Should environments such as Facebook, MySpace, and Second Life be the object of academic scholarship?


Comments

Rejin L. said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rejin L. said…
Hi Soraya, Your images are lovely, and your concentrated texts.
I tagged you for an Archive meme. Feel free to ignore it if you don't do this kind of thing. Otherwise, you'll find the rules at my blog.
Hoy, artista said…
Yeah! Why not? There are a lot of bad books, awful music and disconcerting topics, but there are great ones too. I can see a lot to be learned in these networks, like the personalities people create for themselves in them (psychology, sociology, I guess) or how they evolve into art and literature (I guess this goes for the blogs rather than the social networks.) Also, how people's lives exist in this new world, and are affected by it. All the children in my family have an Internet presence, and it is extremely important to them. The relationships affect them as much as those in the outside. To me, this is a new kind of folklore, much like a carnival of the imagination.
terminus said…
Your question reveals the crisis in learning: previous generations centered understandings in authoritative tomes of knowledge. The wordplay, tome/tomb, as revealed by Virginia Wolfe, suggests that the "net-gens" will continue to fail at school if we as educators do not not adapt to their medias. Whether or not these media are as effective as traditional canons when measuring/assessing student improvement is a more difficult, and not well-investigated questions. I'm going to reference your blog in mine...

boricua-edu-tech.blogspot.com
Anonymous said…
The New York Magazine is calling the Whitney Biennial, the Facebook Biennial- as the social networks are taking over the biennial this year.
Anonymous said…
The 2009 College Art Association Annul Conference, will include a session on virtual communities, challenging the notions of community and localism.
Soraya Marcano said…
Many art schools are offering courses about the internet as an artistic, creative medium or environment. As hoy,artista wrote, the internet is extremely important for the new generations and I think that art schools, contemporary art museums and artists are in tune with their times.

Terminus, thanks for visiting this blog. I am sorry, I am not too familiar with the kind of education you describe. Are you referring to public school education? In general, computer literate people get better jobs and all the computer nerds I know are doing very well. I love technology and I think many contemporary artists love technology too. However I have an argument- about the "tomes of knowledge" What about the tomes of codes, programs and languages you need to learn and the exhausting amount of hours if you are serious about computers/ technology/ and the internet? Maybe, you fail if you are in the wrong educational institution and if visual-spatial intelligence is not acknowledge that institution.

Rejin, thanks tagging me. Let me see...
Anonymous said…
are virtual communities part of mass culture o mass media?
Anonymous said…
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, said: visual culture is a field of study that generally includes some combination of cultural studies, art history, critical theory, philosophy, and anthropology, by focusing on aspects of culture that rely on visual images.
Anonymous said…
Phenomena such as blogs, wikis, RSS, bookmarking, and Facebook, have found acceptance in higher education.
Anonymous said…
Check: "Facing the Facebook" by Michael J. Bugeja in The chronicle Careers.

Information technology in the classroom was supposed to bridge digital divides and enhance student research. Increasingly, however, our networks are being used to entertain members of "the Facebook Generation" who text-message during class, talk on their cellphones during labs, and listen to iPods rather than guest speakers in the wireless lecture hall...

While I'd venture to say that most of the students on any campus are regular visitors to Facebook.com, many professors and administrators have yet to hear about Facebook, let alone evaluate its impact.

On many levels, Facebook is fascinating -- an interactive, image-laden directory featuring groups that share lifestyles or attitudes. Many students find it addictive, as evidenced by discussion groups with names like "Addicted to the Facebook," which boasts 330 members at Iowa State. Nationwide, Facebook tallies 250 million hits every day and ranks ninth in overall traffic on the Internet.

That kind of social networking affects all levels of academe...
Anonymous said…
Facebook is a social networking site where users interact through an evolving, self-defined set of networks, interest groups, and “friendships.” But does Facebook have a legitimate place in the world of post-secondary education?
Anonymous said…
Facebook is about virtual pokes and hugs; it is about appropriating pictures and videos and nothing else.


Adam

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