Erin Severson

Ethnography of Group 2

 

The setting where the initial conversation takes place is in an online chatroom. It is closed to the general public, so the only people in the discussion are the people in the group including Susan, Erin, Scott, Andrew, and Ann.  After the online conversation, each person reflects on the conversation and posts their reflection for other group members to read in the same online chatroom where they initially had their conversation. With each reflection, each individual group member evaluates the conversation and the learning that they experienced online. I charted the ways that their individual feelings differed both from one another and from week to week on the table at the end of this paper. In some circumstances, it seems that group members have chosen either not to post a reflection or not to read through the reflections of their other group members.

Erin and Susan seem to have the most similar opinions and feelings about the group. For example, they both expressed positive feelings toward the group and toward the online conversation. In week three, Susan wrote, “Our group is starting to really gel,” and Erin wrote, “This week’s discussion went well.” Though Scott most likely gets along with Erin and Susan, it seems that he tries to challenge the group to dig a little deeper than the surface level. For example, in week three Scott wrote that he tries to “present a point that I did not agree with simply because we are all mostly coming at the discussions from the same position and there is not a countering voice or viewpoint to bounce our thoughts off of.”  Ann was initially an insider, sharing similar optimism and opinions as Erin and Susan, but as of the last few weeks has discontinued her postings. Either she has decided to exit the group completely, or she has distanced herself for the time being.  Andrew seems to be an outsider. He does not share the same positive attitude about the class. In his week three reflection he wrote, “This class is bothering me. I feel like I am spending hours reading through all the text, seeking out media, analyzing media, writing about the connection, sharing that with my group, stumbling over it again in discussion, then reflecting on it, and then reflecting again with my journal partner.” It seems that he is looking for support from his group members to validate his long hours and hard work. Erin briefly recognized Andrew’s frustrations in her reflections, but other group members didn’t seem to respond to him.  Either they are not reading his reflections and oblivious to his frustrations, or they are unsure about how to respond to him. For example, in week four Susan still feels that “everything is still great!” So is she considering Andrew in this exclamation or is she simply referring to her personal experience with the class? It is difficult for me to tell based solely on the reflections.  One thing is for sure, Andrew does not feel that he is being heard (or read) in the group. For example, in his week five reflection, he wrote, “I think Osama Bin Laden is living in my basement, but I’m not sure. (Are you really still reading this?)” Judging from this comment, Andrew most likely feels that some of his group members are not responding to his frustrations and therefore his needs are not being met.

From observing the comments and feelings expressed by all the members of group two, I have made a couple of important conclusions. First of all, in an online chatting environment, all group members are experiencing the chat differently and processing what is said from their own perspective. Second, without eye contact and other non-verbal cues, it can be difficult to ensure that all group members are feeling included and heard. It is possible for one group member to be completely frustrated while other group members are completely satisfied with the course and conversation. Group two all agreed in week five that their discussion was lacking…perhaps part of the problem is a lack of cohesion/understanding within the group.

           

 

People	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Susan	Experienced technical difficulties with her computer	Improvement from last week	“Our group is starting to really gel.”	Everything is still great!!	“Our discussion this week seemed less focused than previous ones have been.”	“I think our group had a more spirited discussion this time, after reaching a low point last week.”
Erin	Comfortable with the conversation	Improvement from last week	“This week's discussion went well.” Noticed Andrew’s reflection and frustrations.	Informal discussion	“Our genre discussion was a bit below par, discussion-wise.”
Scott	Valuable conversation, but disjointed at times	Okay discussion this week	Playing devil’s advocate to strike up more conversation—group is too cohesive at times.	“This week's discussion seemed a bit off to me…. As for what did go on, many times we digressed into talk of other things.”	“As for our actual discussion, there was a lot of mild complaining.”
Andrew	Frustrated with the technology, paranoid about his own comments	Feeling left out of the group and frustrated with the program.	Pissed off! “This class is bothering me.” Feels that the class is taking up too much of his time.	“Our last discussion went well, for the most part… I think my group is getting ready to take the next step in on-line discussion”   Sudden change of attitude!	“I think we?re getting tired of some of our conversations… people feel forced to communicate ideas about the assignments.”   “I think Osama Bin Laden is living in my basement, but I?m not sure. (Are you really still reading this?)”
Ann	Excited about chatting online. Optimistic about the class	“Once we got going it was really productive”	“I just read Andrew's reflection, and he sounds really frustrated.”	No Posting	No Posting