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Communication,CultureandTechnology(CCT)GeorgetownUniversitySpring2018
FundamentalsofTechnology
EvanBarba
J.R.Osborn
Today
Structure of the course &
Key Concepts
Whyfundamentals?
• Changetoinformationtechnology(IT)isconstantandongoing
• PositioningCCTstudentstomakeacontributiontothatdialogueisonegoalof506.
Amaninahotairballoonrealizedhewaslost.Hereducedaltitudeandspottedawomanbelow.Heshouted,"Excuseme,canyouhelpme?IpromisedafriendIwouldmeethimanhourago,butIdon'tknowwhereIam."
Thewomanbelowreplied,"You'reinahotairballoon30feetabovetheground.You'rebetween40and41degreesnorthlatitudeandbetween59and60degreeswestlongitude."
"Youmustbeanengineer,"saidtheballoonist.“Everythingyoutoldmeis,technicallycorrect,butI'venoideawhattomakeofyourinformation,andthefactisI'mstilllost.Frankly,you'venotbeenmuchhelpatall.Ifanything,you'vedelayedmytrip."
Thewomanbelowresponded,"YoumustbeinManagement.”"Iam,"repliedtheballoonist,"buthowdidyouknow?"
“Youdon'tknowwhereyouareorwhereyou'regoing.Youhaverisentowhereyouareduetoalargequantityofhotair.Youmadeapromisewhichyou'venoideahowtokeep,andyouexpectpeoplebeneathyoutosolveyourproblems.
“Thefactisyouareinexactlythesamepositionyouwereinbeforewemet,butnow,somehow,it'smyfault."
AroleforCCTstudents
Instructors EvanBarba
JROsborn
TeachingAssistants*allsectionsmeetinCarBarn318*
MadhaviReddi MCGayosoJiangeSun BeckyWhite AlexMacgregor RebeccaKielty
CourseSite:https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/cctp-506-spring2018/
CourseEvaluation10%–Attendance&Participation20%–WeeklyAssignmentsandDeliverables30%–Exam(March20–InClass)40%–FinalGroupProjects
Coursegoal:
Learnhowtoopenthe ofasociotechnicalsystemandcommunicate
yourfindingstoawideaudience
Casestudyin506:informationtechnology
Inthisclasswewillde-blackboxtheinformationandcommunicationstechnologies(ICTs)thatmakeupthecomputinginfrastructurewerelyon.Togiveyouknowledge:BecauseICTsareubiquitousandknowinghowtheyworkisfundamentaltomostworkintheworldTomodelamethod:Becausede-blackboxingcanbeappliedtoanysociotechnicalsystem
Openingthe‘blackbox’
• Architecture–Aspecificwayoforganizingtheflowandrepresentationofinformation
• Algorithm–aseriesofstepsthatmoveinformationfromonestatetoanother
A isathingthatdoessomething
‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNewsEvery time you open Facebook, one of the world’s most influential, controversial, and misunderstood algorithms springs into action. It scans and collects everything posted in the past week by each of your friends, everyone you follow, each group you belong to, and every Facebook page you’ve liked. Then, according to a closely guarded and constantly shifting formula,
Facebook’s news feed algorithm ranks them all, in what it believes to be the precise order of how likely you are to find each post worthwhile. Most users will only ever see the top few hundred. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/cover_story/2016/01/how_facebook_s_news_feed_algorithm_works.html
‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNews
Where is the blackbox? “one of the world’s most influential, controversial, and misunderstood algorithms” “a closely guarded and constantly shifting formula “
‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNewsEvery time you open Facebook, one of the world’s most influential, controversial, and misunderstood algorithms springs into action. It scans and collects everything posted in the past week by each of your friends, everyone you follow, each group you belong to, and every Facebook page you’ve liked. Then, according to a closely guarded and constantly shifting formula,
Facebook’s news feed algorithm ranks them all, in what it believes to be the precise order of how likely you are to find each post worthwhile. Most users will only ever see the top few hundred. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/cover_story/2016/01/how_facebook_s_news_feed_algorithm_works.html
‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNews
Input to the black box: everything posted in the past week by • each of your friends • everyone you follow • each group you belong to, and every
Facebook page you’ve liked
‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNews
What is the output of the ?
POSTS “the precise order of how likely you are to find each post worthwhile”
‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNews
What is missing? Any indication of how valid a source is!
This is great algorithm for social networks It’s not so great for reporting verified information What would it take to change this algorithm?
Every blackbox is a “Sociotechnical System” The“systemsapproach”
– Definethesystem– Describetheinteractionsofcomponents– Elaborateconnectionstotheenvironment
Whattoolsdoyouneedtoopenablackbox?
onlyasmallnumberofthesearespecialized• HowtheFacebookalgorithmworks,forexample.
Therestaretransferrableskillsthatcanbeappliedtoanyblackbox
Theseskillsarewhatyouwillpracticeinthisclass
(Frameworkfor21stCenturyLearning)
SociotechnicalSystem
SociotechnicalSystem
SociotechnicalSystem
“Blackboxesallthewaydown”
Decidingwhichboxestoopenandwhichcanstayshutisabigpartofwhatwecall“expertise”
Thisisonestateofasociotechnicalsystem
SociotechnicalSystem
SociotechnicalSystem
SociotechnicalSystem
Pedestrian ADriver
ATrafficLight
TheRoad TrafficLaws
cellphone
SociotechnicalSystem
Pedestrian ADriver
ATrafficLight
TheRoad TrafficLaws
cellphone
SociotechnicalSystem
Pedestrian ATrafficLight
TheRoad TrafficLaws
cellphone
Thatgetsyouhere
SociotechnicalSystem
PedestrianA???
ATrafficLight
TheRoad TrafficLaws
cellphone
Understanding environment and society as a system
means thinking about parts, processes, and connections.
Understanding systems…
A system is a group of parts which are connected and work together. Systems with living and nonliving parts are called ecosystems (which is short for ecological systems). (Odum, Odum, and Brown, 1997) To help understand systems, it is helpful to draw pictures of networks that show components and relationships.
What is a system?
SociotechnicalSystem
Pedestrian ADriver
ATrafficLight
TheRoad TrafficLaws
cellphone
Procedures for Drawing a Systems Model
1. Draw the frame of attention that selects the boundary
This separates the system from the environment
2. Make a list of the important input pathways that cross the boundary
This fleshes out the environment and provides “Context” for the system
3. Make a list of the components believed to be important
These can later be grouped into sub-systems
4. Make a list of the processes believed to be important within the defined system.
These define interactions and are depicted as arrows or “Flows” of materials, energy, and information
If a complex diagram has resulted (> 25 symbols), redraw it to make it neat and save it as a useful inventory and summary of the input knowledge. Redraw the diagram with the same boundary definition, aggregating symbols and flows to obtain a model of the desired complexity (perhaps 6-12 symbols).
(Odum and Odum, 1996)
Procedures for Drawing a Systems Model
Thisweek…
• Week1:January17-19– Lecture:BlackboxesandSocio-technicalSystems– ReadingsandVideos(forsection):
• "SystemsMap"and"InfluenceDiagram"atWelcometoT552Diagramming
– Deliverables(duenextlecture):StudentSurvey– LabActivity:DiagrammingSocio-technicalSystems
Thisweek…andnext
• Week2:January24-26– Lecture:TechnologyasActorsinSystems– ReadingsandVideos(forlecture):
• Latour,B.[asJimJohnson](1988)• Pinch,T.J.andW.E.Bijker(1987)• Winner,L.(1980)• Recommended:Clark,A.andChalmersD.(1998)
– Deliverables(dueinlecture):• Studentsurvey• Socio-technicalsystemdiagramofyour505project