Evaluation of the Use of Blogs for Learning Purpose - Man Ka Po Bobo

When I first saw the course title I just don’t know why should we learn such thing and have no idea of this. But after these weeks, I started to have some basic information about this and have been thinking of the following question. Am I a cyborg? I think the first answer that pop-up in my mind is “NO” but actually, when I think further and deeper, I cannot deny it. In this century, most of us cannot cut ourselves off from the internet or computer or even mobile phone. Just like what my friend told me ‘I cannot do anything when my WIFI USB is broken and the broadband has been setup yet.” Yes, this is what we like in the age that we live in.

Honestly, I am not sure I like this subject or...but the course did make me think more about our life. But the more I know, the more I want to try living off grid. It’s because I can’t even remember how I lived with when I didn’t have a computer. Maybe, I can try it out someday. Although, I don’t really like the subject, I still think the weblog can enhance us to have better understanding of the subject while the usage and interaction should be improved. In fact, I think the weblog hasn’t been fully utilized but it still is a good way for us to express our feeling and to know more about “digital age”, the only way is to reach, to use it.

Evaluation of the Use of Blogs for Learning Purpose - Ng Chung Kee Angela

The First time when I know that I will have this subject in this semester, I really totally haveno idea what I will learn in this course. Also, when I see the course name, I don't know what it is and why it will be related to communication studies.

However, after I know the idea about cyborg, I start to aware the relationship between the technology and real life, how the technology can affect us in the daily life. I think the idea of this course is interesting because some of the topics are really close to our lives and some of the ideas are quite special which  I have not learnt that before.

About the weblog, I think that the purpose is good . It is because the use of the weblog can let the students can have more interaction and they can review the presentation summary on the blog if they have just miss something during the presentation.

There is a problem , that is the interaction of the weblog is not as many as I expected and especially the webliography because there has no one comment on that. So I am a bit confuse about the efficient of it.

Reflection of the Unit, by Ashley Wong

The dualities of body/mind, nature/culture, human/machine…before studying this unit, I have no idea on these concepts and relationships. At the beginning of the course, I found it was so difficult and conceptual. What are Cyborg, feminism, dualities and gender identity? All of them are new to me. At that moment, I really did not know what the course about.

Am I a cyborg?

After twelve weeks studies, do I regard myself as a cyborg? I would say, yes! Even I am not “a cybernetic organism - a hybrid of machine and organism” which defined by Haraway, I have a close relationship with technology. I think I am already tying with it – machine, especially my computer and mobile phone. Because I already rely on technology, most of the information and social connection are gained through use of them. It seems that they are part of me, the extension of my eyes and ears. I have to using them in order to connect with the outside world. Otherwise, I feel lonely and uncomfortable.

Does the weblog help for learning?

For me, this weblog can help us studying this unit. That’s not just enhancing the interaction between students and lecturers, but importantly, learning from each other through reading others’ post and ideas. Besides, this weblog is like a ‘data base’. It includes all of our ideas and assignments. We can go through it anytime now and in the future. However, I think it would be better lecturers also join the discussion and we can be more active to make a post.

Do I like the unit?

During these weeks, I find it challenging but also enjoy studying this unit. It gives me more knowledge on gender& technology that the most I like, such as the relationship between women identity on internet and the reality. Besides, it evokes my interest on the possibilities of posthuman. Will they appear in the future and like the film’s plot? After studying this course, I think it is possible. We, human, are really afraid losing the superior status and controlling by others (e.g machine). How does it going? I am curious!

Evaluation of the Use of Blog for Learning Purpose By Michael Wan

It is the first time for me to use blog for learning. In the past, school website was designed for students to download lecture notes or check the assignment schedule. I can experience the merit of using internet in learning aspect when I am doing Self.net.

To be honest, we are cyborgs. We need computers for study and entertainment. Electronic devices and internet becomes part of our lives .We surf on the net every day by using mobile phones or computers.With the development of technology, it is so easy for us to connect to the world even we are outside.

In fact, internet can be the complement of learning. This blog is a platform for us to write academic passage through weblog. Under the schedule of the course requirement, we have to have discussion in classmates' presentation. It gives us a chance to revise what we learn from readings and lectures. I think it helps students to consolidate what they learned in a new subject.

This blog encourages students' participation in discussion.Compared with the foreign students, Hong Kong students are not keen on expressing their views in class. I remembered that when I was studying in Australia, my classmates love sharing in the class. I kept silent as I felt shy. In class discussion may not workable for Hong Kong students. However, classmates can feel free to express their views in the blog. Meaningful and interesting comments can be seen in the blog. As I mentioned before, students can understand the module better when they make comments with the support of the knowledge from readings.

Evaluation of the use of blog for learning by Ashley Yeung

Undoubtedly, blogging is not only as an isolated phenomenon, but as part of a broad palette of cybercultural practices, which provide us with both new ways of doing and new ways of thinking. This is the very first time for me to use the blog for learning. In order to create a learning community, weblogs actually can help us achieve it by giving us a space to share our writing with other classmates in the class, who have the opportunity to leave comments under our classmates’ posts. Weblogs are also a powerful tool for teaching students about writing for an audience; we can reach the other classmates in the class, and also the readers outside the class who leave comments. Moreover, Weblog is easy for us to create content for the Web without knowing much HTML, find online articles related to topics discussed in class, and share them easily with other students. In my experience, blogging can encourage associative thinking. For example, we can share a youtube video or an image, which is related to that topic on the weblogs easily. And we can share some non-academic information, which can enhance our interests to the topic. For me, it really works since I may not be so active in class discussion but actually I have some opinions in my mind indeed. Therefore, weblogs can provide a good place for me to type some opinions or comments of some interesting issues. But at the same time, assigned blogging can be easily regarded as forced writing, since somebody may not have any opinions of the issues and writing blogs should be self-motivated rather than a forced writing. By the way, it is a good place for learning and commenting.

The most interesting topic in this course is the question of “Am I a cyborg?” and the posthuman. I have read some articles from Hayles and Harraway. Hayles’s view is that being posthuman does not necessarily require one to literally be a cyborg since the defining charactertistics of being posthuman involve the construction of subjectivity rather than bodily interventions or ‘prosthetic’ extension. Being posthuman, Hayles contends, is a point of view rather than a prescriptive state. I could consider myself a cyborg, since I can conduct daily activities online such as shop, communicate, bank, study and work. I can apply for jobs online and the system will remember my details to help populate future applications. My presence online can be recorded and tracked. I can be artificially kept alive in some cases. I can be projected via webcam down the wires and am a digital photograph, which can be modified, touched up or completely remixed. My whole essence is a series of codes from brain waves to DNA.

In the end, I would say this course has done a good job for me to rethink our bodies, identities and self in cyberspace. We always think that we are the creators of the technology so we can control the technology, however, we actually cannot live without technology in the twenty-first century. Thus, do we still have the boundary between human and machine? The technology changes our thinking and reasoning systems. It seems that we are now following the technology and adapting to the technological environment. The boundary between human and machine becomes blurred and disappeared. I think that is an interesting and critical issue for us to study further. Last but not least, I want to share a video of the ‘Future female: fetish or force to be reckoned with?’ Please enjoy!

Evaluation of the Use of Blogs for Learning Purpose by Leung Frances

It was the most unfamiliar course among others in this semester. It was a bit shameful to tell that I was panic when I heard of the term ‘Cyborg’ in the first lecture. Feminism, dualities, gender identities… many different topics have been discussed in this semester which are all new to me. Also blogging as a learning platform is also new to me as it is rarely used in Hong Kong and frankly speaking I am still not very used to it. But undoubtedly, if blogging is promoted to be one of the learning methods, perhaps it is such a great platform for everyone here providing new ways of learning and thinking. Sharing among classmates can be done easily by weblogs and comments are always available for us to speak out and do a reflection effectively.

The common use of weblogs questioned us the concept of cyborgs. We rely on online materials for presentation and sharing here and a domain ‘blogger.com’ for uploading our materials and giving comments right at the bottom of articles. Haraway has defined cyborg as ‘a hybrid of machine and organism’ that in some extent, we can more elaborate it to whom rely much on technology and cannot live without it. I cannot imagine if I do not have any electrical devices in hand as my network is now mainly constructed on social network platform. As many of my friends are in other foreign countries, it is the most convenient and fastest way to get to know the status of them through internet. I rely much on internet in my leisure time too like reading magazines and watching programs and dramas online or surfing for the newest products of some brands.

The unit, I would say, is quite abstract and ambiguous as somehow it is very new to me and sometimes I cannot really get a full understanding on some topics. But it is a course which let me think of myself thoroughly to rethink our bodies, self identities in the virtual cyber world and finally the dualities like nature and culture, human and technology. Have we well controlled the technology we invented? The problem is that we, humans, are bounded by technology but are still claiming ourselves we are controlling it. Self – deception is obviously the solution dealing with technology. Technology saves us but kills us. Perhaps, the unit is a course for all human beings!

Evaluation of the use of blog for learning_by Gladys Yeung

Reflective of weblog

This is not my first time to use weblog. I had a sharing diary with my friend during secondary school.The blog had recorded my daily life, my feelings and my experience which are memorable. Yet, I never imagine that blog can be used for learning purpose. I think it’s a new and good platform for students to express their opinions. We can share and discuss any topic which is related to this subject. However, I think we didn’t make a better use of this blog to share any ideas or opinions with classmates and lecturer. For me, this blog is just a place for posting homework instead of any sharing. Anyway, weblog is a good idea for academic used.

Reflective of Cyborg

At first, I didn’t have any idea about cyborg. The concept of cyborg is really abstract and difficult to understand. Cyborg is about the combination of mechanics and organics. It is not simply talking about embedding some machines into human’s body. Human become cyborg unconsciously once they use the technology. In other words, we cannot avoid being a cyborg in the contemporary society. Nowadays, technology is ubiquitous and we cannot live without it. For instance, people will feel insecurity if they forget to bring their mobile phone. We use it to keep contact with our friends. We rely on technology so much. For me, I admit that I am a cybrog because I absolutely cannot live without computer and mobile phone. Using computer and mobile phone is one of my living habits.

Reflective of Unit

This subject introduces a new concept, Cybrog, to me that is very interesting. After this course, I have a reflection that what human is. If a person relies on a machine to maintain his or her life, this person is human or not? What is the definition of human being? This question still confuses me a lot. On the other hand, this subject also makes me think more about the relationship between human and technology. We are the creator of those technologies but somehow we scare of it. Human are afraid that we will be controlled by technology in the future. I think it is a great irony.