Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Blog assignment 1

Dear students,

For the first blog entry assignment you're asked to read and reflect (that is, develop a line of thought that the rest of us can follow) on the article 'Snooping Bosses' and then comment freely on the tendency towards closer tracking, monitoring and surveillance of people in contemporary society (not only in the workplace) and on the issues of security and safety versus integrity on the part of both the “snoopers” and the ones being “snooped on”. There’s no upper or lower word limit for your blog entry, but you should post it by Thursday 7 October if you want to be guaranteed some feedback on your thoughts from fellow students.

'Snooping Bosses’ is meant to inspire/provoke you to think about the issues it touches upon before you start typing away, but you’re of course more than welcome to take your blog entry far beyond the scope of the article. You could for instance reflect on the relationship between the security industry and our fears/suspicions, or discuss to what extent a member of the public can claim the right to privacy and anonymity outside his or her home.

Finally, don’t forget that blogging is a golden opportunity to ask intriguing questions that you’re not necessarily responsible for answering. :-)

Susan and I look forward to reading your blog entries,

Andy

How to get started

Dear students,

This is just a quick entry to start the ball rolling. If you already have a blog account up and running, please send its address as a comment on this blog entry (don't forget to state your name unless it's evident from your user account) and I'll link to it in the 'Blogging students' section on the right. Thus, by the time you're looking to read and comment on each other's blog entries, these will only be one click away.

If you don’t have a blog account yet, I suggest you create one at www.blogger.com (especially if you already have a Google account) or ask your fellow students if they can recommend a particular blog host. Whatever your choice, please make sure that I can link to your blog and that your readers are allowed to post comments on your blog entries.

That's all for now. See you online and in class,

Andy