Second Looks

CATaC’10University of British Columbia

Some First Impressions …

the internet is an endless sea of niches… (Delany, 2009a, 20, in McQueen and Green, 324)

Some First Impressions …

Critical discourse community …

that knows how to have fun together …

Some additional insights …TheoryAdditional theoretical resources – feminist theory at work in Maya

van der VeldenTheory is sexy! David Kreps – chatroulette, sex & Foucault Innis-Eisenstein-McLuhan-Ong-Baron-Kondor framework consistent

with, e.g., the use of text messaging by the Wujal Wujal as a possible example of secondary literacy? (Brady & Dyson)

Theory-Praxis dialogueBroad spread of theoretical backgrounds (see “Second First Looks”)

– some presentations left theory more tacit.Not a critique, but useful reminder that explicit theoretical

references are helpful for offering conceptual groundwork for dialogue, critique, etc.

Some additional insights …As the bloom is off, e.g., open source, etc. the bloom is off new technologies?From 1990s’ “wiring the world” for democracy in an electronic

global villageto, e.g.paper / radio / cassettes as the most cost-effective media for

distance education, vis-a-vismobile phones are good for following up learning – not so good at

delivering new learning (Hewling &Sesnan)

Some additional insights …Helpful reminders …The danger of “presentism” (Wellman, 2010) in the face of

enchanting and rapidly changing technologies … the need for a longer (multi-generational / multiple centuries)

historical awareness: Albrecht Hofheinzcf. Lee et al’s pointing towards the need for longitudinal study of cognitive style vis-à-vis hypermedia learning environments

Additional needs …We need a visual grammar for Web 2.0 environmentse.g., A. Shiri et al work on visual design – cross-cultural

approaches to visual design “grammars” / “vocabularies” cf. Gordan Fletcher’s typologies of photobombing

Philosophical Anthropologyrelational beings – emphasized / embodied / enacted, e.g., in

Chase, Charnley, Mclean: intellect is not only located in the mind, but also in heart, body, and soul

Brady & Dyson: humans need to communicate first of all to cooperate – only then in order to meet basic needs.

humans need to communicate first of all to cooperate – only then in order to meet basic needs.

contra / in addition to Hofstede’s notion of culture as “software of the mind” (Lee et al) – while remaining useful in several studies, rooted in a cognitivist model of knowledge (based in Cartesian rationalism)vs. more contemporary enactivism that emphasizes precisely a holistic, non-dualistic understanding of knowledge as incorporating (pun intended) non-reflective, pre-cognitive processes of the body in knowing and navigating the world (cf. Susan Stuart, 2008)

Philosophical Anthropology the role of networked communication technologies in facilitating a shift

(in “West”) from modern individual (as a core autonomy

liberal-democratic state, basic rights – including rights to privacy, equality rights, etc. )

to relational beings …social media are both public and private, shared and intimate

(McQueen & Green) McLuhan’s publicy, G. David’s “exteriorized intimacy”,

Albrechtslund’s participatory surveillance … loss of sense of individual self / individual privacy Postman-Huxley: we fall in love with the technologies of our

enslavement …Especially as these are increasingly owned and controlled by and for

corporations, rather than by states allegedly interested in the common good

Some additional insights …Connections with larger trends, findings in CMCCheong and Martin:

critical research focuses on how power dynamics in online interaction mirror social hierarchies outside classroom …

overall shift from 1990s’ dichotomies between “real” / “virtual,” “offline” / “online” (“first age” of Internet studies – Wellman, 2010)

to “third age” defined by recognition of inextricable interweaving of offline / online, e.g.In recent research on community and the Internet, the emphasis is shifting from ethnographic studies of virtual communities, to studies of people’s blending of offline and online contacts. (Kendall 2010, p 320)

Looking forward …Who are you? contra emerging and increasingly rich and complex

understanding of human begins as active agents, as embodied / enactive / relational beings …

B) We – including our information and free labor offered up in the name of social communication - are commodities;especially for young people whose identities are in formation and especially vulnerable to group constraints – those identities are increasingly defined within the “pre-packaged,” consumer-oriented drop-down menu choices. beginning with gender identity (cf. Livingstone, Bromseth and Sundén, and others in The Blackwell Handbook of Internet Studies)

But: A) relationality orality collectivism that (from Vygotsky to Souleymane & Nocera) renders the individual entirely dependent on the community

Looking forward …Culture?is the fog lifting?

Looking forward …Culture?No proof in our study for an influence of cultural

dispositions on the acceptance levels. […]The literature does not yet provide a conclusive model of

cultural dispositions vis-à-vis learning. (Roche & Todorova)

Hofstede – at least re. collectivism is alive and well …Al-Saggaf, Souleymane & Nocera … at least as a “nice can-

opener” …

We’re still in the dark ages regarding our theoretical constructs of “language,” “culture,” much less “language learning” – Ken Reeder

Looking forward …Culture?Notion of idioculture: An idioculture is a system of knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, and customs

shared by members of an interacting group to which members can refer and that serve as the basis of further interaction. Members recognize that they share experiences, and these experiences can be referred to with the expectation they will be understood by other members, thus being used to construct a reality for the participants (Fine, 1987, p.125).

This definition accommodates the idea of culture as a locally emerging activity system involving a briefer stretch of history (Cole and Engestrom, 2007), and includes multiple cultural selves and hybrid identities on the Internet that interact with each other cross-culturally to form unique cultures of their own. The definition fits well with the ephemeral, fluid nature of the Internet which fuels the development of cybercultures, cultures that emerge among those who use the Internet to communicate, developing its own etiquette, norms, customs, ethics and mythology, just as an idioculture does. (528)

Some additional insights …

Looking forward …Who are you?

bintu (the ones who have been to somewhere) – CATaC’10

And, we hope you will become “wiltus” …

And, we hope, you will (return) to CATaC’12 …