:: Netwoman ::

:: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 ::

The Birth of an Avatar

This is an interesting bit I caught from a SL list-serv:

NMC - We Birthed Our First Avatar

There's some exciting work underway at NMC Campus. We are working with the Linden Lab API for account generation that will allow us to host our own new user account creation form on this web site, rather than going through the form at the main Second Life web site. When the account is created, a new avatar will not be sent to the Orientation Island with every other newbie, but they will go to our own custom Orientation Island.

So this is a big deal. It means we will be able to customize the Orientation process with special resources and tips aimed at an Educational audience. We'll be able to provide landmarks to the best education destinations. And hopefully we can recruit a set of mentors interested in helping out those newly minted avatars.

Yes, this has a lot of potential - especially for customizing avatars and identity creation. A lot of possibilities here.

:: Netwoman 8:23 PM [+] ::
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TED Conference
Originally uploaded by Netwoman.

TED Conference in Second Life

I attended a presentation today in Second Life - Architecture for Humanity Project - and this is an example of a house designed for areas such as Biloxi - after the Katrina disaster; houses are elevated for potential flooding.

There was a really good turnout for the presentation today - showing that second life is NOT just about sex, p-o-r-n and picking up! I've had a few people from the media contact me about doing interviews about the deviant behaviour in SL. This really reminds me of the old internet days, where all everyone would talk about was p-o-r-n and other net-perils. please! Can we get beyond the virtual world hype of debauchery and look at the possibilities of VR? Education & Learning? Collaboration? Communities? The list is endless...

Other links:
Open Architecture
Global Village
Design like you give a damn!
The Arch

:: Netwoman 1:45 PM [+] ::
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Xbox users offered social network download

David Gibbon
"Microsoft Xbox 360 owners will soon be able to connect with more than 260 million Windows Live Messenger users after the publisher revealed plans to unveil a new download in May.

The US giant has created software allowing Xbox 360 users, Windows-based PCs and Windows Mobile-powered devices to chat with each other more easily via Windows Live Messenger, which features more than 20 billion relationships and more than 260 million active accounts.

The Xbox 360 Spring Update will provide Xbox 360 owners worldwide with access to Windows Live Messenger features, broadening the communication options on the Xbox Live social network. Members of the 6 million-strong Xbox Live community currently send more than 2 million text and voice messages a day and can now use Windows Live Messenger to text chat with up to six people on their contact list at one time, while playing games, listening to music or watching movies."

I think this will be an interesting exercise for gaming & social network research...

:: Netwoman 10:50 AM [+] ::
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Torontonians surpass 1/2 million mark on Facebook

Ryan Feeley reports:
"As of today, according to Facebook’s network section, Toronto has the world’s largest Facebook network. Here’s a list of big mostly English speaking Metro areas, and their Facebook penetration. Population data courtesy Wikipedia. According to this data, almost 1/10 Torontonians are also Facebookers, as opposed to around 1/100 New Yorkers."

:: Netwoman 10:46 AM [+] ::
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life is an icon
Originally uploaded by Netwoman.

life is an icon...

Similar to my previous post on the numerous chat programs I have, I also have numerous social networking sites on the go - some are more interactive than others...

...it would seem that there are many bits and pieces - snapshots & snipits - of our RL selves that make up our VR selves - although laid out like this, it may appear quite fragmented in a web of identity, there are icons that provide information for our presentation of self (Goffman) or online impression management.

or

...perhaps fragmented identity, which you might find in postmodern theory...

or

...as Giddens calls it 'dilemma of the self':

"Fragmentation clearly tends to be promoted by the influences emphasised hy Berger and others: the diversifying of contexts of interaction. In many modern settings, individuals are caught up in a variety of differing encounters and milieux, each of which may call for different forms of appropriate' behaviour. Goffman is normally taken to be the theorist par excellence of this phenomenon. As the individual leaves one encounter and enters another, he sensitively adjusts the 'presentation of self' in relation to whatever is demanded of a particular situation. Such a view is often thought to imply that an individual has as many selves as there are divergent contexts of interaction, an idea which somewhat resembles poststructuralist interpretations of the self, albeit from a differing theoretical perspective. Yet again it would not be correct to see contextual diversity as simply and inevitably promoting the fragmentation of the self, let alone its disintegration into multiple 'selves'. It can just as well, at least in many circumstances, promote an integration of self. The situation is rather like the contrast between rural and urban life discussed previously. A person may make use of diversity in order to create a distinctive self-identity which positively incorporates elements from different settings into an integrated narrative. Thus a cosmopolitan person is one precisely who draws strength from being at home in a variety of contexts."

From Anthony Giddens, Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991, pp. 187-201.

:: Netwoman 12:46 AM [+] ::
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Commodore 64
Originally uploaded by Netwoman.

Commodore 64 in Second Life

I found a computer store in Second Life where you can purchase old computers and game consoles. I had to take a picture of this one - the Commodore 64.

Of course, there's the apple store as well - and various other vendors where you can get contemporary computers and laptops. fun fun.

Labels: second life

:: Netwoman 3:05 PM [+] ::
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AoIR 8 - Learning and Play in Virtual Environments

I've just heard back from the AoIR panel organizers and our panel has been accepted, which means that myself, Joanna Robinson, and Gerri Sinclair will be presenting our paper in Vancouver this October. Here is our abstract:

Modding the Metaverse; The Pedagogy of Participation
Tracy Kennedy, Joanna Robinson & Gerri Sinclair

"Traditional didactic modes of learning have fallen under considerable scrutiny; lecture styles with a top-down approach and problematic power relations between professor and student have situated information delivery often as linear and static. Archaic methods of knowledge transfer and learning strategies are not only mind-numbing but also do not allow for nor encourage constructive interaction between students, and between students and instructors. Researchers have long since argued for a more interactive and empowering pedagogical style of learning and knowledge construction inside and outside the classroom (Briskin & Coulter, 1992; Brown, 1992). Recent literature examining the use of ICTs and video games in the curriculum notes the need for creative interfaces that encourage learner-centered activities (Aguilera & Mendiz, 2003; Gee, 2003). Moreover, virtual environments have been touted as transformative spaces that can encourage innovative learning strategies which ultimately work to change the design and delivery of the course itself (Hobbs, Gordon & Brown, 2006).

Given the pedagogical potential of virtual spaces, this paper presents a case study that utilized an immersive learning environment in Second Life. Our research team hosted an exploratory exercise, piloting how we might involve students in modifying and reshaping their learning spaces and experiences. Two 'brainstorming' workshops were held in Second Life where individuals discussed and explored the capabilities of virtual spaces to transform conventional educational spaces (for example lecture halls and seminar rooms) into student designed collaborative virtual learning environments. An additional workshop was held to put these ideas into practice, which encouraged a learning environment constructed on principles of collaboration, co-generation, modding, building and student-centered learning. Using the chat logs and video footage of the three workshops, the paper discusses virtual spaces as participatory pedagogy in which student learning is formulated through exploration, reflection and collaboration (Hobbs et al) both individually and as a group. Importantly, we argue that virtual environments such as Second Life have shown educators that we need to rethink existing learning strategies and enhance them with innovative tools that encourage creative thinking and promote technical skills that foster communities of knowledge and practice."

Also in the panel are Alex Halavais, Shaowen Bardzell and Intellagirl - Sarah Robbins. The first panel should be interesting too - have to find the abstracts for that.

Labels: conferences, second life, virtual environments

:: Netwoman 10:41 PM [+] ::
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