Internet conference, UCLA”
This talk outlines the relationships between culture, knowledge
and control on the Internet. Barlow describes what he sees as a
shift from monotheist creation of popular culture -- where the
culture primarily comes from places of authority -- to one of
pantheism -- wherby everyone is creating popular culture, and the
culture comes-about from everyone interacting with each other. If
we see much of the way we view our physical identity as being a
product of our culture, then, certainly, a shift in the way
culture is disseminated amongst society will bring-about new
ideas of the body.
2. Roger Clarke - “Ethics and the Internet: The Cyberspace
Behaviour of People, Communities and Organisations”
In this slightly dated article, Clarke’s intent is to deal with
ethical issues surrounding the use of the Internet. He begins by,
firstly, outlining the technical nature of the Internet because,
in his own assertion, one shouldn’t “bother getting involved
unless you're prepared to ... examine the engineering that
underlies it”. He then outlines the impact the Internet has had on people
from the individual level right through to the government level,
along with ethical considerations at each level. While some of
the information may not be relevant, and -- certainly -- the
Internet has progressed since the time of the article, much of
the discussion remains relevant even today. Importantly, as we
increase our presence on the Internet, the importance of such
discussions increase dramatically. In addition, the behaviour and
regulation of groups and individuals on the internet impacts the
distribution of cultural capital. In turn, this will have an
impact of the way we are are embodied in relation to such
technology.
3. Ray Land - “Issues of embodiment and risk in online learning”
This article, as the title suggests, discusses the issues of
embodiment in online learning. It begins by relating how,
traditionally, education has taken-place in enclosed spaces as a
way to regulate meaning and activity. Certainly, once the
learning environment begins to move into cyberspace, such
regulation becomes incredibly difficult. Interestingly, the
article suggests that:
The embodied learner and the embodied teacher might also each beHere we see the idea of our bodies extending beyond the skin, and
represented ... as enclosed entities, insofar as they appear to
be relatively clearly defined, with seemingly obvious physical
boundaries. Cyberspace, on the other hand, complicates and
disrupts such preconceptions and habituated practices (p. 530).
into cyberspace. The article then outlines various thoughts
relating to online learning. One of the views discussed is the
idea that such spaces can be cold and sterile on account of the
absence of other physical bodies in the learning environments.
The author notes that this then leads to further thoughts.
Namely, that such spaces lack veracity. That is, due to the lack
of a speaker’s physical presence, their words may appear to be
‘false’ -- one may sense a lack of embodiment. Land notes that a
disembodied view is impossible to attain as it is a view from
‘nowhere’. Another point raised is how the online world, by some,
is said to lack ‘risk’, and how this may stifle learning. It is
then pointed-out how, despite the lack of physical risk, there
are still other forms of harm that present themselves as a result
of interactions with the Internet. Finally, the value of
anonymous identities is also presented: by being able to escape a
physical identity, students are more willing to reveal weaknesses
in their own understandings, as well as being able to deal with
other social constraints that may arise because of the identity
granted to them as a result of their physical body -- such as
gender, race, size, and so forth.
4. Susan Greenfield - “Re-wiring our minds?”
How do extended screen experiences affect the development ofThis is a question posed to Susan Greenfield. Whilst no
children’s brains?
definition a ‘screen experience’ is given, from the answer, we
can make the assumption that it involves experiences such as
film, television, video games, and, of course, computers. Much of
the talk is centred on the differences between such screen
experiences and physical interactions with people along with
reading books. She suggests that, in the new mediums, “emphasis
is ... on experience rather than meaning, rather than on
content.” Coupled with this notion is the idea that such
experiences are designed to be exciting. To me, this view is
problematic as it generalises the screen experiences into all
having a similar focus. Moreover, I am certain that many people
can think of examples where a screen experience does not fit her
description. In this respect, it would be more valuable to
discuss media that is presented via a screen as more of a medium
for the presentation of various feelings, ideas and so forth.
This would be in contrast to Greenfield's approach whereby screen
mediums are given a fundamental nature -- their emphasis. While
it may be more visible in the texts currently available in this
form, the current emphasis is not a fundamental apsect of the
form. That is, these texts are presented via medium which
possesses certain physical attributes that may constrain or
strengthen various presentations of the work. That does not,
however, determine the nature of each individual work; the
meanings that we may derive from the work as a result of it being
presented on a screen are culturally produced. Greenfield also
raises the issue of people deriving meaning about their physical
bodies from their digital bodies. That is, she presents the idea
of how one may die in a game only to start again, and how that is
not possible with one’s physical body.
5. Ban Ki-moon & Hemanshu Nigam - “Cyber Hate: Danger in Cyber
Space”
In this talk at a United Nations' conference, we hear of how
various online activities relate to happenings in the rest of the
world. We hear of how new technologies are being used to realise
some of the oldest fears. Along with this warning, they also
present ways in which we may confront these issues -- such as
striving to promote understanding. Nigam also suggests that we
see the online and offline as part of one world -- as he believes
young people do. Certainly, this is a way of trying to deal with
two things that, for some people, are often placed in binary
opposition. That is, concerns about interactions with other
people often revolve around a sense of loss for the physical.
Often, such lamentations appear to assume that the online world
will replace the offline. This, however, is not the case. Whilst
the body may move beyond the skin, the physical body -- with all
of its interactions -- is still here to stay. The internet may,
at times, move to assimilate the physical world within virtual
spaces such as Second Life, yet the reverse is also true: the
internet is being assimilated by the physical world. All around
us, we see people with, among other pieces of technology, mobile
phones that connect to the internet. In this case, the Internet
becomes another feature of our world. Swallowed, as it were, by
culture. Consider, also, how all of the Internet requires a
physical structure. From computers on one end, to cables, servers
and datacentres. All of its existence relies upon the physcial
presence of various devices. Moreover, the physcial presence of
this infrastructure relies on the Internet as the reason for its
existence. Even if the internet is to play a prominent role in
our future embodiment, we will still exist within the physical
world, coupled to physical machines.
***
This is a video that I came-across the other day, and it outlines some of the interesting ways that computers connected to the Internet have been used in education. Enjoy ;).
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