Wednesday October 31 , 2012
ITM407
Week 8 Preparation Notes
Readings:
Tavani Chapter 8 Community, Personal Identify and Sense of Self in
Cyberspace – Section 8-1
Tavani Social Equality Chapter 7 The Digital Divide and the
Transformation of Work – Section 7-1
*Huff, Sex Bias in Educational Software
Overview:
The proliferation of ICT and its unique characteristics have forced us to
revisit our understanding of what we mean by various concepts. Before
the break we revisited the concept of privacy and how it has evolved
from a focus on individual property and ownership to include control
over personal information. Because of the easier access that
technology provides to our personal information, our concerns over
privacy are linked to concerns of security and safety.
In this half of the semester we are considering how other concepts
might have changed - concepts such as community, social equality,
property, democracy, the learning environment, personal relationships,
etc.
This week we are looking at community and how it has evolved from
the community within walking distance of the 18th century to the
global community of today and what issues does that bring?
The Concept of Community:
Read Tavani Chapter 8 and consider the following question:
1. How have online communities affected our traditional notion of
“community”?
Online communities have made it possible to extend the geographic
boundaries of traditional community life. Individuals that are separated
by continents and oceans can now interact with other from different
parts of the world using instant messaging software’s such as MSN, Wednesday October 31 , 2012
online forums, or even social networking sites such as Facebook.
Moreover, individuals are now able to write blogs to express their
concern regarding issues within seconds. Upon posting your blog,
people will be able to look at it, comment on it and express their own
viewpoints. In an online community like the blogosphere it is not
necessary to know one each other in order to interact, there could be
individuals from anywhere in the world commenting on the blog and
sharing their opinions. As a result, online communities are borderless.
2. What are the positive and negative features of online communities?
Positive features are:
• People are able to meet new people and perhaps even find your
life partner through dating sites like eHarmony
• Users can form online medical support groups which is designed
to address issues for like-minded people
• Users can communicate with people online because they might
not be able to communicate in person
• Promotes individual freedom because m
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