In the second unit, students will be introduced to data culture and collection and the role it plays in a commercial society. They will critically examine the way they currently retrieve information and revise their research methods according to increased knowledge about how databases work. They will also explore the textures and complexities of human experience through engagement with various forms of media and attempts to track or classify that media. In the final project, students will digitally track their life for 24 hours using 2 or more data tracking tools.
Readings
- Virginia Woolf, excerpt from Mrs Dalloway (1925)
- Clay Shirky, “Ontology Is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags” (2005)
- Douglas Rushkoff, “Choice: You May Always Choose None of the Above,” “Complexity: You Are Never Completely Right” from Program or Be Programmed (2010)
- Stephen Ramsay, “The Hermeneutics of Screwing Around; or What You Do with a Million Books” (2010)
- Charlie Brooker (creator), “The Entire History of You” (S1E3) Black Mirror (2011)
- David Sedaris, “Stepping Out” (2014)
- Alexis C. Madrigal, “How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood” (2014)
Blog Posts
Blog 3: A Book in the Library, or “Shelfie”
- Action: Visit one of the campus libraries. Find your way to the book stacks. Wander around the stacks until you find a book that interests you enough to want to check it out. Take a picture of the book amid the stacks. Go to your computer and look up the metadata for the book in the WSU library catalog.
- Reflection: How did you arrive at this book, and what did you discover once you found it? How is wandering around the library different from performing a search in the database? How does the metadata compare to your experience of the object itself? In your blog post, include a photo of the book in the stacks and a link to the item in the WSU library catalog.
Blog 4: The Complexity of a Moment
- Action: Isolate a single public moment or activity in your day that measures no more than a minute (walking into the classroom, waiting in line for food, sitting on the bus, etc). Describe as many sensory and cognitive details as you can imagine and experience (use Woolf for inspiration). This is a creative writing exercise, and so you can also imagine the thoughts and feelings of other people present or imagined.
- Reflection: Reflect on the complexity of that moment in terms of metadata. What “category” of your life does this moment fit into? What “sub-categories”? What additional “fields” might you use to describe moments in your life and how this moment fits in? What additional information about you and the world can you provide about that moment (in terms of data or synchronous world data)?
Project
How does the data collected about your life compare to your memories and experience of that life? In this project, you will track your life for 24hours using a variety of data tracking and life tracking approaches.
Objectives
- Develop awareness of how to produce, collect, and organize information and data
- Develop awareness of the limitations and affordances of data and metadata, including the differences between natural language and controlled vocabulary systems
- Develop competency in interpreting data
Methodology
NOTE: In the interests of privacy, you may edit / conceal / modify the results of your tracking apps, for the purposes of this assignment.
1) Toggl. Everyone will sign up for Toggl and create an account. This will serve as your time tracker. Use Toggl to collect and record all of your data; while you don’t have to share 1-second or 1-minute increments, you might do so for some of your activities, while others, such as sleeping, are recording in 1-hour increments. For each entry, include a description, a project category, and a tag.
- Start by categorizing the different activities you did during the day: for example, “School,” “Work,” and “Personal.” These will be your Clients.
- Create sub-categories within each of these areas, such as “Class,” “Homework,” and “Activities” under “School.” These will be your Projects.
- Then, create 6-8 Tags that capture the kinds of activities you engage in that might crossover between categories, such as “Traveling,” “Reading,” or “Writing.”
- Finally, input 24 hours of activity, using Descriptions that characterize each activity, such as “Attending DTC 101.”
- Generate two reports from your Toggl activity. See instructions here.
2) Data Trackers. One of the ways you’ll collect data about your life is through the use of software applications. You may choose which additional tools (at least ONE) that you will use. You may use any number or combination of different tools. Here are a few suggestions:
- activity / fitness tracking apps
- sleep tracking apps
- google search history / browser history
- document revision history
- cougar card usage
- location tracking apps
- music listening history
- share your suggestions for other life- or activity- tracking tools in class!
3) Creative Tools. One of the ways we’ll diversify our data collection is through social media tools and creative writing. You may use any variety creative or artistic approaches to representing your 24hours: vignettes, self-portraits, stream-of-consciousness musings, sensory reflections. Some tools you might consider include image capture, sound recordings, video capture, creative writing, and social media posts.
Presenting and Analyzing Your Data
- Choose a suitable technology for representing your information. Something like Prezi might be an excellent choice for showing the fluctuations of information in your day. You might also consider creating a website to present your day, using hyperlinks to expand and contract representations of time in your day. Whichever technology you choose, be sure to include the data from your Toggl reports, your data tracking app, and your creative tools.
- Write a formal report that analyzes your activity, data tracking, and creative activity. Draw connections to at least 2 readings from this unit. You may embed this report into your presentation, or write a separate document. It should be at least 500 words.
Rubric
| Concerns (Areas that Need Work) | Meets Criteria (Standards for This Performance) | Advanced (Evidence of Exceeding Standards) |
|---|---|---|
| Information Literacy and Surface Data Demonstrate awareness of how to produce, collect, and organize information and data, as evidenced by your attention to detail in tracking your day Demonstrate awareness of the affordances of data and metadata, as evidenced by your use of Data Tracking tools, plus your reflection on these tools | ||
| Depths of Human Awareness Demonstrate awareness of the limitations of data and surface creative tools, as evidenced by your written reflections, both in the depths of the moments you explore and in your analysis of your project in the essay | ||
| Reflections and Connections Demonstrate attention to the course readings and how they connect to your explorations in data | ||
| Conventions Demonstrate awareness of the basic conventions in writing and data visualizations, as evidenced by your adherence to the same standards measured in your digital writing on the blog |