As virtual world interfaces are gaining popularity, many believe this breakthrough technology would become the future means by which we access information.
Second Life, a popular virtual world, allows users ("residents") to interact and collaborate through customized avatars. Its objective is to offer cost-effective, innovative solutions by integrating virtual world into our traditional real world setting. Second Life has particularly wide application in the education environment. Popular use includes serving as classroom replacements, classroom enhancements, recruiting tools, and self-directed learning tools. Specific benefits include:
- Allows teachers or professors to reuse class materials easily
- Enables the university to offer classes to students around the globe
- Imposes low hardware requirements on students
- Provides an experience that is uniform and compatible to various platforms
- Uses generic tools that are recyclable between classrooms and universities
- Integrates with in-world tools, such as furniture and text-entry equipment, to tailor a classroom setting according to one's needs
- Allows educators to create, monitor, and investigate 'interactive experiments' in science
- Allows users to observe different aspects of the weather and meteorology monitoring lab
- Allows higher education's graduate programs to advertise its capabilities and recruit new students
- Offers interactive teaching tools for self-directed learning, progresses at an individual's own pace and availability
Yale University has created two Second Life islands with two projecrs. The first was a simulation project of the recreation of the Seeley J. Mudd Library on Second Life. The second project was the design of a virtual paper mill on Second Life in which students can explore the mill's operations including the machinery and processes. Both projects offer effective, inexpensive, and seemingly real experiences that would otherwise be unattainable.
Other interesting applications of virtual worlds can be found in purchasing, trading, and social gaming. People purchase virtual gifts at relatively inexpensive price for others and for themselves. For example, people can purchase Facebook gift items, Farm Coins and Cash for Farmville, or Xbox accessories for avatars. These micropurchases can amount to big venue for the creators of such products. Virtual goods are high in intangible value because gift-giving allow people to spread love and "exchange sentiments" with one another. People bought accessories, either to upgrade their avatars or enhance their gaming experience, allow them to express their uniqueness and assert their identities. In the virtual gaming environment, researches are being conducted to study gamers' behavior, which will offer insights to enhancing future gaming experience.
With virtual world interface gaining ground like lightning one obvious question is, when virtual world sales are becoming so quickly, how is that going to impact the real world economy? In other words, if we are satisfied with doing everything in a virtual world, then would we be needing clothing other than pajamas and slippers?
Sources:
Hand, Randall. "Learning in Second Life: Virtual Education VizWorld.com." VizWorld.com - Visualization, Computer Graphics, and Animation. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.
O'Donnell, Jayne. "Unlike reality, virtual retail sales are hot, especially for avatars." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.
Patuwo, Grace. "Yale Daily News - Virtual world, real money in 'Second Life'" Yale Daily News - The Nation's Oldest College Daily. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.
Schonfeld, Erick. "Augmented Reality Vs. Virtual Reality: Which One Is More Real?" TechCrunch. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.
"Understanding interaction in virtual worlds." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 21 Feb. 2010
I do not think that this type of virtual world learning will be a substitute traditional education. I would not be surprised to see in the future a type of virtual classroom where everyone in the class is participating via "video chat" complemented with a live discussion board but I think this a long ways away.
ReplyDeletewhile this type of teaching style wouldn't be useful for kids being taught the "old fashioned way", i believe that the younger generation whose entire experience is based on the internet and a virtual world, Second Life would be a great teaching tool for professors and educators
ReplyDeleteI think Second Life may have its place but I don't think it can be our primary source for communication. If people focus too much on internet they are going to lose the ability of how to socially communicate in a face-to-face setting which is the primary way people should communicate.
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