Acquiring Cyberspace Citizenship
By: Aris A. Banaag G12, Psy 409a, Fall 1999
 Collecting of The Data
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At the onset of this semester, I was instructed to rate my feelings and experiences with the following rating scale. The scale used was a numbered scale. At one end of the spectrum was a -3, at the other end was a +3. These are the contrasting word pairs that were used to identify the feelings that may have been encountered: stressful/pleasant, dissatisfied/satisfied, wasted/valuable, confusing/clarifying, and discouraging/ hopeful.
I entered this class feeling confident, for I have surf the net numerous times, for pleasure and for the purpose of research. Therefore I felt I had some knowledge of the Internet and I would be all right. Little did I know! It quickly become quite apparent to me, that I really did not have a clue as to how complicated the Internet was. What made everything seem worst was that I needed to learn how to successfully and intelligently post all the assignment on the Internet. It was as if I were learning a new language, or a difficult new concept that I have never encountered before. Therefore my computer phobia surfaced rather strongly. So it is not surprising to note that during the beginning month, most of my ratings were at the lower end of the scale. I spent countless hours trying to figure out how to do the things assigned. A wide range of emotions flowed through me. Feeling of frustration, stress, and even hopelessness. At the beginning they were fairly low, but as time went on they finally leveled off and went towards the positive end of the spectrum.
In all aspects of life, anything new brings a sense of wonder and excitement. Upon entering this class, I felt this excitement and of course a little fear. But experiencing how difficult this was, it quickly lead to a feeling of frustration and incompetence. Nevertheless as more time was spent, my level of understanding and competence increased. I think that most people can relate to this. So I feel that it is necessary for anyone entering the cyberspace community to realize that it is all right that they too may encounter these negative feelings, but that they are fleeting. I feel, the key for staying sane while working on the Internet is perseverence, and a positive attitude. Also to keep your focus on the end result and your accomplishments, no matter how big or small they may be.
The pleasant feelings that I experienced during my computer sessions were mostly associated with an occasional breakthrough, for example, when I suddenly understood one aspect of an exercise (pleasant: +3). I also experienced pleasant feelings when I read something in a newsgroup that was interesting or something that made me laugh. In those particular moments, though I was stressed, the stressful experience gradually shifted to a pleasant feelings (depending on the article or the jock, between +1 & +3). I have to point out that most of the computer sessions had moments of breakthrough and pleasant feelings, however, those pleasant moments were not representative of the overall feeling that I was experimenting at the end of each session. This is the reason why those positive moments seem completely non existent on the computer rating sessions in the beginning of the semester.
Here is a Summary Of Four past Experiences
Diane gives some tips on how to fight pessimism of the Internet learner. Diane's favorite way to combat Internet stress was to take a break at Manoa Garden with a vegetarian taco salad. She described week after week the experience that she had while she was engaged in the process of getting to know the Web. Diane pointed out how the class discussions were so helpful to her. Diane's report is written in a rather direct style and is fun to read, for example, check the section on fun things to do in an elevator.
Lori started the class of Leon James with absolutely no knowledge of the Internet, and Like Rose and Diane, she will share with you all the experiences that she had during the Internet learning process. She will take you week after week into her journey of learning when she experienced many frustrations and negative emotions during the process. Many of those emotions came from sitting in the lab for many hours straight and not being able to solve some of the problems that she encountered with her assignments. Nevertheless, she also described some of her positive experiences and the fun she had in some of the assignments. For example, she loved to play with the different buttons and like to see the screen as a labyrinth where she could explore all the different possibilities. She also mentions the fact that she get a great deal of satisfaction from the Internet during the process of learning.
Rebecca RossRebecca also gives an overview of her experiences during the time spent on her assignments. She comments on how time consuming each assignment was, and how it is best not to procrastinate. During the semester she got sick, therefore she fell behind. Playing catch up was very difficult and frustrating. She also noted that through reading other students reports, they too felt and thought the same way about a lot of things. That they too were experiencing the same emotions she was having. This was a comfort to her and she used this as a guiding force to complete her work.
Shane describes that all learning takes place through three domains of human behavior. The affective domain which is the feelings and emotions one has, the cognitive domain which is the thought processes we have, and the sensory-motor domain which is one's actions, the doing domain. He connects these domains to the learning process of the Internet. He also states that while learning the Internet he applied these three domains to his own learning style. He briefly describes his feelings on reading other students reports, and at the close of his report leaves the reader with hope. That he is a survivor of Dr. James class, and that it can be done.
After reading the four students' reports that have just been summarized, I came away from that experience feeling so much better. I was left feeling relieved and hopeful. It was as if I had been freed from the anxiety that I have been feeling by this class. The students expressed their feeling candidly and honestly. But with each report that I read, common themes and emotions were present. These themes and emotions I have also experienced. Therefore I felt a strong bond with these students. I was not alone in my quest for a better understanding of the Internet. I was not the only one feeling anxious and confused.
Similarities and Differences with my classmates
Reading the reports of the adventures that my classmates had during this semester is a unique opportunity to see aspects of the learning experiences of others during our journey. Besides the fact that we were classmates, we also all followed the same instructions for our report; for this reason, learning that other people in the class experienced the same types of issues concerning the learning process is conforting in a way. It sort of validates my own experience in the cyberreality and confirms that we were all in the same boat. Mazza points out in her projects that the time factor was really important in this class, and she agreed that there were many skills that needed to be acquired in a short time. I can completely relate to that because I also a totally felt that this factor was a crucial aspect of our class. For me, the time variable was a very important factor in my learning process and particularly in the stress that I experienced during all my assignments.
In each of these reports we all started out on the negative side of the scale. But I am happy to say that through hard work and the drive to succeed, we all ended up at the positive end of the scale. We will have left this class, I feel, with a strong conviction that we have learned something great. And we will be better people because of it.
After all the experiences and emotions that this report and this class has elicited, I must confess that it has been a great learning experience. One that will not be forgotten easily. By being forced to monitor and collect data on our experiences while working at our computers, it has open up a window of understanding. This understanding that not everything comes easy and that we must search long and hard for answers. I better understand myself and my capabilities after going through all these many projects. My knowledge has grown tremendously and so has my patience and perserverence.
For future generations, all I can really say is to never give up. Patience and perserverence is the key to success in this class and probably in life as well. And like most projects, providing yourself with ample time would be of great importance in making a well written and well structured web page. And remember, we can never know everything because there is always something that we don't know about. So explore what the net has to offer and learn and grow from each and every experience.
