Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are three-dimensional environments in which you can interact with others and create objects as part of that interaction. Here are a range of virtual worlds to choose from which include fantasy, sport, historical and science fiction.

 Some are loosely based upon the real world but others such as fantasy worlds are as the name says: they are completely disconnected from the real world, which is also part of their attraction. From the first article below “There are several types of virtual worlds, which include: Second, The Sims, Active Worlds,Kaneva, IMVU".The common theme with many of these worlds is the ability to meet, chat and interact with other people. Every world must continue to exist even when someone has left and any changes made by a person should remain in place. There are more cons then pros from the virtual worlds. Many different fields of medicine, law enforcement, architecture and aviation. A virtual world provides a chance to experience things that are impossible in real life as if you were actually for example fighting zombies in a game.

 Communication using this technology would be susceptible to deception.
Due to the fast paced development of Virtual Reality and online worlds, there is a lack of laws regarding these worlds. From the second reading ‘’Users can say and do things in these worlds that is illegal in reality. Also, users may be less inhibited than in real life due to a sense of anonymity, and may act in a way that is socially unacceptable ’’.Many people may become addicted to living in these virtual worlds, and as a result forget or neglect their responsibilities in real life.

Works cited

http://mfile.narotama.ac.id/files/Jurnal/Jurnal%202012-2013/Situated%20learning%20in%20virtual%20worlds%20and%20immersive%20simulations.pdf 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575124470868041204.html?KEYWORDS=avatar+ii+the+hospital 

Social Networking Sites

Social networking site like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn are increasingly likely to provide value to nonprofits looking to have online conversations and reach new constituents.  The sites are fairly different from each other, however, Facebook is particularly good at promoting discussion and events, while Twitter is particularly good for connecting with organizations and the media and LinkedIn provides an interesting way to network with potential new supporters.

Facebook allows you to set up a profile, and post updates, links, conversations, events, photos, videos, petitions, or even collect donations online. Users who choose to “like” your organization see updates without needing to navigate to your page, and can get involved in discussions with other supporters.

For Twitter lets you send out a stream of short messages called “tweets” for instance, updates about what you’re doing, or links to resources of interest. People can choose to “follow” your tweets, and if they particularly like one they can “retweet” it. 

However, LinkedIn s an interesting site that falls somewhere between social networking for the general public and the niche social networking sites described below. Each person sets up a profile, which is similar to a resume, and can then link, to other people that they know. 

At last, MySpace has a large emphasis on music and musicians, and today can essentially be considered a niche social media site with a music focus. It’s worth checking, however, whether you might still use it to reach a very specific group of people. 

social Networking

There are many ways That business can use technologies and networking for instance in the first article : ''Social media have transformed corporate communication practices: Tools such as Twitter and Facebook allow organizations to speak directly to and solicit responses from the public quickly and affordably''. But the original intention of these media were to connect friends, not customers or employees; for businesses, accustomed to managing all aspects of communications, social media can be an awkward fit.

Technology advances show people a more efficient way to do things, and these processes get results. As the second article states: ‘‘the impact that technology has had on today’s schools has been quite significant. This widespread adoption of technology has completely changed how teachers teach and students learn”.

For example, education has been greatly advanced by the technological advances of computers. Students are able to learn on a global scale without ever leaving their classrooms. Such as Agricultural processes that once required dozens upon dozens of human workers can now be automated, thanks to advances in technology, which means cost-efficiency for farmers. Medical discoveries occur at a much more rapid rate, thanks to machines and computers that aid in the research process and allow for more intense educational research into medical matters.

I think the more advanced society becomes technologically, the more people begin to depend on computers and other forms of technology for everyday existence. This means that when a machine breaks or a computer crashes, humans become almost disabled until the problem is resolved. This kind of dependency is the real sad and dark side on technology puts people at a distinct disadvantage, because they become less self-reliant.

Works cited

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/social-media/social-media-workplace-research-roundup

http://www.teachhub.com/benefits-technology-classroom

Blogs v Wikis

The word Blog comes from the words Web Log. It's a Web site that allows an individual, or group of individuals, to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences. In simple terms, a Blog is an online journal.

A Wiki is a type of Web page that allows anyone with an Internet connection to create and modify pages easily and quickly. This means that anyone that visits your Wiki will be able to create new pages and update your content whenever they desire. The name wiki comes from the Hawaiian words, which means quick.

As the article states that:’’ Here's an example of how blogs and wikis complement each other. Let's say you have an upcoming release for a software application. You prepare informative release notes. Put the release notes on the wiki, since the release notes will be helpful to users for months to come. But since people don't generally review the list of most recent changes to the wiki, you also post a note on your company blog about the new software update. The blog post is brief just a summary or extract of the information contained in the wiki page”.

If effectively deployed, wikis, blogs and podcasts could offer a way to enhance students', clinicians' and patients' learning experiences, and deepen levels of learners' engagement and collaboration within digital learning environments. As Dr axel Bruns said :  A gradual shift, by contrast, is less noticeable until what’s there today is markedly different from what was there before and only then do we realize that we’ve entered a new era, and that we have to develop new ways of thinking, new ways of conceptualizing the world around us if we want to make good sense of it’’.

I think by having blogs or wikis as co-workers we can Spend less time hunting things down and more time making things happen. Organize the space work, create documents, and discuss everything in one place. Create anything your team needs, meeting notes, product requirements, and knowledge base articles, on the web so everyone can contribute. Give feedback on any Confluence page or file with inline and pinned comments.

Work cited

Dr axel Bruns (http://produsage.org/0 is the author of blogs ,Wikipedia, Scond life ,and beyond :From production to produsage (New York :peter Lang 2008.)

http://idratherbewriting.com/2012/04/19/differences-between-blogs-and-wikis-and-why-you-might-need-both/

New media is the term given to any form of media that emerged at the end of the 20th century or in the 21st century. The properties of new media are that one can get access to it any time or anywhere, normally on a mobile device using the Internet as example of YouTube or Facebook.

Compared to older forms of media, new media is much more democratic with the potential for anyone to create, publish and distribute their own work using the Internet and popular websites such as Wikipedia and Twitter. As Piotr Konieczny stated : “Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, is an example, combining Internet accessible digital text, images and video with web-links, creative participation of contributors, interactive feedback of users and formation of a participant community of editors and donors for the benefit of non-community readers”.

New media technology introduced two major differences in media access. Time and geographic distance are insignificant with satellite and computer networks. As Gillmor said:” There is great uncertainty regarding the changing media environment.  Many argue new media will supplement rather than replace old media.  As the diversity of media increases audiences become more fragmented”. Audiences are less predictable.  As the information and communication technology advances new forms of media content will arise.

The tittle of my project is “Impact of new media in society”.

Social media sites have taken over our lives. It’s hard to even imagine that 10 years ago there was no Facebook or Twitter. 15 years ago people were actually waiting to hear from each other because even email wasn’t that common. Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet now. They have revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. My research paper will be focusing mostly on:

Ø  Impact on Politics

Ø  Impact on business

Ø  Effect on Socialization

Ø  Negative Effects of Social Media

Ø  Cyber Bullying and Online Harassment

Ø  Impact on Productivity

Ø  Impact on Privacy

Social media has its advantages and drawbacks as revealed. It is up to each user to use social sites wisely to enhance their professional and social life, and exercise caution to ensure we do not fall victim to online dangers.