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Current Web challenges and opportunities are keeping Tim Berners-Lee busy at the moment! Web Science MOOC learners may be interested in these links:
#radio4 @timberners_lee to edit the Today programme for a day http://t.co/SbfacdSrOT
— Wendy Hall (@DameWendyDBE) November 20, 2013
BBC News @TimBerners_Lee says 'surveillance threatens web' http://t.co/3W0EN8jP5l #flwebsci
— Web Science MOOC (@UoSFLwebsci) November 22, 2013
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]]>The post Tutor Interview Series: Phil Waddell – Democracy appeared first on Web Science MOOC.
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Briefly tell me what your session is going to be about.
My session explores the historical relationship between the Web and political activism. Students are going to see how a particular type of global activism has developed alongside the Web and how each new development in Web technologies can be used by activists to challenge their governments and established political systems. We will also discuss how technology can restrict certain types of political activism, or make it seem less radical.
What are the main aims you want to achieve?
I’d like learners to get thinking about the changes in political society that the Web brings. How it changes our perceptions on the world, our borders and how global networks of activists form. But I would also like students to see that political engagement via the Web is not necessarily always benefiting civic society. How governments choose to react to the challenges of global activist networks and how the technologies currently in vogue influence user behavior can have effects on the development of online activism and therefore of political engagement as well. I’d like learners to be able to consider these challenges and begin to question the directions that the Web is taking us.
Finally I’d like to make learners aware of the different methods that we have in Web Science for researching how groups and individuals use the Web. It isn’t just all big data, we can also go out “into the field” and observe how people interact with technology, and this is one area of the MOOC that I’d like to emphasise.
How will the learners benefit?
Learners will benefit from a concise discussion regarding the role of the Web in activism as they will be able to see how technology and design can shape politics, and vice versa. This understanding, together with the discursive elements of the course, will enable them to engage with one another and discuss the potential future impacts of Web technologies on activism, developing their critical thinking and knowledge in this, currently popular, realm of Web Science.
What excites you most about delivering this session within the Web Science MOOC?
The MOOC is just such a great way for us within the course to engage with people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. It brings the study of a global social system (the Web) to a global audience, who all have different ways of looking at the way the Web is changing society. I’m really excited to hear the MOOC participants reflect on how the Web is influencing (positively or negatively) politics in their country. The discussions that are going to come out of this course are going to be fantastic.
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]]>The post Tutor Interview Series: Mark Weal – Democracy appeared first on Web Science MOOC.
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Briefly tell me what your session is going to be about –
In this session we are going to consider the democratic nature of the Web and the ways in democracy is being used in the political process by both governments and activists. Increasingly governments might see the Web as a tool for improving transparency, broadcasting information, driving innovation or even improving trust in the democratic process. We will look at the use of open government data towards these aims and explore an example of the publication of national crime statistics through and activity and a discussion. We will also look in depth at the role that the Web increasingly plays in activism, as alternative voices embrace the technologies to try and effect change.
What are the main aims you want to achieve? –
We want to illustrate the wide range of ways in which the Web permeates the political sphere and how for governments it can both be a force for openness and transparency, yet often something that they may desire to control. An appreciation of the complexities of the issues in this area will be gained and some insight into the types of research methodology that have to be adopted in order to understand the role of the Web in this area.
How will the learners benefit? –
Students will benefit by gaining a better understanding of how specific Web technologies support agendas such as the publishing of open data and a greater perspective on the complexities of the Web’s engagement in democratic processes and the difficulties of balancing the openness of the Web with respect for individuals privacy and a desire to restrict the use of the Web for extremist or anti-government agendas.
What excites you most about delivering this session within the Web Science MOOC? –
I think it has been a wonderful opportunity to show that understanding the Web involves far more than just understanding a set of technologies and infrastructures. The Web is created by people and the way in which they use it and is an ever evolving, highly complex system. To truly undertand it and to help society to benefit from the Web we need to use a wide range of research methods and draw on insights from many different disciplines.
The post Tutor Interview Series: Mark Weal – Democracy appeared first on Web Science MOOC.
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Links to the particular interview will be added once the interview is published.
Susan Halford and Les Carr – Introduction to Web Science
Susan Halford and Les Carr – What Next?
The post Tutor Interview Series appeared first on Web Science MOOC.
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