Q1AmandaPorter

Document Q1AmandaPorter

1. Your Name

Amanda Porter

2. Your field of study?

Organizational Communication

3. In which semester of study are you?

3rd semester PhD

4. Why are you interested in taking this course?

I am most interested in gaining knowledge about digital systems from a technical perspective. In my field, communication, we often study information and communication technologies primarily from a social perspective. We also tend not to put as much emphasis on specific technologies in our research. Thus, I am looking forward to learning a bit more about specific technologies and seeing what a communication perspective can do for models of collaboration that we will discuss in this course.

5. What courses / work activities / background knowledge do you have which might be relevant to this course?

I have taken several courses, both in communication and public policy that deal with issues of technology, collaboration, organizational change, and information architecture. These include: The Rhetoric of Information Architecture with Peg Syverson (at the University of Texas) Organizations and Information Technology with Gary Chapman (at the University of Texas) Communication Technology with Bryon Taylor Independent Study in Communication Technology with Michele Jackson

6. Indicate your own digital literacy / fluency:
6.1. Describe your programming experience (languages, projects)

none

6.2. What applications are you familiar with (e.g. Photoshop, Canvas, Dreamweaver,...)?

I have used Dreamweaver to create a website.

7 Give a brief description of the most important book / article which you have read with respect to the topic of the course.

I read a very enlightening book last semester in my independent study called "Aircraft Stories" by John Law. This book was especially interesting to me because of the way it theorized material artifacts with a special attention to communication processes. However, this text also extended ideas about the agency of technical artifacts through its use of performance and "object positions" as a way of knowing.

8. What do you hope and expect to learn from this course?

I hope to learn more about specific technical systems that are being developed in order to interrogate the assumptions of communication and social processes that become embedded in system design. Most of my courses to date have been very much focused on literature, so I am hopeful to get some hands on experience with using digital tools in this class. I think this will make me a better scholar of communication technology and organizational communication.