Week 7 – Starting a Web Page – CSUCI Viewing

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Here are several videos to watch as you start to think about what your web domain can do and how you can accomplish that goal.  Each of these videos is from the perspective of a CSUCI faculty member engaging this space for the first time.

There are three videos to watch out of CSUCI’s FIT Studio, a faculty initiative designed to encourage faculty to look at technology in the same way we are viewing it in this course.  The first video is from the perspective of Dr. Jaimie Hoffman, who only began doing tech-based coursework outside the LMS a few months ago.  Listen to the whole thing.

The second is from Dr. Jamie Hanans.  It is similar but a little more streamlined; what is great about listening to the two is you see the same passion happen in different ways.

The third is from Dr. Michael Berman, the Vice President of Technology & Communication.  He has been thinking about learning outside the LMS for a while now; he and I worked together on a colloquium about the LMS at a conference called EduSoCal in May.  These are his views on how he sees learning; this is a lot of the impetus that has allowed you all to build web domains through your CSUCI education.

Let the Games Begin

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Well, there is alot that can be said about Group Membership in episode 2 Blood vs. water. I think its best to evaluate each team individual. For starters, the blue team. Each team seems to have their members playing into their group roles pretty well. Jeremy clearly sees himself as the group leader for the blue team. He is playing at the group needs, and while he appeared to be working for his team, behind the scenes he was also working at an angle to help his wife Val get ahead in the game. Jeremy is defiantly a powerful player on the blue team because he is associated with multiple group task roles for blue team including: energizer, evaluate, initiator-contributor. In terms of self centered roles, i noticed John likes to view himself as the “Clown” of the group. When he lost the flint, he tried to play the goofball card hoping that that would ease the blame. Ultimately i think that approach is going to hurt him in the long run, especially because he costed the group valuable . rewards. On the other side the Orange Team Clearly has alot of issues. No clear leader has come to step up to the plate to lead the orange team out of their losing streak. There is clearly alot of Communication Apprehension in the group, which became especially clear at the tribal council. And with a split vote it is clear that the tribe is split down the middle and is divided. What this group needs for role members, is a tension re leaser in order to mend the communication blocks that have occured, they need a harmonizer and every member needs to start comprimising if they are to succeed. Val was kicked off the island because of her feeling that she could take the dominate approach/ she was too aggressive going into the tribal council, bragging about immune idols. I am really interested to see how Jeremy will retaliate against   John Rocker for breaking his word about protecting his wife Val.

Who Should I Believe?

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In the second episode of Survivor we seek for the membership between the tribes as well as the members themselves. We begin to see that both the Coyopa and the Hunahpuh tribe members are forming strong bonds between each other and their actual identities begin to show and become exposed. We also see inclusion. Its shown when a member in the blue team loses a flint making everybody in the tribe in a way look down on him for such an important tool to survive in there situation. He feels the need to feel included and involved and in a way forgiven by his group. Affection also was portrayed, the feeling of being wanted and looked as a higher power in the group, for example when some of the men would lift logs and squat while someone else did pushups.

 

On chapter three it talks about the (FIRO) theory and its 3 common needs being, inclusion, control and affection. An example for these would be Val and how we see that she struggles to feel included as well and on top of that not create friendships but just lies to help her get passed by which ended up getting her kicked out at the end.

 

Three categories are represented such as self centered roles, tasks roles, and maintenance roles which is mainly shown in the Coyopa tribe by Josh who takes part of being in a way part of both sides to remain safe and not a target towards anyone but focusing his strategic plan to reach the top and win.  Josh in a way manipulates and his behavior is portrayed as passive aggressive for example towards baylor. Hes a coordinator and his opinion ends up ruling the team and what they do and who they vote for. His strategy is gaining power and he’s becoming a leader secretly causing for Val to be gone.

Survivor Ep 2

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The episode begins with the blue team losing their precious flint, Jon, the clown of the group engages in absolving himself by being a self-confessor to his sins.  Despite his failure, he curries the vast majority of the maintenance tasks of his group and will be missed dearly if lost. The blue and orange team meet up and they find the twin sister gone. The other twin, so reluctant and weakened at this finding begins crying and gaining sympathy so masterfully, that she could’ve taught the class on it. In this game, pity is a form of currency and holds its weight in gold. We unfortunately don’t delve too far into the people and their time together to accurately judge their specific role according to Belbin’s theory. The orange team loses and the big guy and the black fireman go to exile island where they from an unconventional allegiance to defend eachothers women. They start the next survival challenge and orange team is determined but loses regardless. The loss is quite the shock and seriously demoralizes the whole group. After the shock wore thin however, the girls began their plotting against one another while the guys rode on the coattails of their schemes. Val, claiming to the whole world that she is safe and has an idol when in reality doesn’t, crafts an usual plan that she somehow believes will pay off royally. I’ll try and explain it but no matter how many times I think about it, it just seems reckless. She convinces the guys to split the votes between herself and the little girl, who had in the challenge previous showed how blatant it was that she didn’t belong there, because it would work in her favor. Self-assured and ready to rock, the voting is implemented and she ends up not revealing the idol, at the great shock of everyone in the group, and then proceeds to get kicked off the island. Unfortunately again, before she had left, she truly rocked the boat of the team and its unity is now faltering hard. So in the end, the policewoman burned some bridges and caused major upheaval within the group right before making her swift exit.

Episode 2

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In this episode of Survivor, we focus on the membership dynamics within each tribe. After spending a fair amount of time with each other, most of the members have begun to establish strong relationships with one another. Hunahpu (blue) and Coyopa (orange) both exhibited positive and negatives characteristics as members and as a tribe.

As in Chapter 3, I noticed how Schutz’s Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation (FIRO) Theory had played a part in the tribes. In his theory, Schutz explains that there should be a balance among three common needs that people search for within a group setting – inclusion, control, and affection. In this competition, I’ve already noted how there can be an imbalance that can impede members’ needs. For example, in the Coyopa Tribe, Val struggles to feel and be included in the tribe as a significant member. After the first challenge in episode 1, she was sent to Exile Island and lost important time that would have gone to group development. Due to this, Val was unable to begin create friendships and alliances as the others did. By the time she returned, her members had begun to establish themselves with one another. In the Hunahpu Tribe, John and Alec act as oversocial members where they try to bring attention to themselves.

The members within the tribes show aspects of the three categories – task roles, maintenance roles, and self-centered roles – Benne and Sheats Functional Group Roles. In the Coyopa Tribe, I noticed that Josh plays a strong part in the maintenance role. He tries his best to stand neutral with the tribe members, hoping to get along with each of them while also seeking his goal of winning by strategically eliminating select members.

Survivor Blog Post #2

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By the second episode of Survivor, members in both the Hunahpuh and Coyopa tribes have developed enough experience to become comfortable and ultimately expose more of their true personalities. As these personalities emerge, it appears that certain members are struggling to establish themselves within the group. For example, in the Hunahpuh tribe, members John and Drew are both shown boasting about their physical abilities and engaging in competitions with each other in front of their fellow tribe-members. It appears that in this case, their need for inclusion within the group has not been fully met, ultimately influencing them into becoming “oversocial members.”

In addition, John’s over-social behavior is also exposed after he realizes he is responsible for losing the tribe’s flint, a necessity for starting fires at camp. In a personal interview, John reveals that he feels it is necessary to emphatically express his admission to the mistake in order to ensure his place within the tribe. Already feeling that his status within the tribe is unstable, John believes that by attracting attention to the matter and profusely expressing his remorse, he will be able to avoid feeling ostracized by the group. Drew and John alike resolve to attract attention to themselves in order to make up for what they feel they lack: inclusion and companionship. In order to compensate for their feelings of inadequacy, they believe that by impressing the other members, they will be able to gain more acceptance overall.

On the other hand, in the Coyopa tribe, members begin to reveal their more of their assertiveness. In the episode, the audience begins to identify John as “low-apprehension member.” He becomes more confident overall, asserts himself, and expresses his opinions with the group more openly. However, as he struggled to successfully complete the first challenge, it appears that his assertiveness and lack of apprehension can quickly turn hostile and aggressive.

Coyopa member Josh also begins to assert himself more within the group as well, but in a very different manner. Josh, taking on the “coordinator” role within the group, brings it upon himself to strategize with other members before tribal council commences so that a common goal can be achieved. However, as alliances become fickle and decisions must be made, Josh’s behavior becomes “passive-agressive.” Towards the beginning of the episode, Josh converses with Baylor about his dedication to their own alliance, however later on, he meets with John and the other men in order to form a plan to vote Baylor off of the team. Although Josh has the facade of being a team player, he deceives and manipulates others only to further himself in the competition rather than do what is best for the team as a whole. He continually turns on the “alliances” he forms with the other tribe members and cannot commit to his word. Therefore, in the end, Val is sent home after he goes against his word to John and persuades the other men into questioning her possession of an idol. He is then able to keep his strongest alliance with Baylor and maintain his control over the team’s decisions through the plans he formulates behind-the-scenes.