From Katie's brain....

last week of presentations

2010-04-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here's comments/suggestions for last week of presentations! :)

Presentations 4-27-10

*Daniel- Video games and virtual communities. Correlation between learning principles of video gamesand growth of virtual gaming communities. Learning principles are enhanced in online environments this enhancement may account for an increase the number of online gamming community members. More people, more like a virtual community. Leap frog effect when going off of what you learn from other game members in community. This concept is something I had not thought about in terms of virtual communities, gaming is a large form. Great idea that you need an xbox, I would just recommend you would make your argument more apparent.

*Mike- “real vs. virtual space” cybercrimes: take more care in preventing this than a real crime, because there are more things that could happen to you, and it is information online that they can have forever. So what? Good scenarios that were presented, invest more money and time into our online money/info than in real life. This was a good topic, that I had not thought about before, maybe think about how to make this into an argument, why?

*Lee- youtube’s unique roles political activism and the perpetuation of hate- revolutionized political activism. How is this going to be made into an argument? How are you going to discuss videos in your paper? Why is this digital medium important? The question is, so what? Make sure the argument is clear. Make sure to display what is being connected between the report and what we learned in the class.

*Angel- bridging the digital divide by using games and applying games in education. So why? Why video games? It is more than just access, knowledge is necessary. Active problem solvers are necessary during this time, self esteem booster, probing principle, and these are all part of the process. LEGO, show how math and science and other subjects are connected to learning, to show they will use it, rather than the kids asking why these subjects are important?

*Derek- mobile phones and the digital divide: phones are effective in bridging the digital divide. This is more easily used in places like the US, and how could this be used in other countries? Farmers, Phones and Markets, providing information through cell phones, important in access. You have a lot of information and great arguments, I feel it may be more effective if you didn’t use so much information, maybe to narrow down the content.

*Kristen- program HOPE: access, knowledge, and safety. Healthy Online Presence Education. K-7, this could be helpful through 12th grade in my opinion, unless you have a reason why you are limiting it to 7th grade. This would be a great to implement, you had a great background as well as information.

Presentations from 4-29-10

*Brent- “online activities change us” security and distance, this gives the way we act virtually, we act as we wouldn’t in real life. Allows us to do things that are not acceptable, online. Exception not the rule, to be who you really are online. It seems like a good topic, although it seems you are focusing more on security and awareness of what information you are putting online. We do some things online/some offline. This seems to be your argument….one of these, not that online activities change us.

Cynthia- cyberspace gives underrepresented groups more choices about representation that are not available through traditional media. I think this topic is great, but could be narrowed a bit, especially talking about books, etc. that are not related to media. Who says that these groups are underrepresented? In what way?

*Neil- cell phones and internet ready smart phones are narrowing the access portion of the digital divide around the world, and it is a good thing. This is a good topic, and I agree this is a good way to help other countries grow. I thought it was good to address the opposition of this topic. This is a great topic, and I think you are on the right track.

*Josh- internet activism is a necessary tool for physical activism in the real world. Used to quickly communicate to reach a wide audience base. Mobile devices that have internet are just as useful as a computer. Internet activism was important for Obama’s campaign and many more. This is a good example of how it is a necessary tool, have you thought of the opposition of this?

Presentations from 4-20, 4-22

2010-04-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

Presentations from class this week! Great job guys.

4-20-10

*Mark- Cyberspace/online communities to save the environment, computer mediated communication. Risk is targeted, and this is shown to the public online. Ecosnoop, iPhone application, report every day, cyberspace is able to show environmental issues. This was a good topic, how would you suggest that some companies grow online if they don’t have much publicity? Use your information to bridge to the reason, why, and how these tie into what we learned in class, for example the mobile technology we have in our pockets?

*Sarah- Presenting yourself differently in cyberspace. Arguing that people who use virtual communities and portray themselves differently online than in meet space. This is a good topic but how are you going to link this to what we have learned in class?

*Cassie- Social networking sites in the classroom – Argument: WoogiWorld and a really different place, enhance learning, draw in those who are not engaged. Teaches proper internet behavior, similar to Club Penguin site. Teachers in charge of a blog, and they are able to post something until the teacher has reviewed it. This is a great topic, I think it would be beneficial to focus on one of the two types of implementations, and this is why these two places are good models, and explain why these would be beneficial, and why? Are you tying together the gaming, community, aspects? Frame it in a way that you don’t have to solve all the problems, and make it aware, then discuss these issues. Government is paying Microsoft to make a game that is educational. How does this tie into the teaching and learning changes that are being made?

4-22-10

*Dena- Facebook, other social networking sites, you are putting yourself out there, to be able to be seen by others, bullying, protect yourself, you can become a target easily, it should be put into the public eye. These companies are “tools” who can’t take responsibility for actions within these sites. How do we regulate that? Who are able to do that? Is there a way to monitor this or not? Keep the argument focused. When using these sites, you are on your own as far as privacy and freedom, and such is addressed. Great ideas!

*Michelle- argument: User friendly interfaces and designs of computers are helping create a transition from real to the virtual. The study between humans and computers, human interaction, which helps to make it simpler for users. We are humanizing our computers, how is this important, what is the difference this is going to make in our world? So computers are taking over, the question to answer is “so what”? You have great ideas and sources.

*Brittney- Mobile location marketing, Media direct marketing. Accounted for 10% in the economy, estimated to grow, this is a leading factor of marketing. Argument, you show all the ways that this is changing, what does this mean for the future? Make sure your argument more intertwined with your information, rather than just saying it at the end. How are you relating this to what we learned in class? What does this say about us?

*Mark- World of Warcraft- the changes that are being made appeal to more people and fractured the community within the game. You can help other, new users, they have to socialize and learn from others in order to thrive in the game. This is an interesting topic, but how do you plan to link this to what we have learned in class? Players have no more need to learn. Add in the expansion of what they are trying to make, as well as reducing the complexity of it, so they have ruined the community, which reduced the learning. This is a good idea, I would have never thought to tie this into the class.

*Chris- growing digital divide, access and knowledge. Community fragmentation will continue to exist, there will be a divide even if the digital divide both access and knowledge is bridged. Fragmented identities will exist, there are limit on many different things, such as phones being compatible to certain communities, etc. There will be many more problems, even if the digital divide is bridged.

Presentations from 4-15-10

2010-04-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

*Beau- This was a good idea to do a paper on, a good question i thought of while listening was, "How do you show parents games are not all about the unshowered stinky people who live in their parent's basement accomplishing nothing.

*James- I thought your topic had much potential when it comes to gaming and learning. This is an issue that will continue to be important in the future. When you were talking about the parents playing video games with their kids, it reminded me of the knowledge divide, and if you are able to bridge that when it comes to parents, they will support their children learning from gaming more.

*Hans- Social networks bridging chasm was a great topic, and the way Julie narrowed it down was brillant. It will be a great project/paper in the end. The one thing i thought of was making sure that it focused mostly on the ways that these communities help bridge the knowledge divide, and why that is importnat, because we know this doesn't do anything for the access divide.

*Spencer- This was a great idea that you had, and one that I could relate to, given my boyfriend is in the Air Force, and it is a relevant issue in training. A great way to break this down is to try to address the question, "so what?", where all good arguments come from in this assignment. Great ideas!

Comments for Presentations: 4-7-10

2010-04-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Comments: responses to presentations

Thursday, 4-7-10: Great job guys! Here are a few ideas/comments I thought of while listening to your presentations...

Laurena- This was a good idea, and interesting to learn, I would suggest making the research more relevant, and answering/addressing the question, why or how does this affect us in America?

Shelia – Good idea, on the gender issues, and the differences of how we act like in networking spaces, because of norms that are enforced in real life. I also agree that it would be more useful to use the last website, that are not as popular and cookie cutter as Facebook or MySpace.

Maurice – Mobile technology, what is the impact? Relevant to life, and the reasons for how technology is affecting lives of everyone? Rural farmers: in the US. Technology is going to make farming more competitive: because no more guessing, to some degree. Interesting, I never would have thought about this in regards to technology. It shows that technology does affect everyone.

Corrinda- learning through gaming, this is a great way to take the positive things that are learned thorough gaming, and trying to tackle the question, what don’t they learn. This is a great question that I had not thought about. How will you convince your students families that gaming is worthy as a teaching tool?

Kathleen- old school vs. internet on politics and media services? How they use media in business/political. So Obama won because of the internet, do you think he wouldn’t have had he not exercised this resource? Politics- only marketing?

internet enabled activism

2010-04-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

Internet enabled activism is a great topic to consider when looking through the media and the different kinds of publicity certain issues may have on the internet in order to reach more people than other kinds of communication. One that I have seen as an example is gun control and the publicity this issue receives on the internet. This is a huge political issue that is being debated more these days, and it is something that we should all consider. The publicity that issues get during this time are astronomical. There are so many different websites, and different articles on the web that deal with the issue of gun control, which is high in the media at the moment. This issue, as any others do, have more than one side, and it seems that there are advertisements, and articles, and websites, that promote both sides of this argument. This is a great example of internet enabled activism, or political actions. There are many different ways this issue has been displayed in the "mainstream" news, and it has many different avenues, such as articles, news on TV, which can be watched on the internet, websites, as well as blogs with comments and such on the issue. Below are a couple examples of websites regarding the issue.

http://www.gunstories.org/gunstories

http://www.responsibilityproject.com/blog/post/women-and-guns-shooting-the-messenger/?src=keyword_s=ggl_K=GunControl_C=Law_G=WomenGuns_Guns_M=broad

My topic(revised). in detail. with possible sources!

2010-03-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

The topic which I have narrowed down from education and the digital divide has been revised to somewhat:

Low income schools are a huge issue in the digital divide, both knowledge and access...."so what?" Well, I will be researching this issue, showing that it has relevance and is a problem within schools, and taking an administrator's point of view in proposing strategies to overcome this problem based on what we have learned in class thus far. I am excited about this topic, and the way that it is going to relate to my major, Education.

This is a real problem which many schools have to learn to deal with. There are many different strategies that can be taken to help bridge the knowledge and access divide. After doing this project, I hope that it can help those who can see this as a problem, as it is, and help to improve the effects, as well as work at bridging this divide.

I would greatly appreciate any advice, or sources which could be helpful. I will include some which I have read and am planning to use in my research:

http://www.nten.org/blog/2006/03/13/the-use-of-technology-in-low-income-communities

Hammond, Gabrielle. "The Use of Technology in Low-Income Communities". Nonprofit Technology Network. 13 Mar. 2006. 24 Mar. 2010.

This site helps to address issues that come with dealing with low-income schools as well as communities in regards to technology. This is a great basis to start with, and to relate it to the low-income schools that will be in these communities. This will help with the basis of my argument in my paper.

Carver, Jeff. "Internet and Computer Usage by Low-Income Groups." University of Maryland. 24 Mar. 2010.

http://otal.umd.edu/UUGuide/carver/

This source discusses the ways that different low-income groups access the internet, as well as the computer. It will help with statistics, and the point of view that the problem is not the lack of desire, but rather, it is more of an access and guidance problem. This will help me in my research, and help relate to ways that these groups can be best approached.

Primavera, Judy, Ph.D.; Wiederlight, Peter P; & DiGiacomo, Timothy M. "Technology Access for Low-Income Preschoolers: Bridging the Digital Divide." American Psychological Association. Aug. 2001. 20 Mar. 2010.

http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/school/teacher/pdf/childtechnology_White_Paper.pdf

This site discussed the ways which they have experimented with low income preschoolers, and ways to bridge the digital divide that may be presented in this situation. This will link directly with my topic, and help me to consider some of the options they have taken in order to successfully bridge.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sbneuman/pdf/LibariesDigitalDivide-opEd.pdf

Celano, Donna & Neuman, Susan B. "How to Close the Digital Divide for Low-Income Children? Fund Public Libraries." 26 Mar. 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide#Digital_divide_and_education
This is a page that will help with the digital divide, and relating it to education, with some statistics about internet access, statistics, and much more basic things to consider in regards to the digital divide.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech041.shtml

"Caught in the Digital Divide." Education World. 2000. 24 Mar. 2010.

This cite discusses the issues with the digital divide in relation to schools. This will be great to relate to while doing research on this topic, as well as considering some aspects that play into the digital divide at school which I may not have thought about in as much depth.

http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/node/17484

"Bringing technology support to schools in low-income communities." Corporation for National & Community Service. 15 Oct. 2002. 26 Mar. 2010.

This website had many different strategies and proposed changes that could be made in regards to bringing and helping students in low-income schools become familiar with technology and all the fears, etc. that come with that. As well as educating the teachers as well.

....of course I will find more sources, these are just a few that will be helpful, that I have found thus far!

TOPIC: The link between the Digital divide and Education !!

2010-03-12T15:47:00.001-08:00

After reviewing the material we have covered in the readings for class, as well as the different topics of discussion and ideas from the midterm, I have come to a conclusion on what I plan to do my final paper on. This being my topic proposal, I plan to discuss the topic of the digital divide, how it has progressed, and what has caused this, and to relate it more to what I am interested in. I plan to link this subject to the community, as well as education and literacy, as it is discussed in the two articles from this week of discussion. I am planning to argue that the digital divide is based on level of education, on the basis that the more educated a community is, the digital divide will be less than those which the education level is less. In other words, education is coorilated with closing the digital divide. As schools fight to close the digital divide by educating students, helping them become literate, as well as providing the tools necessary for them to become familiar with computers, and the internet, and technology in general, the digital divide will begin to be bridged. The basic readings I am planning to include, thus far, which will obviously expand over the next few weeks, include a couple from the beginning of class. Carvin's online article, "Mind the Gap: The Digital Divide as the Civil Rights Issue of the New Millennium"; as well as Warschauer's online article, "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide". There are many different statistics as well as discussion about the digital divide in regards to the community and specifically to schools, as the community is directly coorilated with the teachers and students, and families in communities. Any suggestions, points, helpful articles, which you may think could be helpful would be greatly appreciated. Thoughts from others certainly helps to see from a different perspective than my own.

"Nice guys finish last"

2010-02-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

The article I reviewed and was most interested in for this post was the, "Oh No! I'm a Nerd!' Hegemonic Masculinity in an Online Forum" by Kendall. This article discussed many gender as well as masculinity issues, as we discussed the first half of class today. This was most interesting to me because I can relate to some of these examples in the text, as many if not all of us can. The most interesting passage or part of the text that captivated my thoughts the most was the section discussing "Heterosexual Dropouts" starting at the top of page 266. When I read this section I interpret it as displaying that the stereotype of masculinity, the men who are "jerks" are the ones that women are so attracted to. This section also discussed the way that their heterosexuality (these men) is an important component to their identities. There is a conversation that is shown, where the men are talking and continue to say that the nice guys are used in order to vent about the latest "jerk" a girl may be seeing, and are therefore seen as weak, when they are sensitive and listen, and also have not been laid in eons, if ever. This is an interesting point that is easy to relate to, because society has shown a pattern of this occurring over and over again. I have been the one seeking the bad boy, the one who treats you like shit, may I venture to say, although it is something that may diminish after time. This is something that I have witnessed on the other side, venting to a nice guy friend who falls into the "nice guy" category, who didn't understand the latest ass hole story I had to share, or why I was so interested. This conversation went very similarly to the one in the text, and as a result of this I have seen that friend turn into something he is not, in order to gain whatever it is the masculine crude guy is "gaining". This also reminds me of the commonly used phrase, "nice guys always finish last", which may be true in society, but it will be much more rewarding. And as the article is discussing the ways that women are attracted to these ass holes, the same is true for some males, being attracted to the "fake" girls, and there is something to be said about the "nice girls finishing last", although I have not heard this phrase used before, I think it has just as much relevancy as the other. The concept of wanting what you can't have, or having a "project" rather than a finished product is often overlooked in this department. I find it very respectable that these people participating in conversation in this example in the text are admitting that masculine ass hole figure is not them, and not converting in a sense to the stereotype which they discuss here in order to get the girl, or as may be the real point, "get laid". We are all aware that this stereotype exists, but what do we do with that information? What is in our power to change, or is it the simple fact that we are aware, and that is just how it is, and always will be?

LEV MANOVICH!!

2010-02-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

For this assignment, I decided to read and write on a text by Lev Manovich as I did also last time. This article was called, "The Practice of Everyday (Media) Life: From Mass Consumption to Mass Cultural Production". This article was very interesting and in general, the article focused on the change that is transforming between what the internet was used for in the past, as to how it is transforming and changing to become a part of everyone's everyday lives. The article focused on how the internet was in the past used mainly for professional use, whereas today it is being transformed to fit into the everyday lives of many, even non-professional users. This article also discussed the concept of social media, and the "new" term that is associated with this, 'Web 2.0'. The content was educational, and discussed much of the conversational issues on the web, including commenting on various media, as well as blogs. The changes that are occurring with the internet, and the people who are using this tool more and more.

A very interesting point that was made in this article was about the conversations and reply's that are based around a specific video or type of media, there was a very captivating quote from the text, "for instance comments added by users below somebody’s Flickr photo or YouTube video which do not only respond to the media object but also to each other." I thought this was a very interesting point to make, as well as an intriguing thought. I had never really thought about the fact that this is done, I mean, I watch youtube videos like everyone else, but I had never done anything but watch them and look at the side where it says, "related videos" (Manovich, 41). I went to youtube after reading this and read some comments below some of the videos, and it was very interesting to see how people interact, what they feel comfortable saying, and so forth. This reminded me of the post I did right before this on Naukamura's point on cyberactivism and feeling free to talk about whatever they want, being as they are not there in flesh telling these things to other people who they do not know. This part of the article was very interesting and was a great connection to what we have read about in the class so far.

Manovich, L. (2009). The Practice of Everyday (Media) Life: From Mass Consumption to Mass Cultural Production?. Critical Inquiry, 35(2), 33-44.

NO CLASS - participation blog!

2010-02-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

For a participation point in lieu of class, you can write a blog post that highlights/summarizes a particular passage from chapter 5 of Digitizing Race and explains its usefulness with regards to Nakamura’s overall argument(s)

The passage from chapter 5 that I chose to focus on was on page 196, and continues throughout the whole page. This section discusses the "Cyberactivism:Online activism in Theory and Practice." This paragraph explores the idea of not having to have voices, faces, and ultimately bodies connected to a person when interacting online, and the consequences that come with this, for example, people badmouthing other races, etc. without guilt because there is no link to them personally. This is an excellent and interesting point that is made, it goes on to describe the boundaries, or lack of in the online world. There is question to the issue of putting your body on the line, and if there can be an improvement in the cyberactivism issue without going to this extreme. This is useful in regards to Nakamura's overall argument on this issue, which can be linked to an explanation at the start of the book, during the introduction. This can be seen on the first half of page 16, as this part of the book explores the concept of race, and the types of online generalizations that most people will make. This section also discusses what ways racitalized bodies are a form of this new idea, as well as trying to relate to others online. The online community is a large place, where we are given much freedom, to join certain communities, and enter into this place, when we may often overlook the types of boundaries that are being taken advantage of, which we can see for examples when looking at types of websites, or comments some people leave, which would not be said given if it were linked to their actual selves.

Intrigued

2010-02-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

The argument that intrigued me the most out of Chapter 3 was the point made on page 112. In general, the section specifically the first paragraph, that takes up most of the page. This section discusses the iPod ads where there are the silhouettes and then the white iPod and dancing involved. Nakamura goes on to discuss the different aspects of black expressive culture, which they mix with the silhouette, and add in terms of the genre of music being presented in this ad. Then further, went on to explain the sense of, “Are black people cooler than white people?” In these ads, it seems that the point being made is that black people are cooler than white people, with their style, music, dancing, all being incorporated in order to send a message, and sell a product.

This section of the chapter automatically made me think of a movie that I had watched as a teenager. This movie was Save the Last Dance, and it seemed to have the same type of message, or kinds of implications and situations. This movie was about a white girl, who was going to a new school, and she had known ballet all her life. Yet, when she started to hang out with the people from her school, who I got a mental picture of when reading this section of the chapter of Nakamura’s book, it seemed to have the same effect. In the movie, she went on to want to learn to dance like everyone at her school, which was the “cool” way to do it, and to the “cool” music, rather than the “boring” classical music she was used to dancing to. Another example from this movie was when she first danced to the R&B type music in the movie, before she learned to dance in the “cool” manner, she was laughed at because of the way she was dancing. Hence=not cool. This is something that I had not thought so much in depth about until this assignment, and I am sure there are many more examples from movies as well as other ads. The main point being, there was a “cool” style, type of music, and even vocabulary that this white girl had to conform to in order to be “cool”, which was defined by the blacks style in this movie. Although this is only one example, i'm sure there are examples for and against this argument. This one example in particular was supportive.

Digital Photography

2010-02-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

The article I reviewed was one by Lev Manovich, titled "The paradoxes of digital photography". This was an interesting article which discussed the idea of digital photographs, combined with actual photographs taken. This article presented the facts, without taking a strong standpoint of being for or against the idea of digital imaging. This was interesting to see the points being made, while being able to do this without a tone of opinion overlapping the article. This was an interesting point that it made, how much information in the image is useful to the viewer.

The link for this article:
http://www.manovich.net/TEXT/digital_photo.html

The most interesting idea that was presented in this article in my opinion, which sparked the most thought and such was the concept of re-worked, and impure photography given the ideas of digital photography that have been in place mostly the last generation or two. This idea brought a lot of ideas to thought when I was reading it, for example, why do some consider this less valuable? Is either pure, unedited photography just as credible as digital photography? Or photography that was taken and digitally enhanced?

My first instinct was to assume that photography that had not been edited was most valuable because it required skill while capturing the image, although, the more I thought about it the harder the concept seemed for me to grasp. There are so many skills that one could use to digitally enhance a photograph, which would take more skill than I personally have, yet someone else could make the same image completely different using these skills. The article reviewed some of these aspects, and it definitely made me consider options for the type of photographs that exist, and the amount of talent and creativity that goes into capturing these images.

My blog article

2010-02-04T16:43:00.001-08:00

Hey guys--here's the article i'm going to blog about!

The paradoxes of digital photography.

Here's the link! :)

http://www.manovich.net/TEXT/digital_photo.html

Constantly Connected

2010-01-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

The passage I am focusing on is located on page 259 and it is the second to the last paragraph on this page starting with "now, one key point..." This caught my eye as i was reading this essay by Bell, because I could relate to the idea which he was discussing. To summarize the passage, it is posing the question, "are we only in online communities when we are online?" One of the main points made is the analogy to RL communities, and the level of participation we must be involved in to be considered a part of the community. Another main idea included is that these communities include the 3 M's: Mobile, multiple, and often mediated.

I believe this is a great way to think of the communities we are involved in, and this caught my eye and thought because it is such a relevant question. "are we only in online communities when we are online?" I would argue that we are constantly in these communities, regardless of whether or not we are actually online. These conversations, these activities on the online communities are not erased or only existent when we are online, they are there even when we are not. My point being we leave behind information online when we are not online. This is something we can all relate to, because I can post this blog now but later when I am cooking dinner and someone else reads it, I consider myself as still an active participant in this online community which we have created. Although this may only be considered a tool of communication, aren't most online communities? Depending on some definitions, I don't belong to any of these communities. I thought this was interesting how it connected to the discussion during class today when Shelia was talking about the concept of never being dis-connected from these, because we are constantly on them. There is also the idea of when we take our cell phones, laptops, and other web accessing devices with us and access these constantly. So where is the line? I know from personal experience I feel constantly connected to the online communities, even when I am not "online".

"virtual" VS. "real" life

2010-01-21T16:30:00.000-08:00

There are many virtual communities which I am part of. Some of which include Facebook, Skype, Hotmail, Angel, as well as the blog for this class. Although I participate on different levels for these communities, I am most active on Facebook. This is a community I only become "friends" with virtual people who I must also know also beforehand in "real" life. This is an aspect of Facebook that many have different opinions regarding. I know people who will accept or request to be virtual friends with people who they don't know in "real" life, I just choose not to participate because I try to keep virtual community communication as "real" as the rest of my life. I don't say things that I wouldn't in person, etc. etc. you get the point. There are rules which every community must abide by, which was an interesting topic that was discussed in class, as we discussed that these rules must be followed in order to remain part of these communities. An interesting point that Wilson discussed in the article about how these technologies have a sense of power, it connects and disconnects at the same time. This is what i had thought about last week while discussing the pros and cons of cyberspace. This idea shown in the text of Willson's article, "As a paradox of 'connectivity', of participation with others in a virtual space, the technology disconnects the individual from the embodied interactions surrounding her/him." Where do we draw the line between being connected, and being disconnected? I think this is a question that could help a lot of people who belong to virtual communities, which is all of us in this class. At what point do you re-think or re-evaluate the connection we have with these communities and our participation and involvement we may have in them, as opposed to having these same connections in "real" life. The barriers to entry to the Facebook community are endless, there is the obvious barrier of having the right tools to have access, etc. Although there is much more. Being able to operate the program, knowing how to log on, how to actually make the account, "find" people on Facebook to be your virtual friends, either from your existing "real" life, or people unknown. My mom made a Facebook over summer, and she was even afraid to try anything on her own after she made me help her set up an account, which refers back to the discussion we had last week about the digital divide and the concept of fear that resides in this divide. When my mom made it, she was also faced with the fear of being "too old", about what society would think of her joining the Facebook community. I remember her repeatedly asking me if i thought she was too old for that type of thing. These are only to point out a few barriers.

Cyberspace

2010-01-14T21:46:00.000-08:00

Cyberspace....is such a broad subject; there are so many different ways this could be looked upon. In the reading or "Cyberspace:First Steps," by Michael Benedikt, I was struck by one description in paticular.

"Cyberspace: Accessed through any computer linked into the system; a place, one place, limitless; entered equally from a basement in Vancouver, a boat in Port-au-Prince, a cab in New York, a garage in Texas City, an apartment in Rome, and office in Hong Kong, a bar in Kyoto, a Cafe in Kinshasa, a laboratory on the Moon. (19).

When I think of Cyberspace, this description is somewhat close to what runs throughout my mind. I tend to get overwhelmed by the fact that you can look at the same things, read the same things, and virtually comment on the same things, communicate with people through this, regardless if you are across the room, or across the world. This is a new concept that I have pondered greatly over break because I had a friend in the Middle East who I was talking to via Skype, Facebook, etc. It blows me away that Cyberspace is so vast, and is not limited to these which I have named or heard of even, there are many ways to communicate through cyberspace, which makes it a thread of something much larger than just the few ways we have experienced it. I believe this is making the world more efficient, and it has changed the way the world works, and it has made going to school, communicating, gaining information, and much more easier to access and accomplish. As time goes on, although I was not around to see the world without Cyberspace, it seems it is evolving quite rapidly even within the last couple of years looking at technological advances.

Welcome to my Life!

2010-01-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Katie Shaw. I am currently a Junior at WSUTC and have just been accepted into the Education Program. I am hoping to have the opportunity to teach either 1st or 2nd grade, and I adore children! I will be turning 21 in a few months, and currently work at an attorney's office. I was involved in Student Government last year, and the beginning of this year and I strongly encourage people to get involved in the events that are becoming more interesting around campus! :) I have a strong faith, and love going to church, spending time with friends & family, and meeting new people!

WELCOME to my life !