Communication, Culture and Technology (CCT) Georgetown University Spring 2017

1. Communication, Culture and Technology (CCT) Georgetown University Spring 2017 Fundamentals of Technology Evan Barba J.R. Osborn

2. Today Structure of the course & Key Concepts

3. Why fundamentals?

4. Why fundamentals? Change to information technology (IT) is constant and ongoing

5. Why fundamentals? Change to information technology (IT) is constant and ongoing Positioning CCT students to make a contribution to that dialogue is one goal of 506.

6. A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

7. The woman below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

8. "You must be an engineer," said the balloonist. “Everything you told me is, technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

9. The woman below responded, "You must be in Management.” "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

10. “You don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems.

11. “The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

12. A role for CCT students

13. Instructors Evan Barba JR Osborn

14. Teaching Assistants* all sections meet in Car Barn 318 * Grace Gu Wed. 10:00-10:50 am Lina McVey Wed. 5:00-5:50 pm Katherine Hild Wed. 6:00-6:50 pm Mariam Karimi Thurs. 10:00-10:50 am Yasheng She Thurs. 2:00- 2:50 pm Komal Sachdeva Thurs. 5:00-5:50 pm

15. Course Evaluation 10% – Attendance & Participation 20% – Weekly Assignments and Deliverables 30% – Exam (March 21 – In Class) 40% – Final Group Projects

16. Course goal: Learn how to do open the blackbox of a sociotechnical system and communicate your findings to a wide audience Case study in 506: information technology

17. In this class we will de-black box the information and communications technologies (ICTs) that make up the computing infrastructure we rely on. To give you knowledge: Because ICTs are ubiquitous and knowing how they work is fundamental to most work in the world To model a method: Because de-black boxing can be applied to any sociotechnical system

18. Opening the ‘black box’

19. Architecture – A specific way of organizing the flow and representation of information • Algorithm – a series of steps that move information from one state to another A blackbox is a thing that does something

20. ‘De-Black Boxing’ Fake News Every 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

21. ‘De-Black Boxing’ Fake News Where is the blackbox? “one of the world’s most influential, controversial, and misunderstood algorithms” “a closely guarded and constantly shifting formula “

22. ‘De-Black Boxing’ Fake News • Input to this algorithm: • 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

23. ‘De-Black Boxing’ Fake News What is the output of the blackbox? “the precise order of how likely you are to find each post worthwhile”

24. ‘De-Black Boxing’ Fake News 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?

25. Every blackbox is a “Sociotechnical System” The “systems approach” • Define the system • Describe the interactions of components • Elaborate connections to the environment

26. What tools do you need to open a black box? (Framework for 21st Century Learning) only a small number of these are specialized • How the Facebook algorithm works, for example. The rest are transferrable skills that can be applied to any black box These skills are what you will practice in this class

27. Sociotechnical System

28. Sociotechnical System

29. Sociotechnical System

31. “Black boxes all the way down” • Deciding which boxes to open and which can stay shut is a big part of what we call “expertise”

32. This is one state of a sociotechnical system

33. Sociotechnical System

34. Sociotechnical System

35. Sociotechnical System Pedestrian A Driver The Road A Traffic Light Traffic Laws regulation communicates distracts observes/ regulates regulation embodiment regulation cellphone

37. Sociotechnical System Pedestrian The Road A Traffic Light Traffic Laws distracts embodiment regulation cellphone

38. That gets you here SPLAT!

39. Sociotechnical System Pedestrian A ??? The Road A Traffic Light Traffic Laws regulation ??? distracts observes/ regulates regulation embodiment regulation cellphone

40. Understanding systems… Understanding environment and society as a system means thinking about parts, processes, and connections.

41. What is a system? • 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.

42. Sociotechnical System Pedestrian A Driver The Road A Traffic Light Traffic Laws regulation communicates distracts observes/ regulates regulation embodiment regulation cellphone

43. Procedures for Drawing a Systems Model • Draw the frame of attention that selects the boundary • This separates the system from the environment • Make a list of the important input pathways that cross the boundary • This fleshes out the environment and provides “Context” for the system • Make a list of the components believed to be important • These can later be grouped into sub-systems • 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

44. Procedures for Drawing a Systems Model 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)

45. This week… • Week 1: January 17-19 • Lecture: Black boxes and Socio-technical Systems • Readings and Videos (for section): • "Systems Map" and "Influence Diagram" at Welcome to T552 Diagramming • Deliverables (due next lecture): Student Survey • Lab Activity: Diagramming Socio-technical Systems

46. This week… and next • Week 2: January 24-26 • Lecture: Technology as Actors in Systems • Readings and Videos (for lecture): • Latour, B. [as Jim Johnson] (1988) • Pinch, T. J. and W. E. Bijker (1987) • Winner, L. (1980) • Recommended: Clark, A. and Chalmers D. (1998) • Deliverables (due in lecture): • Student survey • Socio-technical system diagram of your 505 project