Take a look at the following pictures below and think about how they can manipulate you to think and feel a certain way about war and soldiers.
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There are people out there who collect data on the things you do, and use it to persuade you and manipulate the way you do things. If you are like me, you have probably noticed your set of keys growing over the years with all the savings cards from every store. All those special savings cards are tracking your purchases and learning about the way you spend money. The websites that you visit are saving tracking cookies to your browser to keep track of your interests so they can maximize advertisements.
I recently read another post on the Mind Shift blog about how tech companies like Google, Facebook and YouTube manipulate you (you can find that article HERE). They are able to apply behavioral techniques and neuroscience to keep your attention. One of the tactics used is auto-play videos. When a video auto-plays, you don't have to hit any buttons or make a choice to watch, it happens on its own. Auto-play videos grab your attention better and keep your attention longer by playing other videos. Facebook has created an algorithm for notifications similar to what slot machines use, called variable rewards. Notifications can be a trigger for a reward response in the brain and the algorithm creates a timing for these notifications that keeps you hooked longer. These big companies have been dumping money into this science; learning the audience and figuring out ways to keep the audience's attention.
What if we used the same science and technology to help teach people important lessons? Could we use something like 'variable rewards' in a good way? OR do you think it would be worth it to dump loads of money into other science and technology to help with teaching things people need? Tell me your thoughts.
What if we used the same science and technology to help teach people important lessons? Could we use something like 'variable rewards' in a good way? OR do you think it would be worth it to dump loads of money into other science and technology to help with teaching things people need? Tell me your thoughts.
It is kind of scary the way you can search Amazon for an item and them watch it show up in your Facebook feed for weeks, I am not sure I like being watched that much. But in reality it is a very clever tool for marketing and keeping things you find relevant at your fingertips. I feel in a school or workplace it could be costly to use this type of science or data gathering, but if you payed attention to your students or employee needs or wants you could do something similar in along the lines of e-mails or lunchroom videos that were frequently changed and updated discussing topics your audience may have voiced an interest in.
ReplyDeleteI use data a lot in my job so it makes it slightly less scary to think about data tracking, but when I think about it a lot, I feel weird about it. I also agree that school couldn't afford that kind of research, but I wonder if they could look at the research already done and find a way to use it.
DeleteHi April,
ReplyDeleteGreat posting. I really don't like the idea of people tracking everything I do. Even if this were a benefit to education... I would prefer to maintain some privacy.
If I may ask, How do you ensure that you are not in copyright violation with your photos? Do you ask for permission or have you been able to identify them as public domain... and if so how did you make this identification or ask for permission? Also I have noticed that in previous postings you have cited your photos with a link underneath them that says "Pictures from here". How did you do that? Its pretty cool. I hope to learn from you. Thanks.
I agree, it is weird to think about how much privacy we have given up over the years.
DeleteThat is a great question Steve! There are websites that allow you to download pictures and use them free. Many of my pictures are taken from there. Sometimes I use other pictures and try to leave credit to the source that I found them and hope that I fall into 'fair use'. My view on copyright is that, you try to use the 'free use' photos when you can to avoid problems, but when you feel another photo works much better for what you are trying to teach, use that one and do what you can to fall into "fair use". The term "fair use" is kind of a grey area that takes lots of lawyers and people to sort out.
If you want to include a link in your posts, highlight the word you want to add a link to. At the top bar where you format your blog it says "link". Click that and add the website in there.
Hi April,
DeleteThanks for the help. I think you have a very good interpretation of copyright laws. I think maybe I need to relax a little. Still a little unsure about how to determine if a photo falls under fair use or not. But Ill get it figured out eventually.