E-tivity 8

Now that we’ve arrived at the end of the course I will want to know what your impression of the wiki-blog experience has been. You may have asked yourself or may continue to ask yourself why I decided to conduct the course this way. My decision was based on several issues, e.g. there’s no avoiding the fact that technology is an integral part of our lives, if we don’t keep up with technological developments we will be ‘left behind’, and, finally, for me the most wonderful aspect of the web is the collective intelligence it has created by people sharing knowledge and experience. That’s we’re doing here.

E-tivity 8: Reflecting on the live web and the net generation

Purpose: To carefully read several online articles and develop your own personal opinion regarding new technologies and the role they do or should or shouldn’t play in your life or in the lives of the net generation (be you a part of it or not).

Task: Read at least 3 of the articles in the list of links below. Take notes, you’re your time. Don’t look every word you don’t know up in the dictionary, just look up those that you feel are fundamental to understanding the text. Outline the salient points that interest you most.

Reflect on what you’ve read. Is the live web good or bad, pros and cons? Do you consider yourself part of the net generation? Why or why not? What are the pros and the cons? Do you feel you need to ‘keep up’ with them or are you content falling behind?

Write a post with max 2 paragraphs summarizing your opinions and impressions. Send it to our course blog, please make the subject: Yourname’s reflections, e.g. Sarah’s reflections.

Respond: Read each other’s reflections. Send a comment to at least 2 that interest you, either because their opinions are different or because they say something you agree with, etc.

Timeline: Task - Friday, June 9 – Tuesday, June 13, Respond – Wednesday, June 14 – Friday, June 15 (last lesson!)

N.B. In your “free time” :-) try adding some audio to your own personal blogs (talking about these topics if you want)!

Online readings:

The New Wisdom of the Web (Newsweek)

Educating the Net Generation: Chapter 2 (Educause)

The Myth of Generation N (Newsweek)

MySpace Rises as New Online Star (Newsweek)

Video Napster (Newsweek)

Professional Blogger (Newsweek interview)