Reflection toward this course by Wuchi

Taking this course “Self.Net: Identities in the digital age”, that just like to analyse myself, because we now exactly live in the era which technologies, digital device, internet are really exist around us. After the 12 weeks, the most impressive issue to me, that must be “cyborg”. Before I take this coure, I have never been thought that, me, even the readers who are reading this post, you, can also called as “cyborg”. Through the digital devices which I am using, I can be more understand what the world is happening. Through the internet platform, I can build up and present my other identities to everyone.

Moreover, I have never thought I can be analyse my favourite digital game, “The Sims 2” at the last assignment of this subject. Every times, when I am playing this game, I often think that, why I do something in game that I have never do in reality, is that my other identities. This course has given the answer to me.

Reflective Post by Kelvin So

The past 12 weeks provided many new insights for me to understand things like weblogs, online communities, Cyborgs, etc. Actually not all the topics are interesting for me but they did gave me some good examples about how other people think about new issues generated by our online behaviors. At the beginning of the course I have learned that people in digital age are actually turning into Cyborgs, but I think it is a radical idea as we are not that using reinforcing body parts on our body. Since there are more and more discussion talks about people’s online behaviors, I started to accept that we are turning into Cyborgs as we almost can not live without the information technologies nowadays, no matter in working, entertaining or learning.

I was quite frustrated when I find out that we have to submit our work on weblog since I personally consider weblog is for personal usage. But Blogging does help us to experience the basic online activity that people on the internet doing everyday.

Reflective Post by Goofy Ng

I think this Webblog is quite useful in this course as I can see n leave comment to the work of my classmates here easily.For example,after I reading the article which was typed by my classmates,I can just click the hyperlink, then I can refer to the references book or journals already.To me,it is really convenient.

And I think I can be say as a cyborg as the technology really plays an important role in my daily life,I depends on them to do my assignments,to chat with my friends or even to watch the news and so on.Moreover,mobile phone is important to me too.If I forgot to bring it when I go out,I would very anxious all day.Thus, I think that I can be say as a cyborg.

After these 13 teaching weeks,I have learned some concepts about cyborg,virtual ethics,resistance is fertile,playing games and so on.It made me understand and know more about how the technology affected us nowadays.

Reflective Post by Allan Wong

Using weblog for learning purposes? Of course, that's a new learning experience for me and maybe also new to my fellow classmates too. As technology has been embedded to our daily life, using weblog for learning purposes sounds quite effective. However, as the discussion atmosphere is not quite hot. As a result, it did help us to know more about what our classmates have discovered through this unit, but not as effective as I initially think.

For the question of whether I think I am a cyborg, it's a difficult question, but I think I am. I am the person who can't live without technology and particularly computer. Originally, I interested in technology and computer a lot which I keep my eyes on those stuff constantly. As a result, I think this have become a part of my life and most probably inseparable.

Finally, I think the course did help me to understand more about the complex relationship of technology and identity. The course encourage, or maybe even force, us to research and read a lot about the topics that is relevant to self and technology. It's difficult and requires a lot of effort honestly. However, it is still quite rewarding.

Reflective Post --- Leung Foon Ming, Margaret

The learning of Webblog is so new to me in deed. I have never experienced before although I read blogs so often. I think the most effective idea of webblog learning is to share. Every participant can contribute the subject learning. Because I am a lazy student, I wont spend much time on readings, the sharing of the reading summary does help me alot !
Before attending this subject, I have no idea what a "cyborg" is. I would like to say the definition of "cyborg" keeps changing as culure or trend is fluid. Of me, I think I am not a cyborg because human creates technology and human understands how to make good use of technology.
The course offers me a better understanding towards the technology surrounding me. I cannot imagine how fast the development of technology is, and that's why some many people will have "TechnoPhobia". However, the course reassures me that technology is just a tool -- especially for human.

Reflection by Kiki Lam

I can still remember how did I feel during the first lecture. I felt confused.
How can the study of digital age related to gender issue?
How can we learn from a blog?
How can we become cyborg?
All of these questions can be explained now.
We can see the gender differences from online activity because of the gender ideology, e.g. online gaming.
We can use a blog, a super hot online communication tool to know more about each other and the course as well.
We can use the technology devices as our body to live better.

Actually, I don't want to be a cyborg but it's the truth. It's contradictious, right? Maybe it's the side effect of watching too much science fiction films. Human are just too arrogant to take over the world and then leading to death. Sometimes robots help to kill us since we treat badly to them. So I hope to make good use of the technology devices and become a good cyborg.

I am wondering that why the two lecturers don't respond to our posts? It would be great if we all can interact with each others.

a reflective post - Sophie

I guess this should be the last round to wrap this programme up. Frankly speaking, I had no idea what the heck 'self-net' is at first. After reading the notes & reading, I feel better in understanding. Some of them are fresh & new to me, like the term cyborg.

JenniCam is another topic that I find it interesting. To be honest, up to now, I just don't understand why she is trying to show herself off to the public. Is it because of her emptiness & loneliness? Lack of self-confidence makes her have such behaviour? I didn't know technology has such a great influence until now. At least it causes one's daily habit. Interestingly, gender difference causes another factor.

As for the usefulness of this weblog, it helps me though. Since most of the time I couldn't participate in the meetings, to keep pace with the progress, this is a way.

Reflective Post from Margaux

To be honest, technology is definitely an important element in my life. Before attending this unit, I have never thought of the drawbacks or problems that have been triggered off by technology. After the 12 weeks seminar, I have realized that technology does have the power to change our world, not just in a positive way, but also in a negative way. It can ease our lives in a certain extend. Yet, at the same time, we are slowly turning ourselves into cyborg, since we are too dependent on technology. And this may spark off other social problems. Every coin has two sides, so do technology. Whether it is a blessing or a curse, it depends on how we utilize it. Thus, after the course, I become more conscious on this issue and try not to be so addicted to the technology.

reflective post by kc luk

as requested to type a reflective post, therefore here i go. before studying this course, from the title of the course "self.net" really made me wonder what actually it is. after a twelve weeks teaching, i had been given some knowledge about what is cyborg, online communication, virtual world, online games, and so on. to be honest, some of them are interesting but some of them are not.

in my opinion, i think i can be say as a cyborg. it is rather a very new and mysterious concept or idelogy to all of us. i think so because we human, including myself, are heavily relying on technology to do every kind of things. for example, homework, entertainment, news, etc.

this is not the first time for me to do something online for learing purposes. i had tried this in my secondary. i think this type of learing progress can be more flexible, more mobile and more suitable for us the 'cyborgs', since we almost sitkc with the computer everyday. and this kind of learning progress is more interesting and up-to-date, too.

Reflective Post by Viven Szeto

The time flies, in these 12 weeks, this unit provide me to have an opportunity and learn more about the cyborg, posthuman, online communication, etc., which make me understand the positions within gender, cultural and communication studies related to the cyberspace.

I believe myself to be a cyborg, as I find that I cannot live without the use of technology, like the mobile phone and computer. I relied on them every minute, even a second!

This is the first time of using weblog for learning purposes, and I think it is quite interesting. Everyone have to post their work onto the blog, and let others to comment on the work. This could make me have an improvement on my work.

Reflection from Jason

Honestly, this unit is quite hard for me to understand especially in the first few weeks, I do really think the concepts of cyborg or other issues are really complicated. However, as a student, we do need to dual with these stuffs finally because we need to hand in our assignment.

Cyborg is really a new term and concept for us. I think that as a teenager nowadays, we really rely on technologies no matter on chatting, entertainment or even doing assignments, Internet is definitely our “GOD”.

Besides, the presentation of each reading could help us to know more about different topics; also it can train up our skills to understand those different readings. It is really a good opportunity for students

13 weeks are finished; I cannot say that I could learn many things in this unit. Although the units is quite hard, but it is really a good chance for us to build up the ability to deal with different issues.

Reflection from Chris

well, through out the whole course, i did read the post from classmates on weblog. Weblog did provide a great platform for us to show our ideas and course materials to everyone, and function well for our discussion process. But honestly I don't think weblog really provide a large help on our learning.

Moreover, I do agree that human is currently highly linked with the internet and technology. It does provide a great convenient to us on our daily life. But i don't think myself as a cyborg, First I do not feel uncomfortable or isolated with the world even I did not use the internet for a couple of weeks. Second, I like to deal with the nature more than with the computer and technology. I rather like to have diving and swimming instead of playing online games or being a blogger.

At last, perhaps life is just a joke. I don't have any like or dislike with the course, but just something and someone step into your life at a particular time, in a particular place. It is no one's fault, it just happen to be. there's no right or wrong. 

Sir, I don't intend to dislike you, but we just have our style of teaching and learning. And none of us want to change ourselves. Thanks anyway, thanks for your patients and teaching.

Reflective post by Crystal Tsang

Actually, I haven't tried to upload the homeworks to weblog in pervious lectures. This course offers me a new method to try it. Honestly, I think that we need to upload homework to weblog is quite troublesome. However, I find the advantages of weblog after I use it to share my homeworks with my classmates. If we can't get their points in their presentation, we can comment on their post to ask them. It is quite convenient. Also, I can read other's homework to learn from others.

"Cyborg" this term is learned from this course. I am definitely a cybrog! In my life, I always play games, Msn, surf internet, talk phone etc. All these kind of things need to operate with machines. Once time, I went out for dinner, but I did not bring my mobile phone with me. I felt very anxious and inconvenient at whole night! So, I found that I were a cyborg for a long time. It showed that I could not live without machine. One day if I will lose my computer, mobile phone, I can not imgaine that what will I do in my daily life. How can I keep contact with my friends? How can I type and submit my homeworks?

Overall, I can gain some new knowledge from this course. I kown more about the relationship between the technology and us. However, I can not identify what differences between this course and other courses in communication studies. They seem very similar. This course's some theories maybe so difficult to understand, I can not get the main point in some lectures.

Reflective Post by Eva Ng

This is my first time to use the weblog for learning purpose. Although it is quite time-consuming to upload my webliography and outline of presentation, it indeed serves as a platform for me to know how well my classmates are doing their webliograpy. I can compare and contrast the difference of answering the questions of webliography with my classmates’ work. Moreover, I can have the preliminary notions of the coming presentation by browsing the outline of presentation.

Undoubtedly, I admit I am a cyborg who relies on the technology. I will be very uncomfortable if I forget to bring my mobile phone and my computer loses the connection with the internet. Technology is part of my life and I cannot live without it.

The course in general is quite difficult for me because it consists of many difficult concepts which I haven’t known before. However, the assignments and readings provide me the opportunity to investigate the theories into depth.

Reflective Post --- James Pang

In the first lesson, I had been told that the course was difficult to me. I shocked with this message. When we were told to create an account in weblog, I was glad to use it. It was because that was my first time to use such technology. I thought I could do well in the blog. It gave us an opportunity to share our learning process on the internet. It allowed me to establish my own online community.

Nowadays, many people relied on the technology, without exception, I was one of them. I relied on internet, computer, even the glasses I am wearing. Lots of the things I used let me think that: Am I still a “purely” human? It is hard to deny that I am not a cyborg.

Overall, I am quite interested in this course because it told me what is the internet about and it lets me think more about the technologies I used. However, I thought it is difficult for me to memorize those “theorized” things I already knew.

Course reflection by Kristy

Time fly, we come to the end of our course, self. net, such a difficult subject, we go through many strange and new theories together in these 12 weeks, it gave me a new way of thinking and understand about my identity. This course introduce some new concepts for me, such as post human and cyborg... etc. It gave me an opportunity to rethink the reality and cyberspace.

I gain and earn a lot by doing the assignment and the readings are a good tool for me to understand more about my identity and gender. Now, i am no doubt about i am a cyborg.

Using the blog for virtual communication is a good chance for us to support and understand our classmate. We exchange our opinion toward the course and share the reading outline here, are an effective way for us to learn.

Reflective post of Eunice

During 12 weeks of teaching, from the first lesson, Introduction to Cyborgs to the last lesson, post human. i think this course is worth for us to study which it can help me to know more about "self" from virtual to reality. And when I come to the discussion of cyborg in the first lesson, Wesley said that people who wear glasses are cyborg, and I looked around I found most of my classmates wore glasses! Are they cyborg? And I think if wearing glasses are cyborg, how about me? I AM WEARING CONTACT LENS, OH they are sticking on my eyes ball...

Also I think this course is interesting as every students of this course need a blog. A weblog for academic use is the first time. But I think beside we post our presentation outline and assignment works, the lecturer can encourage us to post something that is related to this course whenever we find anything interesting while browsing on web or from newspaper, that we can fully use of the functions of weblog.

The last post of the unit from Alex Wong

It is the time we are going to the end of this unit. This unit provide me a opportunity to know more about Cyberspace, Cyborg and online communication. Those readings and material help me to understand the concept within gender, cultural and communication studies which relate to cyberspace and identity.

As we learn the theory of Cyborg in first two lessons. I am wearing glass. So, I believe that I can classify into Cyborg, since glass is type of machine. It helps me to see the thing clear. I cannot live without glass.

This webblog is useful for sharing the ideas in learning this unit. It would help us to know more about other classmates opinions. This webblog is just like the virtual community for us. We would have sharing our feeling, ideas and information via the blog and we do put the time on engaging with the blog and the unit.

Margaux's Presentation Outline

My assigned reading is "Interactive Audiences?", by Henry Jenkins



1. Some features on Collective Intelligence

2. How computer and network affects Collective Intelligence (by using fan community as an example)

3. The interaction and conflict between Knowledge Culture and Commodity Culture

4. Bloggers and culture jammers


These are some points that have been covered in the reading and I am going to explain them further in tomorrow's tutorial.

Presentation outline by Lam Sz Ki, Kiki

Smart mobs
the power of the mobile many
by Howard Rheingold

Howard Rheingold is the introducer of “smart mobs”. He states that “Smart mobs consist of people who are able to act in concert even if they don’t know each other”. A few worldwide examples are used to illustrate the concept of smart mobs including Philippine, Britain, Toronto and so on. Smart mobs use many of the current technologies to spread out certain idea. It is easily found in protests.

The idea of “netwars” is similar to smart mobs since they are both created by the network.
The “swarming” strategies mean many small units work together with some purposes.
Wearable news-gathering system is related to peer-to-peer journalism. Swarm intelligence talks about the power of group activity rather than individual.

Questions are raised by the writer at the end:
1. What do we know now about the emergent properties of ad hoc mobile computing networks, and what do we need to know in the future?
2. What are the central issues for individuals in a world pervaded by surveillance devices – in terms of what we can do about it?
3. What are the long-term consequences of near-term political decisions on the way we’ll use and be affected by mobile, pervasive, always-on media?