It feels very strange to be in such close scrutiny of you four seminar facilitators. I feel like I am a fish in an aquarium with a small audience. I am not certain that I am even in range of the camera -- I am over by the window, but I still feel very boxed in just knowing that your four faces are looming behind me and watching my peers and I as we write. It reminds me a little bit of when you would take a test in high schol and the teacher would wander around the classroom, looking down at everyone to make sure they weren't cheating or copying someone else's exam.
I am not exactly fearful of this sort of video communication technology taking over, but I am reluctant for it to be used in place of face-to-face communication.
At the Suheir Hammad presentation I was so far in the back of the lecture hall that I didn't feel as though I was under a magnifying glass or surveillance. I did feel a need to remain well-mannered though, considering the respect a performer deserves from the audience and the fact that I was at school rather than at home on the couch.