Internet Usage
Are Mainstream Scientific Researchers Using the Internet to its full Multimedia Potential?
As a research presentation medium, the Internet has been designed to offer vastly more to publishers than easy text access. It's astoundingly simple to incorporate photographs, diagrams, illustrations, sounds, animations, movies and all kinds of non-text content into a website using today's user-friendly web development software. This subject, Networks and Multimedia in Science and Technology, has been designed to open its students' eyes to the exciting multimedia possibilities available that can communicate research findings more accessibly, effectively and concisely than plain text. A look through some of the research presented by many of these students, found linked to the NAMIST CONFERENCE PAGE, makes it clear that well-designed web sites can make even the most potentially boring topics (statistics? butterflies?) attractive and interesting through the use of intuitive structures and appropriate multimedia.
However, a browse through the web site of Australia's principal government-funded Scientific organisation, the CSIRO AUSTRALIA page, reveals myriads of research papers published almost exclusively in text-only format. The http://www.nobel.se/announcement-98/physics98.html official 1998 Nobel Prize award announcement for the field of Physics includes some diagrams, but nothing one would not find in a 1970's textbook. Many of the links from american science organisation www.Sigmaxi.org's science resource page, http://www.sigmaxi.org/scienceresources/scienceresources.htm, have a small amount of graphical content, but only one site I found, http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/ - a site dedicated to volcano research - made consistent use of movie files, sounds and animation, and this site was filed under "fun for kids" on sigmaxi's resource list.
I believe there are many reasons for the scientific community's apparent dislike for multimedia. Not a small factor could be the possible perception that research that is presented in a flashy, colourful way is lacking in substance, that researchers who spend large amounts of time on presentation are compromising the research itself. The traditional presentation of research has been through publication in scientific journals, not renowned for their attention to visual appeal, and the use of extensive visual or multimedia assistance to focus the reader's attention could be viewed as condescending.
Furthermore, making use of the available technology, whilst relatively easy using today's advanced, user-friendly development software, is nonetheless far more time-consuming than the use of simple text. In the context of a scientific report, visual cues are far more labour intensive to include than equivalent textual explanations in most cases. Furthermore many researchers are unfamiliar with the techniques required to produce them, and more willing to attempt written explanations than commission graphic artworks.
Answer: Graphs are necessary to study the general trends and have a quick look of the data; however, the summary indices are necessary to interpret results accurately. Graphical presentation is not that accurate as is the summary
For the past 112 years, De Beers has dominated the diamond industry. Established in April 1880 by Cecil John Rhodes and his partner, Charles Dunell Rudd, De Beers rose to prominence, merging with Barney Barnato’s Kimberley Central Mining company and acquiring more and more mines (Hauser, 2002). The ...
Final contribution of de beers to the diamond pipeline is the promotion of diamond jewelry for the industry; through advertising campaigns developed from extensive market research; trade promotional activities and jewelry design competitions
Through sports or through everyday life, concussions tend to happen. An estimated 300 000 sport-related traumatic brain injuries, predominantly concussions, occur annually in the United States. Sports are second only to motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among people aged 15 to 24 years. (U.S National Library of Medicine). Coaches and parents often do not go through the right procedures or protocols when dealing with a teenager who has received a blow to the head. The usual questions that are asked when there is a head injury are, “what day is it, what’s the score, and how many fingers am I holding up?” Now these are not poor questions, but these questions alone cannot determine if a person has suffered a concussion. The correct method, which they are now implementing in most professional sports leagues, is for anyone with a head injury to take a legitimate concussion test performed by the team doctor. (WebbMD) At present the symptoms can be hit or miss. After receiving a concussion, research shows that an “estimated 80 to 90% of concussions heal spontaneously in the first 7 to 10 days”. (Barton Straus) But, it is important to remember not to return until all symptoms are
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. Injuries are common in most sports, but football and boxing have the deadliest injuries of them all, severe head trauma. In 2011, there were 120 cases of sport-related deaths of young athletes and over 65% of those cases were due to concussions, according to Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association. Concussions lead to many different problems: confusion, anxiety, suicide, heightened risk of violence, the list goes on and on. Football isn’t the only sport that suffers from traumatic brain injuries, boxing is also one of the highest casualty rates in all of the sports. Would football still be football if there wasn’t such a thing as a concussion? Everyone in America has different views on how this issue should be addressed or situated. “Who Killed Benny Paret?” (Patterns, 13th ed. 337), “What Price Football?” (Patterns, 13th ed. 605), and “Would Football without
Web. The Web. The Web. 6 June 2015. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/--100617 Martin, Claire and Siegel, Masada.
The price of diamonds has been controlled, up until recently, by cartels. Cartels are formed when suppliers of a particular product or service formally agree not to compete with one another. Cartel agreements usually determine the price, output and supply levels as well as where and to whom the product will be distributed to. De Beers is one of the commonly heard names with regard to diamonds. Up until recently De Beers controlled the diamond industry. It both created and lost the most powerful monopoly in history. Through a discussion of how the cartels operate and the laws of demand and supply, one will be able to determine whether the price of diamonds is too high.
Models are thought to be used effectively in natural sciences to visually display concepts and information as illustrations, graphs, and diagrams. In natural sciences when we come up with a theory, to investigate the validity of a theory we create models and designs which are tested out in an experiment. This experiment is based of of models and designs which can be recreated to give same results and explain the experiment and theory in relation to the model. However, in some cases models can help to little avail.
Murcia, K. (2008). Teaching for scientific literacy with an interactive whiteboard. Teaching Science - the Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association, 54(4), 17-21. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Now that we are living in an ever changing world, technology is viewed as the most resourceful tool in keeping up with the pace. Without the use of technology, communication would be limited to using mail for delivery and encyclopedias for research. Although technology has improved the way we communicate and find information for research, the information is not always valid. Unfortunately, for those of us who use the internet for shopping, research, or reading articles of personal interest the information is not treated the same as a your magazine or book. While such literature is reviewed by an editorial staff, internet literature or information can be published by anyone. In order to reap the full benefit of having the use of technology for any purpose, there are five basic criteria’s one must keep in mind as an evaluating tool for deciding whether or not the particular website is a reliable source for information.
Marshall McLuhan writes, "The alphabet and print technology fostered and encouraged a fragmenting process, a process of specialism and of detachment. Electric technology fosters and encourages unification and involvement" (8). With the added dimensions hypertext provides, a piece of literature is capable of evolving into the multi-dimensional realm of sight, sound, movement and tactility. Researching information related to a topic, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, for example, offers an interesting sample of the evolution of literary resources on the WWW. One such site, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, not only offers scholarly information with images, but also inc...
I have selected the area of visual arts to give examples of websites that I have found exploring the impact of new technologies. Artist’s influence from technology has allowed them the freedom to expand their mediums in which they work with, exhibit their work world wide, collaborate with other artists and discover new concepts with scientists.
“She focuses on many science websites, which include animation that makes concept clearer to students by allowing them to hear vocabulary pronounced while watching the flow of a course as labels appear on screen. She also notes the active participation of her students, and says that when students engage in these types of activities, they are able to make a more long – lasting connection to science concepts. She highlights a few techniques and technology and says that educators can slowly start inserting them into the familiar lesson plans bit by bit until they become comfortable with their usage.” (Boles)
The influence of the electronic devices, multimedia and computers are the things that dealt with our daily life. Especially the internet that is now giving more importance to each and every one, by giving the newest outstanding media that surely will give the outmost future ahead of us. (Temmel)
For the past decade or two, Internet is a channel that promotes an access to information and communication in the global world. It is one of the most powerful tool. Now-a-days, an access to the internet has become easier than ever, whether we are using a computer, phone or tablets. There is no doubt that people are spending more and more time online. Because many people use the internet for their career and education, it is hard to differentiate between the normal usage and excessive usage of the internet. We all use web at a normal level, but when it becomes compulsory for survival it becomes an addiction.