Internet community expand at an incredible speed everyday. For most people, the internet seems merely a “read-only” place. It seems more like an invitation to consume than an invitation to participate. The distance between the user and the the information given through the internet is so great that sometimes we don’t even know what the program we are using for. For example, most of us see Facebook as a place to make friends, but Facebook is probably thinking of how to monetize its users’ social profiles. Similarly, internet disrupts education from the perspective of a consumer than to the content provider. Most people use internet to find information. In contrast, very few individuals write about what he/she knows and distribute information. I learned how to use Google in the elementary school, but have not written a blog or made a video until having taken this course.
The danger of living in a “read-only” world is that we become passive learners who take information as are given. But Internet, unlike traditional libraries, involves participants behind scene and can be much more. This course has taught me that the internet community is not a “read-only” place. Instead, it is “read-write” community. Every blog post assignment involves reading information online, reflecting and writing, and the posts being evaluated with comments. This cycle creates a vibrant peer to peer cultures of learning. More importantly, this culture will foster the creation of an independent learner, a learner who can adapt to changing contexts by engaging the internet community, a learner who can confidently navigate through the jungle of the Internet.
Hi Yi,
ReplyDeleteAnother amazing post. It is clear from your blog posts that you really understand the material. I completely agree with you on everything you have said above. I think so many people get lost in translation and forget that the internet is meant to interactive, not something to solely read or watch from afar. It should be something that you participate in and contribute to further society in the direction of continuous development. I did not participate in the internet as anything more than a reader before taking this course. I think IEOR 190G gave us a great opportunity to participate in social media and offer our insights to not just this class, but anyone who interested. The class facilitated an interaction between not just students, but between students and the world wide web! Excellent work not just on this post but the entire semester!
I really enjoyed your insight regarding the use of internet! I agree with you that the internet is mostly a read-only place for most users on the internet. I often find myself browsing the internet several times a day, but barely any of that time is actually spent writing and posting my own thoughts. We often seek in the "popular" figures for their thoughts and posts on stuff, rather than our own. This leaves us with no self opinions or thoughts, and hence, no thinking. We can see this often in real life, where most people follow the beliefs and observations of other celebrities and we try to mimic their life and their way of thinking, rather than our own.
ReplyDeleteThe first time of constructing my own posts was therefore really hard for me. I had no idea what to say, since my main method of acquiring knowledge was through reading and observation. I rarely gave my own thought or opinion into whatever I was learning, since it was never required of me to. This way of learning through social media allowed me to bring my own thought and analysis into the content we are learning. Hence, I really felt like I absorbed the material really well overall. I am glad that you feel the same way as well!
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely loved this blog post - you definitely took the time to craft your reflection on this class. It's interesting the kind of self-reflection you did, and I think I also personally feel the same way with the intersection of technology and education. Most of us in Generation Y have grown up with technology completely integrated our daily lives, and I see that it's really important for us to try and bridge the gap between that and our education! Why shouldn't we take advantage of all technology has to offer us and integrate it into our education and curriculum so that we can be proactive in our education too? I think the blog posts that the Professor has us doing and the comments definitely augment our own personal thinking and help us to shape our own ideas and point of view on different arguments. The switch from a "read only" to a "write only" is a transition that needs to happen in more classes and curriculums - so I definitely agree with you on that point!
Overall, great job on this last post!
Hi Yi!
ReplyDeleteI think you may have hit the nail right on the head!
To be completely honest with you, I hadn't really considered the difference of dynamics between a read-only and a read-write space. However, following your post I think that this is a very cool way to look at things. When I browse the internet I do tend to see it kind of like a library, but just like you say, it IS a read-write space. And we NEED to start using it as such to avoid being taken advantage of by large entities who are WELL AWARE of this dynamic.
To this end I agree with you that IEOR 190G has helped us all!
Best of luck for your future endeavors.
I really like this idea of how we have become a "read-only" society! In fact, one of my favorite writers — Dr. Atul Awande — aluudes to a similar problem in one his novels called Better. In that novel he suggests some advice for self-improvement, on how to be the positive deviant in society. Two of his suggestions is for everyone to write something and count something. He says that this allows us to better engage with material and become active perceivers of the world.
ReplyDeleteWhen you talked about the dangers of us as a read-only society, the words of my favorite writer totally echoed with your reasoning. I agree that actually USING social media will help us get out of these issues in modern-day society.
Hi Yi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. I liked how you broke down the way users engage with social media such as Facebook.
I think it was a great point to mention read-only vs read-write. It gives a succinct idea of how we can learn and engage with each other. There is no barriers for communicating with each other on the internet. It can be a powerful tool that allows students to learn quickly!
Thanks again!
Hi Yi!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing post - I completely agree with everything you mention here!
I especially like how you say that for most people, the internet seems merely a “read-only” place... for me the internet was exactly this before I took this class. However, this IEOR 190G class made the internet a lot more interactive, and a lot more beneficial. I think I will continue to use social media as an educational tool!
Hey Yi!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful post. I really want to note how you included both advantages and disadvantages of internet usage nowadays. I really agree with you on how people really forgot to feedback on posts and just "watch" or "read". Through clever and efficient usage of social media, we were able to share our ideas and learn information very effectively!
Hello Yi!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You honestly brought a ton of insight to the class the entire semester and I believe you were spot on with this post. The collaborative environment that took place in IEOR 190G was based on a research and respond method. I like your point about the internet at times being a "read-only" forum, but I believe this class like you said taught us much more. I too agree that the vibrant peer-to-peer culture was very vibrant and effective! I like how your post in general was very succinct and focused on a very interesting fact about the course!
Cheers!
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ReplyDeleteHi Yi,
ReplyDeleteGreat post!. Loved the comparison of social media being a read-write place instead of a read only medium. Definitely a distinction I miss many times. I really enjoyed your intro describing the internet in such vivid terms. Really captured my attention and drew me in.
Hi Yi,
ReplyDeleteGreat post!. Loved the comparison of social media being a read-write place instead of a read only medium. Definitely a distinction I miss many times. I really enjoyed your intro describing the internet in such vivid terms. Really captured my attention and drew me in.
Awesome post Yi. I like how you presented the idea of read-only vs read-write. I never thought of the internet like this until you brought it up in this post. You are correct in saying that our culture today is largely read only and we rarely personally spread information. This class has allowed us to move away from this read only mentality which is a great side effect. I really enjoyed reading all of your posts this semester. Great work Yi.
ReplyDeleteHi Yi,
ReplyDeleteI think that you offer a very creative take on social collaborative learning. I especially like how you drew the distinction between the "read-only" aspect of the internet vs. the "read-write" aspect. We live in a world where information is so easily accessible and where we are very easily able to learn from each other. I agree that many individuals take this privilege for granted. The Internet itself is a hub for crowdsourced knowledge that adds layers and richness to the content we are trying to research. For example, if I want to know more about patent trolls, I am not just limited to the Wikipedia page on patent trolls. I can go on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter and see what others have to say on the topic. It is not difficult to see that their perspectives add elements to our research that we would not have known even existed.
The world is truly a smarter place when we are all contributing! I think your post did a great job of discussing that by drawing the distinction between the two types of Internet surfers. I really enjoyed your posts this semester, great job!
Sincerely,
Mo Jomaa
Hi Yi. Very nice post again. I think you hit the idea right on the head about why it is so important to incorporate social media in to the classroom setting. I am glad you kept making these quality postnasal I am sure it will be helpful to you in the future now.
ReplyDeleteYi,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post. I couldn't agree more that sometimes in our culture, the way we use the internet makes us passive learners. For a very long time, I used the internet just to Google an answer when need or to look up research papers for class prompts. Platforms such as Reddit, however, really foster the growth of an Internet community. There is so much back and forth dialogue - casual, serious, ridiculous - you name it. If you want to step away from that "read-only" environment and into a "read-write" sphere, like these blogs, I suggest checking out Reddit!
Sasha
Hi Yi! Interesting perspective on collaborative learning with social media. I personally never thought of the internet as a "read-only" place, but I can definitely see why you thought this. I agree a lot of times people use the internet as a way to search and find information rather than to write and share their knowledge. Like you, I myself have never written a blog or made a video until this class. I must say it is quite the experience!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the cycle of reading information online, reflecting and writing, and then posting your own comments on other people's work really coster a peer to peer culture of learning. I look forward to seeing other professors in Berkeley employing this way of teaching! Great work!
I really enjoyed the insight of this post. I really agree with the point that it is very easy for the Internet to become a "read-only" society, where people just consume information instead of sharing and learning from other people using that information. I think the next logical and natural step for the internet is to become the two way read/write society that it has so much potential to become! The ability for all people to be interconnected and interactive gives the internet the power of the worlds minds, not just one mind locked away in a lab somewhere as it previously used to be. I agree that the learning environment really fostered peer to peer learning and I wish to see more professors use it in the future!
ReplyDelete