Morgan G Ames
Biographic Data
| ID | 288535 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Morgan G Ames |
| GIVEN NAMES | Morgan G |
| FAMILY NAME | Ames |
| SIGNATURE | AMES M G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Irvine |
| ORCID | 0009-0002-2632-7186 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Codesign and the Art of Creating a Global Research-Practice Network Built for Impact
The Interactions website (interactions.acm.org) hosts a stable of bloggers who share insights and observations on HCI, often challenging current practices. Each issue we'll publish selected posts from some of the leading and emerging voices in the field
Algorithmic Modernity: Mechanizing Thought and Action, 1500-2000
The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child
A fascinating examination of technological utopianism and its complicated consequences. In The Charisma Machine, Morgan Ames chronicles the life and legacy of the One Laptop per Child project and explains why—despite its failures—the same utopian visions that inspired OLPC still motivate other projects trying to use technology to “disrupt” education and development. Announced in 2005 by MIT Media Lab cofounder Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop per …
Deconstructing the algorithmic sublime
This special theme contextualizes, examines, and ultimately works to dispel the feelings of "sublime"-of awe and terror that overrides rational thought-that much of the contemporary public discourse on algorithms encourages. Employing critical, reflexive, and ethnographic techniques, these authors show that while algorithms can take on a multiplicity of different cultural meanings, they ultimately remain closely connected to the people who define…
Information determinism: The consequences of the faith in information
We identify and examine the assumption of information determinism that is commonplace in policy arenas: that mere access to the “right information” will precipitate desired actions. Our analysis focuses on implications of information determinism in three cases: California disaster response plans in the 1980s, an Indian development project in the 1990s, and an education project directed at the Global South in the 2000s. Our analyses shows that pla…
One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
One Laptop per Child (OLPC) was a nonprofit initiative (active 2005–2013) that was established with the goal of creating and distributing educational devices for children in the global south. Based on research from the MIT Media Lab, OLPC oversaw manufacture of one laptop and developed specifications for several more. This approach of this controversial project has been critiqued as technologically deterministic, imperialist, and utopian. Its pro…
Learning consumption: Media, literacy, and the legacy of One Laptop per Child
This article examines one of the largest interventions in computer-based learning currently underway, the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project, with 2.5 million laptops in use worldwide. Drawing on 2010 and 2013 fieldwork investigating a project in Paraguay with 10,000 of OLPC's “XO” laptops, I explore the ways in which participants interpreted leisure laptop use as “learning.” I show that the most captivating uses of the laptops were not “product…
On the importance and implications of studying technology non-use
column Share on On the importance and implications of studying technology non-use Authors: Eric P. S. Baumer Cornell University Cornell UniversityView Profile , Jenna Burrell University of California, Berkeley University of California, BerkeleyView Profile , Morgan G. Ames University of California, Irvine University of California, IrvineView Profile , Jed R. Brubaker University of California, Irvine University of California, IrvineView Profile , …
Why study technology non-use
This special issue provides an opportunity to rethink how we approach, study, and conceptualize human relationships with, and through, technology. The authors in this collection take a multiplicity of approaches on diverse topics to develop a rigorous theoretical understanding for non-use, setting crucial groundwork for future research
From drills to laptops: Designing modern childhood imaginaries
We introduce two case studies that illuminate a particular way of conceptualizing childhood and technology: the East Bay Fixit Clinic and the One Laptop Per Child project. Both cases borrow ideologies of childhood from contemporary American culture and ideas of technological potential from computer cultures. The developers and organizers in these two groups ground the resulting narrative in their own childhood experiences and their desire to prov…
Deconstructing the algorithmic sublime
This special theme contextualizes, examines, and ultimately works to dispel the feelings of "sublime"-of awe and terror that overrides rational thought-that much of the contemporary public discourse on algorithms encourages. Employing critical, reflexive, and ethnographic techniques, these authors show that while algorithms can take on a multiplicity of different cultural meanings, they ultimately remain closely connected to the people who define…
Learning consumption: Media, literacy, and the legacy of One Laptop per Child
This article examines one of the largest interventions in computer-based learning currently underway, the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project, with 2.5 million laptops in use worldwide. Drawing on 2010 and 2013 fieldwork investigating a project in Paraguay with 10,000 of OLPC's “XO” laptops, I explore the ways in which participants interpreted leisure laptop use as “learning.” I show that the most captivating uses of the laptops were not “product…
Information determinism: The consequences of the faith in information
We identify and examine the assumption of information determinism that is commonplace in policy arenas: that mere access to the “right information” will precipitate desired actions. Our analysis focuses on implications of information determinism in three cases: California disaster response plans in the 1980s, an Indian development project in the 1990s, and an education project directed at the Global South in the 2000s. Our analyses shows that pla…
From drills to laptops: Designing modern childhood imaginaries
We introduce two case studies that illuminate a particular way of conceptualizing childhood and technology: the East Bay Fixit Clinic and the One Laptop Per Child project. Both cases borrow ideologies of childhood from contemporary American culture and ideas of technological potential from computer cultures. The developers and organizers in these two groups ground the resulting narrative in their own childhood experiences and their desire to prov…
On the importance and implications of studying technology non-use
column Share on On the importance and implications of studying technology non-use Authors: Eric P. S. Baumer Cornell University Cornell UniversityView Profile , Jenna Burrell University of California, Berkeley University of California, BerkeleyView Profile , Morgan G. Ames University of California, Irvine University of California, IrvineView Profile , Jed R. Brubaker University of California, Irvine University of California, IrvineView Profile , …
Why study technology non-use
This special issue provides an opportunity to rethink how we approach, study, and conceptualize human relationships with, and through, technology. The authors in this collection take a multiplicity of approaches on diverse topics to develop a rigorous theoretical understanding for non-use, setting crucial groundwork for future research
Learning consumption: Media, literacy, and the legacy of One Laptop per Child
This article examines one of the largest interventions in computer-based learning currently underway, the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project, with 2.5 million laptops in use worldwide. Drawing on 2010 and 2013 fieldwork investigating a project in Paraguay with 10,000 of OLPC's “XO” laptops, I explore the ways in which participants interpreted leisure laptop use as “learning.” I show that the most captivating uses of the laptops were not “product…
Information determinism: The consequences of the faith in information
We identify and examine the assumption of information determinism that is commonplace in policy arenas: that mere access to the “right information” will precipitate desired actions. Our analysis focuses on implications of information determinism in three cases: California disaster response plans in the 1980s, an Indian development project in the 1990s, and an education project directed at the Global South in the 2000s. Our analyses shows that pla…
One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
One Laptop per Child (OLPC) was a nonprofit initiative (active 2005–2013) that was established with the goal of creating and distributing educational devices for children in the global south. Based on research from the MIT Media Lab, OLPC oversaw manufacture of one laptop and developed specifications for several more. This approach of this controversial project has been critiqued as technologically deterministic, imperialist, and utopian. Its pro…
Deconstructing the algorithmic sublime
This special theme contextualizes, examines, and ultimately works to dispel the feelings of "sublime"-of awe and terror that overrides rational thought-that much of the contemporary public discourse on algorithms encourages. Employing critical, reflexive, and ethnographic techniques, these authors show that while algorithms can take on a multiplicity of different cultural meanings, they ultimately remain closely connected to the people who define…
The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child
A fascinating examination of technological utopianism and its complicated consequences. In The Charisma Machine, Morgan Ames chronicles the life and legacy of the One Laptop per Child project and explains why—despite its failures—the same utopian visions that inspired OLPC still motivate other projects trying to use technology to “disrupt” education and development. Announced in 2005 by MIT Media Lab cofounder Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop per …
Algorithmic Modernity: Mechanizing Thought and Action, 1500-2000
Codesign and the Art of Creating a Global Research-Practice Network Built for Impact
The Interactions website (interactions.acm.org) hosts a stable of bloggers who share insights and observations on HCI, often challenging current practices. Each issue we'll publish selected posts from some of the leading and emerging voices in the field
Computer Science (10 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Political science (5 works) · Engineering (4 works) · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction (4 works) · Child Development and Digital Technology (3 works) · Epistemology (3 works) · Laptop (3 works) · Philosophy (3 works) · Psychology (3 works)