Blog Comments for Module 2

I posted to the following blogs in module 4:

Cathy Marziali

Sullus Teague

The Disruptive Power of Second Life

I had never heard of Second Life until I met one of its developers, Philip Rosedale, about two years ago.  He was the keynote speaker at a STEM education conference at the California Institute of Technology.  Not only was Philip physically present, but he was also accompanied by his black leather chap-wearing, spiky hair topped, rough ‘n tough looking avatar who lives in a very modern house on an island in Second Life.  In real life, he looks kind of geek chic – the exact opposite of his avatar.

The first part of his speech was just about showing us what Second Life is all about.  He took us to nightclubs, parks, and even zoos.  We saw other avatars walking around, and even had conversations with some of them – which could be very risky considering we were in a room full of academics and politicians.  My first reaction was, “This is really great, but how does this relate to education?”

The answer to this question became apparent after Philip took us on a tour of a museum.  This was not like any museum that I have ever seen before – the artwork came to life and the exhibits were interactive.  There were physical models in which some followed the physics of our world, and some behaved like they were in out-of-this-world gravity confused environments.  Then he took us to a real university campus where students are actually attending and taking classes, but many in the audience felt that this virtual reality is a little bit too adult-oriented for kids in a K-12 school.  Then he took us back to his home island and explained that Second Life can have barriers and restrictions.  He went on to explain that a school can be placed on an island, and the kids would not be able to “escape” (that is a word that I am using, but I don’t think that he actually used that word).  We could take field trips, have supervised interactions with those outside of the island, and all of this could take place without any of us having to leave our “real” homes.

Second Life is a disruptive technology because it totally reinvents the way that we are able to communicate and socialize – it provides a new space to live and interact.  It is very difficult to identify the technology that it replaces because it is so different and unique – there is nothing like it.  It seems like it can replace our entire real world – one can live, communicate, buy things, walk around, visit museums, take college classes, go to nightclubs, sleep, and even have babies in Second Life.

I believe that there will be another disruptive technology that will displace Second Life.  In his TED Talk, Philip Rosedale says that we as a world community want to experience information together, and this is the trend in how we are going to use technology.  He goes on to say that currently when you use Amazon.com, you may be shopping for a digital camera along with 50 other people looking for the same thing, but you don’t know it.  Where we are going is a more social way of using the Internet.  The future of the Internet and technology will be that we will be able to experience everything together, and we will be able to interact with others on the Internet just like in Second Life.

The social benefits of Second Life are very similar to the social benefits of interacting with others in real life.  It gives us a purpose in life, helps us develop as emotionally healthy individuals, and helps us make decisions and learn as social human beings.  We are able to share information, interact in real-time, and have access to more to information and resources.  As a teacher, I can envision a future in which students are able to learn in this interactive environment without ever having to attend a brick-and-mortar type school.  On-line classes are very similar, but there are very few real-time interactions.  Even though there may be a group of students taking the same class, the actual journey is essentially done alone.  Using a social environment like Second Life, the experience will be very similar to going to a physical school, but it will be done virtually and with many continual social interactions.  I think that this technology can entirely change the way that we envision education and learning.

Reference:

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

Responses to classmates for Module 3: Rhymes of History

Blog Comments for Module 3

As of Sunday, July 17, 2011, I have commented on the following blogs:


Cathy Marziali

This transition from Module 2 to 3 using the "From Maps to Apps" title is very interesting. Using an old map to transition to Smart Phone apps show a rhyme that reads like a history of communication history book.

July 17, 2011 7:30 PM 

Elizabeth Sanford

I found myself having a conversation with my sister a couple of days ago about this. While driving around Las Vegas trying to find her hotel, we were following the GPS instructions that were perfectly being told to us by her "car". We started to laugh because she still has several Thomas Guides floating around in her back seat. She said that she never uses them anymore, but feels a sense of comfort having them there. Thanks for the good memories!

July 17, 2011 7:39 PM 

Module 3: Rhymes of History Technology - Second Life

Since the beginning of time, man has always longed to go to far away places to experience something that life currently could not provide.  The stories of these journeys are what tall tales and bedtime stories are made of.  With the advent of books, these stories were able to be recorded and shared with millions of people all around the world.  The theatre was a place where these stories could be told and acted out, making the audience feel like they were a part of the story, experiencing it for themselves.  In the mid to late 20th century, computer games were developed that let the users actively participate in playing games and entering virtual environments that were not scripted out, and the numbers of outcomes could be endless.

Second Life is a rhyme of history that brings the user into a world where he or she is connected with other real people taking a journey and experiencing the same virtual reality.  Kevin Kelly on the Next 500 Days of the Web describes how the future of the web is going to be a place where everything is connected.  He hypothesized that every piece of data will be shared on the web.  We are going to be in the middle of the web and everything is going to be connected, just like in Second Life.  We are going to be codependent with the web.  Total personalization will equal total transparency.  We are going to be the web.  We are going to be the machine.  It’s going to be smarter.  It will anticipate what we are going to do.  It is going to become more ubiquitous with us in the middle of it with all devices as portals to it.   The web is going to become a global stage and a more reliable machine.


Kelly's concepts of embodiment, restructuring, and codependency can be found in the rhymes of history example of Second Life.  Everything that is created in the virtual world of second life never represents just one thing - it is an embodiment of all of the connections that the users and interface has created.  The entire virtual community is continually being restructures to support the one complex world that is codependent on everything inside of it.




Reference


Kelly, K. (2007, December). Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the Web[Speech]. Speech delivered at the EG 2007 Conference, Los Angeles. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html

Blog Comments for Module 2

As of Saturday, July 2, 2011, I have commented on the following blogs:

Brandy Lutz

http://lutzedu.blogspot.com/2011/06/brandy-lutz-module-2-blog-post.html?showComment=1309665463348#c8562515647612186625
*Brandy is not in my group, but her tetrad topic was very similar to ours.  One of my group members did not post her blog yet - Elizabeth Sanford, see below.

Cathy Marziali
http://cathymarzialiedtech.blogspot.com/2011/06/module-2-smart-phone-tetrad.html#comments

Elizabeth Sanford
http://elimariesanford.blogspot.com/ _________  I was not able to comment on her blog because she had not contributed her blog thoughts to Module 2.  I will comment on her blog as soon as she posts it on-line.