Monday, April 12, 2010
Second Life
I have been studying Second Life as a tool for online education. I will admit that my opinion is biased because I do not fully understand the obsession with reality worlds but I have found intersting information and used for Second Life. I can admit how a tool like this can make students feel more like a community when taking distant and online courses, however the time it has personally take me to understand how to operate my avatar has been hours, upon hours. So in my paper I go into better details about the affects of this tool on education and such. I do thin however it is a great concept but I do not have time to sit on my computer interacting with characters. :)
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I agree. My time has been spent with Second Life as well. But the time and effort is ... time and effort.
ReplyDeleteI personally would attend a meeting or class in Second Life, but I can't speak for others. I know my husband would definitely not and has questioned the intergrity of the course because I have been exploring SL. Funny how different individuals place learning values. My husband would also never take on on line course. He is very traditional.
I think that online classes and virtual worlds are only great when people are interested in using them. My husband would also not really like to use the virtual world where as I probaly would. I love playing the sims games. I like making characters... I think is almost like playing house as adults. I was that type of kid, very imaginative and made up my own worlds. My husband however is very much into the outdoors and sports. I think it is all a matter of what your interests are.
ReplyDeleteI can see both sides for sure! I personally am not patient with SL. In real life I am but not in this SIMS. lol
ReplyDeleteCurrently I am reading Tom Boellstorff's book entitled Coming of Age in Second Life. Boellstorff is an Anthropologist who does his field work in Second Life. On page 22 of this text he addresses the question of whether Second Life is a game. After much discussion and relating anecdotes from SL citizens, Boellstorff concludes that Virtual Worlds really are not games. The following passage is poignant, "...virtual worlds are not in and of themselves games, and assuming that theories about games and play are necessary foundations to understanding virtual worlds leads to serious misinterpretations. This includes a conflation of online sociality with entertainment, obviating the consequential forms of intimacy, community, and political economy in virtual worlds. Scholars have long noted how a virtual world "is not goal-oriented; it has no beginning or end, no 'score', and no notion of 'winning' or 'success' [Such a world] isn't really a game at all" (Curtis 1992: 122)"
ReplyDeleteThis may be a quote worth sharing with your husbands! It is important to remember that SL is a venue and not a game. When I enter SL I am doing so to lessen the geographic gap between myself and other scholars or (potential research participants).
Boellstorff, T. (2008) Coming of Age in Second Life. Princetown, NJ, Princetown University Press