Reflection

I have to say that I have enjoyed this unit alot as it was quite relevant. Of course many subjects are relevant, but as I consider myself somewhat of a 'cyborg' after all the theoretical analysis, I have to remark on how prevelant the internet and cyberspace really is.

I found all the topics really interesting, and I actually enjoyed doing readings for once in my life! I was abit sceptical as it is a Womens STudies course, however I didn't feel that the content was particularly biased. WHat's more if you weren't happy with what you were being told, you just had to look online for alternate views.

As I have said before, what I have got from this is more to do with the sociology of the internet. I respect people with friends on the internet more, and also those who have found love. I am also intrigued by all the virtual communities. I really do believe that the internet is an extension of our physical reality.

Overall, this unit has been enjoyable.

Pause and reflect...

It’s funny, but as I type this, I’m sitting at the main computer at home with my laptop on my knees (since the wireless network’s down again) but whereas previously it probably wouldn’t mean that much, now it gets me thinking about just how much of a role computers play in our lives. We’ve grown up around computers, and like I said last week, I tend to simply accept creations such as the internet, but after this unit, I also realize a bit more about the more subtle interactions that this simple acceptance makes all the more important online. I really enjoyed using the blogs as a part of the unit, but I wish we’d been a little more involved – I made a couple of non-essential posts, but it’s quite hard to go beyond that when you’ve got a busy semester lined up. I don’t consider myself a cyborg, but then that’s another part of the naturalization of digital technology, isn’t it? I know how difficult I find it to study without my laptop…maybe we’re all cyborgs in the psychological sense.


Sorry this is late, Alison - I misread the handbook and thought it said the last week, since I still have other classes this week!

Reflecting

I can't believe this essay I'm finishing up is worth 50%! Eep!

I never, ever thought I'd take a unit in Women's Studies, but here I am having made it through. Being exposed to a feminism I can almost agree with, in the form of Haraway's theory of cyborgs, has been a positive for me -- changing the way I think about the whole -ism. And while the term sat funny with me at first, it is undeniable that I am a cyborg and have been for a long time now. And I'm happy about this: being either all human or all machine would've denied me so many experiences in my life.

Kind of like Jen, I came to this unit from a place of heavy involvement with the internet. Virtual communities, blogging, political organising and activism, yes - even alternaporn. My circle of friends is not small, but we all share similar attitudes towards technology and I really thought this was something common right across my generation. So finding out in tutes that that wasn't necessarily the case forced me to think in critical, scholarly terms about ideas I'd never expected to have challenged. I can't say I learnt much more about the *topics* we covered in the course, but I learnt more about people and society, which can only ever be a good thing.

As for blogs as learning tools, I do think they have potential, but I don't think they worked all that well in this unit. As others have said, 'required posts' kept us thinking about ourselves first, as opposed to letting group dynamics happen. We never *really* interacted as a community here, but I guess that's something that's pretty hard to develop in just eight weeks.

All the best for exams, everyone. I'm sure I'll see many of you around, maybe even in Gender & Pop Culture next semester, or maybe even in the blogosphere... :)

Justine's Reflection

This course has introduced much food for thought. I have enjoyed the conversations we've had in Self.NET tutorials and workshops more than any other class! I guess this is because the use of technology can raise a whole assortment of hairy questions about identity, ethics, embodiment, surveillence etc. It also continually lurks at the back of my mind that technology represents our future, so in this way, the issues raised can be fairly foreboding! But whether scary, interesting, confusing, hilarious or just plain whacky, digital culture shows us perhaps the most extensive kaleidoscope of human being ever imagined!

For me, the use of weblogs for learning purposes has been a mixed experience, not having access to the internet at home has made things a little difficult. However, it has been very helpful reading outlines of tutorial presentations before the actual in-class discussion and the blogs have also allowed me to express ideas which didnt pop out in tutorials. In general the blogs allow for a greater circulation of ideas, which for the purpose of a university unit, is very useful. I would not recommend the use of blogs alone however, i think the mix of blogging, workshops and tutorials is perfect. I would like to give a virtual pat on the back for the structing of the workshops, because they allow the lectures to be interactive, WHICH IS GREAT, because usually lectures are just floods of information that get zoned out after about 10minutes when brainstorming the amazing possiblities of lunchtime (for me anyway).

Am i a cyborg? Well that begs the question, what is a cyborg.. if there is one thing i have learned in this course, its that you cant make any point without first defining the terms!! So I believe a cyborg is a human modified by technology. To me, technology is our tool, an extension of our desire. So yes, i am a cyborg, especially if i think about all the modifications i have made to my body, braces, glasses...hell, i should cash myself in! I consider my interaction with computers to also make me a cyborg. Whenever our desires are mediated by technology we become half machine, its like putting on a glove that allows you to reach further and higher than you can by yourself.

It has been fun, I would like to say a big hi and bye to all and wish you all the best for the future :) Justine

reflective post

Hello everyone…

I guess it’s almost over, so good luck on the essays. Anyway, I guess I’m not entirely sure how I completely felt about this unit. I did enjoy the theoretical parts to it, the speculations into the future and questioning a cyborg identity, but I also think that some parts didn’t necessarily fit as well. I guess mainly that that’s because so much of this theory is new and hasn’t really been developed. I don’t think this is the fault of theorists; it seems like anything written over seven years ago is dated just due to the advancements of technology. For that reason, I enjoyed the lectures and the workshops, just because of the immediate application and current theory provided by the lecturers. As for the weblog, I don’t think that this class used the blog as a typical blogger would; it was not discussion, nor really opinions on current events that drove posting, but the need to meet the requirement for the class. The blog was just the medium for assignment submission, not a forum for opinion, debate or even simple conversation. I wonder if we had to maintain our own blogs throughout the semester and have a minimum number of posts if they would transform into something more blog-like. But then again, I’m not really a blogger and I’ve never even been to a blog before this class, so maybe it did what it was supposed to. Am I a cyborg? While I am at a computer, I feel organic and unconnected, and while I can understand the arguments Haraway puts forth, I have never really agreed. I don’t feel cyborg, but I suppose that’s always up for change.

reflective post

As I sit here in the library, typing on my white apple ibook, with white iPod earphones sprouting out of the laptop and plugged into my ears, I realise I probably look like part of the computer circuit - perhaps an adaptor, and I ponder what Donna Harraway might say about it. She'd probably say I was moving towards the idea of cyborg, posthuman even. The unit has been an interesting journey, I was both frustrated and intrigued by the constant focus on technology - such an integral part of my life that I wasn't perhaps ready to admit. The breadth of ideas put forward by the readings indicate the vast implications technologies, especially those of the virtual world, have had on modern thinkers and our theories of culture. The writers we studied often gave a fresh, positive and excited view on technology that starkly contrasts the suspicion and hostility portrayed in popular media. At times, my own prejudices and uninformed opinions were challenged by the readings and tute discussions - which indicates the unit was a successful learning experience.

The blogging component of the unit was two-sided for me. On the one hand it was a useful way to begin to formulate ideas and interact with tutorial members in a virtual space, but on the other hand the very fact that posts were compulsory and assessed, seemed to defeat the very purpose and nature of blogging that we read about. I understand that if it wasnt compulsory few uni students would choose to post (that means extra typing), but perhaps a more free form e.g. a few posts that were compulsory but you could choose the topic to write about, would be more effective? Just a thought...

Overall the unit was a positive experience, except the 'gender' element to it was a little ambivalent. From the readings, workshops and tutorial discussions it appeared to me that perhaps a more comprehensive theory of cyberculture will emerge in the coming years from people of our generation - as we are the ones that have most thoroughly incorporated new technologies into our lifestyle so that they have become utterly normalised. Honestly, some of the comments made in workshops really indicated the depth of knowledge some people have of the digital age, and I wouldn't be surprised to see their writing in a self.net reader sometime in the future.

reflective post

This unit made me think overtime!

I think after all that we've discussed and read, it was quite interesting to view this theoretical side of cyberculture. What I found to be quite 'obvious' was that our lives were so dependent on technology and the internet, that we take it for granted. It shapes and influences our lives without us knowing. We all said that we aren't so great with technology, but the fact is that cyberculture and technology cover such a vast range of things that we wouldn't be able to function without them.

It was also interesting to find out all the social, cultural and political issues that are involved with cyberculture. As if we don't have enough problems in 'real-time reality', there are all these implications that arise with the internet that makes us re-evaluate the whole notion of the network of people and embodiment. I think the idea of whether we are embodied or disembodied users is a confusing issue. It's easy to think literally about it: that we need our bodies to enter this virtual world, but all the conflicting arguments confuse and question my initial belief.

The actual blog itself was a great blogging experience to those who don't blog often, but I think we were quite restricted as to the content of the blog to fully experience what 'having a blog' means. Also the fact that it was such a large group of people who didn't quite know each other, it was hard to develop something general for us all to be involved in this 'community'. The group blogs that I've come across are a community of friends who've developed some sort of interest that they could create a collective blog.

I don't think I am a cyborg, I think the term has been theorised too much that we all seem like cyborgs. I just like to think simply: that I use the internet for information and recreational purposes, I use technology for efficiency and that's it. No more theories.

Sally's Reflective Post

I found this unit to be an overall positive learning experience. I think that what I most liked about the course in general was the way it was divided into modules as this allowed me to place what I was learning in a specific realm to do with technology, and I found that this helped with the way I absorbed the material of the unit. Nothing really stands out to me as a negative attribute of the course, as I found the majority of the course reading to be relative as well as interesting.

I guess that I do believe that I am a cyborg to a certain extent, because I feel that the majority of my life revolves around technology, whether it be at home, at work or even at uni. Computers are an integral part of my life, and my home personal computer holds many memories for me in the form of photos as well as written text, and so I guess it is an extension of the memory in my brain. I would undoubtedly be devastated to lose the information on the computer but probably to a lesser extent than if I found out I had something like alzheimers. I guess what it comes down to though is that I can essentially function without technology, but it does play a huge role in my lifestyle.

I found the use of weblogs to be a fairly useful learning experience and this is mainly because I value the opinion of others as it definitely helps me to see things from another perspective. I found that reading other people's posts made me think of other sides to the points being discussed. So, I guess that mean that this weblog did work as a learning tool for me! I guess if there was more interaction on the blog than it would be even more useful, due to the constructive criticism being given, or someone offering their opinion on your thoughts.

Reflective Post

Well, I guess this is it, huh. One last post before we all go our separate ways for the holidays - oh wait, we've got some sort of essay due before then, don't we... :)

So, the weblogs. How were they as a learning tool? Well, as a means of introducing people who had never before seen an online community such as this, it was probably a pretty good learning tool, an experience that they hadn't had before. From my perspective, however, from a person who is heavily involved in several online communities, I don't think it was a good example of the scope and involvement that 'true' online communities can offer. Participants (myself included) stuck pretty much to their required posts and comments, and there wasn't much use of the weblog beyond that. This could be because participants didn't see the weblog as a community, just as a place for assessed work to be posted. In any case, the weblog served its function adequately.

I don't regard myself to be a cyborg. Despite the theories put forward by various people in the readings we dicussed in tutorials, my idea of cyborgs hasn't changed: a man-machine hybrid, yes, but a human in which the machine parts are an integral and extensive part of the whole. I don't consider things like hearing aids or glasses to be integral or extensive parts of the humans who wear them, and unlike true cyborgs such things can be removed. Similarly, I don't believe things like mp3 players and computers make us cyborgs - they are merely new ways of interacting with our peers and the environment.

I came to the course with a heavy background in digital technology and online interaction. Approaching the readings with that perspective, I often found the authors made assumptions and conclusions that directly contradicted my personal experience of similar situations or statements, which was quite jarring. This was, I think, often due to the age of several of the readings. With the current advances in digital technology preceeding at a fast rate, such readings often become outdated very quickly. However moving past the readings, overall I enjoyed the course. So often the issues we discussed in the tutorial are marginalised by academics and critics and the general population, so it was a great experience to participate in a unit such as this where current issues can be discussed and debated.

I really enjoyed the tutorial discussions (and apologise if anyone thought I talked too much!). If anyone wants to keep in touch you can drop me an email: velithya AT hotmail DOT com. :)

~Jen

Reflective Post

As I do not have the internet at home, I sometimes found the use of weblogs a bit difficult. I am also unsure as to how effective they were in my learning process, as I don't think they were as a major part of the course as I originally thought they would be. I have to partake in online discussions rather than face-to-face tutes for another unit, and this requires at least 3 mandatory posts every week. As this online discussion completely replaces our in-class tutes, i do find it integral in my learning processes. So although i think the weblogs are an effective part of the learning process, I didnt have enough interaction with them to feel they were an integral part of this particular unit.

I guess I am a cyborg, and it would be pretty difficult for anyone to say they are not in this day and age. However, thanks to this course, such a concept no longer scares me. But what does scare me, is how much i have learnt from this course and therefore how naive i was previously. As new media technologies are such a huge part of our society and this influence will only increase, i believe a larger percentage of the population needs to be more fully aware of some of the issues that have been raised in this unit. I know not everyone wants to be an academic but it is important that the power of the digital age is more knowingly considered.

What i disliked most about the course was the initial heavy theoretical issues that we begun with. They were completely unfamiliar to me and scared me off a bit. But as we continued I found the issues and concepts did actually relate to my own everyday life, which made it much easier to identify with them.

Anyway,
see you all around again, no doubt.

hayley

Final Week Reflective Post

Before responding to Alison's questions, I want to tell you all somethings that I am very excited, and still exciting! Since I am going to post my final post for this until, I went to the login page of the Blogger, and it come up with Chinese characters!! That means all the descriptions that appear in the front page, and later on I found that even the posting entry page as well, are also changed to Chinese charaters! Before they are English! How smart the page is?!?! I always find webpages are in progress! Being smarter and smarter! q*0*p

Okay, after a semester I found that using weblog as a learning tool is quite good, first of all, it is an interesting way to hand in works. Moreover, I think it is bravo that we can read the works of our classmates that it is usually unable to do so in other subjects. It really demonstrating the 'culture of sharing' in nowadays digital world. However, it is still have its shortcoming, for example it is quite annoying that when we post our messages and find out that there are some words disappeared or the hyperlinks do not work (even we did not go wrong in the process). Well, it is also ture that it can give us some experience about technology is not always the utopia......-_-#

The most like of the course for me is the workshops, the materials are very interesting and relevant to the topics, I enjoy them very much! The one I like most is the week of culture jamming. And I think those inclass workshops are more interesting than those online workshops since the discussions of workshops are always come up with many interesting ideas.

Finally, the answer of me about whether I believe I am a cyborg is yes. Especially when I come to Perth in this semester, I am heavily rely on my laptop. I chat with my family, boyfriend and friends through the internet almost everyday, I read the journals in the online course materials database, I writing (typing) my assignments by using computer, I listen to the Hong Kong radio programs through the internet, I read the online Hong Kong newspaper everyday, and I manage the banking stuffs of Hong Kong and also here by using e-banking serive.

I feel discontent and insecurity when I cannot go online for a day, especially in working day. I feel I must miss somethings that I have to work online, even there it nothing. Once the electricity went out in my homestay family, I was very anxiety when I found I can't connect with the internet. I started to think about my boy friend or my parent may worry about me if they can't find me on the net (although they are not always be there ). And I thought I can't finish my study for that week since some readings are in the online course material database (but I still got 2 subjects are using course readers). Furthermore, I feel I started to get rid of working on essay without computer. I tended to think that working on computer is more convenient and I would notice my desire of having the computer very often when I didn't got one (for example when I studying in the library). But I think sometimes it is just the psychological need rather than I really need it, because it is not strange that when I got my laptop with me, I did not type anything on it but dropping my ideas by hand writing. So I think I already became a cyborg physically and also mentally.

Actually, I think the education organizations are implicitly leading students to become cyborgs. See nowadays computer has become the essential tool of study, even the kindergarten is also promoting to use information technologies. Our furture generations are seem to become cyborg inevitability.

Thank you all of you! You guys help my school life (Perth's life)become fruitful.

Vivan