Sunday, October 30, 2011

Misa Presentations

This week for my Technology, Culture and Learning Class, we worked on our online presentations using various visual learning tools such as Pixlr, iMovie, screencast and YouTube.  Our presentation was on chapter two of Leonardo to the Internet: Technology and Culture from the Renaissance to the Present. By Thomas J. Misa.  For our team presentation we primarily used iMovie and posted it via YouTube.    
It was interesting to get more background history on Leonardo Da Vinci.  I am familiar with his work but did not realize he started out as apprentice to Andrea de Verrocchio and worked with Nicollo Machevilla.  Also, he was well connected with the famous families during that time such as the Medicis, Borgias, and Sforzas.  I was most surprised to find out that Leonardo’s first job was to work on military weapons and defense.  I was less familiar with Gutenberg and was interested to learn about his contributions to technology, metal casting and printing press.
In chapter two the focus was on the Dutch Golden Age and the rise of era of the Renaissance.  The advancement in ship building was prominent in this decade and the Dutch lead the way.  Also, herring and tulips became popular commodities during this era.  Unfortunately, another aspect of this era was the slave trade.
It was interesting to find in Chapter three that the industrial revolution and changes begin in London with the steam engine.  It was interesting to note that Misa discussed beer as part of Britain’s industrial revolution.   With the rise of the second industrial revolution in 1870-1930 science and systems, chemistry was used to change technology and the creation of synthetic dye was one of the innovations of this decade.   
I thought one of the most intriguing chapters was chapter 7, which was the destruction era.  The chapter talked about the advancement of Military technology, weapons and the Manhattan Project.  Misa discussion of how McDonald’s is an innovative technological system and global commerce as a fast food chain was interesting.  Misa’s final chapter discusses his thoughts on some of the technological problems we face today.  Especially, in regards to issues technology creates with privacy and the environment.  I enjoyed all the chapter presentations and enjoyed being able to see different applications used in team presentations.

2 comments:

  1. Good job Lisa! I think our chapter was very interesting.

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  2. I am glad you found the information on DaVinci interesting. I was also surprised to find that he was involved in the military, and not just art.

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