Some thoughts on the first week of this module:
The course: I found this week quite a tough one. I’m trying to come to grips with all the different parts of this course. The fact that all the information is spread out means having to check in various places. The tweetdeck, the readings, the films, people’s blogs, the discussion board, as well as various sites recommended by others make this a module that seems very spread out. But I can see the thinking behind it – this is really giving us a sense of the “web”, and we are trying to integrate many various threads in order to find our own learning identity with the “lifestream” reflecting our learning progress. Some questions which are arising for me are:
We are tweeting away, but are we really communicating? Are the tweets not too short and unsorted to really express meaning? Can they be put into some sort of order, which makes a dialogue possible? How do we construct order?
We have many chances to visit each others blogs, lifestreams, tweets, but is this “too much information”? Are we really getting a sense of each other? Does the provision of the blogs AND the tweetboard AND the discussion board not mean that we simply don’t know where to really find the class? Will people become more isolated or will they feel a sense of community with all sorts of different meeting forums? Once more – will this all come together in the end to construct a community?
My ideas on : Hand, M (2008) Hardware to everywhere: narratives of promise and threat, chapter 1 of Making digital cultures: access, interactivity and authenticity. – This text correlates very well to my feelings on the first week of this module. Basically, the text describes different approaches to, or “stories” about digital culture, some seeing the promises behind this phenomenon, some emphasizing the underlying threat. At the core of “promise” stories is the theme of empowerment (if the relationship between person and technology is interactive, if the user is smart, if the software is seen as “friendly”). The “threat” stories convey a sense of disempowerment, with the user being seen as dumb, passive and insecure constantly in need of upgrades with consumerism replacing authentic experiences. Access to computers and software, computer skills and degrees of interaction with in the net are increasingly dividing society.
The films from the film festival illustrate these mixed feelings towards digitalisation:
“Bendito machine” portrays the worship of new technology which is always short-lived and ends in disappointment as soon as a newer form of technology follows. This shows technology as consumerism
“Stop Dave” portrays the machine as having feelings. It is powerless, however, when man decides to switch it off. In this case humankind is portrayed as empowered and ultimately stronger than technology.
Internet is for Porn shows the two sides of the digital culture. The female character embodies the empowerment and opportunities shown by the web. “Disempowerment” is embodied by the male character who is a pure consumer with an unauthentic sex life.
“The computer virus” shows the detachment of people in the digital culture and the potential destructiveness of this.
Two visual inputs into my lifestream illustrate disempowerment: The youtube film “Texting while driving” shows a girl who is addicted to her mobile phone cannot function in the real world anymore. The photo with the caption “New computer. I like the interaction” shows a group of girls on their computers sitting together but communicating only virtually. Reminds me of the film “computer virus”.
Just to link some of these keywords to e-learning and my professional practice: We are hoping to introduce more e-learning technologies into language courses for adults. Will this empower students to learn more effectively, have more instant resources and more information at their fingertips? – Or will it divide students into those who have access and skills and those who don’t? Will the provision of e-technology become inevitable anyway, as it will increasingly be expected by the students? Will the concentration on technology leave less time for lesson preparation and ultimately disempower the teachers who might be struggling with new technology?
Hand, M (2008) Hardware to everywhere: narratives of promise and threat, chapter 1 of Making digital cultures: access, interactivity and authenticity. Aldershot: Ashgate. pp 15-42.
