My blog is called Oh Brave New World using Miranda's words from The Tempest when she sees for the first time humans other than those inhabiting the only world she has ever known, an island peopled by her father, the spirit Ariel, the witch Sycorax and the odious servant Caliban. When she utters these words, she is playing chess with Ferdinand, who was shipwrecked near the island but who managed to swim to shore.  Her words are unintentionally ironic, a fact played upon by her father Prospero, who says, in response, 'new to you' and who is all too aware of the dastardly nature of most of humanity, especially those in power. When Aldous Huxley wrote his dystopian fiction Brave New World he was being overtly ironic in describing the horrors (to him at any rate) of the American encroachment on the manners and habits of Europe - the horrors of chewing gum, movies and other accoutrements of everyday life in America.  Behind both these texts lies a deeper context, the Elizabethan wonder at and admiration for journeying and exploration and the discovery of new lands. This wonder is captured too in much of Donne and Marvell's poetry from a slightly later period.
I believe we are entering another brave new world but whether this is utopian or dystopian remains to be seen - the possibilities for both are rife. The new world we are inhabiting or which is inhabiting us has been labelled many things, the digital era, the networked world, Web 3.0.  Whatever else it is, this world is mobile, digital, wired and open.  This last word is "open" to interpretation which is why, I presume, we are enrolled for this Mooc #oped12
I am looking forward to discussions and debates over the next weeks.