Framework for Developing My IE (to be revised soon)

Framework for Developing My IE (to be revised soon...

By Kota

1) Identify developing issues (Self analysis)

Education is certainly the most important problem in present Japanese society. Children make the next age and the new world. In order to construct better future, we have to reconsider our ways of education -- especially our educational system.
Japanese educational system seems to have many problems. School is no longer a comfotable space for children but sometimes a kind of prison.
There are many people (for example conservatism) who claim to reform Japanese educational system. Prime minister Abe is maybe the most famous example. However, they often seem to disregard the voices of Children. They just insist that it is necessary to reconstruct education for nation -- not for children themselves.
What is most needed now is a educational system desigined to help children grow freely.

2) Research and analysis issue (Credibility)

3) Stake out a public position - your "sticky message" (Audience)

4) Build social network (Organisational base)

5) IE homepage: Stake out a personal public presence (Design)

My IE (Ver. 2) and The Map of IE

My Issue Entrepreneurship (Ver. 2)

Your message.
1. What is your sticky message? (Barabasi 3) What is the idea you wish to promote or issue/problem you want to try to 'solve'?

The Japanese educational system should be reformed to be a more liberal institituion in order to solve many educational problems in Japan. Especially it has to reflect students’ opinions much more, and thus, students should be enabled to choose what kind of school they go to, including free school, alternative school, and home schooling.


Knowledge of social network.
2. Who is your strategic social group? Can you identify and define the organisational base you will need to develop and/or tap into?

Students.
Parents.
Teachers.
Of course, shcool.


Strategy for network building.
3. How will work to create your organisational base? How will you spread and encourage others to take up your message?

I will make a blog and write my opinion on it. Then, I will register the blog in many search engines so that many people can find it. Also I will ask people to link their Web sites to my blog.

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The Map of My IE (subject to change)

Questions: Agre, p. 210 & pp. 210-214.

1. What is the central problem for citizens in democracies?

The central problem is how each citizen can take part in politics and deal with political problems.

2. What skills do citizens need?

They need skills to deal with problems actively. In other words, they need skills to detect significant political issues, prepare efficiently, and organize social networks in order to solve the problems.

3. What term does the author use to describe the process citizens use to promote their concerns about an issue?

"Issue lattice."

4. What steps are the four steps in this process?

1) The Vertical Dimension

2) The Geographic Dimension

3) The Institutional Dimension

4) The Ideological Dimension

p. 212-214
Write two of your own questions on the ideas and issues raised in this section. Lead a class discussion next session.

5. How does the recent development of Internet technologies (e.g., blog, wiki) contribute to the process of democracy presented in the text?

6. Is social networking always useful for democracy as the author says? It sometimes gives dangers to democracy. For example, undemocratic terrorists and reactionaries often make use of social networks.

7. Based on the ideas and issues raised on these pages, what additions, deletions, or modifications suggest themselves to you in planning and implementing your Issue Entrepreneurship? Tell about your ideas.

Before reading the text, I was ignorant about the contribution of Issue Entrepreneurship to democracy. Now I will begin my Issue Entrepreneurship regarding it as an important democratic procedure.
Also I would like to investigate the value of social computing as a tool of IE.

Summary: Kahn and Kellner pp.183-185, pp.190-198.

While criticizing unreal optimism, Kahn and Kellner insists that the Internet and new informational technologies have the potential to construct an alternative form of democracy, and thus the Internet has to be reconsidered from this political viewpoint. As we can see from the example of Iraq war, launched by the president Bush, the world has been involved in many conflicts and the tide of globalization. Kahn and Kellner admit that the Internet is actually utilized by such people as reactionaries, capitalists, and terrorists. However they strongly claim that many people have promoted democracy via the Internet as well. Also they regard the recent technological revolution in the Internet like blog and wiki as an important factor for the development of democracy.

Questions (Barabasi: The Sixth Link pp. 25-35)

Barabasi: The Sixth Link pp. 25-35

1. What is the principle of six degrees of separation? What number of social links does any one person need to be connected to global society? p. 30

"Six degrees of separation" means that a person is separated from a randomly selected person by six acquaintances on average, and it implies we all live in dense networks of people. In order to connect global society, we just need more than one social link.

2. How is the fabric of society today different from pre-internet society? p. 31

The fabric of society today is more densely stitched than that of pre-internet society because informational nodes are far more multiply connected due to the Internet.

3. How many more links separate any pair of web pages compared to people in society? What can explain the difference? p. 34

Any pair of web pages is separated by about nineteen links and people are separated by six social links. Separation of web pages needs thirteen links more than that of people.

4. So far, what ranges of separation have network scientists discovered in different kinds of networks? p. 34

Species in food webs (2 links)

Molecules in the cell (3 links)

Scientists in different fields of science (4 to 6 links)

The neurons in the brain of the C. elegans worm (14 links)

5. What does research suggest about the fundamentals of networks? p.34-35

If the number of links increases, each node is less separated from other nodes. Thus, the average separation of nodes in a network is not so long.

6. What is your estimate of your personal number of connections to society? What connections are your strongest?

My personal number of connection is maybe 60 or so. I have my strongest connections in ICU.