The Mobile Phone and its Societal Impact - Literature Review

Posted by simonlenton on Tuesday, 20 October 2009

It appears there is widespread debate on the true usefulness and benefit of the mobile phone and its impact upon society.

Chipchase (2007) suggests that the mobile phone gives us the ability to transcend space and time. The ability to be in one location and voice call somewhere else in the world enables us to transcend space, while the ability to text at our convenience and for those we are texting to pick up that message at their convenience demonstrates our ability to transcend time. The enormity of this development, Chipchase argues, is that ideas can spread quickly between individuals and when all 6.3 billion people on the planet are eventually connected, we will see how rapidly things can progress, in ways we cannot even conceive today.

However, others such as Burgess (2004) suggests that mobile phones are closely associated with crime, particularly in children. According to the British Crime Survey of 2000 recorded crime in the UK is falling year on year in every area other than in cell phone robberies.

While others, like Macfarlane, debate the risks imposed on our health by the masts used to send and receive electromagnetic impulses to such devices. Macfarlane claims that these masts affect the immune system and that “there is little doubt that exposure causes childhood leukemia.” Yet the National Radiological Protection Board (2005) released a report stating that there is ‘no hard evidence’ that the public is being ‘adversely affected by the use of mobile phone technologies.’

References

BURGESS, A., 2004. Cellular phones, public fears, and a culture of precaution. Cambridge Univ Pr.

CHIPCHASE, J., 2007. Jan Chipchase on our mobile phones. [Online Video] Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jan_chipchase_on_our_mobile_phones.html [Accessed 20 October 2009]

MACFARLANE, J., 2007. Phone Masts Warning. Sunday Express, [Internet] 28 November 2007. Available at: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/26552/Phone-masts-warning [Accessed 20 October 2009]

THE BOARD OF NRPB, 11 January 2005, Mobile phones and health, [Internet]. Available: http://www.hpa.nhs.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1240212770058 [Accessed 18 October 2009].

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VARK Questionnaire

Posted by simonlenton on Tuesday, 6 October 2009

The VARK questionnaire is a method of evaluating which type of learner you are. According to the answers I gave in my VARK questionnaire I am a kinaesthetic learner, and I can see how this reflects my learning style.


I am a very hands on person, and commit things to memory in a very physical/ spacial way. For example, when committing the list of things that are dying out to memory in our lecture today, I imagined myself walking into my house and being confronted with each thing on the list. I started in my porch looking at honey bees on the flowers there, and the lamp with an incandescent bulb on the same table. I walked past my sisters room and saw her covered in measles, because she was ill she was watching her analogue TV. I passed into the kitchen to find a handwritten note explaining why my mum wasn't home, with nothing else to do I wander up to my bedroom and head to facebook.com only to find that it loads slowly because I'm on dial-up.

I scored poorly in all other areas (Visual, Audio and Reading/Writing) but I don't see this as a negative as it means I learn things on a deep level as they mean more to me as I have a physical experience with the content. However, I can see how improving my visual skill (mind-maps and images) would help my learning as mind-mapping texts will help me move the text into a more visual/ physical way.

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SWOT: University

Posted by simonlenton on Tuesday, 22 September 2009

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. SWOT is useful in analysing yourself in any situation.


Strengths

I’m extroverted and make friends pretty easily.

I’m focused on making the most of the opportunities here.

I find computing related subjects interesting.


Weaknesses

Not living on campus might prevent strong relationships with others.

Easily distracted by others.

Might fall into the trap of leaving work to the last minute.


Opportunities

To learn from tutors who have field experience.

To gain qualifications from a leading university and from Cisco.

To make life long friends.


Threats

Student debts and financial difficulties.

Examinations, modules, and pass/fail elements.

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My Learning Line

Posted by simonlenton

My learning line probably starts a lot earlier than play school, mainly because of the interactions with other people (whether adult or child) where I most likely learned that people make both stupid noises and faces at me. Seriously though, prior to play school I learned language syntax, and how to walk, and many things that seem so insignificant now, but without which, I wouldn't be the person I am today.


Primary and Church we're completely new experiences, and showed me what friendships we're. I learned basic arithmetic, English, and the sciences during primary, and moral values and religion from Church.

Secondary is where I feel I matured the most. You learn that the world isn't all happy-shiny and can be fairly nasty when it wants to be. Several language trips broadened my awareness of culture and differences therein.

A paper round and work experience gave me a glimpse into the 'real world' and showed me that education was for me :P However, they did make me appreciate team work and highlighted how outgoing I actually was. Something that has always helped me in difficult or unusual situations.

So I headed back to sixth form and was given the chance to choose my subjects, which was a big deal! I had the chance to either chose a career path or completely screw my life up (or at least that's what the decision felt like.)

Next was learning to drive, and this has given me almost boundless freedom.

Driving however requires petrol, and that is a commodity with a price tag. So the Apple Store was where I was headed next.

Apple instilled in me some awesome communication techniques that have helped me through hundreds of customer interactions, and personal encounters. They also let me develop technical skill in the form of Genius training. Unfortunately they couldn't support my desire for more knowledge and that landed me in university :)

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