Weekly Topics and Readings

Personal Background:

My name is Meara Hurtig, and I am currently a third year student studying sociology as a specialization. Post-graduation, I would love to pursue a career in either human resources or public relations, as a really enjoy working with people. I am also very interested in social media and it's impact on mental health. My ideal profession would be working for human resources at an organization such as Camh (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) or at a University or college. I was born and raised in Toronto, however after high school I decided to move to London for University. The change was of scene was a great experience and helped me grow as a person as I had to adapt to a different environment. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, upon a series of somewhat unfortunate events I decided to return home to be closer to family and friends. 

Interest in the Course:

Considering the vast shift in appropriation of knowledge, I thought it would be a good idea to learn a bit more about the technological aspects of communication as they continue to grow and influence the ways in which people behave. My background is in sociology, which I'm hoping will allow me to change perspective from a micro to a macro approach when needed. I have some knowledge of computers and their functioning as I took a few preliminary computer science courses at a post secondary level, however I am a bit nervous about learning the technical jargon as I find it difficult to comprehend and thus remember.  

Vision or Aspiration as an Active Learner:

As an active learner, I am hoping that this class will make me more comfortable with public speaking and expressing my thoughts and ideas in a clear and concise way. In my personal experience, the classes in which I retained the most knowledge were those where real life examples were brought up, and questions were constantly being thrown out that challenged old ideas.  It seems as though in our modern society that technological advancements are in a dialectical relationship with social behaviour, and it is interesting to see how various technologies can both hinder and increase social interaction.

I hope I can contribute to interactive class discussions and that my background in sociology can offer a different point of view for the information we will be learning this semester. I'm definitely excited to get to know fellow classmates as well as the professor and TA. To me, active learning means showing up to class and engaging with the information, which requires keeping up with the readings and jotting down any questions that may arise throughout. As well, as aforementioned, I am not very familiar with technical jargon or computer terminology which will mean looking up words I do not understand and trying to find a useful definition that may help others as well.  

Seeing as technology and the use of technological devices has become such a vital and integrated part of daily life in Canadian society, it would be very interesting to explore real life examples of where advancements have changed communication forever. Even considering this Wiki site or Twitter as an example, the shift in mass consciousness toward an "Internet society" is particularly meaningful when considering future jobs and what it could mean for development worldwide. With growing populations moving towards technology as a powerful tool for communication, I think it is also important to consider problems, such as cyber crime, rights to privacy and the authenticity of information (since anyone can create a website nowadays). Important factors such as power, control and media come into play when discussing knowledge. 

I enrolled in this course because I'm really hoping to gain an understanding of how knowledge and communication can foster development, and how these technologies are simultaneously shaping the ways in which we perceive the world.