Comments on: My first VLE

By: Josephine

Josephine — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:24:22 +0000

learning shift {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/gMIQDlpFlO_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”learning shift ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/6bANk9URE8″}}}

By: Alison

Alison — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:42:45 +0000

Theresa – glad you have you as a project partner! I’m a newbie to SL and to be honest, it’s taking some getting used to…but when I try to explain what we’re doing in SL to my skeptical friends and family, I do stress that SL has all these great capabilities that more and more people are opening themselves up to exploring. As Mariany24 says, sometimes people are reluctant to try new technologies. (Btw, your comment about email in college circa 1995/1996 made me LOL!) As far as my own higher education, I can’t remember a time without email! For my era, the big thing was getting your own computer for the first time when you went off to college…Dorms had just started wiring for ethernet, and the coolest thing was setting your AOL Instant Messenger away messages so all your friends and classmates would know if you were at class, in the student union, at rehearsal, blah blah….

By: Mariany24

Mariany24 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:16:19 +0000

I’m 31 years old and have also seen technology become such a huge part of education and life in general. I remember typing in programming codes into the computer in grammar school. I also remember using email for the first time in college in 1995/1996. Our professor used to get on us about checking our email and we would groan and moan about it like it was such a difficult task. My first online class was here at the New School and it took a lot of getting used to but in a short time I got the hang of it. I really think that VLE’s are amazing. I think that its unbelievable that we can connect with so many others and be able to learn in an environment where people come from some many places and bring about so many different points of view. These new tools will just continue to evolve and get better and better. Our children will have the opportunity to connect in so many ways and thats such a great thing. They will no longer be sheltered. The whole world is at their fingertips – literally.

By: jnicoletti

jnicoletti — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:14:53 +0000

I agree with the previous writer about the history of online learning. I am 25 and in my short life I have see a lot of change in the technology realm and thus in virtual learning. I remember doing state training on really basic boring seminars. Yes power point was about the closest thing I remember these learning’s be like that. The readings really seem to sum up all the key issues that make a virtual learning environment work. There needs to be a since of presence thus SL has avatar’s that a person can make their own. They can make homes and virtual lands. I never realized how important presence was. I mean we try to get away to a different world but even then we must be something or someone. It may be an escape to a world and a person we cannot be but still we need to make presence.
Laws and freedom make SL work. There is a lot that is tolerated yet we seem to be bound by a physical world that of SL graphics.
Of course the communication is key as well. Maybe for learning this is the most important. SL has greatly expanded my knowledge of how teaching can be done and has helped me learn as a student.
I just wanted to quickly point out where this discussion I think is going and touch a little on what I took from the readings.