WEEK 11 – “Information graphics: graphs in exam”

I love tables and graphs. I’d go ecstatic to see tables and graphs in quizzes, tests – especially in the exams – during my school days. For me, if that question came out – let it be Mathematics, Geography, Sciences or even English – it will be a “Free marks all over again” chance for me. You often hear teachers say “Tables and graphs are the easiest section in the exam. They are free marks – all the answers are in there. All you need to do is just extract the information out.” (But, of course it does not necessarily applicable to some).

These tables and graphs are part of what in professional media and communication categorized as “Information graphics”.

According to Petterson, information graphics are informative and may be entertaining and attention-getters as they aid communication by enabling better understanding and comprehension; improving readability and increase retention in a way that they “provide the reader with a rapid and easily grasped overall view of a message and are therefore highly suitable as an introduction to and summary of a subject” (1993, p. 173). Previously, information graphics were a product of hands but with today’s advancement in technologies, information graphics nowadays are computers-generated (Petterson, 1993, p. 173).

Why do teachers have to make their table and graphs as plain and as simple as possible?



The reason is rather obvious: i) so the graphs are readable, and ii) the students are able to extract the information quickly, and iii) they will not waste any time answering in the exam, and iv) they can score high marks.

What would happen if the exam questions appear as the following?







Though, they appear visually attractive – but these are not what you will normally see in any academic context.

This gives another reason why academic tables and graphs are, though simple, but is made dull: the context that the graphs appear in does not allow it to happen: i) Schools have their own regulation and guideline of how academic graphs should look like. Students grasped these knowledge and anything beyond these may cause confusion, ii) Schools are portray as a formal and serious place of studying, anything informal or considered as “not serious” (for example comical graphs) may be considered as a “distraction”.

In the world beyond academic environment, any errors and visual distortion to the information graphics are not prohibited. This is because, according to Tufte (cited in Lester 1995), a high-quality infographic should:
1) have an important message to communicate,
2) Convey information in a clear, precise and efficient manner
3) Never insult the intelligence of readers or viewers, and
4) Always tell the truth
(p. 208)

If we apply it to the academic world: is it allowable to distort any information given in the graphs? The answer is: yes and no. Yes, because the exams are allowed to give false information to the students so as to get whatever answer that the exam wanted. No, because, again, too many distortions may create “confusion”, resulting in students inability to answer the exam questions.


References:

Lester, M. (1995). Informational graphics. Visual communication: Images with messages (pp. 187-211). California: Wadsworth Publishing.
Petterson, R. (1993). Visual inromation (2nd ed.) (pp. 167-175). New Jersey: Eductional Technology Publications.

WEEK 10 – “Games and Avatar: Facebook-The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”

I used to have a Facebook account up until a few months ago, when I finally decided that I have had enough and deactivated it. I found that I could no longer divide my time equally between the ‘real’ world and the ‘virtual’ world: I realized that, little by little, I started spending more and more time in the Facebook world than I should have in the ‘real’ world.

Have a presentation to do? I’d post a groaning status in my Facebook before doing the research. I should be should be doing my assignment? Ah, I’d better take care of my games in Facebook first, almost Level 51. Not up for cooking tonight? I wrote on my sister’s wall to ask her to cook.



Facebook is one of the latest trends in social networking and is used by over 10 million people worldwide – Facebook (FB) started out as a site designed for and available to students at Harvard University but it is now a public site and has become the number one choice of communication (Stern&Taylor, 2001, p. 9)



What was once a little just-for-fun turned into an addiction: I and I finally took a leap in faith and deactivated my account. And the uproar it created amongst my friend was unbelievable: I was interrogated by many and were demanded to make a new one. All along my brain was going: Don’t you think Facebook is disassociating you from the real world?

What was once a direct interaction between two people – the presence of physical touches and a face-to-face interaction – is now replaced by ‘hugs and kisses’ application and writing on each other’s walls?

Fung notes that online communication becomes a platform for users to communicate and interact with others who they think share the same values and beliefs, thus creating imagined communities and the bonds that ties them together are essentially communicative act (2006, p. 134). These bonds, however, as Fung further notes that, will end if someone cuts off his or her communicative, often due to busy schedule during examination time or when he or she moves to a new stage of life.

So, was I right to have closed it down? Were they right to have insisting on me keeping it active?

The golden question is this: In this modern era where our world is shaped by advanced technologies: where does ‘real’ ends and ‘virtual’ begin?

According to Robins, cyberspace and virtual reality give us a chance to substitute a reality for a more conformity with our desires for the unsatisfactory real one (2000, p. 92).

And Fung notes how extended social network – the extended brotherhood or sisterhood on the online communities – also enhances social relationships in real life (2006, p. 132).

It is true that we cannot live without technologies, especially in this age where technologies play a significant role in our everyday lives – let it be in education, business, government, or simply for leisure reason, almost everything nowadays are relying on to technologies to work or operate.


References:
Fung, A. (2006). Bridging cyberlife and real life: A study of online communities in Hong Kong. In Silver, D. M. and Adrienne Steve, (eds.), Critical cyberculture studies (pp. 129-139). New York: New York University Press. Retrieved June 21, 2010, from UBD Ebrary Website.

Robins, K. (2000). Cyberspace and the world we live in. in Bell, D. and Kennedy, B. M. (eds). The cybercultures reader (pp. 77-95). London: Routledge.

Stern, L. A., & Taylor, K. (2007). Social Networking on Facebook. Journal of the Communication, Speech & Theatre Association of North Dakota, 9-20.

WEEK 9 - "Cinema and Television: Taylor Swift ‘You belong with me’ and the cultural literacy”

I have got my sisters screaming while watching the video clip of the famous talented singer/songwriter, Taylor Swift. The famous “You belong with me” song charted the billboards many times, and had many young girls went all gooey listening to it over and over.



What is the significance that this video clip carries?



Everyone within the age of 12 to early 20’s even, will find themselves being able to relate themselves to the story that is being told in the video clip.

It portrays how our Protagonist, a typical high-school girl who always considered herself as the ‘Wallflower’ – the nobody – fell for our Hero, a typical high school jock who in turn, (typically) fell for the school’s famous Mean-Girl-type villain.

Even before the video clips reached its end, both of my sisters were already starting to jump to conclusions: “Oh, I know~~ the girl is a nerd…fell for that jock…but the dude’s with that Meanie Girl…but in the end he’ll fell for the Nerd! Aww, so sweet~”. They somehow were able to solve the plot quicker than

The ability to draw this conclusion is a significant proof of cultural literacy present in the audiences.

According to Schirato&Yell (2000), cultural literacy can be defined as “both a knowledge of meaning systems and an ability to negotiate those systems within different cultural contexts” (p. 1)

Schirato&Yell also notes that, the contexts that produce the cultural practices that are closely linked to the notion of cultural literacy that can be understood as:
“1) a familiarity with the rules and conventions of a culture; and
2) a feel for negotiating those rules and conventions”
(2000, p. 1)

In this particular video clip, most teenage i.e. 12 – 18 years of age, are accustomed to the story that the video clip narrates because they have that certain culture that binds them. This culture is the youth culture. Teenagers’ experiences of school life, especially in the West, usually constitute a life of social hierarchy that is made up off:
1) Always there is a renowned (usually good-looking) and much-adored-by-girls male who is extremely good in sports
2) An equivalent female who, instead of participating in sports, usually is the head-cheerleader, and almost always the two are going out together.
3) And the rest who are not the “In” crowd, who is usually labeled as the “geeks” or “nerds”, “emos”, or other social-stereotype label.
These are practically almost an ideology that most teenage chic flick portrays. That is why, most teenagers are able to recognize and familiarize themselves to the story. When the first two features above are not equated, teenage audiences are able to negotiate the rules and conventions that they are exposed to.

In this particular story, audiences are able to negotiate the fact that even a famous guy would fall for a considerably “nerd” girl.

This You Belong With Me video clip represents youth’s love dilemma and the discourse of every love story has a happily-ever-after ending.
However, the politic of this discourse is that: there is not always a happily-ever-after ending that follows in every love situation.

Reference
Schirato, T. & Yell, S. (2000). Communication and Culture: An Introduction. London: Sage Publications

WEEk 8 - "Photography - Reconceptualising Culture, Memory and Space: Pictures that trigger forwarded e-mails"

Wright (1999) notes how photography can influence opinions to change social conditions (1999, p. 150). This is true especially in the case of poverty in Africa, where one picture sets of a train of actions taken by many governmental and international groups, and also in many other cases.
However, the notion of how pictures can influence opinions can also be applied to other cases and not just ‘to change social conditions’. In this week’s entry, we shall see how photographs can influence opinions in forwarded e-mails.

I believe many have received forwarded e-mails of different kinds almost all the times, at times endlessly – let it be jokes, news, religious or even spam.

What triggers a massive forwarding of e-mail?

We can look at it by considering the following example:


vs.


I believe some may have seen these particular e-mails before. These forwarded e-mails had been circulating ever since I was still in my Form 6, and one of them is still circulating now.

Now, what is the difference between these two e-mails?
The most noticeable feature is that: one carries with it pictures and the other does not.

Why is it a picture so important? It is amazing how one picture can trigger a dramatic action and create uproar throughout the continents.

(Bear in mind that we are not discussing whether the content of the e-mail or the pictures are true or not – rather we are discussing how the pictures can manipulate viewers into taking actions).


According to Batchen (2004), photographs are records and documents as it “validated our experience of ‘being there’” (p. 26). Now, in the first e-mail, upon seeing those set of pictures, readers feel like they are there and it evokes the feeling of sadness, heart-rending and moving feeling in the readers. Even though it is obvious the audiences do not know the person in the e-mail, they are still driven to do something. When we compare this to the second e-mail, the absence of a picture gives little impact to the audiences and they are therefore not as heavily-persuaded to act as the first e-mail.

You can see from the following evidences:
(Date: 8/29/08)

(Date: 4/13/09)

(Date: 2/23/09)

(Date: 5/23/09)

(Date: 5/30/09)


Vs.
(Date: 11/17/08)

The first e-mail occurs in five different occasions in the stretch of two years i.e. 2008-2009 as compared to the second e-mail where it occurs only in a single occasion in the same stretch of two years.

This shows that, however convincing the words are in the e-mail (in the case of the second e-mail: the testimonials attached at the end of the e-mail), it is still the photograph that prompts the viewers to take an action almost by an instinct.
The photographs convinced the viewers, in the way that words cannot.

This proves that a photograph has the power to influence opinions regardless of what the reason is.

References
Batchen, G. (2004). Forget me not: Photography and remembrance (pp. 6-16). New York: Princeton architectural press. Retrieved June 20, 2010, from UBD Ebrary Website.

Wright, T. (1999). Photography as a cultural critique. Photography handbook (pp. 135-151). London and New York: Rout;edge. Retrieved June 20, 2010, from UBD Ebrary Website.