I think it is safe to say that I have discovered more about virtual worlds in this particular class than I have with my other two online classes here at Boston College. This course allowed me to spend more time within a few different worlds, and see the true potential and sometimes craziness that comes with these online destinations.
The world that I felt most comfortable in was Meshmoon as I felt as though, perhaps through our final project, that I was able to explore it in more depth than some of the other worlds. Building my library was rather difficult at first, but after exploration and lots of Professor's audio recordings I was able to get a grip!
The world that I felt was most social was SecondLife. This was the world that really opened my eyes to how many people actually invest so much time in these virtual spaces, and they truly create an identity for themselves in them. When exploring different destinations, it was incredible to see how many people were in saloons, shopping malls, on beaches, etc. It was by far the most social world that we entered this semester.
Overall, playing around and switching our avatars allowed me to see who people might be drawn to, interested in, scared of, etc. I think that these worlds serve as an escape for some people in that they allow them to be whoever they want and truly go wherever they want. It was a really eye opening and fun experience to get to work with so many different virtual worlds and people!
This
is a review and self reflection in regards to the JiED. It is a final exercise from the
Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The
course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the
immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc
