Communication,CultureandTechnology(CCT)GeorgetownUniversitySpring2018

FundamentalsofTechnology

EvanBarba

J.R.Osborn

Today

Structure of the course &

Key Concepts

Whyfundamentals?

•  Changetoinformationtechnology(IT)isconstantandongoing

•  PositioningCCTstudentstomakeacontributiontothatdialogueisonegoalof506.

Amaninahotairballoonrealizedhewaslost.Hereducedaltitudeandspottedawomanbelow.Heshouted,"Excuseme,canyouhelpme?IpromisedafriendIwouldmeethimanhourago,butIdon'tknowwhereIam."

Thewomanbelowreplied,"You'reinahotairballoon30feetabovetheground.You'rebetween40and41degreesnorthlatitudeandbetween59and60degreeswestlongitude."

"Youmustbeanengineer,"saidtheballoonist.“Everythingyoutoldmeis,technicallycorrect,butI'venoideawhattomakeofyourinformation,andthefactisI'mstilllost.Frankly,you'venotbeenmuchhelpatall.Ifanything,you'vedelayedmytrip."

Thewomanbelowresponded,"YoumustbeinManagement.”"Iam,"repliedtheballoonist,"buthowdidyouknow?"

“Youdon'tknowwhereyouareorwhereyou'regoing.Youhaverisentowhereyouareduetoalargequantityofhotair.Youmadeapromisewhichyou'venoideahowtokeep,andyouexpectpeoplebeneathyoutosolveyourproblems.

“Thefactisyouareinexactlythesamepositionyouwereinbeforewemet,butnow,somehow,it'smyfault."

AroleforCCTstudents

Instructors EvanBarba

JROsborn

TeachingAssistants*allsectionsmeetinCarBarn318*

MadhaviReddi MCGayosoJiangeSun BeckyWhite AlexMacgregor RebeccaKielty

CourseSite:https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/cctp-506-spring2018/

CourseEvaluation10%–Attendance&Participation20%–WeeklyAssignmentsandDeliverables30%–Exam(March20–InClass)40%–FinalGroupProjects

Coursegoal:

Learnhowtoopenthe ofasociotechnicalsystemandcommunicate

yourfindingstoawideaudience

Casestudyin506:informationtechnology

Inthisclasswewillde-blackboxtheinformationandcommunicationstechnologies(ICTs)thatmakeupthecomputinginfrastructurewerelyon.Togiveyouknowledge:BecauseICTsareubiquitousandknowinghowtheyworkisfundamentaltomostworkintheworldTomodelamethod:Becausede-blackboxingcanbeappliedtoanysociotechnicalsystem

Openingthe‘blackbox’

•  Architecture–Aspecificwayoforganizingtheflowandrepresentationofinformation

•  Algorithm–aseriesofstepsthatmoveinformationfromonestatetoanother

A isathingthatdoessomething

‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNewsEvery 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

‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNews

Where is the blackbox? “one of the world’s most influential, controversial, and misunderstood algorithms” “a closely guarded and constantly shifting formula “

‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNewsEvery 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

‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNews

Input to the black box: 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

‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNews

What is the output of the ?

POSTS “the precise order of how likely you are to find each post worthwhile”

‘De-BlackBoxing’FakeNews

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?

Every blackbox is a “Sociotechnical System” The“systemsapproach”

– Definethesystem– Describetheinteractionsofcomponents– Elaborateconnectionstotheenvironment

Whattoolsdoyouneedtoopenablackbox?

onlyasmallnumberofthesearespecialized•  HowtheFacebookalgorithmworks,forexample.

Therestaretransferrableskillsthatcanbeappliedtoanyblackbox

Theseskillsarewhatyouwillpracticeinthisclass

(Frameworkfor21stCenturyLearning)

SociotechnicalSystem

SociotechnicalSystem

SociotechnicalSystem

“Blackboxesallthewaydown”

Decidingwhichboxestoopenandwhichcanstayshutisabigpartofwhatwecall“expertise”

Thisisonestateofasociotechnicalsystem

SociotechnicalSystem

SociotechnicalSystem

SociotechnicalSystem

Pedestrian ADriver

ATrafficLight

TheRoad TrafficLaws

cellphone

SociotechnicalSystem

Pedestrian ADriver

ATrafficLight

TheRoad TrafficLaws

cellphone

SociotechnicalSystem

Pedestrian ATrafficLight

TheRoad TrafficLaws

cellphone

Thatgetsyouhere

SociotechnicalSystem

PedestrianA???

ATrafficLight

TheRoad TrafficLaws

cellphone

Understanding environment and society as a system

means thinking about parts, processes, and connections.

Understanding systems…

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.

What is a system?

SociotechnicalSystem

Pedestrian ADriver

ATrafficLight

TheRoad TrafficLaws

cellphone

Procedures for Drawing a Systems Model

1.  Draw the frame of attention that selects the boundary

This separates the system from the environment

2.  Make a list of the important input pathways that cross the boundary

This fleshes out the environment and provides “Context” for the system

3.  Make a list of the components believed to be important

These can later be grouped into sub-systems

4.  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

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)

Procedures for Drawing a Systems Model

Thisweek…

•  Week1:January17-19– Lecture:BlackboxesandSocio-technicalSystems– ReadingsandVideos(forsection):

•  "SystemsMap"and"InfluenceDiagram"atWelcometoT552Diagramming

– Deliverables(duenextlecture):StudentSurvey– LabActivity:DiagrammingSocio-technicalSystems

Thisweek…andnext

•  Week2:January24-26– Lecture:TechnologyasActorsinSystems– ReadingsandVideos(forlecture):

•  Latour,B.[asJimJohnson](1988)•  Pinch,T.J.andW.E.Bijker(1987)• Winner,L.(1980)•  Recommended:Clark,A.andChalmersD.(1998)

– Deliverables(dueinlecture):•  Studentsurvey•  Socio-technicalsystemdiagramofyour505project