Questions on Schon, Sanyal and Mitchell ch 13-14

1) pp. 317 How does Alan Shaw use his African heritage to discuss IT in this opening page? 318 What is his fundamental critique of IT design?

2) Pp. 319-20 What is the relationship between Piaget’s constructivism and the STS concept of constructionism?

3) 320-21 What are some examples of a constructionist view of an ordinary, low-tech community?

4) 321-22 How might IT be used to enhance the social construction of community in physically proximate areas? Why did we need to specify physically proximate?

5) 323 What is a MUD, and how was that used as a model for MUSIC?

6) 324-326 Explain the capabilities of MUSIC.

7) 327-8 What institutions played a role in the implementation of MUSIC in Newark?

8) 329-330 How were families incorporated into the Newark implementation?

9) 330-331 What kinds of organization occurred through MUSIC? How did these organizing efforts come about?

10)332-334 How were social issues addressed in the MUSIC system, and what changes occurred?

11)339-340 Summarize Turkle’s comparison between Tardieu’s street computers, MUDs, and Shaw’s MUSIC.

12)341 What is Oldenberg’s “third place” and how does Turkle apply the concept to IT? What social issues arise in making such connections?

13)342-343 What was computer culture like the the 1970s? How did that affect the introduction of the Apple computer?

14)344-5 How did the meaning of the word “transparency” shift with the introduction of the Macintosh? How did that reflect a shift in the technology’s political associations?

15)345-6 How does Harry’s narrative describe the transparency shift?

16)346-7 In what way does Turkle see Tardieu and Shaw’s contributions as a less naïve political theory of technology than that of the 1970s?