eLearning and Digital Culture Assignment

Film 4: They're Made Out of Meat

This is a  difficult film to interpret. The two aliens find the idea of life forms composed of corporeal matter to be completely odd. This makes us wonder about their form of existence but as they appear as human we have no idea about the way in which they are embodied (or not). Given that the aliens find the human form so strange one might conjecture that there is something remarkable about the fact of corporeal existence. The fact that humans can function as they do - with all their senses and abilities - can be interpreted as something of a marvel. This can raise the question of just what it means to be corporeal. For example, we are subject to sickness, old age and death. Our faculties decline with age and if we live past approximately 80 years old then existence is extremely limited. We can then ask whether we can conceive of existing in other ways. Perhaps part machine, part body. In some ways we are already at that stage with e.g. pacemakers, replacement hips and so on. 

Film 3: World Builder

The only thing clear for the majority of this film is that building worlds is a relatively straightforward affair. The material environment is created with ease and it comes alive as textures and colors are added to the world. It is then that we see that the man is creating a street in a down complete with dwellings. The man puts a particular focus on the flower and without the ending of the film available to us we might interpret this as a focus on the sentient over the inanimate. Perhaps an acknowledgment that there are some things - natural things - that cannot be replicated. When the woman emerges we are struck by the fact that she is most thrilled by her sensory experiences: feeling the sunlight, touching the balustrade, listening to the water and admiring the flower. Again, without the final interpretation we might think of this experience as one that has been lost in the artificial world of the future. The conclusion of the film - with the woman in a coma - suggests that the man values reality over simulation but that simulation is all that is available to him because of the woman's medical condition.

Film 2: Heart to Heart

The film is suggesting that something is lost through computer mediated communication, particularly when this occurs via text. The idea is that we are somehow removed from one another when we communicate over the Internet and that we only really connect through, in this case, voice. The argument could be extended to say that we need to be physically present to really connect with people. 

Film 1: Toyota GT86

There are parallels between the GT86 advertisement and the educational arena. Most obviously critics argue that the on-line space is inauthentic and unreal. This argument is made even when teachers are present through videos and on the discussion forums. The criticism becomes even more acute when we think of MOOCs where a handful of teachers have to cope with thousands of students. In this sort of environment teaching presence is almost non existent.

We can also draw parallels in terms of the student experience. Here we have to think about the extent to which "life on-line" constitutes an attenuated form of existence. To put it another way, what is lost when one interacts through text as opposed to face-to-face? Some might say that we lose the human - immediacy, spontaneity, bodily cues and so on - and to that extent the experience is less real. On another line of argument the on-line experience is just different i.e. not better or worse than life in the physical world.

Film 4: Sight

It seems fairly obvious that life has been turned into a "game" through the use of a technology embedded into humans. On another level we can see that the man has lost all ability to interact with the world normally. For example, having left the game, the act of cooking becomes another game. The same is true of his interactions with the woman in the restaurant. There is a degree of ambiguity here. Whilst engaging in a game in his interactions with the woman we also see a degree of social control as he uses the game environment to interpret what he should do. This social control is ultimately exposed at the end of the film where we discover that the man can actually control the woman because she has had the same system implanted within herself. This opens up questions of determinism and instrumentalism which do not admit of any easy answer. For example, to some degree the man is controlled by the gaming environment and yet he uses the environment to get what he wants. The woman believes herself to be free but is in fact determined by the technology that she has accepted. There is a power dimension to the determinism. The man has the power as an engineer in the gaming environment. The woman has none because made the choice to be implanted with the technology.

Film 3: A Digital Tomorrow

The opening scenes of this film represent an environment - rooms in a house - that are barren and utterly devoid of technology. We become aware that the young girl is watching TV through her glasses and this is the only technological enhancement within the immediate environment. The girl bags her laundry and we are struck by the fact that technology has done nothing - in this case - to make a difference to the mundane things of life. As the film unfolds we see technological innovations that are essentially frivolous. For example, the door is opened by pressing a hand against a window. The rear view mirror in the car is used by the girl to check her make up. The mobile device in the car is used for making phone calls. The though transcription captures what is in the writer's mind. These technologies present their own frustrations and we are reminded that despite all the promises technologies are often as frustrating as they are useful. Overall the message of the film seems to be that we are sold an image of what technology will do for us. In reality, technologies are a mixed bag offering us affordances that can be useful but at the same time causing frustration in our lives.