The Language of New Media by Lev Manovich got me to think about the true value of new media and what new media essentially is in my opinion. In his work he breaks new media into five different "forms" Internet,websites,computer multimedia,computer games,DVDs and CD's. When I think of the Internet I think of a tree with infinite branches sprouting from one another which is probably the reason Internet is sometimes referred to as the world wide web. The Internet is much like the universe to me in that it expands further than I care to comprehend and I have no idea of everything that I may find. But how is the Internet considered new media? I like to think of the fact that because of its infinitely expanding nature more and more information is becoming easily accessible. I am the type of person who believes that one could lean all he ever wanted to know with a few key strokes and some dedication. Next is websites which if we were to think of the Internet as an ever expanding tree or the universe websites would be the leaves or planets. I see websites as a way of taking all the wanted or unwanted information and organizing it providing for users with the ability to know what they are looking for, but that is an obvious thing for me to say. Why are they considered new media? Well, there was a time when the written word overthrew the power of speech thereby claiming a time for itself to be considered new media. Now with all of our technological advances the use of the printing press is becoming obsolete in many ways. Next I am going to talk about video games because I personally feel very strongly about their role in new media. For me video games are more than something you do on a weekend with your friends that your mother tells you will rot your brain. Video games are modern art. Not only that but the production of a video game encompasses hours upon hours spent working by many different types of artists. You essentially have moving paintings or drawings that are voiced by actors, have music composed by musicians, stories written, etc. I feel movies could fit into this category as well, well not all movies depending on your personal opinion but my point is that yes separately the arts are celebrated and appreciated but only in video games and some films do really all arts come together to make something beautiful, and that is something that I as an artist can truly appreciate. Personally I have always wanted to be a voice actor in a video game, kids movie, or television show and being the type of person who grew up with all three it is something that just calls to me.  

This week I had the pleasure of witnessing two very intriguing and thought provoking videos. The first was titled the The Empathetic Civilization by Jeremy Rifkin and it was about the concept that all human beings are born with the ability to empathize with others and how empathy is an important feature for human beings to have in order to thrive as a civilization. The video began with a study done in the 1990’s where scientists scanned the neurons in the brain of a primate while he was opening a nut. After the primate had finished a human walked into the room saw the bowl of nuts and without noticing the primate began to try and open the nut himself. The interesting part is that while the primate was watching this stranger open a nut like he did earlier the same neurons in the primate’s brain became active. I found this to be a fascinating example of empathy at the most basic level. I personally think that human beings are not born with such negative things such as intolerance or hate and the video supports this by giving the example that if a baby starts crying in a nursery then other babies will too and they don't know why its just human nature. However, like many other natural human behaviors empathy is sometimes beaten out of us by outside forces and as a result the oppression of human kindness and understanding is spread. The second video I watched was called Will Mankind Destroy Itself? by Michio Kaku and it was about how the world is moving along two different possible paths, one is the path to a brighter future the other is a path to our own self inflicted demise. Mr. Kaku speaks in his video about three types of civilizations, there is type one which is the planetary civilization, type two which is stellar, and type three which is Galactic. Mr. Kaku goes on to explain that type two civilizations are immortal the planet is united all the diseases have cures and we are able to deal with and survive all natural disasters from erupting volcanoes to super novas. He then goes on to explain that the most difficult task is getting from type zero to type one and that is where human beings are, type zero. I wont ruin the whole video I would just like to say that this is a very interesting concept to me, that within the next one hundred years humanity will either flourish or crumble, and if we manage to flourish the possibilities will become endless essentially not even the sky will be considered a limit. But we as a species must first come together and no longer acknowledge the differences that have caused us to war and divide for millennia, if we don't then I fear we will bring about our own end.

This week I read the short graphic book The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore. This book discusses the effect of technology and Digital Media's effect on society, culture, and communication. It brings up many different and interesting points on the evolution of humanity's creations. The style of this book is very artistic in its format and has many interesting images to go with its points and messages. One of the points that was made which interested me the most was the concept that all media and technology is an extension of human faculties both psychic and physical. For example cloths are an extension of the skin, the book is an extension of the eye, and electrical wiring is an extension of the central nervous system. I find this to be an interesting idea that the human race in a sense has created in order to better themselves and make survival easier. I mean the average life expectancy in the U.S. used to be no higher than late forties early fifties, if you were luck, but with the advances of medicine people are now living up to their eighties and nineties. The book also talks about how advances in media and technology have effected our society and culture. To be more specific the book talks about how the number of jobs has decreased because jobs that were once done by men are now done by machine. This makes me wonder about what jobs in the future will no longer require men and women to complete them. There is certainly a specific set of skills that have become obsolete over the past few decades and because humanity is all about fixing problems and progress I can only imagine what jobs will be self automated or at least greatly altered to the point where human presence and guidance is much more limited The final point made in the book I would like to discuss is the idea that television has made our community more unified. Certainly today there are those who would say that television destroys our sociability and distracts us from the world around us. The book however, makes the point that because of television we know instantly what is going on where and we are able to know about things that otherwise we never would have heard about. it is almost like a window to the world. I highly recommend this book even if you don't agree with it, it is worth perusing.

This week I read two articles concerning digital media in our society. The first is The Media Education Revolution by Len Masterman which discusses the development of media education across the world and its effect on society in the past decade. The second is Critical Media Literacy, Democracy, and the Reconstruction of Education by Douglas Kellner and Jeff Share which talks about the importance of our education system teaching media literacy to students so they can adapt and survive in in our increasingly digitized society. 

First off, I found it interesting that all throughout history people continuously questioned the benefits of media progression. I certainly recall my mother telling me countless times that staring at a screen rots my brain and now everywhere I look nowadays I see almost all of the people around me glue their eyes to a smart phone or computer screen. However, what I found even more interesting was  a point that the first article brought up which was that media education has changed the student teacher relationship by putting them on the same educational level. With infinite and quickly learned information only a few mouse clicks away the students often know just as much as the teachers making the traditional classroom setting more difficult to uphold. It is because of this that I believe it is the teachers job to then incite a general interest in the study of media so the student will want to use it to investigate,explore, and grow absorbing as much information as possible. I myself have two siblings that are a few years younger than me and it's true that they know more than I do. Their education started on a totally different level than mine, a more digitized level with more information readily available and as a result they are having to be challenged in school more than I ever was at their age. I can only imagine the possibilities for future generations using digital media and the types of digital devices and information hubs that will be available.

In reading the article Actually Going to Class, for a Specific Course? How 20th-Century. I found many interesting points brought up as well as arguments regarding how education has changed as a result of our society becoming increasingly digitized with each passing year. Section one of the article discusses the possibility of the traditional classroom learning experience becoming  obsolete due to the fact that the most engaging learning experiences take place outside of the typical classroom setting. The second section of the article discusses the method of teaching used by Mr. Gardener Campbell of Virginia Tech. In short Mr. Campbell began a study of students participation in outside study and homework by engaging them in an exercise where they rated themselves on how much they had prepared for class the previous day.  In addition Mr. Campbell encouraged his students to tweet and blog about each days class providing students with the opportunity to compare notes and opinions of the day’s lesson. Section three offers up many opinions and arguments on whether or not students really need to come to classes to gain the knowledge they need, as well as whether or not lectures and traditional classroom setting are becoming increasingly obsolete. 

In my personal opinion many very good points and opinions have been brought up in this article that have made me pause for thought. I believe that the traditional classroom setting has indeed become less effective though not entirely obsolete. It is true that if someone were to ask me what my most memorable learning experiences were I would most likely recount things that happened to me when I was not in class. When it comes to learning I think it is all in the experience not necessarily the notes or the tests, which is why I believe that teachers who actively and creatively engage their students in lessons will see better results. Mr. campbell is a good example of this, in his approach he not only had is students actively engaged in lessons he adapted to todays digital society to do so.  I believe that it is very important for college courses to utilize todays digital media to better engage the students in the classroom. I also believe in the importance of teachers realizing that while electronic devices can be distracting they can also be highly useful if used effectively towards the lesson. In today’s digital society it is imperative for the educational system to adapt in order to avoid collapse because it is true that any information that can be taught in the classroom can be learned just as easily online if not more. However, the classroom setting allows students and teachers to compare and contrast, in other words it provides insightful structure. It is this structure that in my opinion leads to not only better education but discovery and broader horizons as well.