Gender, emotion and e-learning introduction

Although there are many claims for the freedom that the internet affords in creating a space where inequalities present in face to face teaching may be resolved, there is still recognition that this may be, at present, a utopian dream. Technology as a, male, gendered pastime has been present since the development of the internet and particularly through the targeting of men by the computer games industry. Within Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) there is still much evidence to show that men and women function differently in online discussion and that this often privileges the male point of view. However there have been attempts to appropriate technology as a female domain, most markedly by Cyberfeminism, a movement that seeks to negate gender dualism through a post-human approach. Within education, there are opportunities, particularly in the design of online courses, to address gender perceptions and inequalities in a space that can encourage debate within synchronous and asynchronous discussion that allows for a measured and mediated approach. Further, a virtual world such as Second Life can provide a locus for exploration of gender roles. This section of the paper considers the possibilities for addressing the gender binary within e-learning and, given the emotional implications of the construction and emobodiment of self on learning, suggests that Second Life provides a place somewhere between the real and the fantastical that allows for gender experimentation for men and women without entirely ignoring the roles that gender play in learning. More...

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