Blog from Soc Winter of 2010

This blog is left-over from last year, but if you look through the archives you will get a sense of what this class will be like in Winter 2011.

 

Follow up on the Tech, learning and Millennial thread

Read the previous post for details, post your comment here if you are completing your assignment but the page is too slow to load or otherwise makes it hard to post your comment.

here is the link, so you can read the start of the thread:

http://sociologynotescomments.blogspot.com/2010/03/reflections-on-technology-learning-and.html

Reflections on technology, learning and the millennial generation.

Note: The task in this assignment is to read through this post. Follow some of the links. Think about the questions, read some of the other student comments, and write up your answers. Remember to sign the top of your comment, so that you can get credit for your answers. Consider also that blog posts, like the projects we produce, are public, and will be read by students, faculty and administrators from a range of colleges and universities.

What does it mean to be a millennial? The Pew Research Center reports on key aspects of the millennial generation. Pew offers a brief survey there that allows you to compare yourself to general patterns in the Millenial generation (according to their research). I scored a 79 on it, placing me in the ‘similar to millennials’ category. The quiz is just an approximation, and the actual survey performed by Pew was much more detailed. Here is the summary of their findings.

Some findings include: Compared to Americans over 30, the millennial generation is more ethnically diverse, under-employed, embrace social technologies more strongly, attain higher average levels of education, express optimism that the government can and should do more to help people.

Findings reported elsewhere on Pew’s site (Social Media and Young Adults) indicate that although millennials are more active on things like FaceBook, they are less active than Gen-Xers in things like blogging. This finding is consistent with a recently published article by Eszter Hargittai (Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the "Net Generation", Sociological Inquiry, 2010) that suggests that millennial college age students are not necessarily more technologically savy than older generations. That is, while a small percentage of new college students might be ‘digital experts’ the vast majority are not experts. In fact, the majority primarily use relatively simple systems, like text messaging and Facebook.

I had come to similar conclusions simply by working with Sociology 101 students at Ohio University. Several aspects of our 101 course this quarter were intended to raise levels of 'tech savy' in ways that are educationally helpful. Recall the illustrations of technologically enhanced collective action described in Clay Shirky’s book (Here Comes Everybody), I believed that as an instructor in 2010 I have an obligation to help develop students' capacity to think, read and write in our increasingly digital world.

One of my goals in Intro to Sociology is to expand awareness of digital tools for creation and collaboration, and to use those tools as integral parts of the learning process.

On March 19th and 20th I will be attending the Interlink Alliance conference on Teaching the Millennial Student: Best Practices in Teaching and Learning. The event will be attended by Presidents, Chancellors, Faculty and key Administrators from schools in the Interlink Alliance: Ohio University, Central State University, Johnson C. Smith University, North Carolina Central University, Spelman College, Virginia State University, Hampton University, and Wilberforce University.

A goal I would like to accomplish through participating in this event is to facilitate discussion of how to structure classes and assignments that help students learn technological skills that will help them succeed in school and in future careers. I also want to help provide evidence about the range of skills that students have, and to think about what faculty can do to encourage students to take on new challenges and develop new skills.

As students of Ohio University, Sociology 101, A2, winter quarter, 2010, you are the experts on teaching and learning practices as they relate to technology and millennial students. This assignment is your chance to share your expertise.

Please post a comment that responds to the following questions:

1. How savy were you with technology coming into the class?

1a. How do you compare to typical millennial students?

1b. Has this changed during the course? If so, how?

1c. Do you foresee any long term educational impacts for yourself

2. Describe particular aspects of technology use in the course that shaped your learning?

2a. How does the use of technology in Soc 101 compare to other courses

2b. What aspects could be improved in either Soc 101 or other courses

3. Consider your own identity, background and educational aspitations.

What general comments do have about technology related teaching practices that can enhance your learning and preparation for your possible career paths?

Gapminder Turn-in Thread

Turn in your Gapminder assignment in this thread. There are 4 steps:

1. You need to do the assignment. Instructions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Htw3/Intro_to_Sociology#Replacement_Assignments

2. Write up your answers to the task in a word document.

3. Copy and paste the text from your answer to the assignment into your comment.

4. Upload your image online somewhere. I used IMGUR for this example.

5. Include the URL to your image in your comment, like this:

http://imgur.com/yqDZy

6. Remember to bring a hard copy of your answer and your picture(s) to class on Friday.

Jordan's Twitter Account

A couple of weeks ago we talked about role models. I posted an image of Neil deGrasse Tyson, and asked if people knew who he was. Folks didn't know him, be certainly everyone knew who Michael Jordan was. The really cool thing about the image above is that Michael Jordan appreciates Neil Tyson, and a great deal more. Jordan, via his Twitter account, seems like a much more complete role model than his basketball fame would suggest.

Just an interesting connection that I ran across today.

Plenty of Opportunity

Several folks expressed concern about wanting to finish with a better grade than they currently have. I want everyone to be clear that there is still plenty of opportunity to improve. There are still about 40 pts of extra credit available, plus improvement between the midterm and final, plus the remaining assignments. You can get a rough estimate of you will likely do on the final grade by adding your current score to your estimate of the # of points you expect from the remaining assignments.

Friday!

Announcements:

1. 2 surveys (brandon's facebook survey and Jeannette's a journalism student) for 10 pts extra credit each. If you didn't get it in your email send an email to brandonbrooks1@gmail.com
2. Gapminder make-up assignment is due next friday.
3. Evaluations for the course can be found on blackboard. Please fill those out
4. Group Projects due March 12th!

Have a great weekend!

Assignment for Tomorrow

This assignment is due in class.

Type up and print your answers to these questions and bring them to class on Friday.

Sociology Notes for Thursday, February 3, 2010

Today, we talked about development and social change. Social change is defined as a change in the distribution of resources, goods, roles, ideas or relationships at a large scale. Social change is often related to institutions, rules, laws and infrastructure.

Development is defined as the growth or creation of new and better systems of exchange as well as new and better systems of infrastructure. This allows for improvement in economic, social and bodily well-being.

Wikipedia Assignment Turn in Thread

Congratulations! You made it!

When you are done with your Wikipedia editing assignment, write it up and post it in the thread below. Make sure you check out the requirements, but basically you need to include urls to the pages you edited, to your user page, and write up your answers to the questions raised in the assignment description.

See recent thread about the assignment: http://sociologynotescomments.blogspot.com/2010/02/wikipedia-edit-assignment-replacement.html

If you have questions about the assignment, ask them in that thread. I will post an example with links in this thread, although I am not going to do the whole description part.

Notes for Monday, March 1st

Today, we talked about poverty. There are two perspectives on poverty: absolute and relative poverty.

Absolute poverty is when individuals do not have the means to secure the basic necessity of life. Relative poverty, however, is when individuals may be able to afford basic necessities, but are still unable to maintain an average standard of living.

Poverty is extremely important because it has repercussions for both the individual and the society. Individuals in poverty experience suffering and the possibility of the risk of ruin. Within society, poverty can lead to disorder, conflict, underproduction, and inefficiency.

Weekend Reminders, Friday, Feb. 26, 2010

Today, we covered definitions and review for the week. If you were in class you got a lot of good information!

Some reminders for the weekend and into next week:

Make-Up Assignments:

Go to the syllabus to check out the instructions, they are labeled under replacement assignments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Htw3/Intro_to_Sociology#Week_1_January_4th_-_January_7th

1. Wikipedia
2. Gapminder

Group Project

Instructions for begining this process are on the Project Blog at:

http://projectsinsocandsocialchange.blogspot.com/

First part of your project is due on Monday. You should be in contact with your TA about this if you have not already received instructions for what you are suppose to do. Please contact Brandon at brandonbrooks1@gmail.com if you are having issues.

Notes for February 25, 2010

Today in class we talked about interactionist and functionalist approached to deviance. In social learning theory people learn new behavior through overt reinforcement or punishment, or via observational learning of the social factors in their environment.


Conversely, functionalist theories argue crime an deviance result from the structural tensions and lack of moral regulation withing society. More simply, deviance is a by-product of economic inequalities and failure to achieve the 'American dream.'

Review Session

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

in Grover W115

from 7:10-9:00 pm

Grover W115 is located next to the Atrium Cafe and the Hearing Speech and Language Clinic. If you still have questions about where it is located post comments on this blog post.

Weekend Assignment

Human Rights and Higher Education

Reflect on your family and what sort of hardships or advantages previous generations of your family went through. Answer the following questions:

1. Describe two examples from your own family (current or earlier generations) where someone had or did not have access to higher education.
2. Type of inequalities?
3. What will you do with your chance?

The assignment should be 1 typed page. It is due on Monday, February 22 in class.

Wikipedia Edit Assignment (Replacement Assignment #1)

Use this thread to discuss how to accomplish this assignment. Remember, this is an optional assignment. The points count towards your "Small stuff" grade, which has a maximum potential value of 200 points. These points will act as extra credit applied to those 200 points, so if you have missed an assignment this will offset those points.

You should use the comment thread for this post to seek and provide advice about how to do the assignment. Remember, tens of millions of people all over the world have figured out how to make helpful edits to Wiki projects of all kinds. It will take a little effort, but it is not very hard. Put that effort in before seeking help, and if you do need to seek help, make sure you can provide the necessary information to help people be able to help you.

This info is on the wiki syllabus also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Htw3/Intro_to_Sociology#Replacement_Assignment_.231:_Constructive_Edits_to_Wikipedia_Sociology_Articles

Replacement Assignment #1: Constructive Edits to Wikipedia Sociology Articles

1. What: This assignment asks you to learn how to make small helpful edits to Wikipedia in the area of Sociology. There are many pages related to Sociology, and all of them can be improved. Small improvements can be made by anybody with a basic commitment to doing good work. You will just have to dig a little deeper than the textbook to be able to improve on the current articles. So, you task will basically have three parts: learn to edit effectively in the Wiki system, learn enough about a topic to make a small but valuable improvement to an article, and document and discuss your contributions for the assignment.

2. How:

1. Create a Wikipedia account for your self. You should do this in order to document your contributions and because unregistered editors are more likely to have their edits removed as suspected vandalism. Once you have created an account you need to learn how to make basic edits. Make sure you are actually logged in when you make your edits.

2. Practice editing in the sandbox. Notice the edit summary box below the main editing box. Use it when you start making helpful edits to actual articles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sandbox

3. After you practice making basic edits, stop by the talk page for the Sociological imagination. Read the conversation there and look for ways that you could start making helpful edits. Ask questions there, or in the blog thread on this assignment.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sociological_imagination

4. Look for sociology related articles that need work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Sociology#Articles_needing_work

3. What to turn in:

1. A single page word document including three parts.

1. A description of the types of contributions you made, including URLS to the article(s) you work worked on and a URL to your user page.

2. A description of the resources you used to learn stuff for the content of your edits. Include relevant bibliographic information.

3. A discussion of what the experience of contributing to Wikipedia was like, what you learned, what you thought about, how these things connect to ideas from the course.

4. Grading: There will be three grade levels for this assignment.

1. Meh. 5pts. Bare minimum completion, little evidence of effort or involvement.

2. Nice. 10pts. Fully completed, honestly assessed, good job of completing all parts, thoughtful reflections.

3. Wow! 15pts. All parts completed, evidence of substantial effort and or learning; thoughtful reflections; overall a great job.

5. Due date: Friday of Week 9. March 5th.

1. How to turn it in, part one: Type up a word document, documenting all three parts of the assignment. Print it out and bring it to class on Friday March 5th. Put your name on your paper version, also put the gmail login you use when you post to the course blog comments.

2. How to turn it in, part two: copy and paste the contents of your assignment into a comment blog post about this assignment. The blog post will be made on the thursday before the assignment is due. Don't put your full name on your blog comment version, just first name and you gmail login will be enough for us to match up the electronic and paper versions.

3. You need to turn in both parts, the paper and the electronic version.

§ Helpful hints:

§ Take a look at this advice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_write_a_great_article#How_to_develop_an_article

§ The Wiki Project on Sociology lists several articles needing work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Sociology#Articles_needing_work

§ The entry on "Sociological imagination" needs a lot of work, and I have started making improvements to it. Others are welcome to make improvements too. Many other entries need attention too.

Notes for Thursday February 18th

Today in class we discussed gender, sex and the differences between each term.
Gender: social, cultural, psychological traits linked to males and females through particular social contexts.
Sex: differentiating males and females biologically using their genitalia as the main determinant.

In class we also discussed gender inequality which is the systematic disparity in rights, opportunities, access to goods based on gender.
Glass ceiling: an unacknowledged barrier prohibiting a rise in positions of power or responsibility for women.
Glass escalator: an unofficial fast track promotion typically related to males in female dominated professions.
Finally, we discussed the women’s movement. The Seneca Falls Convention occurred in 1848 and discussed the idea of women’s equality and suffrage. Women finally received the right to vote in the United States in 1920.

Clip of the Day Poll!

Please vote for your pick for the Clip of the Day in the poll off to the right!

Video 1:

Video 2:

Video 3

Video 4:

Twitter in Real Life (Can't Embed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTN9We8unmU

Monday, February 15, 2010

Prejudice is described as the systematic viewing of one categorical group (race/ethnic/religious) as inferior to the categorical group in which you are a member.

Where does this prejudice come from?

It is often based in status inequalities (defined as being not as good as another group) and economic-based issues between groups that have contact.

While it is often a popular argument that prejudice leads to segregation and status differences, this is, in fact, incorrect. Instead, segregation and status differences lead to an increase in prejudices. This explains why integrated groups who have contact with one another in environments with status equality and cooperation have been found to have lower levels of racism than segregated groups.

Notes for Thursday, February 11, 2010

In class today, we talked about race and ethnicity and they lead to inter-group conflict. Race is defined as a human group with some observable shared biological characteristics. In a given society, features that are historically associated with an ethnic group might become meaningful if people identify with that group in some active way. Conversely,Ethnicity is defined as groups with distinctive heritage and perpetuated cultural markers. Ethnic groups exist due to sentiments which bind individuals into solidarity groups on some cultural basis.

We also talked about racial and ethnic inequality which is defined as a systematic disparity in rights, opportunities, access to goods based on race or ethnicity. That disparity results in inequality of outcomes on key dimensions of stratification that effect life chances. These include:
- Occupation
- Earnings
- Ownership and control
- Political power
- Educational training

Monday, February 8, 2010 Notes

We talked about stratification in class today. We looked at stratification in the context of income distribution. There are several consequences of economic disparities including but not limited to: life expectancy and access (to education, healthcare, etc).

Marx examined class from the perspective of ownership. There are two classifications within this systems--those who own the means of production (i.e. owning the land, factories, corporations) and those who are the workers. However, Marx's theory has often been considered to be too simplistic as it focuses solely on a two-class economic system.

Weber generated the three P's of stratification:

• Property (Class): Control and Ownership
• Prestige (Status): Position That Accords Merits and Rewards
• Power (Party): Influence, Relations, and Position

Clip of the Day Suggestions!

Please provide links in the comments section to videos you would like to be considered for the next Clip of the Day Poll!

Trying to make BlackBoard work

Hey folks-

Here is a sample of how I have been spending Sunday night. I know the grad students have been similarly busy helping people. Browser incompatibility problems are the main issue still, although a couple of folks were taking the test during the power outage.

I know many of you have been frustrated by how BlackBoard has failed to work correctly, and I am very sorry about the whole BlackBoard experience. I certainly am frustrated by it too. I am sure that OU pays a lot of money for BB, and it is pathetic that it works so poorly.

For now we are stuck with it, and will try to make do. Cheers.

Review Session Location Directions

Here is a video of the T.A.s going from Bentley Annex to CSC 121B (the location of the review session).

See you there!

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy creates a society that functions as an organized machine with clear lines of hierarchical authority and decisions based on rules and tactics.

Bureaucracy is good for situations in which there is:

1. Predictability
2. Execution
3. Control
4. Long-Term Projects
5. Complex Coordination

However, bureaucracy is not good for situations that require:

1. Innovation
2. Creativity
3. Flexibility
4. Speed

Publish, Filter, Collaborate!

Ok, so for this week we discussed Shirky chapters 4-7. By just looking at the titles, you can guess at what is being discussed in the chapters. The great thing about this book is the ease at which the information can be understood. However, one never knows who understands and who does not. So, we are going to do an experiment and put into action what Shirky describes. This will accomplish three goals:

1) Shirky exemplifies collective action and online collaboration as a tool of our current era. Thus, we should practice this as much as possible in this class.

2) You can help your fellow classmates understand topics that are not fully understand, Publish then Filter.

3) By posting and contributing to the online dialogue you can build your digital portfolio for the class.

This is a trial run. The format can change and be improved. Feel free to offer suggestions that will help you and your classmates learn more effectively and help us all communicate the ideas of Sociology more effectively.

The following is an outline of the class discussion today. I would like you to read through it and make additions to it. You then can fill in sections of the outline, ask or answer questions, and write ideas that come to you from class and/or readings.

Outline:

Review Conflict Theory

Assumptions

Implications

Examples:

Sports Dynasties: Yankees

The Commons

Shirky

Chapter 4: Publish then Filter

Social tools are only interesting once they get boring

What if our class knew what our class knows?

Chapter 5: Motivation and Collaborative Production

Unmanaged division of labor

Power law distribution

Chapter 6: Collective Action and Institutional Challenges

Ordinary online tools become useful for challenging institutions

2002 example of priest pedophiles

Chapter 7: Faster and Faster

Flash Mobs - ability to coordinate through online means

Groups can organize in a matter of hours, days and weeks

Organization is happening faster and faster

Key Terms

Conflict Theory

Unmanaged division of labor

Power law distribution

Collective action

Flash mobs

Example Questions

How has collective action changed with the implentation of online social tools?

What are the impacts of collective action on large institutions?

Why does publishing then filtering lend itself to collaborative production much more in online environments?

Mid-Term Review Session Information

We have our second review session:

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

in CSC 121B

from 7:10-9:00 pm

The entrance for lecture hall CSC 121 B is located in the connector building between CSC and Copeland Hall (directly across the street from Bentley Hall and Bentley Annex).

Also, please feel free to post topics or questions that you would like to be covered during the review session in the comments section of this blog post. This will help us structure the review session in a way that addresses any questions you may have.

Notes for January 28, 2010

In class today we talked about the principal-agent model aka "the principal-agent problem" where a principal owns the resources but needs something done. The principal must then trust the expertise of the agent to get the job done. However, granting authority to the agent to do the work for the principal puts him at risk.

This model mirrors the relationship between citizens of United States and the government. The people of the United States are shareholders in this "organization" where they ultimately put their trust in the government. Subsequently, by putting our trust in the expertise of the government we, as a nation, put ourselves at risk. To combat these risks, the government creates institutions designed to prevent any significant threats.

POLL!

Here are the videos you can vote on this week. We had a lot of really good suggestions this time! Please vote for the video you would like to see in the poll in the right task bar. The poll will be open until Thursday at midnight.

Video 1



Video 2



Video 3



Video 4



Video 5

Notes for Tuesday January 26, 2010

Today we discussed the idea of the state. There are three characteristics that are necessary in the formation of the state.
1. Organization of political processes within a society.
2. Provide direction and regulation of social life.
3. Monopoly over the use of coercion and force.
This monopoly on force is the most important aspect of the state.

Notes for January 25, 2009

Today in class we discussed conflict theory. At the core of this is the idea of the 3 basic assumptions presented in class.

1. Society consists of groups
2. The groups have competing interests.
3. These groups have different types and amounts of resources

When groups both desire some resource, the group can use the resources they currently possess to aid in acquiring more resources. Subsequently, the more resources available to the group when pursuing some interest increases the likelihood of acquiring more resources.

Clip of the Day Suggestions!

You know the drill at this point.

Please provide links to possibilities for the Clips of the Day for this week. As soon as we have enough suggestions, I will create another post with 5 possibilities, and a new poll.

If you have suggested a video before (either after the 5 video choices were selected or the video simply wasn't selected that time), feel free to post it again.

TouchGraph Questions

Use the comments of this thread to suggest questions for writing assignment related to touchgraph.

Friendship networks on Facebook can reveal how our social relationships have been structured. There are many potentially interesting things that we can observe about those networks. Lets consider the number of clusters that we find. Clusters identified by the application are the sets of colored nodes that tend to have more connections to each other than to other nodes in the graph. Where do these clusters come from? Often they appear because we have been involved in organizations that build overlapping ties within the group but fewer ties outside of it.

Given all the ideas raised in class and in the books, what sorts of questions should we ask about what is happening in these networks? Differences between different peoples graphs or even in your own graph at different times might raise interesting issues.