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Putting It All Together: Integration

Integrating Online Activities

As you've probably noticed, the eQuest program encourages you to link together the various things that you are doing online. It encourages you to compare and contrast what you are learning across these different activities. This is called "integration." So, for example:

- Whenever you find online an interesting article, web site, test, program, etc., discuss it with the people you know online. Also ask them if they know of anything online that relates to the issue you are exploring.

- If you have a one-on-one relationship with someone who belongs to one of your online groups, discuss your ideas about the group with that person. How are their views similar or different than yours?

- In your personal web page, say something about your online lifestyle and what you are learning about yourself from it. Say something about the personal issue you are exploring in eQuest.

- Ask people you know online for feedback about your web page. Ask them what the page reveals about your personality? Is there anything new they learned about you from that page?

- What's it like to use different communication tools (chat, e-mail, message boards, etc.)? Which ones do you like and dislike? What might that say about you and your personality?


Integrating Online and Offline Living

An online lifestyle has much to offer but it cannot substitute for in-person living. An important feature of the eQuest program will be its emphasis on the balance and integration of online and offline activities. Be sure to read my article about the integration principle and apply to your project these five guidelines described at the end of the article. Also talk about each of these guidelines in your progress reports and in your final paper:

1. Tell online companions about your offline life.
You may not want to disclose some things about yourself (phone number, address, etc), but generally it's good to let people know something about yourself and your life, especially if what you tell them will help you discuss and understand the issue you are exploring. Also tell them about the information you are locating online. They might have some helpful advice and feedback.

2. Tell offline companions about your online life
Tell the people who know you well and whom you trust about what's happening in your eQuest project. Their feedback can help you sort out and understand the different things that are happening to you online. Tell them also about the information you are locating online. They too might have some helpful advice and feedback.

3. Try to meet online companions in-person (or talk to them on the phone)
You won't be able to do this with everyone you meet, but try to do it with some people. It will give you a new perspective on those people, and will shed light on how you might have misperceived them online.

4. If possible, communicate with offline companions online
Contacting online people you already know in person can give you a new perspective on that person. People online aren't always exactly the same as they are in-person. Talk to them online about your eQuest project and the issue you are exploring.

5. Bring your online behavior offline
If you're experimenting with new and helpful ways of relating to people online, or new activities online, see if you can bring that into your in-person lifestyle, especially if those experimentations are related to your issue in some important way.

6. Bring your offline behavior online
Bring the way you behave in your "real" life into cyberspace, especially if it will be helpful in exploring and understanding the issue you are exploring.


Integrating the Body - The "Felt Sense" Exercise

We tend to forget about our bodies when we're in cyberspace, but our bodily experiences are important aspects of who we are! To integrate online living into the Big Picture of our lives, pay attention to "felt sense." If you've been online for more than an half hour or so, or if you find yourself very immersed in what's happening to you online, take a few minutes out to close your eyes and pay attention to what's happening in your body. What sensations do you feel... in your arms, legs, face, skin, stomach, chest, shoulders? Even if it's a very subtle sensation, notice it. What pictures or sounds are going through your mind and what effect do they have on your body sensations? Might these internal sensations be telling you something about you and your activity in cyberspace? Write about these things in your progress reports and in your final paper.


Integrating Hidden Thoughts and Feelings: The "Expressive Email" Exercise

In our relationships we sometimes hold back on what we are really thinking and feeling. For this exercise, think of someone you are communicating with online, perhaps in a one-on-one relationships or someone you know in one of your online groups. In an email which you don't have to send, express what you ideally would need or want to say to that person. Feel free to express whatever you are thinking or feeling. Try to use some of the "creative keyboarding" techniques described in the article about email relationships. If you want me to give you feedback about this email, send it to me, but you don't have to if you would rather not. But do write about this exercise in your progress report and in your final paper.


Integrating the Subconscious: Dreams

Sometimes we have reactions to our lifestyle in cyberspace that are not fully conscious. Felt-sense will tell you something about that. Dreams will too. If you have any dreams about the internet or people you know online, write those dreams down and talk about them in your progress reports and your paper. What might those dreams be saying about your feelings and activities in cyberspace? Might those dreams be trying to teach you something? Think about how the dream might also be commenting on the issue you are exploring in eQuest. Here's an article about "cyberspace as a dream world" that you might find interesting. Sometimes dreams are tricky to understand. Here's an article about working with dreams that might help you. Try out some of the techniques described there. They work!