Reflections on the Impact of Structures on Digital Presence and Identity

Unit 1 Week 1 Activity 1 – Virtual Symposium Reflection

In their book, Teaching Crowds (2014), Anderson and Dron identify and define a number of structures in eLearning, as well as their particular uses. Having created a plan with regard to cultivating a digital identity, the various structures seem to divide as follows:

• Groups: LinkedIn, MALAT cohort, work
• Networks: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook
• Sets: Twitter
• Communities: Slack, Teams
• Collectives: Google, possibly Library resources

The most difficult structure to understand has been collectives. My frame of reference of collectives are an artist collective, which Wikipedia describes as, “a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims,” with those aims ranging, “from purchasing bulk materials, sharing equipment, space or materials, to following shared ideologies, aesthetic and political views or even living and working together as an extended family” (“Artist collective”, 2020, para. 1).

In contrast, Anderson and Dron state that their view of a collective is, “composed not of people but an amalgamation of their actions and products” (2014, p. 199). They then go on to state that, “a collective behaves as a distinct individual agent: we do not interact with its parts but with the whole, to which our own actions may contribute” (p. 204), and describe a collective as though it is an artificial entity that creates a product by itself for us to interact with, citing Google as an example (p. 206). While I can agree with it being a collection, I struggle to see it as a collective as it is the byproduct of the group who created it rather than the group itself.

Overall, I think the biggest impact this understanding might have on my plan or I is in my focus on how to approach and interact with the groups. In particular, currently I feel like I need to grow in my understanding of the material (hence my being in the course), but also in getting to know more people in my own field. As a result, sticking to getting to know and work with my fellow students seems a good starting point and, from there, to branch out to a broader audience. At the same time, to begin to navigate groups, such as those on LinkedIn, will allow me to find and narrow my focus and resources for my project, thesis, etc.

_References

_{Anderson, A., & Dron, J. (2014). Teaching Crowds. AU Press. http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120235}

_{Artist Collective. (2020, April 16). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_collective}