{"id":129,"date":"2015-02-03T19:35:54","date_gmt":"2015-02-03T19:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arlduc.org\/senseandscale\/?p=129"},"modified":"2015-02-04T18:45:11","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T18:45:11","slug":"nyu-session-1-getting-situated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arlduc.org\/senseandscale\/?p=129","title":{"rendered":"NYU Session 1: Orientation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In today’s first session, we got situated with basic housekeeping + intros, some background lecture, and some hands-on exercises. I’m very pleased\u00a0to see a few different departments represented in this class: ITP of course, CUSP (NYU’s Center for Urban Science and Progress), and Journalism. Students represent a wide\u00a0range of previous experience, from animation, to computer science, to geography, to art. With such a range, I hope the class provides opportunities for\u00a0interdisciplinary collaboration.<\/p>\n

During lecture and discussion, I asked students to share some experiences with their own personal tracking technology. Students talked about step trackers\u00a0in gyms and as wearables, location trackers worn for marathon training, and apps to help quit smoking. The notion of behavior modification came up, and the role that personal psychology and active\/passive sensing plays in motivating behavior change.<\/p>\n

While I made a lot of choices to include and not include certain concepts and technologies in the class syllabus, I had not considered including a session\u00a0on\u00a0the personal psychology of tracking devices. I think some of these concepts may be covered as we conduct user tests and think about social and ethical implications towards the end of the semester, but I’m going to keep thinking and looking for a way to support these considerations more strongly. Let me know if you have suggestions.<\/p>\n

And now… resources we discussed, and assignments.<\/p>\n

NYU Resources<\/h2>\n