Domains in 2025

Workbook Page: Digital Submission

June 13, 2025
3 Comments
Module: Tech and Tools

Choose a digital tool or platform you use regularly in your teaching (Canvas, Google Docs, Zoom, ChatGPT, etc.).

Name of Tool:

PlymouthCreate/USNH Domains (Domain of One’s Own)

Description

Tell us a little about how you currently use the tool in your classes.

In the IDS senior seminar, we use USNH Domains (formerly PlymouthCreate) for students to develop “ePorts” showcasing their final projects. When I’ve taught it the last two years, I’ve also used it as a space for students to share their writings and reflections to class activities and discussions. For example, last fall, I asked students to share their project plans early on the semester. They had drafted these in Word, and I wanted them to explore taking a document from a word processing app and putting it online (so not just linking to a file someone can download). I’ve also had students share their writing portfolio (the course was a WRCO) on their ePorts, and I have mixed feelings about this. There is no real “audience” for their writings on their ePorts and so it felt more like an exercise than something useful (and I’m also sensitive to students not wanting to put draft work up in public). The other reflections I’ve had them do in their ePort also started to feel more like busy work assignments. It’s funny because I talk a lot about not using these spaces that way, but I fall into the traps just like everyone else. And, at the end of the semester, students have to put some representation of their final project on their ePort — some of them actually build out their project on a series of web pages/posts — others just upload a video or PDF or slide deck and share it. This fall I want to completely rethink how I’m using ePorts in the class. A lot has changed since Domain of One’s Own first launched and with WRCO and TECO no longer being built into this course, there’s a chance to rethink things.

Where Does It Come From?

Who designed this tool? What assumptions about teaching and learning are embedded in it?

LOL. In a way my colleagues and I designed Domain of One’s Own at the University of Mary Washington back in the day. But, what I’ve learned since then, is that every school (and every instructor) makes the platform what they need/want it to be. At it’s heart, DoOO is about giving people their own space on the web, free from corporate or institutional shackles. It’s about resisting the commodification of the the web (and of ourselves on the web), building our own space, and finding our own voice. Built into that is the assumption that learners want this kind of freedom and that teachers are prepared to foster it. It assumes that the institutional systems we’re asked/required to use (particularly the LMS) fall short, and that by giving people their own space we can create opportunities for online teaching and learning that are valuable and different.

Who or What Does it Empower?

What power dynamics are reinforced through this tool’s structure or data practices?

DoOO definitely was premised on the notion that every individual should have the power to create their own space on the web and control their own data on the web. And, often, I think it lives up to this premise. But sometimes it falls short:

When we require students to do things on their domains in the same way we require them to do things in the LMS, we’re just recreating the same dynamic in a new, open space. How do we teaching with DoOO and have a different relationship to the idea of “requirements.”
When we require students to use it who don’t want to use it. Isn’t agency about being able to say “no.” What does it mean to let students say “no” to things we do in the classroom?
When institutions try to lock down who can get a domain and what they can do on their domain (it happens).
When we take students’ domains down after they graduate without giving them the tools/resources to take their work with them.
Ultimately, the system is paid for by the institution and is governed by the institutions policies. There is always power somewhere.

What Kind of Learner Does it Benefit? Or Not Benefit?

Who might struggle to use this tool effectively? Who might benefit most?

The learners who benefit from DoOO are probably those who have already experienced some kind of agency in their learning — or who are naturally disposed to seek agency. I find they are more comfortable taking risks, exploring, making mistakes, and, ultimately, taking ownership of their space. Interestingly, this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with being “tech savvy.” It has more to do with a mindset and disposition. Sometimes I see students struggle with the platform because they just don’t see the point of it — and sometimes that’s because it’s being used in pointless ways in their classes (see: having students just do more “busy work” but this time on their domain). Other times it’s because the idea of having their own space on the web doesn’t seem important to them (that might be because they haven’t had an opportunity to think about why this matters or it might really not matter to them). I’ve also seen students struggle with the public nature of DoOO. The reality is that it’s become more dangerous to put our voices out there in public. What seemed harmless before may not be anymore, particularly for students who are already vulnerable in some way.

Reflection

Given what you’ve explored here, would you consider not using this tool or using it differently? Why?

I will probably always use DoOO in some way as long as I teach. I find that even when it “fails” it allows me to have a conversation with students about the web, networked spaces, social media, data privacy, and commodification of ourselves. But I will also always be trying to figure out the “best” way to use this platform. Ideally, I’d love to teach with it in a way that leaves all students feeling empowered, brave, and heard, but, in reality, that’s just not possible. Part of embracing DoOO as an instructor has meant also embracing that my job isn’t to get every student to same place. Instead I need to focus on giving them the information I think they need to make informed, intentional decisions for themselves about how they’re going to let technology into their lives — and what tools they’re going to use.