My Avatar’s Smarter than Me!

NYUI guess this has been a long time coming. A lot of people I respect have been paying a lot of attention to these online immersive virtual environments, where you take on or design an avatar.

The classroom of the future isn’t on a college campus. It’s in the virtual world of “Second Life.”

In “Second Life,” virtual residents — cartoonish-looking characters controlled via keyboard and mouse — create anything their hearts desire.

Also known as avatars, the residents start up businesses, stage their own concerts, sell real estate and design fashion lines. Reuters news agency even has a correspondent based in the cyber community.

Educators explore ‘Second Life’ online – CNN.com

I’m going to say something really grumpy and old, but “What’s wrong with the first life?” I know that there are many instances where distance learning solves some vexing and opportunity-constraining problems. But are the problems ubiquitous. Let’s get these empowering technologies and opportunities into our classrooms!

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2 thoughts on “My Avatar’s Smarter than Me!”

  1. I couldn’t agree more with you David. There’s nothing wrong with the first life, and I would much rather network with colleagues via more traditional methods like, oh say….meeting them at a conference, or chatting through e-mail or doing a videoconference. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are plenty of opportunities for Second Life and other “visually enhanced” communications, but after playing a few actual video games (paid subscription games) that involve large communities of individuals, I’d much rather keep my personal entertainment separate from my professional networking and learning.

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