Action Maybe

Mcc students got together (well, spoke while waiting to enter a lecture theater) and spoke about are true feelings of the unit. Caroline asked people on Facebook to comment her with their thoughts. So I did :) I think it is quite funny how caroline is unsing an interactive website (that we have been studying) to get people to argue agains the way the unit is taught :) a little bit ironic dont you think?

I am really dissapointed in the Uni at the moment though i do have to admit. I hate that i keep posting negative comments on this unit (and scared that i will lose marks because of it?) but it does get to me, i want to work and learn and hate the fact that i am not really. I understand why the seminars were online, and as much as i hate to say.... i have grown to like them! I think they are a good idea because we are learning about online communication. It is just the lectures that are online now. Not learning anything at all. I do not undestand a lot of the stuff i research on the net, so i have just copied and pasted chunks in because i do not understand the content (most of the time.)

So this is what i put onto carolines Facebook page:

"I personally think that the unit is not organised and there is a lack of communication between the staff and between staff and pupils! I think it is ridickulous that there is no actual lectures and now the whole unit is virtual and online! We are paying so much to be at uni, but in reality we are not actually there! I think the seminars online are a good idea (but yet again we are gineau pigs) as we are experiencing the online material we are researching BUT having the lectures virtual too! No way! I think it is a lazy idea and is not benifiting the students at all."

week 8 (lost)

I am totally lost! From attending Sue's seminar it is clear that we (mcc students taking this module) are not at all happy with this online unit! I can honestly say that i am one of them! I was totally happy with the seminars (after a week or two of getting used to them) but now after having no actual lectures i am totally lost and confused! Took me ages to find the tasks, then they were all muddled with posting answers on different weeks and getting into groups (which is totally impractical when not having actual seminars!). I feel there is a lack of communication between staff and definatley a lack of communication between staff and students! I think Sue handled it very well in the lecture today when she was bombarded with negative thoughs about this unit! But least I know know i am not alone.

Can not find anything!

I have finally caught up with the readings and work for other modules and now, before i can relax i have this wed blog deadline to think about! Dam uni! :)

I have been trying desperately to get onto the portal, but my passwork expired so i had to then ring library and sort that out and now i am finally on the portal i can not find weeks 8 onwards tasks to do!

So i am slightly panicing on where to find them! After reading Sasha's post on the forum i now know that we have untill Sunday night to do all the tasks! I think I am now onto week 6.... but where do i find what to do :S

I am going to try and look again for them now.....

(Really not getting on with this module. I am liking the web forums and the idea of writing a blog - thats totally cool. BUT i do not like that we have NO lectures or seminars at all. Still think that the virtual does not and should not replace the actual!)

Web analysis

I have started to research and prepare for it. I have been going through my lecture notes and reading the infomation on the forums. I have also gone through and quoted Lister etc While i was reading up on the topic i found that i could relate the theory to Mspace. I wanted to do the assessment on Myspace originally, but had decided not to because I thought everyone would have the same idea. I have now decided that for me it would be easier to analyse myspace as i found i could relate theory and understanding to it, plus (I am ashamed to admit) i am a keen user and do use the site for many reasons. So would be able to bring my own experiences to help critique and analyse the site.

Now i have done the research, It is time I started to write it......

Eating my words!

It’s fair to say that I can eat my words and am enjoying it. Not only do I sign on to check my emails, myspace and facebook accounts but I now sign on to see if people have commented my blog and what others think about the forums topics! So I guess working and communicating online can be a positive thing and people can feel part of a community! I am seriously shocked that I feel like this because how can communicating online make people feel like they belong in a community? Fair enough I realise that actually living and working in a community is A LOT different than signing online and working online in the virtual community, but nether-the-less I feel a sense of belonging in the forums and have proved myself wrong! People can feel a sense that they belong to a community online!

Behind the times maybe????

I do think it’s funny how blogs are a new media form of communication and Microsoft Word do not accept the word ‘blog’ as a standard English word? Maybe the internets new communication forms are not being accepted into society that quickly then?!?!?

Comments on the reading

While reading Lister et all (p168) I thought the two contradictory views were very interesting about living online.

1) That it is a retreat form, an alternative to social reality (p168)
2) That online is not an alternative but its part of an already existing society.

I think that both points can be accepted because yes online is a society, it has many conventions of an existing society. People interact and as mentioned in a previous blog people even ‘live’ online. I can also agree that online is a retreat from social reality because personally I use the net for pleasure and to either procrastinate from work or to have a break from it! (Dam Myspace and Facebook!)

Andrea Baker (98) studied couples who met online and found that there relationships are exactly like ones where people have met in real life. I think this just proves there is a blurring of lines between the real and the virtual!