A Step into the Python Community on Reddit

 

This week, I joined the r/Python community on Reddit, and it's proving to be very active. There are many posts sharing professional coding experiences, and as a community, it boasts abundant discussion topics, well-set regulations, and millions of subscribers.

During my first week there, I mostly read posts and tried to write some small programs myself. While learning Python's commands and syntax isn't difficult, creating a program is somehow more complicated. I've spent several days coding, only to find there are so many nuances involved.

The discussions in the Python community aren't limited to coding; there are also many other topics related to daily life, some of which might be humorous, and some topics might just be useless chat. I plan to dive in and learn even more next week.

Programing skills are still important

 

With convenient communications on the internet, people can collaborate more effectively across distances than ever before. Tremendous applications, social media platforms, and AI-enhanced translations and tools provide us with unprecedented support in various types of work. Nowadays, there are even AI tools capable of automating programming, and many software companies, such as Microsoft, have laid off employees in recent years. Given these developments, it's plausible that programming skills are not as important as they once were.

But wait a second, how have tremendous enhancements and improvements been made in recent years? I think it's all based on the explosive improvement of AI, which itself is based on programming.

There are even more deficiencies for not having any programming skill. People face more information nowadays, including misinformation and potential risks from the internet. There are phishing applications that steal users' private information, malfunctioning software charging high expenses, and freeware embedded with Trojan viruses and backdoors, among others. If people entirely trust any AI app to do their programming, it's hard to avoid the possibility that these codes might contain something harmful..

Besides, this shift creates new demands for programmers who can:

• Work with AI tools effectively (e.g., prompt engineering for code generation).
• Understand complex AI systems.
• Architect sophisticated solutions involving AI.
• Handle the ethical implications and biases within AI.
• Innovate beyond what current AI can do.
• Maintain and troubleshoot AI-generated code.

 

So, even with the increasing convenience of tools available on the internet, I believe improving programming skills remains important. Python is a great choice, given its wide compatibility for various uses. Reddit and Kaggle are excellent hubs for learning programming. I will use them to improve my programming skills.

Thinking about networked work

Web 2.0 has significantly changed how people work. Thanks to communication flexibility, much work can be collaborated on asynchronously and remotely. As Rainie (2012) introduced, more people are working in hybrid arrangements, splitting time between home and office, and some can even handle their work entirely from home. This saves commute time, allowing for more time dedicated to both family and work.

 While Rainie wrote that book before 2012, AI wasn't as prevalent as it is today. I think at that point, Web 2.0 primarily helped people collaborate internationally across different locations. As long as work could be done on a computer, it could likely be finished from home. This created more flexibility for work, especially for tasks requiring creativity rather than on-site production, like building constructions. During that era, a potential job loss might have been for the "middleman" role, but most other roles enjoyed the benefits of networked collaboration.

Today, with the prevalence of AI, many jobs are changing. Employee demands might shift instantly, and many creative jobs can now be replaced by AI. There have been numerous layoffs across different vocations. I believe this presents a greater challenge for people to be creative in finding job opportunities, and it places more demands and challenges on effective education and instruction as well

Networked relationships

The way people connect determines how they exchange information, resources, and form collaborative relationships. Web 2.0 provides a much more efficient way to connect people than traditional methods like in-person communication, mail, or landline phones. This efficiency has led people to rebuild their relationships, shifting from small, localized communities to far larger and more diverse groups.

 Diversified relationships with different groups don't necessarily mean individuals are more isolated. Instead, with the more efficient communication fostered by Web 2.0, individuals can manage more connections at a lower cost than before. This provides greater freedom in accessing information and a better chance to avoid exploitation by monopoly organizations. This enhances people's ability to form better collaborative relationships with more individuals, even if they have never met in person. These improvements are easily seen in entertainment and media services: while families in the 1970s and 80s might have considered TV a great source of entertainment and media, their information was limited by the television station's monolithic programming. The declining number of TV clients clearly shows how Web 2.0 offers superior entertainment and information services to families and individuals. 

Networked relationships create new channels to distribute information and products. Each person can now create news, entertainment videos, music remixes, artifacts, or other products and distributes on internet. Not only has communication been transformed, but commercial relationships have also severely changed. This has reduced market and job demands in traditional vocations but created new markets and forms of demand within these new relationships. One controversial issue is intellectual property, which might be violated in internet sharing activities.

Some nice learning experiences from reading blogs

 

    As a newcomer for blog, I feel everything is new and have few ideas about what content is good to say here. But after reading other’s blogs, I find some nice learning experiences and will write them down here.

    1.     Create a list of meaningful themes.

    The list of themes will help both creators and readers. For me, it will serve as a reminder of my core interests and areas I want to explore more deeply. For readers, it will manifest the blog's content with greater clarity, making it easier for those with common interests to find and follow. This theme list can also function as a work plan, with content sections left blank to be filled in later.

     2.     Create a resource post.

    This post can be kept up-to-date in the long term. All academic resources, links, and keywords can be gathered here, which will be very helpful for further exploration. As important information accumulates, this post will become increasingly comprehensive and valuable for future research.

     3.     Prepare a series of content for same themes/topics

    When dismantling a topic into a series of posts, the content in each post can be more focused on a specific issue. This makes it easier for writers to elaborate on that issue and for readers to absorb ideas in small chunks.  

 

    As a novice blog writer, that's what I've learned from this week's readings on others' blogs so far. There are still a lot to learn. Thanks to the following bloggers!

Shiyaowei, IndiaWoods，Crtl+Alt+Learn, Stephen, The Great Gatsby,  

Social media and Intellectual Property

    One benefit of social media is that everyone can be a "produser," collaboratively producing value while using social media as a user. In an era of widespread social media use, with enhanced connectivity widely available across the internet, people can build connections, leverage their talents, and create value for personal ventures much more efficiently than ever before.

    Social media channels and platforms, which distribute information, form a new hive of information and communities distinct from traditional newspapers and local communities like a church. The value of this information hive is built by the wide connections among people, which supports collaboration over long processes to finally achieve valuable outcomes. However, it's more difficult to distinguish and allocate intellectual property for each "produser" in such a continuous creation process. It's therefore reasonable that many platforms require or encourage users to hand over their intellectual property rights to the platform. As Bruns (2008) mentioned, this also raises questions about platforms depriving "produsers" of the benefits from the hive.

    Absolutely, the importance of intellectual property (IP) is undeniable.

    Many products and innovations are accomplished collaboratively by different people, such as consultants and coders. Contributors who provide fundamental, theoretical contributions, and are not directly connected to commercial results, will find their benefits compromised if their intellectual property is deprived. While some platforms chase short-term earnings by depriving "produsers'" rights, the intensely competitive environment among platforms might help other platforms—those that provide better mechanisms for allocating intellectual property and protecting "produsers'" benefits—to grow and win in the market.

 

Reference:

Bruns, A. (2008). The future is user-led: The path towards widespread produsageLinks to an external site.. Fibreculture Journal, 11.

 

Welcome to my learning experiences

Welcome to this blog. In this space I'll explore knowledge and skills in education and instruction. You'll find thoughts and ideas here on social media, instruction, and emerging technologies such as AI. 

With background in finance and international trading, this space might also attempt on topics connecting these subjects with educational and instructional knowledge.