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Isolation and Stupidity
I made a mistake in commenting on a post by a fellow classmate. I made a comment about the author of an article referring to him as a crackpot. I was not careful with my words. The Internet being what it is the predictable happened. I got called on it.
First, it was an unprofessional comment to make and I was clearly in the wrong and stupid for being careless over my words. I wrote an email to the person apologizing and I am still rather embarrassed about it. He was gracious in replying and pointed out his frustration being unable to respond because he did not have the access rights to make a reply.
It has raised some concern about providing a "walled garden" in which people are allowed to post their views and comments without the ability for others outside the portal to respond and debate these issues, especially when it concerns them. I'll leave this for others to debate and approach the issue from a personal perspective.
I've been giving this a lot of thought. For a while now I have been contributing in the Me2U platform and I have previously noted a lack of interaction from others within the academic community. I guess it is typical of one of the drawbacks of distance learning in feeling isolated. I did think nobody was reading anything I was posting and over time I think a more cavalier and wreckless attitude to what I was saying crept into my postings.
I basically posted what I thought (rightly or wrongly, and in this case wrongly) without thinking about the responsibilty that I have as an educator and student to the academic community. We are always responsible for the words we express whether spoken or written. Whether it is in real life or posted on the web. Words have power and should be carefully considered before spoken or written.
I am at the end of my studies in the MDDE program and I have learned a lot about distance education and experienced first hand what it is like to be distance learning student. I don't care for the isolation. I am sitting in my home office in CBS, Newfoundland and at times I have thought what I think, write and say really does not have an impact or even matter. It is unfortunate that I have had my isolation bubble burst in such a negative way (my own fault). It has brought home the reality of the Internet that when you post something it is out there for all to see. Whether I think anybody is reading it is not relevant. It is a reflection on me and right now I'm not overly impressed at what I am looking at.
Thomas Sheppard
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Hi Thomas, Terry is correct. I checked my settings and it showed that at some point I had blocked the capacity for others external to Me2U to make comments. That was initially, when the posts were restricted. When I made the posts public, I did not re-set the comments options. This has now been corrected, and all posts not restricted will give access to the public to post comments. Glenn
Thomas, I understand where you are coming from. We should be able to openly express ourselves in our courses...that's what it's all about...
A few weeks ago I searched my name on the msn explorer and there were 2 Me2U sites that I could access with my name reference. Although there wasn't much on the sites, at least from what I could find, it is a little disconcerting for me...it makes me feel so exposed! That may be part of the reason why I haven't been commenting very much...it's not that I want to say anything I shouldn't...it's just that I'm not sure about the access of others and will that have any impact on me?
Your experience, although it's been a negative one for you, is also a positive eye-opener as well. I feel bad for you that it happened the way it did, however, it's just another important lesson for all us...so far, I have learned many things in my life through the school of hard knocks...it definitely builds character, but can be very wearing...remember too that we all have that big human factor, and we can't help that! I respect you for what you did to try and compensate for your comment...there are many people who wouldn't care so much about the feelings of others.
You should also keep your chin up about the isolation you feel sometimes...I believe that all of us feel that way a few times during a course tenure, although I know that I can only speak for myself.
So, I guess for anyone who is even going to trouble themselves to read my blogs...hip, hip and all that!
:)
Geri
Hi Geri, Thomas and Glenn
Thanks for this thread. It has been useful. To Glenn, I did not realize that making comments public was different than making read of the initial post public- so I learned something, though fortunately with no school of hard knock, well at least to me!.
Geri, you (and everyone else) is having to rethink our notions of privacy in a net pervasive era. I tend to more liberal and want to establish a net presence - in return for contacts, social capital, influence, reputation etc. But I realize others don't feel that way. I think the question is what is lots in exchange for that exposure versus what is gained. I know that if circumstances were different (say i was running from an abusive spouse), than even one or two references to my name would be damaging. But I wonder how the two references to you from Me@u will affect you? I am not trying to squeeze out personal information, but it strikes me that a sleuth would find you are a (good) student in the CDE, that you write well and comment accurately and that they have a thumbnail sized picture of what you look like. All rather positive from my perspective, but the power of me2u is that the disclosure is in the hands of the poster. But you search makes me assume that the two exposures found were in replies to others, not in origonal posts - correct? Maybe the permissions drop down should appear before responses are posted as well?
Other comments on netpresence/ net exposure??
Terry
Thanks for the comments. I was also wondering if it was possible to delete the comment I made? I'm thinking Glenn would have to do that.
It raises another issue about moderating comments. When is it appropriate? In an academic setting where you are trying to encourage debate you want the free flow of information. Is a blog about academic issues the treated the same?
I just went back and deleted the comment so I did have the right to delete my own comment. Interesting.
I feel your pain Thomas, and completely agree with you Geri. I too feel somewhat inhibited and have difficulty expressing all the thoughts I have, and prefer not to post everything I think about. I realize that much of it is an insecurity that a) what I have to say is interesting to others and b) that I haven't thought it through enough or c) that someone else has already said it better than I could. I have come to realize that some people quite enjoy the opportunity to publicly post while others prefer a greater degree of privacy. I personally need time to review my thoughts and take my time in assessing incoming information - I realize that this is what discussion is all about, but I also prefer to be concise, and not necessarily allow my process to be visible to all - it is after all, sometimes irrelevant to others, and may also seem confusing until I distill my thoughts and come up with a logical and coherent idea. Also, Terry, to address your frustration, I think that opening a course up to the world might not be the best way to learn for some. As a student, I need to feel safe that what I am expressing will stay within the group as I am finding my way, and that any faulty thinking will remain within the group and be a learning experience - otherwise, I would just join a social community or forum on the web where I would be prepared to engage with the world at large. I think that the minute grades come into play, it is a completely different ball game, with a different set of rules. You will never get people to communicate the same way in the 2 environments - there is too much at stake. Take what happened to Thomas as an example. Within the confines of the course, he is embarassed, because he is Thomas the MDE student and should be "professional". But Thomas the person can pretty much say whatever he darn well pleases on the internet, because the rules are not really that clearly defined, nor are there any real consequences - he could in fact he could go by an alias if he wanted to be REALLY honest :-) For someone who is established and confident about their knowledge, having a net presence is useful and important - for a student just finding their way however, it is important to be allowed to make mistakes that are not held up to public scrutiny and criticism, because we just aren't equipped to handle that yet, and can in fact have the opposite effect and be an inhibitor. I think of blogs as online diaries, and I think that Thomas got caught in that grey zone where he may have felt that this was a tool of expression and reflection, but someone snuck a peek at his diary that maybe shouldn't have - I realize Thomas knew it wasn't really private, but was really caught off guard when he actually got called on it. I think Thomas' freedom of thought and expression were somewhat violated because he felt he was free to express his real thoughts as part of his reflection - but then got caught somewhat off guard.
I'll share something with you now - you had posted your frustration and a video of students who were disengaged at one point. It had me hopping mad. I posted a response and then deleted it, because I didn't want to deal with the potential conflict, so I just didn't take a stand. The jist of my post was that these students were disrespectful to their professors who took the time to prepare a lecture, and they couldn't be bothered to listen, but preferred instead to read about their buddies recent exploits on Facebook, or surf, or otherwise distract/entertain themselves during their "oh so boring" class...how pathetic! We're supposed to feel sorry for them and try to "engage" them? What happened to accountability and responsibility? Their sense of entitlement is preventing them from uitimately becoming useful and responsible adults, and if they find class too boring, then they can feel free to give up their seats...there are those who would give their eye teeth to have the privilege of being "bored". The fact that I am in a program where we are essentially trying to help make learning more engaging and useful is somewhat a contradiction, but this was my honest gut reaction. So there you have it. You were brave and took a stand, and dealt with the consequences, and I was a "post" coward! You taught us all a lesson, so please do not give it another thought. Keep it real, and keep it honest, just mark it for MDE 663 community after the fact and we're good to go. Or, if you want the "net exposure" then just keep it professional (but sneak in a post for the rest of us, tee hee). Permissions would be nice to have as an option as we post, I hadn't really explored all this until now. I see that we can modify permissions afterwards...this is all a learning adventure however, so I think that we are contributing to the administration of the tool. I do think that to maximize the use of the tool, some groundrules need to be established in a) which components to use and b) how to use the tool to maximize participation. But that's a completely different post, probably best saved for the end - I think a closing Elluminate discussion (or survey) would be beneficial to review what we liked best and what could work better...I imagine you already have one planned though Terry.
Ok, so now I am trying to mark my last comment "for MDE663 only" and can't! I guess you can only do that with blog posts? Oh well, an exercise for me I suppose
Alex,
I have to agree with your views on this. I am frustrated that this has turned into a big deal. When I made the original comment it was intended to be read by Glenn in particular and our class. As a tech teacher, I know about the possibility that people on the Intenet could access comments but in this case it never crossed my mind. I forgot that it was not just us sitting together in class and chatting and I think the sense of isolation encouraged this.
As for the video, I see your point but I would also point out that the prof for this class had his students create this video. I do think we need to change the way we teach to respond to the changing learning needs and technology interests of our students, but that does not mean that everything in the past must be abandoned. I think a lot of people, including myself, are frustrated with the lack of progress in using technology in teaching and learning, but I think an even bigger problem is the lack of interaction in many classrooms.
Should this students be more respectful. I read a couple articles a while back by Alan Levine and Diane Oblinger that talks about the change in attitudes of students towards education. They are more demanding and bring their consumer attitudes to higher education. I can see this in myself. I am paying for these courses (much more than I would pay for a course at MUN) and I expect a lot for my money. I expect to get the best education because I believe I'm paying for the best.
Grrrr....... just lost a long response, cause I wasn't logged in, from this hotel in Boston. Believe me the thoughts were profound and motivated by this very interesting conversation!!
I first noted that is discourse on permissions revealed a technical issue (Does the system allow (and make easy to sue) correct level of permission setting?) Two, a competency dimension (does the user have expertise/training to use the system effectively?). A social dimension (What is the most appropriate audience for the post? and 4 an educational dimension (When should a student be challenged/pushed to explore nearer the production edge of chaos by enlarging the potential audience and reaction to their work?
I also wonder if posting behind the wall is really a great way to develop blogging and dissemination skills. I think it was Leszeg who noted in another post about not wanting to compete with the big boy edubloggers, but really when you begin, or when you have little to say and few skills to say it, you will be little read, so much less danger of being embarrassed. Gradually as your skills and insights increase the edublogger begins to attract interest and following and so it isn't really a case of everyone in the world reading everything you post (well, except maybe for your mother!)
Anyways, I'm sure my earlier longer post had MUCH more insight, but I better get this posted.
Thanks for this learning thread.
I am back in the saddle Monday and will be more diligent at responding until the end of the course.
Terry