The recurring themes and questions that seem to keep popping up for me concern the interplay between existing / pre-existing societal forces (e.g. cultural, economic, political) and developing online structures and cultures. As more and more of the readings describe, the “online world” is really on a continuum of relationships, expectations etc. existing offline. I suppose the recurring question of most import for me is how to best design online community building environments to strategically deploy the affordances of CMC to maximize the potential for enhancing interaction, understanding and problem within and across existing “communities.”
While my initial questions (can the Internet maintain its egalitarian nature, will technology be used for higher level learning in poor communities, will constant electronic communication cripple our young) still stand, at this point I feel less paranoid than reflected in my initial post. As reflected in the paragraph above, through these several weeks of reading, talking and thinking about the nature of the online world, it feels less “other” and thus more within the arena available for thoughtful action. Through increased understanding of the nuances and theories of human interaction on the Internet, my initial questions have evolved into “how to” design online environments so that the answers to those questions are positive.
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