Readers, I am so sorry that I have not posted in awhile. I have been at a conference in Washington DC and have been very busy catching up. More to come on the conference later! I wanted to take a post to explain my detailed plan for this blog and the steps I have taken thus far to carryout research. I am very excited about the direction in which things are moving and wanted to share with all of you!
2/27 Development of Research Process (this post)
Oh no! I’m already behind schedule! But I promise I will catch up by the end of this weekend.
3/4 and 3/6 AIPAC/Profile: Judaism
This will also be finished by this weekend, so stay tuned! To give you a brief summary, AIPAC stands for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who had their annual policy conference March 1st through 3rd. The goal of the conference is to learn how to become a better pro-Israel advocate. I will be writing this post about the conference to make up for missing class. I understand that this is a VERY controversial issue, and I am in no way hoping to form thoughts for any of you or push you in one direction or the other on this issue, I will merely offer my musings on the conference and how I feel about it.
Because a large percentage of people who support Israel are Jewish, I thought this would also be an interesting week to post about technology in the Jewish community, the observation of Shabbat by many Jews, as well as total lack of many technologies in ultra-orthodox Jewish homes.
3/11 and 3/13 (None)
I spoke with Collette and since this next week is extremely busy for me, she said I could take it off and replace it by doing two weeks worth over break.
Spring Break – Book Review: Alone Together/Profile: Daniel Johnson
Alone Together is a book written by Sherry Turkle (who’s TED talk we watched in class) about why it is we expect more from technology and less from each other in today’s world. I plan to read this book in its entirety, review it, and take up some questions from it here on the blog.
The second week of break I plan to profile my father who is in his fifties and still does not own a cell phone. I hope to discuss with him why he does this and the value he finds in it.
4/1 and 4/3 – GUEST BLOG and Children and Technology: A learning tool or roadblock?
This is the week for my guest blog, but I’m also hoping to address the issue of children and technology and if they have become too dependent to function without it. If this is the case I will explore if this is a sign of positive or negative development and what it means for the future of western society.
4/8 and 4/10 Profile: Camp Onaway
Camp Onaway is a camp for girls ages nine to sixteen at which they go for seven weeks with out phones, iPods, or television. Hopefully I will be able to speak with a few of them about what they feel the value of this tradition is and why they love camp because of it. If I cannot get in contact with them or if their parents refuse to let me speak with them, I will simply speak to my own experiences as a camper.
4/15 and 4/17 Profile: The Amish
Over break I am hoping to get in touch with Saloma Miller Furlong, the author of a few books and a blog about leaving the Amish. I have emailed her publisher, but have not received a response yet. If I do not receive one I will just write from other sources about why the Amish value their life without technology.
4/22 and 4/24 Choice vs. Accessibility
This week I will explore the differences between the people I have found that willingly reject technology and people for which different technologies are not accessible. I hope to explore if this accessibility will or has created a divide in society that further perpetuates classism and other societal divisions.
4/29 and 5/1 Book Review: The Digital Divide
This book by Mark Bauerlein explains how, “Twitter, Facebook, e-publishing, blogs, distance-learning and other social media raise some of the most divisive cultural questions of our time. Some see the technological breakthroughs we live with as hopeful and democratic new steps in education, information gathering, and human progress. But others are deeply concerned by the eroding of civility online, declining reading habits, withering attention spans, and the treacherous effects of 24/7 peer pressure on our young.” It looks like a very interesting read and I look forward to dissecting it and addressing some of its most pressing topics.
5/6 and 5/8 Conclusions, Findings, and Possible Next Steps
I don’t know what my conclusions will be yet, but I hope that I will find something that ties all of these communities and people together besides their lack of technology use. I have some ideas, but don’t want to give away too much yet!
Let me know if you have any other ideas for reading or resources for me. I can’t wait to continue my work on this process and discover what’s in store. Thanks for reading, as always!
P.S. To those of you in my class, I am planning on making a comment on ALL of your blogs by the end of this weekend. I have not forgotten you, and still believe each and every one of your topics deserves my time and attention. Again, I apologize for being a little M.I.A. and look forward to reading your posts!