Module 2: Data Culture

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

Core Texts

Blog 2

Directions: Respond to the following prompt in 500-600 words. Include at least one (1) credited image in your post. Follow Blogging Guidelines.

Submission: 1) Post your blog on your WordPress website. 2) Copy and paste the text from your blog onto Blackboard.

The Complexity of a Moment

  1. 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.
  2. Reflection: Reflect on the complexity of that moment in terms of deep data. Compare the surface elements of your life (that can be measured by data trackers) to the deep elements of your inner life and sensory life (that are difficult to capture). How might these two types of data work together? What are the affordances and limitations of each?
  3. Connect your conclusions meaningfully to at least one of the above readings: Woolf, Hunter, Brooker, Rushkoff, Eagleman.

Project

How does the data collected about your life compare to your memories and experience of that life? In this project, you will track and summarize your typical day 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) Data Trackers. One of the ways you’ll collect data about your life is through the use of software applications. You may use any number or combination of different tools (choose at least THREE). 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
  • social media activity logs
  • time tracking apps: Toggl
  • share your suggestions for other life- or activity- tracking tools in class!

2) “Surface” Creative Tools. One of the ways we’ll diversify our data collection is through surface creative tools. You may use any variety creative or artistic approaches to representing your 24hours. Some tools you might consider (use at least THREE multimedia objects) include:

  • image capture
  • sound recordings
  • video capture
  • social media posts

3) “Deep” Creative Writing. To show what data and technology cannot currently capture, include at least THREE examples of creative writing that explore the complexity of your above data and multimedia objects to show what you and others are feeling, remembering, thinking, imagining, or sensing. Connecting these writings to either a data point or a media object.

Presenting and Analyzing Your Data

  1. 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.
  2. 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