As we come to a close in the module, I must say I have learnt a lot from throughout all these lessons. I am going to miss seeing prof drink his cans of coke zero, to all his quotations of famous dead people! It was such a journey that the class has gone through together, but as all good things come to an end, so must this. Here is my last post, on session lucky number 13.
Group E: Music Storage (Topic: Technological Developments in Music Storage)
Introduction:
The group presented on the way technology has had an impact on the way music was captured and stored. In the past, there was no way to "transport" music across borders and boundaries, you had to be physically at the concert hall at that point in time to actually be able to listen to the music. Now, with the advent of recording and memory devices, along with mp3s, people are able to enjoy music from around the world.
Presentation Style:
It was really something which I felt the class could connect to, using music from different genres and different times to connect with different people. From lady gaga (For the class) to the beatles (For the prof), and many others, it was really easy to follow through the presentation and understand their flow.
Key takeaways:
This topic caught my eye, because to me, I could not see any other way music could have been stored. Indeed, like many other technological breakthroughs of our time, my generation has failed to realize the importance of technology and how it has permanently changed the way we approach things. Disruptive technologies of the 21st century.
Group F: Vaccinations (Topic: Technological Developments in Vaccination Administration)
Introduction:
The group presented on vaccinations and how it is evolving as we specialized in different fields and open up new doors and possibilities. Traditionally, vaccinations have always been administered through the form of injections. Now, as more people cross-specialize in different fields, they are able to utilize technologies such as nano tech to administer vaccinations instead.
Presentation Style:
The group used a more detailed approach in explaining the information on their website and how to access it, which I found really useful and informative.
Key takeaways:
The new and emerging technologies we see are no longer going to be in a certain field. As people start becoming masters of their own trade, more and more new inventions are going to come from a cross-specialization of fields.
Group G: Techandfood (Topic: Technology and its implications on food)
Introduction:
The group talked about the importance of technology in the future of food, and the difference in growing processes since the past. They also talked about the advantages and disadvantages of traditional growing of crops as compared to the current practices used (traditional crops versus GM crops), and how it is important to not stop where we are now in developing new and more efficient methods of production.
Presentation Style:
The group also explained how to navigate through their website very clearly, and what pieces of information are inside each tab.
Key takeaways:
As the world population continues to expand at an exponential rate, the amount of land left to grow crops becomes increasingly less, as people continue the trend of urbanization to fulfill future needs. Thus, not only does this signify an increase in the demand for food, it also signifies a decrease if not status quo in the supply of food available. Looking forward, new innovations in food growing processes are not only important, they are crucial to sustain humankind's needs.
Group H: Crime Tracking Technologies (Topic: Crime tracking technologies)
Introduction:
This group presented on crime tracking technologies and how it has evolved since the past. Instead of magnifying glasses which relied on human reasoning and capabilities to look for clues, it has now evolved to incorporate technologies to provide information far beyond that which the human senses can see. (E.g. Magnifying glass versus Heat sensor/Fingerprint identity kit)
Presentation Style:
The group was really informative, and covered a wide spectrum of areas, giving the class a clear understanding of what they were talking about.
Key takeaways:
There are many intangible details of this world which is actually very useful to know. To me, crime tracking technologies only strengthened the cause for augmented reality, as people want and need to know even more information on demand, far beyond what they can gather from the human eye.
Of course, considering this is the end of the module, I would give it a 10/10 for all the wonderful experiences, as well as the friends I have made throughout these classes. I am sure that this will come in useful for my future endeavors!
Friday 11 November 2011
Tuesday 1 November 2011
The start of the group presentations!
This week marked the start of the group presentations. It was a pretty interesting, all the groups presented on really diverse topics ranging from GM food, to e-dating! There were many things I learnt that day, be it an appropriate style of presentation or new knowledge that I didn't previously know. Here are my thoughts on some of them:
Group A: Come-buy (Topic: E-commerce)
Introduction:
This group presented the concept of how business has evolved from the brick and mortar concept of traditional face-to-face communication between the business and the consumer, to a now more accessible means of communication anytime, anywhere through the advent of the internet.
Presentation style:
The way in which the group presented their material was really interesting, using the template of an actual online shop to actually showcase their project. However, I felt that even though it was informative, the presentation was too cluttered with words. Perhaps more succinct sentences to capture the gist of each portion would have been better.
Key takeaways:
The internet revolutionized the basic mode of communication between people, and thus its impacts are far-reaching and in many different areas. Whats even more intriguing is the next step in e-commerce, is the possible utilization of smell over the internet to sell their products! Of course, there are always trade-offs with every innovation. With increasing accessibility to one another, issues such as privacy and internet security is becoming a bigger threat to handle.
Group B: Where love and technology coalesce (Topic: E-dating)
Introduction:
The topic for this group was rather interesting and rather controversial. Love on the internet has always been looked down upon, and still remains generally unacceptable to certain societies. It was an interesting topic to touch on, and boy was I surprised.
Presentation style:
I feel that this group has the best presenters of the session, hands down. They were confident and articulate, and were able to engage the audience as well. Their content also had substance, but it was slightly cluttered once again.
Key take aways:
As the name suggests, the project was mainly about how the internet revolutionized and popularized the use of social media as a means of communication. This project shows how society's acceptance of technology has slowly grown over the years, it is now all right to find love online when compared to decades ago. The social-moral implications of online dating have decreased over the years, as society's perception of acceptable norms change and mature as time goes by.
Group C: Kinetic Tech (Topic: Kinetic Technologies)
Introduction:
My group presented on the topic of exciting and upcoming kinetic technologies that are expected to hit the market in the near future. We looked at how the methods of harnessing kinetic energy has changed over the years.
Key take aways:
I will not talk about the presentation style, since it is my group and it is hard to give my opinion. I would say that the key take away of my project would be how renewable energy is slowly taking the spotlight, and more attention is turned towards sources such as kinetic energy. As such, fossil fuels will become relatively inefficient when compared to renewable energy, and we will start to value renewable energy more. With these changes, it is highly likely that kinetic energy can actually become a commercially viable source of renewable energy that is able to be manufactured on an individual scale where every individual could actually generate their own energy.
Group D: Superman's Diet (Topic: GM Foods)
Introduction:
The group presented on how GM foods is actually among us, and the current problems that it faces, such as poor food labeling and GM food being regarded as a social taboo. They also looked at how GM food is actually an integral part in solving the problems of the future.
Presentation style:
The group had clear articulate presenters, with an interesting video which they made themselves, and even brought "rice" to the class! I personally felt that this group might not have had the most interesting topic, but they had the most interesting way of presenting it.
Key take aways:
Personally, I felt that societal norms should not be a black-and-white answer when approaching each emerging technology. We have to weigh the benefits to society versus the social implications it might have, and this is especially crucial in GM food, which might the solution to our food woes.
Overall, I would rate this session a 9/10, for many interesting innovations which I had never given a second thought about.
Group A: Come-buy (Topic: E-commerce)
Introduction:
This group presented the concept of how business has evolved from the brick and mortar concept of traditional face-to-face communication between the business and the consumer, to a now more accessible means of communication anytime, anywhere through the advent of the internet.
Presentation style:
The way in which the group presented their material was really interesting, using the template of an actual online shop to actually showcase their project. However, I felt that even though it was informative, the presentation was too cluttered with words. Perhaps more succinct sentences to capture the gist of each portion would have been better.
Key takeaways:
The internet revolutionized the basic mode of communication between people, and thus its impacts are far-reaching and in many different areas. Whats even more intriguing is the next step in e-commerce, is the possible utilization of smell over the internet to sell their products! Of course, there are always trade-offs with every innovation. With increasing accessibility to one another, issues such as privacy and internet security is becoming a bigger threat to handle.
Group B: Where love and technology coalesce (Topic: E-dating)
Introduction:
The topic for this group was rather interesting and rather controversial. Love on the internet has always been looked down upon, and still remains generally unacceptable to certain societies. It was an interesting topic to touch on, and boy was I surprised.
Presentation style:
I feel that this group has the best presenters of the session, hands down. They were confident and articulate, and were able to engage the audience as well. Their content also had substance, but it was slightly cluttered once again.
Key take aways:
As the name suggests, the project was mainly about how the internet revolutionized and popularized the use of social media as a means of communication. This project shows how society's acceptance of technology has slowly grown over the years, it is now all right to find love online when compared to decades ago. The social-moral implications of online dating have decreased over the years, as society's perception of acceptable norms change and mature as time goes by.
Group C: Kinetic Tech (Topic: Kinetic Technologies)
Introduction:
My group presented on the topic of exciting and upcoming kinetic technologies that are expected to hit the market in the near future. We looked at how the methods of harnessing kinetic energy has changed over the years.
Key take aways:
I will not talk about the presentation style, since it is my group and it is hard to give my opinion. I would say that the key take away of my project would be how renewable energy is slowly taking the spotlight, and more attention is turned towards sources such as kinetic energy. As such, fossil fuels will become relatively inefficient when compared to renewable energy, and we will start to value renewable energy more. With these changes, it is highly likely that kinetic energy can actually become a commercially viable source of renewable energy that is able to be manufactured on an individual scale where every individual could actually generate their own energy.
Group D: Superman's Diet (Topic: GM Foods)
Introduction:
The group presented on how GM foods is actually among us, and the current problems that it faces, such as poor food labeling and GM food being regarded as a social taboo. They also looked at how GM food is actually an integral part in solving the problems of the future.
Presentation style:
The group had clear articulate presenters, with an interesting video which they made themselves, and even brought "rice" to the class! I personally felt that this group might not have had the most interesting topic, but they had the most interesting way of presenting it.
Key take aways:
Personally, I felt that societal norms should not be a black-and-white answer when approaching each emerging technology. We have to weigh the benefits to society versus the social implications it might have, and this is especially crucial in GM food, which might the solution to our food woes.
Overall, I would rate this session a 9/10, for many interesting innovations which I had never given a second thought about.
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