Task 10 is a writing assignment to prep for Project 2. So you will get feedback to improve your writing and then use it for your next Web Project 2 for Design for Community.
You can choose any topic in Part II: Design for Community: AI, Fake News, Propaganda, Surveillance or Privacy. While you may comment on any of these in your writing, I suggest you pick only one of these topics as the focus, so you will be able to do a some research beyond course readings on the areas that interest you.
Some possible topics include (but are not limited to):
- How surveillance tech spies on my family via the devices we use in ways I was not aware of
- How and why my best friend went down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole, and what might prevent or help cure this
- Is Facebook the problem in surveillance capitalism, or does tech just amplify the predatory and destructive nature of capitalism–using research as well as family and/or friend examples
- How tech could be designed to reinforce family bonds in my extended family instead of breaking them
- In my current job and/or family how do the benefits of AI compare to its dangers?
- What are the main digital activism issues college students should be working on to secure our own digital safety and prosperity?
Below is a model for a coherent essay on any of the topics above or of your own choice that you can use as a guide.
Intro paragraph:
-Begin your “essay” by briefly citing a few of the benefits of the tech you will explore. This can be a quick list perhaps quirk one or two examples. Then open up the question of the potential concerns,
Body:
Next write 4-5 paragraphs. Find 4-5 clear questions or concerns you and the researchers you have read have about the tech that you can explore–one per paragraph (though complex topics may take up more than one paragraph). Use some at least 3 quotes and cite sources (in parentheses). You can also use images, charts etc to show some of the research. Also consider backing up research with personal experience or examples. How does the research match your experience?
Conclusion:
Based on all the topics and data you have described, what suggestions do you have for how inquisitive people of your age in your field should approach your topic. For example, a student who is gaining New Media skills and encountering surveillance tech may want to understand what? explore what? question what? recommend what to others? These are the kinds of questions your conclusion could address. You are becoming a developing “expert” in this area and should be able to advise people who dont know as much as you do on this topic.
Find a good image to use as your “featured image” and feel free to add any visual info–images, charts, quotes in your essay. This paragraph is formatted as a WordPress quote, for example using the ” button in the WYSYWIG editor..
