Multi-user virtual environments, whether game or non-game, all have one thing in common: communication. All MMORPGs, CVEs, MUVEs…you can’t have multiple users in an environment and not have some kind of resulting communication between them. The communication may be non-verbal through gestures, appearance, or battle. Verbal communication may take the form of private instant messages, […]
As I began here in a previous post I’m working on a taxonomy of virtual environments. By describing the ten most important defining characteristics of virtual environments I hope to help educators (and others) learn to define environments, choose the space best suited for their own use, and begin to create a matrix that will […]
I’ve been consulting at a local high school for the past few months. My job is to help the six teachers in the department learn to integrate the new computers in their classrooms into their pedagogy. When I last posted about this work I received an excited response from others doing similar work so I […]
As part of the sessions I’ve been running with local high school students I’ve been asking them to take an anonymous survey to tell me a little about how they use the internet. I’ll use the result to tweak my goals for the project. However, as I look over the results I’m finding lots of […]
This morning I started a new listserv for folks conducting research in Second Life.
If you’d like to subscribe go here
The SecondLife Community Conference takes place in San Francisco this weekend. On Sunday there will be a day-long education-in-SL event. I’ll be presenting a paper at 2:30 SL/Pacific Time. Please stop by the SLCC sims in SL to check it out!
Click the image above to get a copy of the paper I’ll be presenting. I […]
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Infinite Mind interview of Howard Rheingold in SecondLife tonight. No matter how much time I spend in SecondLife I’m still amazed at the fantastic things that happen there. Thirty to forty people attended the event, which began about a half hour late.
A few observations:
-It was […]
If you read my blog you know I’m infatuated with digital identity construction. One of the best techniques to establishing a strong and useful digital identity is to be consistent with your “name” everywhere you go so people can recognize you. There have been a few attempts to do this with Trillian, ClaimID, and others. […]
I’ll admit that as I draft I wind up asking more questions than I answer but I’m getting there.
Lit review:
what areas of lit do I need to explore?
power relationships in classrooms
student and teacher roles
impact of technology on communication patterns
body language and communication
shifting identities and dynamic identity creation
What problem am I solving:
instructor’s role in a MUVE
difficulties […]
Ever feel like maybe, just maybe, you have too much to say to fit into the time and funds you have to attend confereces to say it? Pheww! If this one is accepted it will be six conferences for the next year all on SecondLife research. Way to advertise that diss, right?
“Please don’t attend class […]
During the SecondLife Community Conference in August, there will be a day long education summit with panels, roundtable discussions and poster displays. This is the abstract I submitted. Feel free to comment.
“Image Slippage”: Navigating the Dichotomies of an Academic Identity in a Nonacademic Virtual World
In a sense, all residents of SecondLife are performers. Whether performing […]
I just listened to Joseph Jaffe’s Across the Sound podcast. It’s a new media marketing podcast but today’s episode is about identity and marketing and it’s absolutely fascinating (episode #38). Jaffe and Eric Norlin are interviewed about the problems with identity and internet marketing. It’s fantastic to see the issue of online identity discussed from […]
What changes when we teach in a MUVE (Multi User Virtual Environment) vs. a Traditional classroom (TC)?
Traditional markers of authority such as age and classroom structure (teacher up front) are gone. Is this a bad thing? How is authority reestablished in […]
Extending the Psychosocial Moratorium and Transparent Translation of Semiotic Domains in SecondLife
Eric Erickson’s concept of the Psychosocial Moratorium has been used by Sherry Turkle, James Paul Gee and others to describe the suspension of responsibility and accountability that allows internet users to explore alternate identities without the repercussions and dangers one might face in real […]
John Paul Gee describes the relationship with one’s virtual and real self as a tripartite relationship consisting of:
1. The Real identity: who we are in the physical world. I am Sarah Robbins
2. The Virtual identity: who we are in the virtual space. I am Intellagirl
3. The Projected Identity: “Project” here is used in two ways. […]
Toward a Better Understanding of the Body in the Virtual Realm
I can distinctly remember back in 198*mumbles* when my body began to change. My legs got longer, my hips got a bit more ample, and then the whole breast thing happened. Of course, like any life-altering “you can’t go back no matter how much you […]
It may seem almost overly obvious to say that SecondLife is postmodern. It’s a virtual world. Enough said. Right? Well, not quite. So I’d like to explore it a bit.
What makes SecondLife postmodern? First, we should define postmodern. Through the lenses of Foucault, Lyotard, and Derrida, we can define postmodernism as a theory in which […]
Gorgias, a Sophist, believed that language had power: the power to move, the power to influence the will and the imagination, and the power to create understanding in an audience. As a Sophist, he believed that all arguments have multiple sides, that there was no one Truth, and that our interpretation of reality is subjective […]
Just a few observations about SecondLife that I want to mull over later but that I don’t want to forget.
1. Family: Because there is a set of standard last names to choose from when you create an account there are many people in the game who share your last name. Family? Distant relations? How could […]
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