May 13

The variances of College Access

The Contributions of Economics to the Study of College Access and Success

http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=12582

  • Economics: The primary framework in economics of education is the human capital model developed by Gary Becker in his seminal 1964 work.2 Education is thought to increase human capital, a set of skills that can be “rented out” to employers for income. When deciding whether to continue their education, individuals compare the benefits of human capital to the costs of obtaining it. In terms of higher education decisions, an individual will weigh the costs and benefits, both monetary and otherwise, to decide whether to prepare for college, enroll in a postsecondary institution, and continue until completing a college degree.
  • First, individuals may have liquidity constraints, or the inability to secure capital to pay for their human capital investments.
  • Resources: Preparation phase, financing phase

HISTORY
http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=12566

  • History is not about providing lessons — it is about giving an interpretation of something
  • This is what we know — these are implications of what exist, and these are recommendations
  • Market forces of the underrepresented
  • what we know and the impolication with respect to marit — use to gain access or limit access
  • race gender and then class with respect to inequities of college access
  • Desegregation was considered a “good”

Key Findings

Economics
http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=12582

  • The presence of externalities, another theoretical concept in economics, is a second major market failure. Externalities are defined as spillovers that affect other parties.
  • Economists — less to do with money and more to do with the way in which human capital investments
  • At the core of their work, economists aim to establish a causal relationship rather than one based on the correlation of trends or patterns. The distinction between correlation and causation is an important one as many variables related to issues involving education appear to move together.
  • College prep/access — creating someone who will help with the cyclical of economics

HISTORY
http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=12566

  • Preparation and then access for certain groups
  • Inequities within K-12 and the university
  • Merit and qualities of preparation: Along with inequalities in preparation, the evolving concept of meritocratic admissions has been another historical barrier to equal access to higher education. Although the increasing interest in “merit” once served to expand access to college by opening admissions to academically skilled but socially or economically marginalized students, it became a hurdle for equal access by the final third of the twentieth century.
  • We assumed that desegregation is a good thing — there may be value in spaces in segregated spaces
  • race and gender are the only things spoken about with respect to the history of education

Key Enduring Questions

  • Economics: How do you measure human beings as a product of success — ?
  • Economics: How do humans contribute?
  • History: What is really going on within higher education? Why the 1960s?
  • History: Is there value in segregated spaces?
  • History: Who else faces inequities in education?
  • History: The establishment of unwritten rules and the perpetuation of how things WILL be done — who will challenge these rules
  • History: Merit and what is meant by it would help frame history literature
  • History: Historians have not yet adequately addressed the question of why inequities in preparation persisted even after the formal ideologies supporting inequality had been rejected. Although it seems unlikely that historians will discover any smoking guns, additional historical research might help to illuminate the influence of structural factors, such as institutional diversity and suburbanization, and cultural factors, such as teacher expectations and prejudices.

Anthropologist

  • Frame: socio-cultural context — individual and system
  • Key Findings: family experience, cultural capital,
  • “Much of what anthropology has to tell us about transitions to college is how students negotiate schooling to create academic identifications, access and construct networks rich in social and cultural capital, and experience a sense of belonging. It tells us about how students and their families secure funding for college—and how, in various and multiple ways, family members get involved in or are excluded from college-going processes.”

Sociology

  • Frame: SES || Face/ Gender / Class
  • Key Findings: Systems and individuals / economic / K-16 Focus / College prep for under-rep
  • A lot of the research in the area is K-12 focused and not higher education focused
  • What do we know about the transition to college? “The human, economic and social capital invested in this transition, and in subsequent college completion, is enormous in individual, community, and institutional terms.” by William Trent, Margaret Terry Orr, Sheri Ranis & Jennifer Holdaway — 2007 (http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=12594)
  • “In addition to and intersecting with the examination of the role of academic achievement, the social-psychological dimensions of college success have also been considered by sociologists, mainly in an attempt to understand the role of aspirations, expectations, and college plans. A major component of the schooling experience with which so
    ciologists are concerned is how social and cultural capital mediate the relationship between social background and college success.     ” by William Trent, Margaret Terry Orr, Sheri Ranis & Jennifer Holdaway — 2007

Demographers
Frames: Migration | Fertility | Family structures
Findings: Women who have children in their teens have less schooling | chilfdren in parent households have better outcomes in education

Higher Education
Frames: College perparation | College access | Persistance to college outcomes
Findings: Limited methods | Call for longitudinal data sets

Teachers College Record Volume 109 Number 10, 2007, p. 2207-2221
http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 12594, Date Accessed: 5/13/2008 11:46:04 AM

May 13

Appropriating the Internet for Social Change: Towards the Strategic Use of Networked Technologies by Transnational Civil Society Organizations

Appropriating the Internet for Social Change: Towards the Strategic Use of Networked Technologies by Transnational Civil Society Organizations

Prepared by Mark Surman and Katherine Reilly

The goal of this report is to explore the question of how civil society can use – and is using – networked technologies strategically. More specifically, the report reviews a number of current strategic uses of these technologies by transnational civil society organizations with an aim to understanding both the potential and the challenges ahead. By extension, the report does not look at local civil society groups, nor does it explore ‘information and communications technologies’ such as desktop publishing or CD-ROMs that are not networked or interconnected with each other. The terrain we are exploring is decidedly global and networked.

In an attempt to paint a picture of what ‘strategic use’ looks like, the bulk of the report focuses on the work of transnational civil society organizations that might be considered leaders and innovators – groups that are effectively appropriating network technologies to serve their own ends. The body of the report is divided into four main chapters that profile organizations like these within the context of four clearly emerging areas of strategic Internet use: collaboration, publishing, mobilization, and observation.

May 13

Structures of Participation in Digital Culture by Karaganis, Joe, ed. New York: Social Science Research Council, 2007.

“Structures of Participation in Digital Culture, edited by SSRC Program Director Joe Karaganis, explores digital technologies that are engines of cultural innovation, from the virtualization of group networks and social identities to the digital convergence of textural and audio-visual media. User-centered content production, from Wikipedia to YouTube to Open Source, has become the emblem of this transformation, but the changes run deeper and wider than these novel organizational forms. Digital culture is also about the transformation of what it means to be a creator within a vast and growing reservoir of media, data, computational power, and communicative possibilities. We have few tools and models for understanding the power of databases, network representations, filtering techniques, digital rights management, and the other new architectures of agency and control. We have fewer accounts of how these new capacities transform our shared cultures, our understanding of them, and our capacities to act within them. Advancing that account is the goal of this volume.”

THE BOOK

Contents

May 12

why should we care about college access

College access is fundamentally a question of social opportunity – a question of democracy: who gets to participate, how, when, where and under what conditions….

  • College access == macro
  • college choice == micro
  • higher education opportunity
  • educational opportunity == operationalized in a lot of different ways — K-12 framework without an end game — to and from across the lifespan — shaped by the facilities we are shaped by — resources, home, etc.
  • transition to college == phenomenon — from HS to college and how the transition gets made — this is what the framing focuses in on — TC Record focused on this
  • college access and success == credo of the Lumina Foundation — not just getting them there — but helping them succeed while they are there at college — do not separate the two
  • post-secondary opportunity == tech ITT-tech; cert programs at community college

Prominent Metaphors

  • Educational pipeline == linear orientation
  • Education path/pathway ==
  • River of opportunity
  • College admissions game
  • The heart of education
  • College access as social text(s)

May 12

College Access

Higher Education Improves Society

poverty
racism
sexiasm
homophobia
homelessness
health & wellness
curriculum
pedagogy

May 12

Budget Reduction at University of Florida

http://www.president.ufl.edu/budget-reduction/proposal.html

May 01

Final Project for Pedagogy & Dissent by Laura Bestler-Wilcox


The Final Piece: Searching: Online Identity Work

http://bestlerwilcox.com/Final_Project/

Searching: Online Identity Work

Laura Bestler-Wilcox

615C HGED: Annotated Bibliography

Iowa State University

May 1, 2008

Project Summary

My final project will be a computer graphic piece which explores my personal transformation. This transformation occurred while discovering how traditional aged undergraduate students search to express the intersections and complexities of their self-identities via online social networks. Finding the ways in which students do identity work and interact with each other through their transformations. The social justice within this work delves into how students’ see their positions within society, and the way in which they portray themselves. The majority of my semester experience has created more ideas. I am learning from my journey which will help me to tell a stronger story in my scholarly projects.

I am experiencing similar challenges as anyone does finding their place in society. It is a tiring time. I personally have experienced mind trips in social justice discussions. I come home from class and work with my brain hurting to the point of migraine. I am struggling to grasp the next phase in my academic journeys. I am struggling to put an identity on my work, when I am still finding which direction I will be heading in the academe. Do I need to have an identity? Do I need to have a solid footing in one direction or another? Am I able to create inter-identity which meets my needs? Would this identity exist in a third space or is it a part of my whole being? When traditional aged undergraduates are doing identity work – are they experiencing similar transformations – or is the fluidity normal for them to experience?

I have found some guidance with respect to these questions within the annotated bibliography notated below. I hope the information accouters you with a resource for future interest in online society and how it impacts the world.

Annotated Bibliography

Anzaldúa, G. (1987). Borderlands/La Frontera: The new mestiza. San Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lude.

The author shares a personal journey expressive with poems, anecdotes, and discovery of a third space. The third space provides strength and individuality to identify multiple identities in self-reflection. This book is deep with words of wisdom, oppression, and identity work. It is a respectful representation of how strength is found through the transformational learning found in identity work.

Barlow, J. (1996). A Declaration of independence of cyberspace. Retrieved on April 17, 2008 from http://homes.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html. Davos, Switzerland. This short manifesto describes the freedom of the internet prior to the explosion of self-expression in mainstream use.

Buckingham, D. (Ed.). (2008). Youth, identity,, and digita media. Massachusetts: M.I.T. (Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work Unported 3.0). This edited book features the space in which youth present themselves, the importance of participation from the masses, and the active engagement occurring with or without direction. Youth are constructing their social identities via online networks, and collectivity. Each chapter presenting knowledge based upon observation, conversations, and data. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning provide a broad perspective on how media is shaping our world.

Downes, D. (2005). Interactive realism. Québec: McGill-Queen’s University Press. The author writes a methodological interpretive theory describing the social construction of the online community. The text frames how human interaction is constructed via computer-mediated communication. This book is divisive with respect to internet accessibility and how the world view held within online words and imagines.

Everett, A. (Ed.). (2008). Learning race and ethnicity: Youth and digital media. Massachusetts: M.I.T. (Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work Unported 3.0. This volume demonstrates how the online world is a place for underrepresented youth today to speak their words, share their stories, and help bring democracy to the generational masses. Each chapter utilizing varying methodological techniques to record what has happened or is happening within the online world. Collaboration between youth, and the messages shared is a strong theme throughout the book. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning provides a broad perspective on how media is shaping our world.

Fine, A. (2006). Momentum: Igniting social change in the connected age. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. The main theme is how to organize and connect people utilizing the current communications tools to reach an organizational goal. The author has multiple examples and demonstrates them via short case studies. Simple to read, and somewhat common sense oriented, the book brings light to the current opportunities found in online social networking, cell phones, etc.

Foster, A. (2007, June). Virtual worlds as social-science labs. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Section: Information Technology. 53 (44). p. A25. Retrieved on March 19, 2008 from http://chronicle.com. This is an observational editorial with respect to online communities, human interactions, and how society may be reflected within the virtual world.

Hannula, M. (2001). Third space – a merry-go-round of opportunity. Retrieved on April 8, 2008 from http://www.kiasma.fi/index.php?id=169&L=1&FL=1. Short and abstract discussion about how a third space provides room for identity engagement, a
nd development. The author describes the third space as a world with no rules, no guidelines, and only opportunities for self-expression. The third space is a part of the person, and not necessarily a separate boundary altogether within its context.

Howard, P.N. & Jones, S. (2004). Society online: The internet in context. Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

The editors have assembled a timely anthology of the internet and the way in which it is used in current practice. This book does not sugar coat the online world challenge; it does show progresses and elements which may provide societal frameworks. Literacy, politics, relationships, race, media, and faith are all themes found within the context of Society Online readings.

Lin, C. A., & Atkin, D. J. (Eds.). (2007). Communication technology and social change: Theory and implications. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Computer mediated-communication is discussed at length with respect to its history, impact, and societal observations. The authors deconstruct how technology impacts societal values, social justice, and how it may hinder and/or help communication. Each chapter is authored by well-versed knowledgeable person with respect to the various empirical issues surrounding technology.

Miller, C. (1978). Technology as a form of consciousness: A study of contemporary ethos. Central States Speech Journal 29 (Winter 1978): pp. 228–236. Retrieved on April 28, 2008 from http://www4.ncsu.edu/~crmiller/Publications/TechnologyEthos.pdf. A complex view on how technology shapes identity through the open systems of the world. Where technology may be shaped in a nimble fashion, reality may not be moved as quickly in the process. The author sees technology as a philosophy and not a closed system for wisdom making. This piece is prolific with respect to how society views technology today.

Nakamura, L. (2008). Digitizing race: Visual cultures of the internet. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. This well-timed book is an in depth look at how online society portrays, and gives the tools for self-expression with respect to the culture of race. The author discusses who is shaping these identities, how they are being shaped, and the importance of meaningful online collaborations with respect to race and culture. This book extends the discussions of racial identities, and how society respects or denies the individuals’ perspectives.

Nakamura, L. (2002). Cybertypes: Race, ethnicity, and identity on the internet. New York, NY: Routledge. The author examines how the online world contributes to the views of race, culture and identity. The information found online is categorized by race, and identity; therefore, it does not give individual freedom for identity work. This book provides an excellent foundation for the author’s 2008 anthology: Digitizing race: Visual cultures of the internet.

Shiky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: The power of organizations without organizations. London, England: Penguin Books, Limited. A revolutionary look at how the internet gives tools for self-assembly them through a multitude of examples. The organizations form via non-hierarchal means — giving a voice to all members. The author is an excellent archivist for society online, and how it impacts the offline world in positive and negative ways.

Apr 29

Who participates and what are they doing?


Retrieved on April 29, 2008 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038405.htm.

Apr 29

Ethan Zuckerman: the history of digital community, in less than 7 minutes

Apr 24

04-24-08

Two dimensions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y

  • Distributive Justice
  • Equality of Opportunity (Lynch)
  • Equality of Outcome (Lynch)
  • Justice from Freedom of Oppressive Relations (Young) – pulled both together – five faces of oppression
  • Relationship Justice – nature of relationships in a structured society
  • Neo-Fabian and Post-Mod of Neutrality
  • Freedom from Oppression (being oppressed doesn’t rule out the opportunity of being the oppressed)
  • Rahls piece == defines good space
  • Gerwitz’s position takes young incorporates Frazier’s technique

Challenges and strengths

Words

Look Beyond the field of educational

Queer theory