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.