Project Reclaim • NSA PRISM has created an interesting dialogue in these projects. • 1 has changed focus to fight for privacy, • 1 expressed hopelessness & used NSA revelation as evidence for need, • 1 said reaction to NSA is overblown because the Gov’t already watches us— said we should vote people out. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  37. Project Reclaim • Is it reasonable to expect limits on government surveillance? • Is your digital life private? If so, to what degree? • Is it possible to live a digital life free from reliance on corporations and invasions of privacy? www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  38. #ReclaimOpen www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  39. Reclaim Open • Cooperative effort of Digital Media & Learning Hub at UC Irvine and the MIT Media Lab, as well as other educators and organizations. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  40. Reclaim Open • Working to find or develop open online and networked learning tools which would operate under better value structures and assumptions than current options. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  41. Reclaim Open • Response to the rise of Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) Providers looking to commoditize students and are simply replicating traditional lecture based instruction. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  42. Reclaim Open • The goal is to take advantage of the open web. • Focus on creating viable education options. • Create Choices & Alternatives. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  43. Reclaim Open • The project is seeding innovative approaches to open connected learning. • Encouraging others to take charge and innovate solutions for everyone. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  44. Conclusion • I advocate being a critical consumer of technology, reflecting on the costs and assumptions of the tools you use, and working to create alternatives where you feel they are needed. www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  45. You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. • ~Buckminster Fuller www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  46. http://elsilenciero.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/buckminster-fuller_dymaxion.jpghttp://elsilenciero.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/buckminster-fuller_dymaxion.jpg www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  47. Plan • Assumptions • Philosophy of Technology • Technology Issues • Alternatives • Current Efforts http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Pelton_wheel_(patent).png www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

  48. You can connect with me at: • Twitter: @fredwbaker • Email: fredwbaker@gmail.com • RESOURCES: • www.fredwbaker.com/2013usabaldwin

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