Reflective Post

I think that using weblogs in this course was very appropriate. It’s all very well to study internet culture, but even better for us to be involved in creating our own. I suppose this comes back to the idea of interactivity and the blending of boundaries that has been so prevalent in this course. Similar to the way the producer/consumer divide has been blurred, we too have blurred the divide between student and teacher. We have learnt that there are many different sources of knowledge within the class environment. This also reiterates another point covered in the course regarding the dispersion of knowledge rather than a centralized source of knowledge. So, all in all I think the use of weblogs tied in very well with the course. There was however the issue of always having access to the net and the extra time involved in posting and reading blogs.

Now, onto the issue of cyborgs. I guess I believe myself to be cyborg. I think the lives we lead are very much a consequence of certain technologies. In the sense that most consumable goods are produced by technology and our houses themselves are filled with technology. It seems we have developed an interdependent relationship with technology. In fact many of us have some kind technology permanently around us ie mobile phones, mp3 players etc. I think we are also cyborgs in the sense that many of us have multiple, hybridized identities, whether this is in regard to race, gender or just tastes and interests. The diversity and complexity of modern identity is vast and the cyborg is one of way of characterizing this.

I really enjoyed doing this course and am glad I got the opportunity to do it. There were a lot of interesting topics covered and the lectures and readings blended in well together. And, I guess I’m slightly more net proficient as a consequence. So, thanks to Tama and Karen for doing a good job.