How social are social media technologies (SMTs)? A linguistic analysis of university students' experiences of using SMTs for learning
This week I had the opportunity to read Thomspon (2014). In this article, the researchers were interested in finding out if online environments were as collaborative as we thought they might be. And what type of framework might encourage a collaborative learning environment? Participants in this study included undergraduates-postgraduates. Over a twelve week period they blogged, contributed to wikis, shared photos, entered virtual worlds, and spoke amongst themselves in small focus groups for discussion. What I'm saying is: They are US.
Researchers were monitoring the amount of times they referred to themselves as a single individual (I) or as part of a collective (we). The pronouns they chose to use in their reflections could be a tell tale sign of how connected they felt. Using the pronoun 'WE' could indicate more solidarity with peers.
They found that while some students used both, most students spoke of themselves as an individual most often, using the pronoun 'I'. Over the course of the past 4 weeks we have had a chance to communicate, share a snap, share a laugh, bond, express contempt at the state of modern family communication, and teach each other something new. With all of the material we've covered previously in mind, do you feel that we approach this course as a collective, or are we all just lone rangers, coming together somewhat unnaturally?
Though I have had that experience in online courses in the past, 'I' don't feel that way personally. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Though I have had that experience in online courses in the past, 'I' don't feel that way personally. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
As always, thanks for contributing in this week's poll. It looks like Pinterest and Youtube were the tools you thought you'd be most likely to use for curation in the future.
Keep an eye out for next week's poll. It will remain active until Saturday July 30th at 11:59pm.
Interesting thoughts! I think that the "I" vs. the "We" may stem from how the group came about and what their ultimate goal is. If "we" were to all produce a project together, I think "we" might be more of a "we". In fact, in other classes with collaborative group projects, there definitely became more a "we" mentality among my groupmates than there had been previously (in fact, I'm still in regular contact with some of them and "we" have become unofficial mentors to one another. But, even though "we" in this class are all working together toward a common learning goal, "we" haven't had to produce anything together. So, "I" think there are still a lot of "I"'s. :)
ReplyDeleteMary Beth, Thanks for pointing that out. Even though that is the norm for all the other classes I've had, it does set this one apart. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for this in future semesters.
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