I'm deleting as fast as I can: negotiating learning practices in cyberspace

• Published in: Pedagogy, culture & society Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 93 - 112
• Main Author: Lynn Thompson, Terrie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.03.2012; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: actor network theory; Adult Education; Adult Learning; Career Education; Communities of Practice; Editing; Educational Technology; Electronic Learning; Employees; Internet; Interviews; Learning; Networks; online communities; Online Courses; Online instruction; online learning; Pedagogy; Teaching Methods; Web Sites; work-learning; Workplace Learning
• ISSN: 1468-1366; 1747-5104
• DOI: 10.1080/14681366.2012.649417

Learning in and through work is one of the many spaces in which pedagogy may unfold. Web technologies amplify this fluidity and online learning now encompasses a plethora of practices. In this paper I focus on the delete button and deleting practices of self-employed workers engaged in informal work-related learning in online communities. How the relational and material aspects of online pedagogical practices are being negotiated is explored. While deleting appears to be an everyday practice, understanding the delete button as a fluid object in fluid space begins to illuminate its complexity and multiple enactments. Deleting practices which work to stem the tide of information pushing itself on to screens, as well as those practices that attempt to delete traces left behind on screens and 'in the cloud', are examined. Actor-network theory provides the theoretical and conceptual tools for this exploration. I conclude with observations on the politics of the delete button and implications for more sophisticated digital fluency in everyday pedagogy.