Virtual Class – I am taking an online class this semester, and have never met the instructor, so I know what it is like. If this class was only online and I had never met Dr. DeMars, I would probably think he was crazy. This class requires a certain amount of face to face meetings, or else I think we, the students, would be more overwhelmed than we already are. In my online class I feel like I am missing something and often forget that I even have the class. Online classes are good for simple, easy to grasp concepts, like history or some English courses. This class with its unique, constantly changing perspective would be difficult to teach in an online only setting. This class has many facets that are not so cut and dry as “Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” and needs the interaction that actual class time brings about. Holding class in Second Life might seem ideal then as an alternative to face to face class times, but I feel that there is a disconnect between teacher and student because of the barrier that the computer screen literally and figuratively creates.
The basics I learned about Second Life – I set up my Second Life account when I got home on Thursday. I named my avatar Sociere Elegy, and picked the “Goth” looking prefabricated avatar. I started messing around in the game at eleven o’clock that evening. I was surprised that I did not see any other people at that time. This game supposedly has millions of players around the world, and I was the only person playing that night. I thought that maybe it was just the location I was in, but no after moving around I still found nobody else in game. Maybe, it was just a bad day, so I got back online several times over the weekend, guess what still no other players! The game itself was rather easy to control, with simple controls that are common in the gaming industry. However, it was slow to load and would crash after thirty minutes or so, requiring a complete reboot of my system. I bought a system specifically designed for running games and other large programs, so I found this very irritating, and am sure that others who have older or weaker systems would find this game difficult or impossible to load and play. I found it particularly frustrating that you have to pay real money to get an in depth experience from the game. Everything costs real money except for the privilege to download the base game, which makes it very obvious who has just gotten started, or does not have the money to waste on the game.
Educational Second Life - After playing for several hours, albeit in brief spurts between crashes, I have decided that Second Life is not the ideal environment for learning, or teaching. There is a technological gap that many do not have the resources to cross, and even with a powerful system I still had problems. The environment of Second Life is cartoonish and I feel that this would detract from the environment that a classroom in the game would try to create. Second Life has been known to be hacked, just ask Hillary Clinton about that. Anyone with a little know how could disrupt the class or even shut the whole game down. Which is another point against Second Life, it is a game. While I am all for a fun learning experience, I do not think that an online game is the right place for conducting a serious class. What if a student decides to show up naked? It is just a game and the avatars themselves are not real, but where do cross the line between just a game and real life. Many people have lost everything they have playing this game. I believe that nothing compares to having a real face to face conversation, and using an avatar as a mouthpiece just does not cut it. Colleges should be replacing class time with game time. If an instructor is hell bent on using Second Life, it should be in addition to the classroom. Unless a school is going to provide every student with their own computer capable of supporting Second Life, it is not feasible to move to online only college experiences.
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