Mc Donaldization of Society Discussion

please read all of week 1 and 2 and three then please answer this following forum: What aspect of our class reflects the McDonaldization of society? Consider the 4 dimensions of McDonaldization Ritzer identifies.

here are examples of answers that classmate’s wrote:

classmate 1: After reading the introduction to McDonaldization, it was difficult for me connect the McDonaldizationof society to an aspect(s) of our class. I say this because it’s hard to think of one specific aspect to really speak on, which then leads to the question of, what is meant by ‘aspect’? The 3 out of 4 dimensions of McDonaldization Ritzer identifies that matches the aspect of learning in our class are efficiency, predictability, and the use of Control through non human ability. I say this because within the aspect of us learning and what we learn in class also goes hand in hand with the benefits we gain from going to a private college such as MHC and taking a class such as Sociology. For example, the platform that holds the key to what we learn, our work, and our grades/ success in class is Moodle. Since starting school here, I have seen how Moodle meets all three of the dimensions I listed above. The efficiency of Moodle is the fact that we are able to effectively communicate and get our work done with our fellow class mates and professors with the tap of a button from the comfort of our dorms without having to be inconvenienced. We can also predict what we will be learning in class for the whole semester because we have to ability to see it on Moodle. Lastly, Moodle is used as a way to have control over what we see, how we are able to do our work effectively, and what our professors will use to grade us on our work (participation, etc is included as well).

classmate 2: I would say that the most McDonaldized aspect of our class would be through both the syllabus and the textbook. Both of them present predictability and efficiency, as it saves us brain power to be able to know exactly what our plan for class is that day. It also reflects our engagement in the college system at large, as there were no surprises when we were assigned a syllabus at the beginning of the semester. It’s an intro course, so we have to move quickly in order to learn as much information as possible about the foundations of sociology, and we only meet in class twice a week. Additionally, it’s calculable for the students, as we can look at the syllabus and determine the exact amount of work that we have to do to gain our desired outcome. I would argue that there is some measure of control exercised by the textbook, as it’s a fixed document and doesn’t change. Almost everything we learn for the course is contained within its pages, as well as a lot of course content is online as well.

classmate 3: The aspect of our class that reflects McDonaldization is the way we display ourselves in the class (that was probably a bad word to use). What I mean by this is that when everyone gets to class, we orient ourselves so that the students are facing the professor and vice versa for the professor. The dimensions that this fills are predictability and efficiency. it’s predictable that we’ll sit in this way because it’s the easiest for the professor to see us and for us to see them.