The Technology that U + I Can(’t) Reach

Description

Within Digital Design, there is a hyperfocus on usability, straightforwardness, minimalism, and clarity. While making sure that all experiences with technology are inclusive and accessible to all who use it will always be an important priority, life is full of unique, fuzzy and intuitive experiences. Our digital devices have grown to exert greater and greater influence on our interactions with them, molding our hands and bodies to their needs. No matter if it’s a computer, digital software or code—How can we mold these technologies back and make it a conversation instead of a power dynamic?

This course will be interested in addressing questions such as:

• What are alternative visions for computers?
• How can computers be a tool that supports the community and pushes back against productivity driven metrics?
• What are the effects of the internet's networked culture on identity?
• What are commonalities between bodies and computers? Both in how systems treat them and in how they can be morphed?

Over the course of this five week workshop, we will be exploring The Technology that User + Interface Can(’t) Reach and the The Technology that You + I Can Reach.

Materials

• Glitch Account
We will be using glitch for our coding portion of the course.
• Computer
• CANVAS
You will submit your assignments through our Canvas Class.
• Zoom
In case you miss class, you'll be able to Zoom in. However, there are specific instances for Zoom! Review the policy below.

Outcomes

• critically assess how current designs for technology have shepherd them towards expressing themselves in specific ways.
• take the current landscape of current popular online digital tools and platforms and turn them into more malleable creative tools.
• Learn the basics of HTML & CSS to get across their ideas.
• think about technology's impact on identity and how to build more dynamic selves.
• Showcase all their work and research in a final student fair showcase.

Class Outline

Click on the links below to be taken to our agenda and class document for the day!

• Week 6: Class Overview & Relationship to Our Computer
• Week 7: Breaking Software Barriers, Past Visions of Future Software, & Current Remixing
• Week 8: The Web, Network Culture & Who You Are
• Week 9: Transhumanism & Bodies as Computers
• Week 10: TUICR Student Fair!

University, College, and Program Policies

Academic Integrity

Compromising your academic integrity may lead to serious consequences, including (but not limited to) one or more of the following: failure of the assignment, failure of the course, academic warning, disciplinary probation, suspension from the university, or dismissal from the university. Students are responsible for understanding the University’s policy on academic honesty and integrity and must make use of proper citations of sources for writing papers, creating, presenting, and performing their work, taking examinations, and doing research. It is the responsibility of students to learn the procedures specific to their discipline for correctly and appropriately differentiating their own work from that of others. The full text of the policy, including adjudication procedures, is found at http://www.newschool.edu/policies/ . Resources regarding what plagiarism is and how to avoid it can be found on the Learning Center’s website: http://www.newschool.edu/university-learning-center/student-resources/ Intellectual Property Rights: http://www.newschool.edu/provost/accreditation-policies/ Grading Policies: http://www.newschool.edu/registrar/academic-policies/

Student Responsibility

Students are responsible for all assignments, even if they are absent. Late papers, failure to complete the readings assigned for class discussion, and lack of preparedness for in-class discussions and presentations will jeopardize your successful completion of this course.

Class Delays

In rare instances, instructors may be delayed for synchronous sessions. If they have not joined by the time the session is scheduled to start, you must wait a minimum of thirty minutes for their arrival. In the event that they will miss a session entirely, an announcement will be made on Canvas indicating any work that should be completed before the next synchronous session.

Open Source Policy

You are encouraged to help each other out with programming, but unless otherwise specified you must turn in your own work. Initially it is expected that you will be coding from scratch without re-using or modifying other people’s code. After midterm reuse and modification of code will be allowed, but only under very strict terms. Copying/pasting and reusing code is a key part of the programming process, especially while learning. You often learn best by modifying working examples rather than starting from scratch. We stand on the shoulders of giants; that’s the essence of the open-source philosophy. However, there is a very important caveat: any open-source code you borrow and/or modify must be labeled as such. That is, you must include, in your work, the name of the author, the source URL, the types of open-source license, and you must make clear which lines of code are not yours. If you fail to do this, you will fail the class. It is very, very easy to get this right, though, so if you take a moment’s time to label your work correctly, you will not have a problem. Just be diligent and honest.

Resources

The university provides many resources to help students achieve academic and artistic excellence. These resources include:

• University Libraries and Archives: http://library.newschool.edu (See also Reserves)
• University Learning Center: http://www.newschool.edu/learning-center
• Student Disability Services: www.newschool.edu/student-disability-services/
• If you are a student with a disability/disabled student, or believe you might have a disability that requires accommodations, please contact the Student Disability Services (SDS) at studentdisability@newschool.edu, or 212-229-5626, to coordinate all reasonable accommodation requests.
• The New School Food Assistance: For more information on food assistance and additional resources, please click on the link below: https://www.newschool.edu/student-support-crisis-management/student-food-pantry-faq/
• Health and Wellness: For information about services and support available to New School students please click on the link below: https://www.newschool.edu/campus-community/health-wellness-support/

Credits

This class site was built with HTML, CSS and most importantly, LOVE and CARE by Kevin Cadena.