My Virtual Reality

So this week I really got into building and realizing the potential of a virtual world. In my exploration of prims, linking, lighting, stretching and scaling, I found an activity that was settling and challenging.

I was fortunate enough to be in Vermont this week at Mt. Snow. We stayed in a great cottage that was adorned with framed Jig Saw puzzles. I connected those puzzles to what I was doing in Second life. Only the puzzle that I was putting together was one that I could be fully immersed and interactive. I was creating a picture, a momentary reality that helped to clear my mind and keep me in the present. I had to think about scale and space. I had to use knowledge that others had given me, and I had to learn to understand.

I kept thinking about the different ways that I could use this simple activity in a classroom. I thought about how students would have to follow directions, understand geometry and ratios. This knowledge could be applied to an understanding of what they were building. It could be an era, a city, a landmark to rebuild. The possibilities are endless and they sit at my fingertips. 

I found myself trying to build a Pitts aircraft and my mind wandering to clear blue skies on a calm spring day. I found myself able to escape the two feet of snow that had just fallen into a virtual reality that I had created. It is my space and what I choose to do with that space is up to me. I just need to bring passion, imagination and willingness to learn.

This week we worked on construction, deconstruction and exploration. What I am finding when meeting up with others in the world is how I use my understanding of social interaction in the VW. I met up with a few classmates to explore and I found that I did not want to offend them by walking in front of them, teleporting without waiting, and typing while they were talking. When I got lost from the group (usually by falling off of Freud's couch) I was panicked to get back to the group. There were feelings of isolation when I was in a spot without the crew, and feelings of apprehension when I ran into uncertain situations. What is so interesting about these feelings is that I am sitting at my desk, in my home, and I know that this is not reality. The positive feeling that I am having are that I am getting to know my classmates and we are sharing some good laughs together. When we are exploring we have conversations about where we are in the course and can discuss difficulties, successes and sometimes we can even clarify confusion. I am surprised at the amount of connection I feel to this class. I am delighted at the difference a Virtual World can make. Could this be the Avatar Effect?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/virtual-worlds/second-lives/the-avatar-effect.html?play

So this is me. Artemis Maat. What an incredible week! I am learning how to navigate through a new world and I am making friends along the way. The entrance into the new world was exciting, but to actually be in this virtual world with classmates was exhilarating. Biocca (1997) discusses the illusion of social presence. Social presence is based on the transportation of the senses and the creation of fully articulated being. In this experience I was able to feel the social presence. While we were all communicating through text, I felt that our conversations were authentic, and personalities came through each Avatar. What made this experience authentic for was the challenge of tasks to be completed and the coordination with others from the class. I feel a connection to my peers and my instructor. The presence is so strong just by adding a visual moving being to our discussions. It is interesting to me that we engage in conversations through threaded discussions in online classes, and while they can be extremely engaging intellectually, the addition of a physical body adds another level of presence. "At the center of all communication rests the body, the fleshy gateway to the mind (Biocca, 1997, pg. 13)." The addition of virtual beings to our discussions and experience is opening a new idea of social presence to online learning. It is a powerful tool that can be used to enhance teaching practices. I am looking forward to learning my capabilities in the virtual world and exploring how this will impact my teaching.

Artemis Maat

References

Biocca, F. (1997, August). The cyborg's dilemma: Embodiment in virtual environments. In Cognitive Technology, 1997.'Humanizing the Information Age'. Proceedings., Second International Conference on (pp. 12-26). IEEE.