CST 300: Week 7

Final Research Video Planning

Tools for Collaboration

This week my team discussed our plan for creating our final video project. We will record our audio segments using either Audacity or Windows Voice Recorder and upload the mp3 files to Google Drive. We will be using Google Slides for our visual presentation. To ensure consistency, a single team member will combine the mp3 files with the slide presentation using Adobe Premier video editing software. 

Future Improvements

Although our video editor does not mind, my team believes that leaving the editing to one person is not fair. We should all download and learn to use Adobe Premier so we can learn how to record our own parts and connect them smoothly. The reason we decided on one editor is so that we can avoid "3 videos in 1," but I believe we can find solutions that allow each of us to edit our own clips. 

Weekly Reflection

Ted Talk: Andrew Marantz

This week I watched two Ted Talks. The first covers propaganda and toxicity on the internet. Andrew Marantz spent some time with a 30-something-year-old propagandist in California to learn why he spreads lies. The extremist wants to cut off all US immigration, especially from Muslim countries, and broadcasts for his followers to tweet about the "open borders agenda" that George Soros allegedly controls. The man was interested only in arousing emotion from his followers, not in relevant facts. 

Lies like this have been amplified by people in the highest offices in the United States, adding to their perceived legitimacy. Furthermore, social media algorithms measure engagement rather than content. This leads to controversial posts being pushed to the top of news feeds, falsely suggesting that extremist views or conspiracy theories are popular. Mainstream ideas that the majority believe are pushed to the bottom because they do not elicit an emotional reaction. Marantz suggests social networks change their algorithms to promote more healthy discourse and bury the lies of propagandists.  

Ted Talk: Laura Rovner

The second Ted Talk I watched was created by a civil rights lawyer who visited ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Colorado. She argues that solitary confinement is torture because prisoners are locked up 23 hours a day, with 1 hour outside to exercise in a small concrete pen. She argues that prolonged exposure to solitary confinement deteriorates vision, speech, mental health, and social skills. While international humanitarian law prohibits long-term solitary confinement, ADX officials have kept secret from the public what happens behind bars, and Rovner claims there is more transparency with GTMO detainees.

Rovner highlights the story of Thomas Silverstein, a prisoner who spent nearly 36 years in solitary confinement for killing a correctional officer. The prison staff justified their action by claiming there must be a severe punishment for killing guards or it will happen more often. While I agree that there must be a "jail within a jail" to punish troublemakers, I agree with Rovner's assessment that prolonged solitary confinement is a violation of the 8th Amendment, although it appears no court has agreed yet.

Presentation Skills

Finally, I learned some tips for improving my PowerPoint presentation skills. Visual aids should be relevant to the topic, simple to understand, few in number, and not be used to avoid eye contact. Distractions must be kept to a minimum, so handouts should not be passed out during the presentation. The slides must have an agreeable font that can be seen from the back of the room. Last, but not least, it is important to keep bullet points minimal by not writing everything you will say on the slides. The slides are not meant to be read directly. They are meant to help you keep track of where you are and what to talk about. You must be prepared for the presentation beforehand.