ABSTRACT
The symphonic self embodies the values of humanism in its focus on whole person. The focus is on adding value at the edges of existing activities, in brief, discrete acts of making connections and reflecting upon them that can provide quick wins. The items and their relationships combine to form a theory, story, or map that explains and predicts what the author has done, values, and can do. At campuses where the focus is on the networked self, students are generally invited to create briefer, more discrete blog posts or wiki pages, connecting their work with those of peers and faculty through comments and collaborative revision rather than contextualization within a larger, explicitly defined explanation. Differences in values, activities, genres, and technologies all combine to produce contrasting impacts from work representing the networked and symphonic selves.
