Saturday, June 16, 2012

Post 2: Relative Advantage

Of the five innovation attributes discussed by Rogers in the our main text, relative advantage seems to be most important. Please choose a new communication technology that you are familiar with and discuss why it is (or it isn’t) superior than earlier technologies. Can you predict the speed of adoption of this technology in the future based on its relative advantage? 

Friday, June 15, 2012

Introduction - Joshua Jordan

Hello everyone! My name is Joshua Jordan and I am originally from Altoona, Iowa (minutes East of Des Moines), but I am currently residing in Earlham, Iowa (approx. 30 min. West of Des Moines) to look after my mother-in-law who just underwent two major back surgeries while the rest of the family is away in Alaska, on a fishing boat somewhere at the mouth of the Cook Inlet (south of Anchorage) pulling the last bit of Halibut their quotas will allow.  

I am currently a third-year graduate student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies.  The sub-disciplines supporting my Master's degree that I selected include Anthropology, English, and Philosophy.  And, aside from the official disciplines that my program has required me to declare and, consequently, diligently follow, I have also spent a great amount of time cultivating an education that is truly interdisciplinary.  With that being said, I have spent a large amount of time, in addition to my program's core, studying graduate-level Psychology, particularly Counseling Psychology, as well as other graduate related disciplines such as Art History, Religious Studies, and Sociology.  Despite the fact that I would prefer to stay at Iowa State University and continue engaging in different and interesting subjects, my wallet compels me otherwise; therefore, I will be graduating in the fall of 2012.

I attribute much of my interest in crossing the boundaries erected by academic disciplines primarily to my undergraduate studies.  In 2009 and from Iowa State University, I was awarded a BA in Philosophy and a BA in Religious Studies - two degrees that emphasize from the beginning a deference for the crossing and exploring of academic boundaries.  Also in 2009, I finished two degrees at Des Moines Area Community College that I had started much earlier in my life - an AA in Criminal Justice and an AA in Liberal Arts - and, to top it off, I simultaneously managed to earn a Certificate of Emergency Medical Technician - Basic in the process.  Although I managed to stuff a lot of academic work into 2009, as I reflect back on the year, I believe it was probably the most pathetic year of my social life thus far; and, to anyone considering an attempt to get a lot accomplished academically in a very short period of time, please find a personally legitimate and honest answer to the question:  "What's the damn hurry?"

My specific motivation for taking this class is that it fits perfectly with my core studies and primary interests and just happens to be offered as a distance learning course.  I have strong interests in the philosophy of science and technology; epistemology; linguistics, language, and communication; the role of culture in a globalized world; and the dynamics of social change, particularly in those areas resistant to change.  I take great influence from many of the great modern Continental philosophers - e.g., Nietzsche, Heidegger, Derrida, Sartre, Camus, Zizek, etc. - and I am fascinated by the work of futurists like Ray Kurzweil and his academic progeny.  Given my interests and knowing the circumstances I was facing, while choosing Summer courses this last Spring I found myself inextricably drawn to Communication Technology and Social Change.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Intro - Henry Navarro

Hello, I started in the Online HCI Graduate Certificate Program last spring and expect to complete it this year.  I am a software engineer by profession, specializing in software user interfaces for web, desktop and mobile.  I am taking JLMC574 as part of the program's core courses.  Prior to joining the program, my academic background included physical sciences, engineering and business.
I approach the course with great interest, because of my expectation that it will provide learnings and insights on the adoption of technology at the social level.  My work with user interfaces has involved design considerations for the individual user, for the most part.  Each piece of work I implemented has so far mainly dealt with a specific persona, or type of user.  With this course, I am hopeful that my awareness will expand to include social considerations when designing or implementing software user interfaces.  By being aware of principles involved in society's adoption of new technology, my work will hopefully be more guided and more effective.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Introductions: Dan MacKenzie

Hello Everyone,

My name is Dan MacKenzie and I am a newly-enrolled master's student in mass communications. I was slated to begin classes this fall, but I decided that taking a few courses this summer would be a great way to get back into the rhythm of school without having to take on a full schedule. I have been in the professional world for the past couple of years working in the insurance industry. I am an off-campus student - I live in an apartment on the west side of Ames. I just moved to here in May and am enjoying getting to know the campus.

I finished my undergrad degree at the University of Iowa in 2009. I graduated with a degree in English, but my other academic interests were Arabic and Middle Eastern studies. So I decided to come back to school to pursue those. I will focus on journalism and supplement that with courses in political science. As of right now, I want to focus on American relations in North Africa in some capacity.

This summer I am taking one other class on campus and this course. I am excited to get a grasp on the theory involved in the spread of information, which fits in well with the recent political events in North Africa and the use of technologies like Twitter in spreading  new ideas.

Dan

Monday, June 11, 2012

Introduction - Stuart Davidson

Hello,

My name is Stuart Davidson. I am an on-campus student completing the MAcc program. I chose to attend ISU to obtain a master's degree in order to enhance my educational background. I will also be completing an internship with Crop Production Services this summer performing inventory audits. My interests include economics, horticulture, and upholstery. I'm looking forward to taking this class in order to gain a better perspective on how technology influences communication in the modern world.

Stuart

Introductions: Ben Lortz


Hello, my name is Ben and I am a graduate student in the accounting program.

This summer I am taking three online courses and one on campus. I am looking to get ahead with my course requirements so that I can graduate this December and then take my CPA exams next spring.

After I graduate and pass all of my CPA exams I will hopefully obtain a job with one of the Big 4 accounting firms. I love Iowa and the Midwest but I would also really enjoy the opportunity to begin my career somewhere else in the U.S. I am taking this course because I needed to take a communications course to fulfill a requirement and this course looks very interesting and beneficial. I am hoping that by the end of the summer I will have learned new skills that I will someday be able to use in my accounting career.

Intro - Norene Kelly


Hi All, I am finishing up a Masters in HCI as an on-campus student and live in the Des Moines area.  Besides this class this summer, I am working as an RA for Stephen Gilbert and also trying to make progress on my thesis so that I can run my experiment asap in the fall.  My interests are varied.  For example, my thesis is on the socio-affective consequences of haptic input.  My minor is in gerontology, so I will be interested to learn about the age variable in the diffusion of technology.  A lot of what I do could fit under the broad umbrella of “technical communication.”  I’ve worked on a number of grant proposals; one I worked on last semester was funded by DARPA and an article about it is on the front page of the Register today, as it turns out (“Keystrokes Yield ID Clues”).

I look forward to learning about everyone else’s interests and exchanging ideas as the class progresses.

Norene

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Introductions: Clancy




Hello-My name is Alicia Clancy, and I will be entering my second year of the part-time MBA program at Iowa State University. I chose the ISU program as a way to enhance by business and accounting skill set. I must admit, I am delighted to take a break from quantitative methods/statistics to return to a journalism-based course over the next few weeks! I am an off-campus student.
I graduated from Iowa State's journalism school and have been with Renewable Energy Group (REGI.com), a newly publicly traded biodiesel company based in Ames, Iowa, for six years. Being in a quickly growing business (from 42 employees in 2006 to 275 today) I move between product marketing/communications, internal communications, investor relations and media relations. I am looking forward to this course as a way to help enhance those programs and focus my personal knowledge.