According to Dr. Thornburg (2009), a disruptive technology comes out of nowhere and replaces an existing technology which will eventually become nonexistent. This disruptive technology will have more capabilities than the technology that it replaced and will be significantly cheaper.
· How is Second Life a disruptive technology?
Second Life is a disruptive technology because it is the ultimate unimaginable upgrade to any online virtual/simulation game. Becoming a member of Second Life allows its members to create a 3D virtual world without boundaries. The only limitation would be your imagination.
· What technology or innovation did it displace?
Second Life could eventually displace online gaming and/or social networking sites. As of now, I do not believe that it has replaced other technologies or innovations.
· How many years do you think Second Life has left before another emerging technology or disruptive technology replaces it?
In my personal opinion, I believe that it will take a number of years before another emerging or disruptive technology replaces Second Life. If I’m not mistaken, Second Life has been around since 2005 and I don’t think that it has taken the world by storm. So I feel that it will be around for a while.
· What are the social benefits of Second Life, and what might be the social implications of virtual worlds in your industry?
Second Life has numerous benefits especially for the disabled who are mostly housebound. Second Life would allow them an outlet to create their very own virtual world, and it would allow them to interact with other members of Second Life. This site could also be an interactive tool for students. Students can create a virtual world and connect with other students their age from different parts of the world. This kind of interaction would allow students to learn about other students with diverse backgrounds. The downside to this would be internet predators. Just like with anything else parents and teachers would need to become members of their child/students pages so that they can monitor the interactions that are taking place on these pages.
Resources
Thornburg, Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Disruptive technologies. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Second Life. (2012). Second Life: Your World. Your Imagination. Retrieved from http://secondlife.com/?lang=en-US
Cora,
ReplyDeleteSecond Life is an amazing tool for those with disabilities. I had a instructor tell me about a student who was blind and used Second Life. The student created the avatar equipped with a seeing eye dog. The people in Second Life were not sure how to approach the avatar, but soon became comfortable.
Cora,
ReplyDeleteI think Second Life would be a good tool to incorporate inside the classroom. Students could be assigned a "real-life" problem and would be required to solve that problem based on the resources they are given. I agree that Second Life will probably be around for a while because right now there isn't anything like it.
Cora,
ReplyDeleteI recently used the software program called Voki with my students. They appeared to be very engaged and motivated to utilize the avatar program. Although majority of my students were not familiar with creating avatar characters, I am looking forward to accessing this program more within my classroom curriculum.
For me, i am very hectic to socialize within any Second Life setting. I think I have negative views of Second Life settings because of predators. They are always lurking around social media sites. I also agree that Second Life will be in existence until another more advanced innovation takes its place.
Cora and Kristy,
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about Second Life. I find it interesting to read about a student who created an avatar with a seeing eye dog. My brother is a quadrapalegic. I wonder if this would be something that he would be interested in doing.
Thanks for sharing!
Danita