Monday, March 29, 2010

Alternate Reality Learning: Massive Gaming, Virtual Reality, and Simulations

Second Life is scary for so many reasons. First off, your avatar can fly! I typically hate things that fly including, but not limited to, birds - especially geese and swans, mosquitoes, and bees. Secondly, the learning curve sounds horrendous, although I'm assured it is not as difficult as I have convinced myself. My time is precious and I have become accustomed to a "right now" way of life, not a "two hours from now" way of life. Thirdly, this is yet another thing that will keep me (and presumably others) from having human face-to-face contact, something that my social-butterfly-nature holds dearly. Last but not least, it costs money. I'm used to having everything on the internet be free.

However, despite my rants above, second life possesses a wonderous world of educational opportunity including live classrooms where you can learn second languages to classrooms offering role playing learning opportunities. I would like to learn more about second life and play in this virtual world, hopefully learning new things in the process.

3 comments:

  1. Leesa, it's really not as bad as you think. I challenge you to schedule two hours and just give it a go. Don't fuss over an avatar - just pick one and use it. Watch a quick tutorial, and go for it. Flying is fun! I absolutely loved your comment about generally hating things that fly - but if you are the flyee then it's different, right? Oh, and there is no cost to use though of course there are opportunities to spend money if one wants to. If you ever want a tour guide (albeit one with only the tiniest bit of knowledge) just email.

    -Lisa

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  2. Leesa, it's really not as bad as you think. I challenge you to schedule two hours and just give it a go. Don't fuss over an avatar - just pick one and use it. Watch a quick tutorial, and go for it. Flying is fun! I absolutely loved your comment about generally hating things that fly - but if you are the flyee then it's different, right? Oh, and there is no cost to use though of course there are opportunities to spend money if one wants to. If you ever want a tour guide (albeit one with only the tiniest bit of knowledge) just email.

    -Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  3. You hate birds? Why? What about an innocent blue jay or cardinal? I agree with you about second life. For me, count me out. Granted, I've never given it a chance but I'm not sure what all the hype is about. I much prefer my real life and my real relationships -- maybe I'm stereotyping it too much and should give it a shot but hmm, I'll save it for another day...(there is always tomorrow)

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