Comments by LaNae Phillips Most recent public comments by LaNae Phillips https://nowcomment.com/users/63389 Distinction https://nowcomment.com/documents/132976?scroll_to=1531649 https://nowcomment.com/documents/132976?scroll_to=1531649 Good insights! It makes we wonder if professional communities of practice could function like an affinity network? I know in my profession we collaborate on various projects online, give feedback, make revisions, etc. They are typically smaller groups of people. I think keeping professional networks separate from affinity networks is a bit like the kids preferring to keep their online groups separate from school. Almost like they think of their online groups as having fun and don't want it to turn into 'school'. Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:08:05 -0500 Chess club https://nowcomment.com/documents/132976?scroll_to=1531585 https://nowcomment.com/documents/132976?scroll_to=1531585 This brings to mind that my 10 year old grandson made some similar connections, it didn’t dawn on me until I read this, and had an ‘aha moment’, smile! Two years ago, in 3rd grade, he learned how to play chess in math class. He really liked it and his parents got him a chess set the next Christmas. He kept playing, but it was hard to find friends to play with. He found the game online, I didn’t realize it was an affinity group, I just thought he was playing against the computer. I just spoke to him and found out that in actuality he is playing against other people. He explained they can find people there that will teach or mentor each other and find others who are at a similar skill level to play against, etc. He is in 5th grade now and recently found a group of kids that play chess at the mall every Saturday morning where he lives. There is a volunteer coach there who helps them and brings all the ‘equipment’. He loved it so much, he talked to his school principal and his coach from the mall and together they set up a chess club at his school. They play on Thursdays during lunch and he was so excited to tell me he is the assistant coach and taught a group of 3rd graders how to play 2 weeks ago. Now he only goes online to practice and get better because he has two local groups he can play with in person. , but he made the connections from local to online and back to local with the support of his parents and other adults. So even at his young age, he has found ways to pursue his affinity for chess online and offline. Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:19:41 -0500 A wedge between generations https://nowcomment.com/documents/132976?scroll_to=1531315 https://nowcomment.com/documents/132976?scroll_to=1531315 I think some of the wedge is created by the relative newness of social media and online affinity groups…sort of a fear of the unknown by parents. The children who were raised with access to the Internet, cell phones, computers, etc. are now becoming parents themselves. They may not have the hang ups about online groups that someone like me might have who did not grow up with this kind of variety of 'connectedness' to the world - outside of family, friends, and local tv stations. It’s possible this wedge will eventually cease to exist or be significantly lessened with future generations. Another issue that could be part of this wedge is the unknown long term effects of screen time. I don’t have the citation, but on a recent news cast I watched, they reported that a new study found that a toddler’s brain showed more white areas than a toddler who did not get screen time. They emphasized that more study is needed because scientists do not know if this is bad or actually a good thing in brain development. Fri, 26 Nov 2021 16:12:51 -0500 Interest development grounded in cultural identity https://nowcomment.com/documents/132976?scroll_to=1530801 https://nowcomment.com/documents/132976?scroll_to=1530801 I think this is a wise approach to this research. In thinking about some of the interests I have today for example watching NASCAR and football to reading and sewing all stem back from growing up in an environment where people also had these interests. Going to the races has its own sub-culture in America and people that go understand this and conform to the expected social norms. It's important to understand what shapes interests and cultural identities in order to study why people may gravitate to specific social networks. Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:05:27 -0500 Anthropomorphism Poem https://nowcomment.com/documents/105105?scroll_to=1518575 https://nowcomment.com/documents/105105?scroll_to=1518575 Giving human traits to the inanimate objects was fun to read. I grew up in NE and consider it my home. Likening the old barn to old ladies was genius! I enjoyed them all and took me back to my youth :-) Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:51:21 -0400