Me and my virtual presence: an autoethnographic vignette

Abstract

Internet has allowed for a certain flexibility regarding the limits of connection, communication, and collaboration between people. It is, however, necessary that we maintain a critical stance towards its affordances so that we can continue to improve upon them. In this autoethnographic vignette, I will try to share my experience as a virtual, ‘disembodied other’ in a collaborative learning environment, focusing mainly on the limitations and problems I encountered during the process. This experience pertains to the project hub2001: An Internet Odyssey, which was developed for the course Cyber Cultures: Psychosocial implicationsoffered by the Psychology Department of Panteion University, Athens, Greece in the spring semester of the 2015-16 academic year. During this project, I participated virtually in the weekly lectures and meetings between the tutor and his assistants, and reflected, both individually and at the group level, on the course process. One of these reflections is further explored in this paper, aiming to present an experience which, although personal, can contribute in our understanding of the lived reality of the increasingly more common remote collaboration and virtual presence, especially in academic environments.