Section 4: Overview

Living Online

We will read about communities that exist in more traditional, physical spaces, as well as communities that exist online, to respond to the following question:

• In what ways do physical communities differ from online communities?

We will work together to determine the ways of signifying membership when communities do not exist in a physical space and will discuss how the criteria of online communities differ from their traditional counterparts.

• Lesson 1:

  We will practice our rhetorical analysis skills.

• Lesson 2:

  We will begin shifting our focus to the moral and ethical obligations inherent to discussions of communities and the relationships developed within those communities. Additionally, we will review the arguments made by the authors in the previous section and discuss what role ethics, if any, plays in their arguments.

• Lesson 3:

  We will explore online communities and how their creation, signification of membership, rules, and methods of engagement compare to those of more traditional, in-person communities.

• Lesson 4:

  We will read an article that discusses different aspects of online communities in order to broaden our understanding and engage in a more in-depth discussion of roles and responsibilities.

• Lesson 5:

  We will engage in a philosophical chairs class discussion that addresses how social media and other forms of online communication affect individuals, society, and American ideals of civility.

• Lesson 6:

  We will review the teacher’s feedback on our Section Diagnostic and will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

• Lesson 7:

  We will share the analyses we have made about our independent reading texts and make connections to the unit. We will plan a final product to share our experiences from reading independently and the knowledge we have gained.