In this first week of EDCMOOC, that is, the massively open online course (MOOC) from Coursera called eLearning and Digital Cultures, I have made the following notes and observations.
One of the main themes is technological determinism and we looked at films and read articles about technology and culture and the utopias or dystopias they represent.
Technology can be liberating - it can bring people together in ways that may have been impossible before (see Inbox), but people may also come to rely too heavily on this technology (see Thursday) and even begin to worship it (Bendito Machine). For some, technology represents an extremely grim future that sees man replaced (New Media). Maybe we should follow the example of the birds - technology does not control them. They use it - for perching, for nesting, whatever. It does not seem to worry them but neither do they make any gain from the possible benefits.
The films and readings seemed to show a very black and white view of the issue. I want to ask people what do they hope to benefit from the technology, and what are they prepared to give up. Many people seem to just not take any responsibility for what is around them.
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