It is funny to me to see this sentence in Chapter 3. I traveled to Martinsburg, WV (3 hour drive in one direction from my house) with the intention of teaching educators how to begin a Jr. FIRST LEGO League (K-3rd grade) and how to use it as an instructional tool. Somehow at some point towards the end the whole room became a debate basically on the topic of "What has gone wrong in our school system" with portions of it contributing to the lack of procedural abilities or follow through skills and concept application skills. The above quote about closed questions is exactly one of the reasons are students have trouble taking knowledge one step further into the application realm. As a science teacher, I can add to this quote by adding "cookbook labs" as a failed attempt to teach application as well. Cookbook labs are very precise and the outcome is known before the lab is finished. That is not how real science works and I think it projects a very tarnished view for students. While some cookbook labs can be fun, what is the point in testing if you already know the answer?
Citation
Hobbs, R. (2011). Digital and media literacy: connecting culture and classroom. (p. 54). Thousand Oaks, CA: A Sage Company.
1. Who is the author and what is the purpose?
Employment Policy Institute paid for the ad. I'm assuming they can take credit as the author but I'm not sure. Apparently the robot was part of an ad that was placed in the Wall Street Journal in August 2013 as an alternative to paying restaurant workers $15/hr. The robot could do all the work (aka flip burgers) for a much cheaper price.
2. What creative techniques are used to attract and hold attention.
First of all it is a robot. It is the epitome of technology and pure awesomeness, to be honest. Second, the minimum wage debacle is an ever increasing concern in many political stances. Thirdly, having robots take over our jobs is a serious scare tactic. Hello?! Skynet! Hopefully he won't try to take over the world and "terminate" us all, as cool as he is.
3. How might different people understand this message?
Those who are fighting for more than the standard current minimum wage would see such a modern marvel as a threat to their income. Employers could see the 15 jointed modern marvel as a viable alternative as stated in the ad. Of course, technology gurus love any news that brings us closer to a technology high. As an educator in robotics, I'm in awe myself. This robot has more than 7 degrees of freedom (I believe). Creating modern marvels such as this robot is something that I hope, maybe one day, one of my students is able to accomplish.
4. What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented?
Since it was placed in the Wall Street Journal it obviously an ad to attract business man. The point of view comes from the fact that business man need a reduction in cost when it comes to labor. Why mess with the needs of real people, when all that is required of a robot is an occasional upgrade in software or a possible reboot?
5. What is omitted?
The fact that this robot was not made to actually flip burgers. I cannot imagine the cost to buy a robot with the amount of capacity this one has. The kitchen set the robot is in was only an exhibition kitchen to show off what all the robot can do. This was uncovered by the Huffington Post article that I found. Seeing something like the picture could be startling without the background knowledge that it was merely a publicity stunt. Especially for those fighting for higher wages. The people who created the ad above, do not feel they are being misleading but I can't see how it wouldn't be misleading. They created an ad from a 2009 Japanese exhibit.
The creators of Motoman claim that this robot would do poorly in a chef line of many reasons. He cannot deviate from preset instructions meaning that if the customer wanted extra onions or ketchup it would not be possible for Motoman to decipher the instruction. He can also not lift more than 45 lbs which would make it hard for him in cases where he dealt with larger quantities of food, possibly potato sacks. And additionally - humidity would kill him, literally. The fries wouldn't be the only thing frying - so would his circuits.
Deconstruction
Deconstruction in this case will lead to students evaluating how technology is going to be used in the future. Could we possibly have robots doing jobs that require minimum wage? Possibly. But how probable is it? Is it really affordable for businesses to have a robot like the one above? Not at this point in the technology game. Maybe in the future burger flipping robots will be all the rage. What is the economic value of the above robot in comparison to a handful of employees? What is the limitation to robots in a kitchen? These are all things students should really think about on a critical level before taking the ad seriously. Especially since it was uncovered as a false ad. A little research on my end went a long way in uncovering the truth.
2. What creative techniques are used to attract and hold attention.
First of all it is a robot. It is the epitome of technology and pure awesomeness, to be honest. Second, the minimum wage debacle is an ever increasing concern in many political stances. Thirdly, having robots take over our jobs is a serious scare tactic. Hello?! Skynet! Hopefully he won't try to take over the world and "terminate" us all, as cool as he is.
3. How might different people understand this message?
Those who are fighting for more than the standard current minimum wage would see such a modern marvel as a threat to their income. Employers could see the 15 jointed modern marvel as a viable alternative as stated in the ad. Of course, technology gurus love any news that brings us closer to a technology high. As an educator in robotics, I'm in awe myself. This robot has more than 7 degrees of freedom (I believe). Creating modern marvels such as this robot is something that I hope, maybe one day, one of my students is able to accomplish.
4. What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented?
Since it was placed in the Wall Street Journal it obviously an ad to attract business man. The point of view comes from the fact that business man need a reduction in cost when it comes to labor. Why mess with the needs of real people, when all that is required of a robot is an occasional upgrade in software or a possible reboot?
5. What is omitted?
The fact that this robot was not made to actually flip burgers. I cannot imagine the cost to buy a robot with the amount of capacity this one has. The kitchen set the robot is in was only an exhibition kitchen to show off what all the robot can do. This was uncovered by the Huffington Post article that I found. Seeing something like the picture could be startling without the background knowledge that it was merely a publicity stunt. Especially for those fighting for higher wages. The people who created the ad above, do not feel they are being misleading but I can't see how it wouldn't be misleading. They created an ad from a 2009 Japanese exhibit.
The creators of Motoman claim that this robot would do poorly in a chef line of many reasons. He cannot deviate from preset instructions meaning that if the customer wanted extra onions or ketchup it would not be possible for Motoman to decipher the instruction. He can also not lift more than 45 lbs which would make it hard for him in cases where he dealt with larger quantities of food, possibly potato sacks. And additionally - humidity would kill him, literally. The fries wouldn't be the only thing frying - so would his circuits.
Deconstruction
 |
| Deconstruction |
Deconstruction in this case will lead to students evaluating how technology is going to be used in the future. Could we possibly have robots doing jobs that require minimum wage? Possibly. But how probable is it? Is it really affordable for businesses to have a robot like the one above? Not at this point in the technology game. Maybe in the future burger flipping robots will be all the rage. What is the economic value of the above robot in comparison to a handful of employees? What is the limitation to robots in a kitchen? These are all things students should really think about on a critical level before taking the ad seriously. Especially since it was uncovered as a false ad. A little research on my end went a long way in uncovering the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment