ACTIVITY 9.4: Social Invention

Unless you happened to be studying the same virtual community as one of your classmates, you haven't had an opportunity to "bounce" your ideas and observations off your classroom learning community. At this point you may be sailing along smoothly and already have discovered some patterns and determined a focus. On the other hand, you and many of your classmates may be finding yourselves wallowing in a churning sea of data and unconnected observations and ideas. If this is the case, you may want to share some of your work in progress-share what you've discovered so far and find out what others have learned. As with earlier activities, you have two options: sharing in large- or small-group face-to-face discussion or sharing ideas on-line.

Option 1: Face-to-Face Oral Discussion

Gather into small groups of three-to-five people or as a large group, and use the suggestions in step 1 to guide your sharing of works in progress.

Option 2: Online Sharing

Use your class's CMC capabilities to share your works in progress, and use the suggestions in step 1 to guide your discussion.

Step 1: Sharing Works in Progress

Use the freewriting document you created in Activity 8.3, step 1, as a basis for sharing with your peers:

-A brief description of your group (name, kind of CMC technology that supports it)

-Your general impressions of the community

-What patterns you see emerging

If possible, share with your peers your current thoughts on what focus or angle you might take in your analysis and why you're considering those options.

Listen to (or read if on-line) your peers' impressions about their works in progress. Have you learned about patterns you hadn't thought of yourself but that may in fact be relevant to your community?

Do you have any questions about your own progress that you would like to get advice on from your peers?