Week 12 Post

I have to say that when i reflect back over this unit i have certainly learned a lot more about the digital age. What was most useful for me in regards to the topics we have covered this semester is that the things we discussed in the unit have been closely linked with a lot of the previous communications units i have done. I did a whole unit on digital games last semester and in a lot of my other units we have spent time discussing similar issues about the virtual world as we did here, so for me it was really interesting to build on the ideas that i had already formed about the virtual world. However, in saying that i hadnt really considered the idea of cyborgs and particularily Donna Haraways ideas of the cyborg, so that for me was especially interesting.

In some ways i think that we are certainly cyborgs, according to Haraway's definition that a cyborg is a "hybrid of machine and organism" yes i think we can be seen as cyborgs in that light, as most of us spend a fair amount of time im sure browsing the internet or having an involement with some kind of virtual community be it facebook or something similar and that to me is having some kind of connection with the machine, in that respect it kind of becomes a part of us. The machine then, helps form our identity in a way and i think in this way we are cyborgs or i certainly can consider myself one.

In terms of using the blog, i actually found that it was really quite useful. I am a pretty shy person and i much prefer to express my ideas and opinions in writing as i often feel quite intimidated speaking in front of lots of people, so for me in that respect it was a really comfortable way to express my ideas. I also found that i was kind of forced to think a lot more carefully about what my posts say whereas when i speak in tutorials my ideas are not as concise. I also found the blog useful in that it was accessible all the time and i had time to think about things that were said in the tutorials and could spend some time thinking about them before adding to them where as with class discussions it is more about thinking on the spot and your responses have to be more immediate. Overall, i have enjoyed this unit and have found it interesting expanding my ideas and learning more about how we operate in the digital age. I have enjoyed using the blog and found it very useful to read and respond to others ideas and also to express my own opinions on topics covered in the unit. Thanks everyone.