CRDM 701
Week 9-Jayna, Really
Dr. Hillis?I am excited that you will be joining us for class Thursday.
The correlation between power and technology, again and again, this is a recurring point made by authors each week. Hillis addresses the military?s use of VR over the past few decades in helping to develop and test weapons before manufacture. Like most readily available (to the public) technologies, and even some medicines/vaccines, VR has stemmed from research and development done for and by our nation?s military. What an advantage?and what an example of our ongoing quest for more power as a World Power. I?m interested to learn from Dr. Hillis how the past few years would alter the book if he were to write an addendum.
Certainly, we?ve seen greater availability of VR/VE, and it has even expanded beyond the gaming industry. Just Monday, one of our CRDM contemporaries shared that her company now has conference rooms set up in an on-line virtual world, where meeting attendees can be present as their avatar?or virtually created self, in a room that is not a ?real? space, but a virtual one. And even as I was reading this I was thinking?but how can we take advantage of VE beyond gaming, how can I, as a corporate professional, make use of this technology to make my staff and achieving our objectives more efficient?? I still don?t know the answer to this, but it does make me think about the direction instructional technology has taken and will continue to take.
Pardon the leap here, but there are programs where on-line classes can happen in real-time (Captivate is the one I was trained to use), with lecturing professors and students who ?raise their hand? to ask questions and make comments. Professors can respond in real time and alter the message to the needs of the students and even use a white-board for all to see, maneuvering between Powerpoint and the board. After Heidi (I think it was Heidi) mentioned the capabilities IBM is taking advantage of, I thought I would check JMU?s web-site to see if the Center of Instructional Technology had started to educate faculty on the potential uses for virtual worlds. This is what I found:
CFI-CIT Workshop: Come Get a Second Life!
Register now for the 3-part hands-on workshop series on Second Life!
This workshop hosted by the Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) and the Center for Faculty Innovation (CFI) will be facilitated by 2006-2007 Madison Teaching Fellows (Tim Ball, Communication Studies; Suzie Baker, Psychology; Susan Kruck, College of Business & Center for Faculty Innovation; Michael Quinn, College of Business; Sarah Cheverton, Center for Instructional Technology; & Christie Liu, Center for Instructional Technology).
Effective teaching in the 21st century increasingly requires creating advanced technology in designing instruction. Forms of computer mediated education can be inadequate and cumbersome as they are mostly asynchronous and text-based. New platforms like Second Life (SL) allow ?face-to-face? interaction in a virtual space. In addition, SL fosters student and faculty creativity because it allows users almost unlimited potential to create virtual spaces and objects that can be used in teaching and learning.
By participating in our three-part workshop you will get your Second Life avatar and learn to communicate, move (teleport), create landmarks, manage friends, join groups and modify your appearance! We will also spend some time demonstrating various educational resources and visiting some fun places in SL.
Now, aren?t you all ready to sign up?? Tim Ball was a colleague of mine in the department at JMU, and I?m fascinated to hear how he?s using this in the department?s public speaking sections. I have my own ideas? I know the VR/VE technology has been coming for a WHILE, but like the development of anything, it seems as though it?s progress and uses now has made strides on an exponential level in the last three years (?, 5 years? What do you think?).
I won?t address it now, but I?m also interested in the comparison of VR to an acceptance of schizophrenia (p. xl); I hope we get to address this more in class. I?ve also been thinking about my paper and how fonts/typography play a role in the virtual world. Avatars have to write sometimes, don?t they? Perhaps the font chosen by a user is determined by the individual?s personality?
Posted at 07:12PM Oct 24, 2007 by jrjackso in General | Comments[0]