Building a community of lifelong learners!
(I just left this title page as I found it ... it will need some updating later...
Building a community of lifelong learners!
(I just left this title page as I found it ... it will need some updating later...
This website exists to hold the draft manuscript of my future book on "Information: Society and Environment" which could become the text book for TSES 4005 at Carleton University.
This part will be filled out when I draft my reflection piece for the Education Development Centre course I took recently.
There's much to see here. So, take your time, look around, and learn all there is to know about us. We hope you enjoy our site and take a moment to drop us a line.
There's much to see here. I will give you a suggested order to read the various sections depending on your academic background and interests.
Engineering and science students can skip the technical papers, which Arts and Social Science should read. And vice versa.
The origins of these sections vary. I started to write some notes to help me teach the various topics. As my teaching of this course became more sophisticated with experience, I started to write more deeply than needed so that I would have answers to questions that might come from my students.
I am uncertain what my future might bring, with regards to teaching TSES 4005 in 2022. However, I feel obligated to finish producing (publishing) the full package of course notes that I have been developing over the past several years.
My plan will therefore be to publish direct to the internet, probably on my own website, links if not the whole document that I am calling the course pack for TSES 4005.
If I offer the course pack on my own website, it remains available to anyone who would like access. And I think access is the ultimate goal. I do not believe that any money can be made from trying to sell copies to a small class each year. However, I regret the loss of Carleton University Press several years ago... the various notes and packs for courses offered at Carleton have made for interesting reading over the years. I think CUP's closure was needed at the time, but perhaps the portability of course notes was the real advantage...
Enough of that... lets get down to business.
All copyrights belong to the original authors. Where I have edited a paper, I usually say so. Where I have created the paper, I also usually say so. Sometimes I don't remember where I first heard the idea so I am not able to properly give credit. In these cases , i apologize.
The concept of "information" is both very simple (one or more pieces of data, well formed and meaningful: "Information: A Very Short Introduction, Luciano Floridi, 2010) and very complex ("A Mathematical Theory of Communication", Claude Shannon, 1948). A researcher (Rod Savoie) at the Canadian National Research Council has spent many years plotting out the forms of information and their possible relationships. (Access to this file is below).
I subscribe to the claim that "a better understanding of information is needed to understand anything and everything."
We will explore both the theoretical foundations (Floridi, Shannon, Turing and others) and the applied body of knowledge (Savoie et al) of information in this course.
We cannot possibly cover everything. In fact, we can really only begin to make a small dent in the width, breadth and depth of this Body of Knowledge. So we will limit ourselves to "technology, society and environment" themes - although we certainly can explore other paths as your interests develop.
I have developed a personal view that to know something, one must have a sense of where we have come from - the historical perspective, if you will. So we will take a developmental/ evolutionary/ revolutionary perspective as we learn abut why things are the way they are.
The course description says: “Investigation of the human and social impacts of electronic information and communication on our working, educational, and personal lives from various disciplinary perspectives; problem issues and competing values in the creation, manipulation, dissemination, and control of information are identified; resolution initiatives encouraged." We will keep to this general outline while meeting several more explicit learning objectives (see the course outline).
For those who would like to get a head start on the course content, the workload for the first week of this course will depend on your background in the field of "information". If this is a new concept for you, I would suggest you could (eg should) read the” backgrounders” or “explainers” that follow, to gain some perspective(s).
In the first meeting, I would like to take a few minutes to do introductions, go over any questions you might have about the course outline (eg course objectives, evaluation methods and organization of the course to achieve those objectives). I would like to now introduce Dr Savoie's knowledge map.
Bit; binary digit
Qbit; quantum bit
MODEM; Modulator De-modulator
Ad hominem: "To [attack] the man". In the world of public discourse, ad hominem is a means of attacking one's rhetorical opponent by questioning his or her reputation or expertise rather than sticking to the issue at hand.
Cogito ergo sum // "I think, therefore I am". When all those spirited mental wrestling matches you have about existentialism start growing old, you can always put an end to the debate with cogito ergo sum. René Descartes, the 17th-century French philosopher, coined the phrase as a means of justifying reality. According to him, nothing in life could be proven except one's thoughts. Well, so he thought, anyway.
Sui generis // "Unique and unable to classify". Refers to something that is so new, so bizarre, or so rare that it defies categorization. Granted, labeling something sui generis is really just classifying the unclassifiable.
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First class. Please read the course outline and bring your questions to class. There will be some instruction after the course outline dis...
Online
on my desktop
I will add some comments later if needed
on my desktop
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