Video Reflection
14 years ago
Friday, January 30, 2009
Concepts and Community within this Disccusion page
This discussion page doesn't seem to be a third space in the same way the professor was describing in class. Rather this page is simply another attempt to facilitate discussion for this class largely made up of peers. While there are differences between people in this class and each person brings an individual perspective formed from their own personal experiences; largely there seems to be more that we can say binds us together, in loose groups of similar education, socio-economic status, etc., than decisively divides us. Secondly this page also provides another method for instruction and evaluation of this class. This detracts from freedom since we are under the expectation that our TA will read to gauge participation. While people can still write whatever they want I suspect that posts will focus on this aspect rather than community building and creation of social capital. Finally I know for myself that this post has been completely dominated by my own internal editor (myself) making sure that I don't say anything foolish or that I will later regret but will still fulfill the requirements for the grade.
1 comment:
I think the aspects you bring up about self censorship are interesting. I would argue that in any third space any newcomer censors themselves in order to be more accepted. Eventually people should reach a point where they are comfortable to let their ideas flow more freely.
The thought that posts are constantly being monitored for class related content and participation doesn't really bother me personally. Any blog has followers who silently evaluate what is written. In this case it is just for credit in a class.
I would definitely agree that the blog is not a third space in the sense expressed in class. It has no regulars (yet)and it caters to a very specific demographic (relatively wealthy and educated). I would argue that there will be people who prefer to participate in this form instead of in person, so in that sense it will act as a leveler, and once those people start blogging more there will be regulars.
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