Week 4: Social Media (Reflection)

If used cautiously and within boundaries, I don’t think Social Media should be banned from the classrooms.  Well balanced teachers are those who can teach students with all types of learning styles.  Some students learn better by using hands on activities and incorporating collaboration.  Hence, the application of Social Media is just one way of accommodating a student’s type of learning.  Learners of this digital generation are encouraged to explore and think for themselves.  Social media is a vehicle that allows student to share self created content online like photos, videos, artwork and stories.  Interestingly, the use of Social Media in schools have slowly grown over time as teachers have also taken interest in intercultural collaboration, connecting with other schools in a different state or country to gain greater intercultural awareness.

Week 9: Augmented Reality (Reflection)

One of the most intriguing concepts of virtual reality (VR) is the ability to achieve the freedom of one’s imagination.  It’s a realistic simulation of worlds which are entirely the product of the imagination. Everything’s possible and fluid, including the experience of flying and teleporting – a fantasy transformed into reality only by means of this virtual environment.  This sense of freedom is evident in the way that virtual worlds do not have to behave according to the laws of physics which rule over our physical world.  In addition, theories contradictory to our common spatial experience are easily applied to a VR environment. For example, buildings do not have to respond to the laws of gravity or physical material characteristics; collisions can or cannot happen; you can walk through walls; and the figure-ground relations can be inverted.  Finally, spatial sensibilities are discovered from the interactive processes by using the directional keys to guide our directions of left and right, in front and behind, and up and down.

Assignment 4: Social Presence in SL (Activity 3 Reflections)

ACTIVITY 3:  Meet in Second Life at the UH open area classroom.  Come to meeting with avatars modified (funny, scary, goofy, etc).  Keep a journal of your Second Life experiences in the context of social presence and learning.  Students can keep their journal in their class blog.

At our group’s first meeting, we first met on Skype then coordinated to meet in Second Life at the UH Campus.  We made COE our home location.  While “hanging out” at COE we familiarized ourselves with how to change our appearance.  I, personally, was having some challenges trying to change my outfits, and kept losing my hair to bout.  It was pretty hilarious. At first, I found myself spending a lot of time trying to find my “character”, basically dressing my avatar to fit my personality.   When I got passed the frustration of trying to figure out how to dress myself, I started to feel more at ease trying wardrobes that were out of character.  I also had some trouble maneuvering my avatar.  We all had our challenges in SL but it was all a learning experience.

Does it distract in any way?

One thing I found distracting at first was the loud Hawaiian music playing in the background at COE.  We were able to turn down the volume of the music so it was ok.  Nonetheless, I found the entire interface of SL interesting and fresh.

How is this the same/different from the “real world”?

It’s the same in the “real world” in that you make friends, communicate and socialize in a particular place.  However, there are more differences in the virtual world from the “real world”.  First, perhaps the most obvious, is the capability of flying and teleporting.   The idea of soaring above ground and actually viewing the blue sea, clear sky and beautiful flowers from a bird’s eye view was terrific.  Another difference is the idea of having to change your appearance more often than once.  One can practically change their wardrobe based on their mood, or event appropriateness.

Because SL can be perceived as a gaming environment, the learning can be fun, thus, combining the elements of gaming and learning.   When students have fun learning, they gain greater interest in the subject matter.   In addition, unlike the real world, communicating in a virtual world can be a little more comfortable since there is no face to face interaction.

How does this compare with conducting class using other delivery tools (i.e. Elluminate, Blackboard, Adobe Connect, Laulima, etc)?

Compared to the other delivery tools, SL is a multi-user virtual learning environment, and communication is via social-networking.  In addition, SL has the advantage to educate by creating replicas of places such as cathedrals and cities, as well as artifacts and historical sites.  Furthermore, this affords learners opportunities to interact with other learners in realistic, authentic, and relevant settings such as offices, shops, athletic events, business meetings, and classrooms. SL is considered a digitally-mediated literacy practice (together with blogs, online chatting, email correspondence, online postings) and social-networking practices, mediated by such tools as Facebook and MySpace, and can provide learners with meaningful opportunities to engage in multiple literacy practices and to construct learner identities through interactive activities in virtual communities.