Multi-sited insights

Beyond what I consider to be the practical, more obvious points for connection between ethnography and technology lie the ways in which ethnographic theory engages with technology. To be sure, students may use hypertext in order to write their ethnographies, thereby creating polyvocal texts that resist scholarly authority. But what's the real point of creating such texts? How does the publishing of a web-based ethnographic essay affect the discursive position of a student? What are some of the ethical considerations that need to be addressed regarding conducting research online and publishing on the web? Which should come first, a discussion regarding technology, or an overview of ethnographic methodology? In other words, how and in what ways does this intersection reveal to us a larger map of the field of composition studies overall? How does an ethnographic essay in a composition course allow a student to map his/her own relationship with academic discourse, with technology, with culture in general?

True to form, this ethnographic piece does not serve to directly answer any of these questions. Rather, the hope is that the quotations, charts, words and ideas linked here serve to incite a conversation about the intersection between technology and ethnography in the field of composition studies. Do let me know what you think.