Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

     Virtual worlds open the horizon for people to experience something different than their normal lives. People can possibly create essentially alternate realities for themselves to live in, sometimes for fun and sometimes because they actually feel the need to escape from their real lives. Virtual worlds can be used for people to socialize such as they would do with another social networking platform but anonymously. It also gives people the access to create themselves in the vision they might want to be in. Currently virtual worlds are being primarily for recreation but they do have possibilities for use in different avenues such as education.In the paper Situated Learning in Virtual Worlds and Immersive Simulations research by Hew and Cheung suggested that "K-12 students like using VWs because they can fly and move around freely in a 3-D space, meet new people, and experience virtual field trips and simulations. Similarly, adult learners and teachers have reported great enthusiasm when learning in immersive spaces." (Dickey, 2011) There are some pros and cons to this situation though, the pros would be the time and cost effectiveness of using virtual worlds for interactions and the ability to experience famous settings and things created virtually. The cons would be in the lack of real human interaction and accountability. Although virtual worlds are a great supplement to the classroom they shouldn't be substituted for the classroom, especially for younger grades. For kids the interaction between fellow students and teachers are key in building real life etiquette and manners.
     In a virtual world setting a student can do anything as far as the programming allows but in real life there are externalities taken into account in real life situations which kids learn and absorb for use in the future and complete virtual world immersion greatly diminishes this fact. The use of virtual worlds and the internet is a great addition to the classroom as a supplement. It makes the world smaller by extending the reach of students minds and learning capabilities farther. In the paper The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Virtual Classroom and the Role of the Teacher it states "The Internet provides an immediacy and global awareness that has been unavailable to students. Students and teachers are able to have interactions not only in other parts of the country, but also around the world. From this they can learn about the life and issues that impact on other people." (Posey, 13) This is a great way to foster creativity in a student by letting them interact with other students around the world allowing them to learn about each others cultures and difference, along with teaching about tolerance and acceptance of things different from themselves and their experiences. I believe that the future of virtual worlds is slowing and possibly fading to make way for virtual reality where instead of you putting yourself in a virtually rendered version of yourself in an experience, the experience comes to you and you are put into the experience.

Blog about Twitter

     Twitter and Blackboard discussions are very different from one another. Twitter discussions are out in the open and public with access to anyone. Blackboard discussions stay within the class itself and is only accessible by the class. Having a discussion on twitter compared to a discussion on blackboard sounds good on paper but doesn't execute as well as a traditional blackboard discussion has. It's easier to keep track of who is saying what, and for classroom purposes, have a more thorough discussion on the relevant topics on blackboard since there is no character limit. An in-class discussion might be one of the most effective way to communicate but not the most efficient due to time constraints. In an in-class discussion some people might not get a chance to voice their opinion or take on a subject, along with others who might be shy or not comfortable speaking out on topics in public. In my opinion a blackboard discussion is the most efficient medium for discussion in a classroom setting, where each student can share their thoughts on a subject matter and also easily comment and discuss with the other classmates on their thoughts.

Social Networking Sites

     Through my experience of using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, they all have their similarities and differences. Instagram and Tumblr are more multimedia oriented, where pictures and videos are the main source of content shared and presented. From the four different social networking sites, in my opinion Instagram has the simplest/cleanest user interface from the others. Tumblr is the hardest to navigate from the 4 of them but has great content once you figure out where to actually find it. Twitter, which is my personal favorite to use because of all the news content from things that interest me, from entertainment to politics. Twitter is also a great forum for discussion and debate, along with the 140 character limit which keeps things straight to the point and quick to read and respond. The use of media on twitter does exist and works great but isn't necessary at all to get your point across. Facebook utilizes the best balance between words and media, it's a great place to connect with old friends and family members but no real content other than what people in your friends list put up. Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr gives you access to content from people all around the world and not just the people you know. From my experience Facebook is the best for "traditional" social networking but not as free form as the other options.

Social Net'g

     Social Networking technologies can be used in a vast number of ways. It can be used for personal reasons such as voicing your opinion, or posting your own personal content. It can also be utilized by corporations and different businesses to gauge consumer opinion and feedback. Many businesses also use social networking as a way to be able to answer questions from consumers and in some instances act as customer support. Society is already seeing benefits from social networking by allowing people of all kinds; family, friends, and associates to be able to connect and share things with each other. It can also benefit society allowing grass roots movements, and group opinions to have a voice, such as the Black Lives Matter movement.
     There is definitely a "dark side" to social networking such as cyber bullying and privacy concerns. According to research from Alessandro Acquisti "people are more likely to divulge key personal information — their photo, birthday, hometown, address and phone number — on social networking sites than they would on other web sites." (Wharton, 2009) This lets stalkers and identity thieves to have much easier access to your confidential information without you even considering what your putting up. People are aware of these risks, they are willing to put their information out there but also takes steps into creating some sort of barrier between the public and those who they don't mind have access to their information through privacy settings. According to researchers, Danah Boyd and Eszter Hargittai, "most Facebook users modified their privacy settings at least once in 2009 and that “engagement with privacy settings increased significantly” between 2009 and 2010." (Parry, 2010) These technologies might evolve in the future by bringing more capabilities through social networking such as the ability to vote.