Silicon Valley vs Kansas Schools

I saw this article today and thought it was interesting and related to some of the conversations we've been having in class. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Retrofitting Obsolescence

Image
Retrofitting Obsolescence: Hybrid composition across time What do we do with technology that still works but has been left behind in terms of contemporary practice? In what ways can retrofitting both overcome obsolescence and provide access to benefits that aren’t otherwise shared between obsolete and contemporary versions of technology? How does retrofitted obsolescence produce or permit hybridity? Case study: Retrofitting manual typewriters to produce digital data Okay, technically what I’m looking at is a manual typewriter that still functions as a manual typewriter, but has been rigged with additional hardware to track keystrokes and log them as digital data. Here’s the awesome looking USB Typewriter Conversion Ki t!! The  only problem is the creator is taking a break to spend more time with family (good for him!). His finished products (typewriter plus digital conversion kit) sell for around $1.5k  and conversion kits (around $150) are not being sold. More...
Read more

Mixing It Up with Free Culture

Image
Early in Free Culture (2004), Lawrence Lessig discusses the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie as something of a remix of an earlier Buster Keaton movie, Steamboat Bill, Jr .  Lessig's use of Disney here is interesting, because Disney as a company has a pattern of litigiousness toward anyone who remixes Disney properties into their own art. When it does happens--and it does--it can result in artists taking their creations "underground," as Lessig has noted. Take, for example, Robert Armstrong's Mickey Rat, created in the early 1970's as a parody of Mickey Mouse. Fig 1: Mickey Rat Mickey Rat started on t-shirts, which sold well enough that Armstrong branched out into underground comics (or "comix," as they're often known), where the "sleazy" character proved himself willing to do any kind of "foul deed" ( Toonopedia ).  Interestingly, Disney didn't sue Armstrong for the character. Perhaps it was too clearly a p...
Read more

My Investigation into Open-Access Textbooks

Image
            The question that I try to answer here is “what can writing studies do to combat academic publishing oligopolies?” and “what can we do as teachers to combat academic publishing oligopolies?” I see these questions as worth answering because, basically, academic publishers damage public good in a direct exchange for higher and higher profit margins. When I first decided to get involved in this battle, I didn’t realize it, but there are actually two separate and distinct fronts on which the battle is being fought: the first front is academic textbook publishing, and the second is scholarly article and book publishing. Though similar, both fronts on this battle have their own separate problems and potential solutions. Here, I will focus on open-access textbooks specifically.             Regardless of whether open-access textbooks are viable, clearly, something need...
Read more