1:1 Introduction
Hello everyone. my name is Edward, and I am a 4th year Poli Sci major with a minor in Canadian Studies. My specialization is in #cdnpoli, with a particular passion for political campaigns and elections. I feel that having a broad understanding of “Canada” as a whole, in a multi-disciplinary fashion, allows for us to have more pragmatic conversations as a nation, where view points are both respected and challenged. And I wouldn’t be a very good politico if I don’t do as I preach. This is why I chose to take this ENGL seminar, even if it is a bit out of my usual comfort zone.
While the course content on its own is already quite striking, I was personally very intrigued by the setup of the course as well. Communicating via a Facebook group, blogging assignments, evaluating participation though comments and links; these are all educational techniques that I have yet to see in my entire academic career, and I’m glad I have the chance to experience it before it comes to an end.
In general, as commentary towards the digital age, the amount of information at our disposal, paired with an unprecedented ability for anyone to spread that information to a larger and more diverse audience than ever before, has seen tremendous growth in just a few short years. We have yet to scratch even the surface of its implications on our society, and naturally, on the way we communicate as individuals. Perhaps as we let this semi-social experiment play out for the rest of the semester, we can start to see patterns in how each of us behave and adopt to this departure from our usual setup; who posts and comments the most, who are the night owls and early risers, etc. And of course, from reading a couple of the already published posts, we have a very diverse group of peers of various backgrounds and I look forward to seeing what new ideas will be presented in our upcoming discussions.
Definitely some intriguing weeks ahead.
Works Cited:
Couts, Andrew, “Study confirms social media’s revolutionary role in Arab Spring”, Digital Trends, 13 Sept 2011, 08 Jan 2014 <http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/study-confirms-social-medias-revolutionary-role-in-arab-spring/>
Madrigal, Alexis C. 2013: The Year ‘the Stream’ Crested, The Atlantic, 12 Dec 2013, 08 Jan 2014 <http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/2013-the-year-the-stream-crested/282202/>
ThreeHundredEight website, 08 Jan 2014 <http://www.threehundredeight.com/>
Twitter website “#cdnpoli” search results, 08 Jan 2014 <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23cdnpoli>
Hi Edward, a great beginning – thanks. You brought a new metaphor to my attention: the stream, interesting, where “importance is based exclusively on nowness.” Hmmmmmm, It is interesting to read this post and realize that just as I am becoming aware of the Stream, it seems to be dispersing or at least opening up into new waters: “So, something else can be built, a new metaphor can take hold, and a different Internet could come into being. What might it look like?” Thanks for such an interesting read: 2013: The Year ‘the Stream’ Crested. I too am excited by the blogs I have read so far — we are an interesting group of people, and I suspect that working together online is going to be far more productive than dealing with this type of content in the classroom. The main reason i think this is because in the classroom there is so little time to reflect before we speak and always so many voices that never find a space to speak up – but only listen. Thanks for your insights and most interesting link. Erika