Disruptive Technology (Module 4)

Second Life is a great example of a disruptive technology because it caused some other form of technology to become obsolete.  Face to face contact has been on the decline for a period of time anyway, but Second Life and other technologies like it have made traveling and attending live training sessions or meetings obsolete.  Time and distance has always been an enemy of technology, but with innovations like Second Life, those two qualities are no longer characteristics that can inhibit communication.

According to Wikipedia, Second Life was launched in 2010.  While I cannot attest to the quality of the technology from the outset, I did explore the technology before writing this blog entry.  The technology is amazing and provides the virtual settings of your choice and allows for social interactions of all kinds.  It seems that the only improvement that can be made would be the graphics, but I do not see another form of technology competing with Second Life for at least two years.

Second Life provides the unlimited setting for socialization.  As technology has progressed it has empowered people as they are able to live vicariously through an avatar.  Virtual worlds are quickly becoming popular and giving participants a way to interact with others in ways that they may not normally interact.  Also, virtual worlds give people the opportunity to interact with people from places they would not normally be able to visit.  It also provides participants the opportunity to interact anonymously, which brings about a new dimension to socialization.

From an educational standpoint, virtual worlds give students unlimited power to learn.  If designed well, students can tour famous landmarks or visit places that would normally be out of the question for students.  Especially with the financial conditions of public schools in Georgia, virtual worlds would not be effected by money, time, or resources in their attempt to give students exciting learning opportunities (Rosedale, 2008).

Rosedale, P. (2008). Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from   http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html

Wikipedia. (2010). Second Life. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

Rhymes of History Technology (Module 3)

As an education major emphasizing in history content, I am well aware of the cliché that those that neglect history are doomed to repeat it. In a similar statement focused on the future of technology an unknown author stated that “the future will be the past, only with cooler toys.” While the merit and validity of both statements can be debated, one thing that is certain is that technology is continuing to advance at a rapid pace, creating the toys mentioned by the author. However, these toys are not completely innovative in nature. Thornburg (Laureate, Inc.) asserts that emerging technology seeks to rekindle and retrieve previous themes and ideas. Therefore, the past inspires the development of the future. Recalling the tetrad blog from the previous module, even in predicting the future of a technology one must analyze its past.

Communication has always been a driving force in the advancement of technology. Technology that promotes communication is a glaring example or how technology seeks to rekindle themes from the past. The evolution of communication is something to behold and has reached the point where time and distance are non-factors for those seeking to communicate. Before written languages were established and developed, communication was solely verbal and face-to-face. As languages were developed into written form, communication could travel both orally and in written form. While telephones, letters, and emails have furthered the development of communication by affording people the ability to communicate across great distances in short amounts of time, Skype has been able to rekindle the ability to communicate in a personal, face-to-face manner, with advantages that the aforementioned applications. The development of video technology and the development of information connections has afforded society the ability to see and talk to others instantaneously. While the technology or the idea is not new, the technology available has finally caught up with the idea.

Supporting this assertion that technology rekindles past themes, Kevin Kelly contends, in his video The Next 5,000 Days of the Web, that the World Wide Web will change in three important ways: embodiment, restructuring, and codependency. These three changes effect and will be affected by technologies. Skype for example is the embodiment of the human desire to communicate across great distances. As previously mentioned, humans have desired instant communication for ages and Skype is the application that embodies that desire. In terms of restructuring, Skype has transformed many practices in both the private and public sectors. Education has taken to the web via video conferencing technology and corporations have been able to dominate globally due to the ability to communicate. Naturally, Skype is a codependent application. Without the proper hardware, software, and access to the Internet Skype is virtually useless.

Thornburg, D. (Producer). (nd.) Rhymes of history. [Video podcast]. Laureate Education, Inc.