Full Circle Associates

I'm currently a "hotseat" guest at Ultralab's Ultraversity so I was interested to see Stephen Powell's post about Discourse framing and presentation

Reflecting on the difference between the discourse in the Ultraversity First Class conferences and the Hotseat tool, I am struck again by the 'tangible' difference in the learning experience that different online tools can provide. The fragmented nature of FC conversations is in stark contrast to the rich flow of ideas possible where contributions are displayed sequentially on the same page. Take a look at an screenshot of the Hotseat Tool and FC to get an idea about what I mean. It is also worth pointing out that there are a range of bulletin board systems that fall somewhere on a continuum between the two.

Tools impact our impression and participation. They also influence the style of discourse. I have no doubt about this. The question is how do we understand the impact on individuals and build that up to a group experience. With very strong personal preferences between tools, that old briding issue pokes its head up YET AGAIN!