Week 1 Blog

As I read Renninger & Shumar's Introduction, I was intrigued by the just how many communities I belong to without realizing. Traditionally a "community" has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location or a group of organisms enteracting within an environment (Wikipedia). We all have a community in which culture and family are intact according to our social life.

A virtual community, e-community or online community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as newsletters, telephone, email, online social networks or instant messages rather than face to face, for social, professional, educational or other purposes (Wikipedia).

We are brought together and stay together as a community whether it is real or virtual because of common interests. We are drawn to a particular community because of the school system, close to our employer, or because of our families. A virtual community is no different. I was drawn to the online dating scene by the excitement of meeting someone outside of my real community.

According to the articles I read on the Time site, the virtual community of research in the First Stem Cell Human Trial is trying to be optimistic regarding this huge hurdle they have overcome. The approval came Friday after a decade of debates regarding using embryonic stem cells for research on humans. The first case will be for spinal cord injured persons. The real community protesting this type of research are those against abortion. This is a tough decision.

In modern times, we may live in a real community and do not know our neighbor's names or rarely see them, so this makes the virtual community no different than some real communities. Growing up in a small rural town of 1500, most everyone knew each other and rarely did we use addresses. If a stranger came into town and asked anyone where the person lived and they could direct him.

The emerging technolgy of the internet has altered my sense of participation immensely. If online classes/learning was not available, continuing my education would be impossible. I can work full time and "go to class" at 2 am if needed. I will continue to learn each day without sitting in a classroom again!

Hello!

I am learning already in this course! Mostly, that I am computer illiterate. Looking forward to this course.