Noreen's E-learning and Digital Cultures Blog

The end of the module in sight and postings this week have featured arrangements for our ‘virtual’ Xmas party – the cyborg version of ‘happily ever after’, where we will all ‘dance’, ‘drink’ and socialise after our academic efforts this term.

So am I a cyborg?  I now ‘exist’ in cyberspace, I have contributed to cyberculture by living my life in the open, on my lifestream – at least an aspect of my life. In the final analysis though, what you see in my lifestream is a ‘presentation’, one ‘persona’, developed not just during this module but since I began the course.

My academic persona has been reflected in recent lifestream postings, largely shared bookmarks for articles I am researching for the final assignment. Unlike the previous bookmarks in the lifestream, this week I have concentrated more on Twitter – its uses of narrative and its uses in educational contexts.  The wealth of material was surprising but much of it is embedded in personal blogs rather than academic articles.

I’ve done a lot of reading around narrative, the psychology of storytelling and microblogging but still need to collate all the material I have gathered on the subject since the course began. My lifestream has been fairly tightly focused on narrative, art, visual culture and communities.  This focus has helped me to synthesise my personal mental concept of digital culture but reading other people’s blogs has also let me see the many other conceptions of it too. 

 A final word on lifestreaming – I’ve finally understood the value of Twitter.  As well as a

“universal back channel to real world events…..microblogging has the potential to challenge writers and force them to say more with less.”  Ryan Paul.