Thursday 24 November 2011

Virtual worlds and identity - Second Life

Having used SL on a few occasions I have to say that it has not grabbed me. I have seen the enthusiasm that others have for it and I think to some extent that has carried me this far but basically I have to conclude that it's not for me.


We can look back at Bayne and our discussions around that. The ability in SL, and I would assume on WoW, to create an avatar that bears zero physical resemblance to yourself suggests to me that there is no merit in such a practice. The advantage of SL giving you a physical presence - making you feel part of the world, where perhaps forums and blogs disembody you, is lost when you can look like something different from your natural form.


For a teacher, if you require trust, or maybe even respect, you need to have the imagethat people have ingrained in them. We can be extreme in this and say someone with a mortar board and black cape, maybe a pair of learned glasses. Ok this is extreme but to take the other extreme are you likely to learn effectively from someone who looks like a punk or animal? (not the one from the muppets but...)


There have been the mandatory technical issues that new tech brings with it, those who struggle to connect mentally with new tech will disengage readily if they are not able to connect in a literal sense.


I haven't dismissed SL without trying it - I didn't think I would like humus until I tried it so I'm always prepared to be proved wrong. Perhaps it's my PC and the lack of a decent processor or graphics card effecting my experience but it's not something I have bought into...so far.

No comments:

Post a Comment