\tAlan Sobel
\nto rnesson, nesson<\/p>\n
\t 4:12 pm (7 minutes ago)
\nCyberOne Feedback Memo
\n——————————–<\/p>\n
[What I Did: By way of context, as an at-large student, here is what I
\ndid for the class. I watched all the class videos. I got really
\nintrigued with the Benkler book and read all of it. I attended several
\nSecond Life sessions. I put notes for a project up on the class wiki
\n(“MetroBeat TV”).]<\/p>\n
Big Thoughts
\n————<\/p>\n
– Empathy, and its use in everyday life<\/p>\n
– Open access to learning<\/p>\n
– Introduction to the Berkman community<\/p>\n
Negative
\n———<\/p>\n
I would have liked to have seen more interaction between students in
\nthe 3 segments of the course. One way to address this might be to have
\nan email list for the class as a whole; a simple way for anyone from
\nthe 3 segments to address a thought or query to others in the course.
\nThis may provide a relatively low tech, community plaza kind of space
\n(with easier access characteristics than some of our other software)
\nwhich might be used to catalyze interactions in other spaces.<\/p>\n
Talk Directly to Us
\n——————-<\/p>\n
I took the notion of ’empathy’ to be the central idea of the course.<\/p>\n
I was reminded of a teacher I had in an eighth grade social studies
\nclass. His name was Emil Bates. The class was nominally about cities,
\nand how they could be designed to promote civic virtues and positive
\ninteractions among the residents. We each had to do a final project
\nfor the class, a physical model of what we thought of as an ideal city,
\nwhich we all brought in and lined up on the window ledges toward the
\nend of the course. But what the class was really about was what Mr.
\nBates called ‘affinity.’ He would talk to us every class period about
\naffinity between people and how that was really the foundation of
\nharmonious human interaction.<\/p>\n
CyberOne seemed to me a reincarnation of that course. I’d like to
\nthink that if Mr. Bates (now, I’m sure, long since gone) could talk
\nwith Prof. Nesson, they would probably agree that they were talking
\nabout substantially similar ideas.<\/p>\n
A question was brought up in one of the SL office hours about the
\nnature of empathic argument, and whether this was a logical concept or
\nsomething different. I took the notion of ’empathic argument’ to be
\none manifestation of a broader notion of ’empathic sensibility.’ This
\nseems like a powerful and important idea to me, and leads to the
\nquestion of how empathic sensibility is developed and maintained.<\/p>\n
I wanted to thank you both for the passion and effort you put into this
\ncourse, and for making available the opportunity to participate in it.<\/p>\n
I thought the experience was extraordinary. I eagerly looked forward
\nto the class videos becoming available.<\/p>\n
Best wishes for a joyous holiday season and peace in the new year.<\/p>\n
Alan Sobel<\/p>\n