http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys Part of the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:41:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I began my lifestream with a sense that I would be saving ephemera.  In my early blog posts I played with the ‘why?’ of the activity.  Was I creating commonplace book, a scrapbook of nostalgia, the virtual clippings and travel stubs to remind me of my journey? Or a bower ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/12/13/week-12-lifestream-summary/ After speaking with Jen I decided to do my final assessment on authority, in particular how we sometimes feel that authority is compromised in digital spaces and what if anything we (should?) do to assert our authority.  I first noticed this theme in Hine's account of digital ethnography: Along with travel ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/12/12/week-11-summary-authority/ Our new pedagogies may be uncanny but it was with a sigh of relief I returned to the familiar realm of education.  The jaunt through cultural studies has been extremely interesting, but I was getting a little lost without a peg to hang it all on.  It was the readings ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/12/12/week-10-summary/ I was getting quite frustrated with the readings on cyborgs and posthumans, not that they weren't interesting, but they were so embedded in western ideas of self and being and what it is to human (and therefore cease to be human) that I was beginning to think that mandatory courses ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/11/25/week-9-summary-recognising-the-cognisphere/ I prefer the term posthuman to cyborg.  I think as the digital world we see today was emerging in the '90s and early 00's we misunderstood the effects of the relationship between 'us' and technology.  Much of this misunderstanding was idealistic and hopeful - Haraway anticipated we would be cleansed ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/11/25/week-8-summary-is-pending/ Aimee Mullins was the guest editor for Gizmodo's current theme This Cyborg Life.  The weekly theme explored many areas, but stuck mainly with the focus on medical / physical prosthesis.  I found it while looking for cyborg related content and have been following their updates avidly for the last week.  ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/11/19/cyborg-life-through-aimee-mullins-eyes/ This week was taken up with recovering from my ethnographic experience and viewing those of others.  Thus my lifestream got a bit neglected.  Pity the hard work of ploughing through Haraway doesn't show up on it.  I have to admit  reading this text, ironically, made me regret for the first ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/11/13/week-7-summary-and-pondering-haraway/ When I asked the Forest of the Moon players why they did it, they gave the following replies (Screen name / Character name[s]): Being able to be a part of a fun world/idea/plot -- more directly than just reading a book -- and being able to do something with my tendancy ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/11/05/my-digital-ethnography-6-taking-off-the-mask/ Methodological preambles are far from innocent in the construction of ethnographic authority. The ethnography described in this book is no different. Chapter 4 is there not just to tell you what I did, but to convince you that I did something that authorizes me to speak. Devices such as the ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/11/05/my-digital-ethnography-5-speaking-the-lingo/ What attracted me to the topic was the level of characterization we see online and how it intersects with the question of authenticity.  In our discussion board RPG at The Northlands (an online community), board members, already 'hidden' behind their online identity and screenname create a second (or more) identity ... http://digitalculture-ed.net/tracys/2009/11/03/my-digital-ethnography-4-getting-in-character/