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!

Feedback

I am catching up with all my tasks and am posting them in the forums and on my blog but I am not sure if what i am doing is correct?
I am not sure if I am writting enough, or to much or too little? And if what I am saying is relevent and will help me pass the unit. I am just a little concerned that I am not doing things right and may fail.
When we had seminars last term we were never marked on what we done in the seminars, it was just an oppertunity to learn and sort out any questions from lecturers. So I am really confused to how we get marked by doing these blogs and tasks.
Would it be possible to get feedback? I think \I will post this on the forum as-well? I would rather question this module and ask for some feedback, than continue and then fail.

Views on Week 1's tasks

From finally sorting out all my notes and readings, I have finally managed to add more to week 1’s task. I decided to set up a new blog for the tasks so it’s easier for me to know what I have done and what I haven’t. Plus it is an easier way to look up notes for writing this web analysis. I thought that weeks 1 tasks was a mixture but I particuallary enjoyed reading about Lister et al’s views on identity and I was able to link it to another theorist – Baudrilliard. I like it when things link between subjects.

(cont. from previous post) P.S I DO NOT AGREE WITH...

P.S I do not like the fact that for the next four weeks our lectures are online aswell! One of my previous blogs describes how people are getting lazy by online shopping etc well I thihk that this online lecture buisness is lectureres being lazy! I am finding it hard enough to learn anything by these online seminar-task-forum things! hense why i am struggling to complete them. So for lectures to be online i am not impressed! I think we should have been told about this online stuff before the course began or given the option to do it like this or not! Maybe it's just me thinking this but i am not impressed at all! I am not learning anything substancial by this online stuff.

Why can't we go back to good old fashion pen and paper and learning the course content by actually participating in reality and sitting in a seminar?!?!?

Thoughts about lecture!

If "Lessig" feels that if you take a copy (not the original) of something from the net, then that is fine. If only the Law agreed with that! I never actually thought about that aspect before, that some people may agree with downloading etc I think Lessig is a nice person and not a money grabbin' kinda guy! Whereas production companies etc are out to gain money, so free downloading does not go down well.

Also from the lecture, when talking about representative and our society being represented by politicians and the internet is not governed by such thing. I thought that maybe the net is? The whole net is obvioulsy not governed as it is to vast, but there was a programme on TV a couple weeks ago about people who are employed (by government i think) who 'surf' the net looking for internet fraud people (not quite got the English right here!) and people who abuse the fact that there is freedom of speach etc on the net. It was interesting to watch because these people are employed by the government, so therefor the government still (try to) have control over the net.

Internet sites like myspace and facebook are also govened, by the owners. If (on Myspace) you see a picture of video that offends you then there is a direct link where you can complain and get it removed.


I have never heard of the 'Copy-Left' principle until the lecture but I really like the idea! I think that it's society being nice for once! It is a nice thing to do. I am not sure why us University students are not alloud to use Wiki-pedia (or not meant to!) then? Is it because it is Copy-left or because of where the content is from? Anyway I like the idea that you can use the material aslong as whatever you do with the material, others are able to use it and so on! I really do think it's society being nice-because I can't see how they make money from it? Or do people pay to put there ideas on there? Not sure. Does anyone know any other sites that use the copy-left principle?

But anyway I liked todays lecture and i got a lot out of it! I think it has helped with the website analysis a lot! :)

Actually got passionate about a part of this unit!

Is it just me, but I think this web site about living online etc should not exist. Sounds harsh I know but surely it is not healthy?! I mean, people should have social skills, learnt and improved while at school. So not to be able to interact with others through personal choice (I understand there are exceptions with some illnesses and diagnosed mental issues) is lazy. Again I know that mental conditions exist etc but surely if someone just does not want to go outside and experience social interaction face to face then they should need help (medical) not hide away and not face there fear. I just think that in today’s society people are becoming lazy and in result social interaction is being lost and becoming more mediated. For example instead of people leaving their house and going shopping and experiencing the conventions of shopping (checkouts, kids crying, ques etc etc) people just sit at the computer and order online. Someone else chooses the loose potatoes and the bread! But in today’s busy society I know this is easier. People are not experiencing things anymore because of technology, just like the defacing of communication due to technology! I think this is a shame. Back to this living online site, I think it’s a shame.


The above comment I posted for the week three task. While i was thinking about it i got really passionate about it. I am not liking the online unit and so far i have not got passionate about something because online i feel you cant get a good discussion going. But i found this topic interesting!

Am trying....

I am finding the online seminar group erm... weird. I like the fact that we don't have to actually make the effect and go in to uni, but because the seminar forum thing is not part of the time table so to speak, i find it hard to remember to go on there. I do obvioulsy go on there, but..... not really getting out what i mean. Maybe thats a negative aspect of online media forums! That words on a screen will not say what you could say if you were face to face with someone!

First attempt!

Just though i'd test it out. I'm not sure why people would put there thoughts on the net for everyone to see? Each to their own I Guess. As this is for a Uni project I guess I will have to :)