Virtual vs. Physical Worlds
Writing is a key to stability in our society and without it there would be social disorder. Physical and virtual writing comes together in universities tying everyone together.
Writing is everywhere at our university this is a fact. We could not escape it even if we wanted to although sometimes that does sound nice. There are two places of writing; physical and virtual. The physical space for writing are the things we see; it is the traffic and building signs, the sidewalk chalk, the flyers, and the paintings on walls just to name a few. There is also a totally different virtual space for writing; being the internet in general websites like Case’s website, blog sites, facebook or myspace, and ratemyprofessor. Some would say these writings divide our universities, which would make universities weak in our society, but if this was true would not the whole organization been destroyed many years ago? It is all this writing that makes the universities strong being able to tie everyone together. Physical writings in our universities give us order, they build community, they create social debate, and control our systems to name some of its value. Writing in the virtual spaces gives full freedom of expression and is an amazing resource of information that many of today’s college students take for granted. The ease at which we can access information has made our society and the societies of the world quickly intertwined.
Physical writing allows concrete information to be delivered. On the Case campus it allows many students, faculty, and mainly visitors the ability to get around easier. Almost all of the buildings are marked in some way being easy to identify. Traffic signs and signals provide order and allow the Case community to cross Euclid Avenue in a semi-safe way. The “chalking” on campus along with many flyers again provide information for the students of Case. “Chalking” provides students a way to communicate with the entire campus, everybody walks on the sidewalks and reads the “chalking” whether they want to or not. Paintings, sculptures, or any other type of artwork is decorative giving a sense of creativity. All these physical spaces for writing allow information to be passed along to a variety of different people. Physical writing is also very substantial and significant to a large group of people.
As you move to virtual spaces of writing you are able to obtain many different styles and types of writing. The internet world is full of resources; it contains many articles and other forms of research. This allows students to do their research anywhere there is a computer with internet access, these days that can be at home, the library, or a café. This is a great change since the days of catalogs at libraries. The internet also provides a wonderful way of communication; e-mails and IM talk make communication much quicker. IM allows students to talk to one another any time they are each at their prospective computers being able to collaborate on assignments and projects. E-mail is a wonderful way for people to stay in touch with distant family and friends. E-mail is also a great way for students and teachers to communicate; a student can e-mail a teacher a question or comment and get a response in as little as an hour sometimes. The university itself is able to communicate with students and staff via e-mail and the schools official website. Last year when classes were cancelled due to weather everyone was told by e-mail! As far as personal profile sites such as myspace and facebook, these allows students a way to present themselves to others and get to know a little about people. These sites are also used by many employers to check on a prospective employee. The ratemyprofessor website may seem bad, but it is not. This lets students choose a professor they feel they will be able to be successful in their class. Professors could also use this site as a way to improve their teaching by taking the positive and negative feedback and seeing what their students like and don’t like about their teaching. The virtual world of writing is continually growing and changing and provides quick and easy access for research and communication.
Writing is a key to stability in our society as stated without it there would be social disorder. In a world of greater communication and sharing of ideas comes higher understanding. This does lead to continuous improvement and the growth of our universities. Our writings are the key to this growth, we are just beginning to see the new found power of the internet and its ability to strengthen our universities and unite our world.
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