It seems that technology as a system is the theme I had when writing my paper. So first things first! The “official” paper for the reading can be found here. If I did it right, it should be that anyone with the link can write comments but not edit the original piece. Ideally I would like for other people to share their thoughts as well because the whole purpose of this course is to be as open as possible.

And because while I was reading the article I kept thinking of this video:

I thought it would be interesting to share. I actually have no idea if this movie will be any good (another alien movie?) but I thought the points made about technology were interesting. Especially the examples of technology he provided. You have to wonder what kind of point the creator was trying to convey. Just like when a new technology is released, you should question its purpose.

This is going to be my attempt to start the course. I haven’t gotten a hold of all the books yet, it seems that White Noise is giving me particular problems. (Why the Kindle version is more expensive then the paperback I don’t know.) Also the local library doesn’t seem to have many of the books that I am looking for, so they have to set up an inter-library loan. Although I have managed to obtain one book! It is the Major Problems in the History of American Technology compiled by Merritt Roe Smith and Gregory Clancey. ¹  So I figured if all else fails I can start with this one.
Before I do any of the readings or become deeply invested in the course I think it would be a good idea to start with the first question in the lecture notes:

When you think of technology now, what comes to mind?

    Technology is what we create so that mankind can exert some measure of power over the world/earth/mother nature. It really isn’t fully understood and can seem quite complicated on the one hand, yet simple on the other. One thing I think makes a stark difference between humans using technology and animals using technology (because there seems to be a consensus that they do) is that humans are the ones who have been able the change or manipulate the environment they are in, not just develop a set of tools to adapt to it.
I also think that with technology also comes a more efficient form of communication. This part is just a random theory forming in my head, but it seems as if with more development in technology, there is also a positive correlation in the development of communication. (Awkward sentence I know, but I can’t seem to find the words for the theory yet. =/)
Unfortunately, the next question is to be answered after reading an excerpt from White Noise, so I think where the course is involved that’s where I have to stop.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how I can continue educating myself without the funds do so. As I am sure everyone is aware of the amount of “online education” out there has been growing rapidly for the past few years. Since I am fascinated by the growth of digital media I thought that this would be a good time as any to take an online course. The only problem was that I did not want to participate in any of the “for-profit” programs which seem to be an inevitable part of online education. Since this whole project isn’t motivated by me wanting to get a degree (it would be nice though!) I instead began looking for other methods of just taking a course to learn for the sake of learning.

That is how I came across the MIT OpenCourseWare program. What I like about this program is that it releases certain courses to take for your own self improvement. However if you take the course you do not receive any recognition (or proof) for it. Which in some ways can be a downside, but in other ways is a positive. It becomes self-paced and something a little more personal in nature. You aren’t taking the course because you need the credit or a passing grade; you end up taking it just for personal benefit. (So goes my thinking.) Yet I feel as if there would still be a distance between the course as listed on the screen and what I am getting out of it. The connection between the class (professor, other students, and so on) and me won’t be there. I suppose this is the pitfall of taking any course online and the challenge is to find a way to bridge that gap. The only way I feel that I can do that is to make my work public and possibly get some form of feedback for it.
Naturally, I do have a terrible habit of starting things and never finishing them so I am thinking that by publishing updates on the course I will take, I will feel more accountable for my work. And if this first course works, then I might take another! There is somewhere around 2000 courses released through this program, so I do have options.
The first course I am going to take focuses on two things that I am deeply passionate about: Technology and History. The course, taught by Prof. Leo Marx and Prof. Rosalind Williams in 2005, is called “Cultural History of Technology” and looks into how our modern definition of “technology” was formed. The course looks to be pretty standard and part of the course is to write a short paper about the readings every week. I figured that can be easily managed on a blog by just writing a short post about each lesson and attaching the paper. I have a feeling that some of the readings will be fun to hunt down! For now though I have to wait for the books I did purchase to arrive…

Cultural History of Technology

Marx, Leo, and Rosalind Williams. STS.464 Cultural History of Technology, Spring 2005. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 12 Apr, 2012). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA