In edcmooc, there has been talk about the google + hangout sessions being particularly useful to get to know the teaching team. This quote from Kathy’s edcMOOC blog is just one example of several which expressed a similar message ‘I finally was able to attend one of the Google Hangout sessions live and really enjoyed the experience – definitely “humanises” the instructors.’ This suggests that the ‘face to face’ element of the video linking has been a grounding tool which helps people relate to the ‘norm’. (I must say here that I also found the hangouts to be very positive, which I think was out of curiosity about the people I was working with daily). It could be said that Apple’s leather bound address book has similar affordances and this can potentially be helpful for those who are, perhaps, less confident outside of their known boundaries. However, it can be argued that this RL anchoring limits technological developments; limits human experimentation and bravery; and is, arguably, overly sentimental towards the traditional.

How, though, can this link with the past/real/norm be broken without excluding those who are dependent on it and who, without it, may not use any of the benefits offered by technology?