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
John,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your posting. I also found Second Life to be a disruptive technology. It is a great site for socialization as well as other things. I think you make some great points about how students can use this technology in the classroom. How would you use virtual worlds in your classroom? Great post.
Brian
Brian,
DeleteThanks for the response. Virtual worlds give students the ability to solve problems in an authentic way, and gives them context to the problems they encounter. Both of these enhance students' ability to develop higher order thinking skills.
John,
ReplyDeleteOne of the things you stated really resonated with me. Socializing technology has empowered people through their computer. Anonymous chat rooms and other forms socializing technology allows people to live a life they would normally not live if they had to use their own name or picture. This is what is most terrifying about allowing students to use such worlds. I think that virtual worlds could help students in many ways, but it almost seems that the potential problems outweigh the good than can come of it.