Reflective Post

1. The use of weblogs for learning purposes
   
   Self.Net: Identity in the Digital Age is a very unique unit within these 2 years studying in UWA. It is because we have to work in the weblog time to time within the semester.
   
   To have effective learning, interactive learning must be included as one of the elements. I think the use of weblogs for learning purposes can achieve it. I think the required assessments in this course are complementary well with each other.
   
   It is especially to the case that student is required to post the outline or summary of his or her presentation before the tutorial class. It benefits others students a lot. First, it gives a way to the audience to understand the presentation content beforehand. So that when they sit in the tutorial class, they can be more focusing on the presentation and absorb the information. Moreover, since students are supposed to finish reading the proposed reading in that week before the tutorial class, more questions can be raised and discussed within the tutorial class. From the discussion, we learnt a lot as well. I think the weblog facilitate well among the assessments and can help us to have a better learning process.
   
   As for the Critical Annotated Webliography, I think it is good for us to leave comment to the others. From the posted comment in my own post, I could be able to know the way how I could do this assessment in a better way. And by reading through other posts in this task, I could figured that there is a different way for others to interpret the same topics which the same as I did. Then, I could be learn in this way as well.
   
   In my point of view, using weblog for the learning purpose does give us a lot of effective learning opportunity besides the assigned assessment.
   
   
   
2. Me? A cyborg? NO!
   
   The first time I come across and learn the concept of cyborg is from this unit. However, after the whole unit I do not believe myself although I use many digital device everyday. For example, when I walk alone, I’d have my ear plug of my ipod on. I’d feel I am not alone once I get online at midnight. Yet, I still think that I am a so called human being instead of a cyborg. It is because I believe that I can live without these digital devices in my life. The reason why they are around me is just because we are now in a digital or technological world. It is because the consumption pattern we have and the way the world promotes the technologies. For instance, I know some friends like reading through the electronic books that SONY promote instead of the traditional one. But these are just the environments or say a trends made by many aspects within the world. Therefore, it’s something external from our body and it doesn’t count as part of us.
   
   If you say that will I treat myself as a cyborg if I got an electronic heart implanted to continue myself. I’d say no as well, it is because I still got my soul, my own thought. I think that I am a human being and will never become a cyborg. It would happen only if I were caught by the alien and being transformed to be something else and I am not who I am. Then, that person would be treated as a cyborg.
   
   
   
3. Most liked and disliked
   
   I like the knowledge that I got from this course the most. Take the chapter of the digital gender as an example, it inspired me to think more of the woman is being represented in the digital world in the perspective of a feminist. I think women can be much liberated by the means of the digital world. From the virtual community, they can really overthrow the idea of patriarchy system in the social community. In the coming future, maybe, it can be brought from the virtual to the social community. I am interested to have further study in this aspect.
   
   The thing that I dislike the most of this subject is the proportion or distribution of the assessment within this subject. It might be said that only an essay which owns 60% of the whole course is quite normal and it’s the same when we have the thesis writing in the master degree. However, if the proportion of the essay must really be set as 60% from the overall course, then the workloads of other pieces of assessments should be reduced. It just makes our effort to disperse on various mini-tasks and they still carry certain amount of score. If we are supposed to focus on the essay in this unit, then there can still be some mini-task such as weblogs to do as an assessments but not too much and too odds and sods.
   
   Lastly, I’d like to thank and appreciate to our lecture Wesley who gives us the detailed knowledge of this unit. His efforts and heart in teaching us can be seen especially during the tutorial classes. For instance, he prepared himself well and even underlined and written some notes on the readings for telling us the ideas and some difficult points from the readings during the tutorial class. His examples given to us for illustrating some of the theories are quite inspired and interesting as well. Thanks a lot!