Disruptive technology is a term devised by Clayton Christenson at Harvard Business School to describe a new technology that unexpectedly displaces a previously established technology (2008). Second Life fits the criteria of a disruptive technology, because although it has a large following, it has not yet been universally accepted. “Disruptive technology lacks refinement, often has performance problems because it is new, appeals to a limited audience, and may not yet have a proven application” (2008).
After completing a course project, here in Walden University on Second Life, I learned that there are many users who use Second Life and their personal avatar as a means of learning, adventure, socializing, and providing an income. Some even go to work everyday in Second Life and it is there primary source of income. For some users, there is comfort and satisfaction in becoming a new identity and immersing in a community of users in a virtual world that is separate from this world.
This technology perhaps displaced the human interactions of a real world. Many of the same human functions are experienced in the community of virtual world users including education, socializing, shopping, entertainment, and travel. In our world, reading a book encourages one to conjure up images, and teaches one to fantasize about a different moment in time and it offers an escape from the reality.
It is hard to say how long it will take for another technology to take the place of Second Life. It is still possible for Second Life to attract more businesses and users and become a sustaining technology as it grows and matures economically.
Socially, the users of Second Life can meet and interact with other members of the community all over the islands. They can gather for a concert, meeting or a museum visit. They can communicate though the keyboard but can remain real world anonymous. When I first learned about Second Life I held out hope that it would be something my high school students would enjoy and be motivated to learn. However, after my initial experience, I do not see its application in an already packed curriculum. I think it is too complicated and too far-fetched for literal minds. I also wouldn’t want a high school student to encounter a weirdo online and experience the implications of that encounter. It is possible and probable to assign a unit of learning to college level students who would be willing to spend the time to learn the program and venture into a world of unknowns. I am certain that they would have a unique experience.
I posted comments on Marion and Lou's Blog.
References:
Christensen, C. (2002). The innovation economy: How technology is transforming existing industries and creating new ones [Video]. Retrieved from http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/108.
Connell, K. (2011). Second Life Final Project [Video]. Retrieved from http://karenconnell10.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html
Disruptive Technologies (2008). Retrieved from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci945822,00.html
Rosedale, P. (2008). Philip Rosedale on Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Rhymes of History
Rhymes of History
A Rhyme of history represents a natural human propensity to be fulfilled with the current available technology. For example, according to Thornburg (2009), years ago the desire to meet and socialize with other folks in the town was fulfilled by going to the local watering hole. Now, today we can fulfill that need to share our thoughts, our days’ events or just communicate small talk with others by using any one of the social networking sites such as Facebook, Facetime or Skype.
Another need that has historically been met with time is the desire to document family life. In the past, families would pass on stories from generation to generation so that the family traditions would remain alive and future generations would have an understanding from whom they descended. Of late, families would collect pictures and create scrapbooks to document family occasions, such as the birth of child, a graduation or a special occasion. Now, today with the availability of digital cameras, families can document and save their precious moments with http://www.shutterfly.com/ or http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/ These easy to use sites help the user to create books, store pictures and share memories digitally with friends and family.
In Kelly’s speech, “The Next 5000 days on the Web,” he refers to his prediction of how the web will be transformed with embodiment, restructuring, and codependency. I can relate to the codependency easily as I use the computer, the web and all of its connection capabilities for just about all of my interactions with content, experts and friends. The restructuring and the embodiment of the web is a bit more abstract to follow, but according to Kelly, he predicts that the “One”, meaning us or humans will be integrated into the web in such a way that the web will be defined by us. In his final statements, he mentions more concretely that “to share is to gain” and from this we can remind ourselves that we will be the greatest most valuable source for the future of the web.
Resources:
Kelly, K. (2007, December). Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the Web [Speech]. Speech delivered at the EG 2007 Conference, Los Angeles. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html
Thornburg, D. (2009). Rhymes of History (Vodcast). Emerging and Future technologies. DVD produced by Laureate Education, Inc. Baltimore.
I posted comments on Neena's blog and on Sandra's blog.
A Rhyme of history represents a natural human propensity to be fulfilled with the current available technology. For example, according to Thornburg (2009), years ago the desire to meet and socialize with other folks in the town was fulfilled by going to the local watering hole. Now, today we can fulfill that need to share our thoughts, our days’ events or just communicate small talk with others by using any one of the social networking sites such as Facebook, Facetime or Skype.
Another need that has historically been met with time is the desire to document family life. In the past, families would pass on stories from generation to generation so that the family traditions would remain alive and future generations would have an understanding from whom they descended. Of late, families would collect pictures and create scrapbooks to document family occasions, such as the birth of child, a graduation or a special occasion. Now, today with the availability of digital cameras, families can document and save their precious moments with http://www.shutterfly.com/ or http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/ These easy to use sites help the user to create books, store pictures and share memories digitally with friends and family.
In Kelly’s speech, “The Next 5000 days on the Web,” he refers to his prediction of how the web will be transformed with embodiment, restructuring, and codependency. I can relate to the codependency easily as I use the computer, the web and all of its connection capabilities for just about all of my interactions with content, experts and friends. The restructuring and the embodiment of the web is a bit more abstract to follow, but according to Kelly, he predicts that the “One”, meaning us or humans will be integrated into the web in such a way that the web will be defined by us. In his final statements, he mentions more concretely that “to share is to gain” and from this we can remind ourselves that we will be the greatest most valuable source for the future of the web.
Resources:
Kelly, K. (2007, December). Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the Web [Speech]. Speech delivered at the EG 2007 Conference, Los Angeles. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html
Thornburg, D. (2009). Rhymes of History (Vodcast). Emerging and Future technologies. DVD produced by Laureate Education, Inc. Baltimore.
I posted comments on Neena's blog and on Sandra's blog.
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