As a teacher in a school in the UK, I find that the main perception of my pupils is of the internet as a source of fun. A large percentage (I can find out exact figures if this is of use to you) perceive the internet as a safe place to play and only see the "stranger danger" as a result of parental input. The parental input is usually based on a fear and lack of knowledge about the internet and media moral panic rather than an experienced danger to their children. In fact a lot of pupils are simply using MSN or Yahoo messenger to communicate with known friends rather than to communicate with total strangers. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.8.9/39 - Release Date: 04/07/2005 ___________________________________________________________ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com
In response to Derek's comment: I think one of the critical factors is one of Steve Woolgar's "Five Rules of Virtuality" in Virtual Society (2002) where it is noted: "The more virtual, the more real". Echoing the idea that communication can increase in bandwidth (chat, telephone, etc.) to people already known that one has fun with, and in the case of this list, people I look forward to seeing once a year. For me, it's the remembrance of our (brief) F2F encounters that provides more motivation to get on the list and 'have fun' posting to people I perceive as friends. It's the work and hard effort of the AoIR Annual Conference (go, team!) that I attend with great anticipation each year (definitely not virtual) that means I stay in touch online with pals, aquaintances and scholars throughout the rest of the year. Cheers, Denise P.S. Thinking of those in London tonight. Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator & Internet Researcher Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Tuesdays or Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html
participants (2)
-
Denise N. Rall -
Derek McMillan