Reflection

=**Contribution**=

Throughout the wikispace layout I attempted to explore the social implications of technological innovation and institutional development. I've explored McLuhan's, Foucault's, and Nietzsche's concepts to demonstrate the connections and disjunctions within the social order that have occurred as a result, both in social processes and the public's consciousness. As an extension of this I also introduced certain concepts relevant to cyberpunk, power, surveillance, the Global Village and the mass media connecting it as well to democracy and the political influence of Civil Society. I have also linked a few concepts (panopticism, superpanopticon, etc), edited pages and made some corrections and added images to the wikispace.

In addition to delineating certain theories, I was also interested in the connections between social concepts and the Information Society at large, including its political sphere and obstacles to democracy. I discussed some of these in relation to surveillance and organizations (e.g. CRIS, Communications Rights in the Information Society). I also connected the way in which surveillance impedes our everyday actions and forces us to 'act' as I discussed in my comparison of Foucault and Goffman.

Throughout this assignment I was able to observe connections between several fields that pertained to digital innovation and cultural transformation. Technological progress, as discussed by McLuhan, influenced culture which is linked with behaviour and psychology, sociology, philosophical concepts, etc. For example, the cyberpunk movement and depiction in media is a reaction to the ubiquity of technology, similar to the way that Tactical Media is reactionary to the overwhelming power of large corporations. The information society is a kind of postmodern pastiche of all these events coming together, and that is what I explored and discussed in the wikispace from several angles.

=**Wikispace**=

The way in which wikispaces contribute to the creation of a collaborative workspace is evidence of the fact that much can be accomplished by a group of people. The process is somewhat analogous to the evolution of theories, science and society wherein one progressive step is built upon a preceding discovery. The fact that the space is open to criticism and correction is important and makes the process successful because many people are likely to view the pages and therefore contribute to their content. This worked surprisingly well in class and provided an overview of the course and consequently an effective study guide. It is an interesting variation on the standard essay style assignment, encouraging exploration of various topics.

=Suggestions=

I would suggest for any future class to conscientiously use this tool for the purpose of note-taking, studying and learning about broader concepts. It is also important to emphasize starting to make entries early and creating stubs so that people can get ideas and expand on various topics. I would discourage, however, creating a long list of "Topics of Interest" as it seems somewhat redundant and the topics would work just as well within the table of contents. Also, the suggestion of creating 1-2 pages of content on a particular topic 'in depth' discourages the collaborative process and results, in some cases, in pages done entirely or almost entirely by one person. Students should be encouraged to elaborate on existing content instead, in order to have a true collaborative environment.