Posted to Module 4

Sara Becker

http://enftechblog.blogspot.com/

Marion Bush

http://marionbush.blogspot.com/

Module 4 Second Life

How is Second Life a disruptive technology?

According to Dr. Thornburg a disruptive technology is a new technology that comes in as a silence innovation that does the same thing as the technology, but takes the place of that technology by performing the technology better than the one that it replaces (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009).   Second Life is an online virtual world, where people can meet and interact with one another.  Second Life was developed by Linden Labs in San Francisco, CA and now has over one million followers. In the world of Second Life you can develop your own avatar, which can go wherever they want too, work any type of job and meet many new friends.  As if this is not enough you can develop yourself a whole new life within a virtual world, which includes, shopping, going to school, buy land, and of course develop a romance with the right person.  The only thing about Second Life that is not real is it is all virtual and no face-to-face is going on.

What technology or innovation did it displace?

When I think about what technology second life has replaced it is hard to say.  What I do know is that I met my husband online with a social network site, but upon getting to know the person I ended up marrying, I had to chat with him and then talk to him on the phone and finally meet him in person.  This was in 2000.  Second life was introduced in 2003, which made it easier for people to meet within a virtual world and get to know each other without really meeting them in real life.  

How many years do you think Second Life has left before another emerging technology or disruptive technology replaces it?

Like all disruptive technology another will come along and replace it, but no one knows how long this will take.  I know as technology evolves it will be replaced with another new innovation. The technology I feel will replace it will be the virtual holograph. 

What are the social benefits of Second Life, and what might be the social implications of virtual worlds in your industry?

There could be many benefits for Second Life in my job, but working in the school system does not make it easy to get permission to use this type of program.  If this program could be allowed in our school, it would wonderful for students to meet other students across the globe.  The students could meet other students and become friends as well as epals.  I really feel as if Second Life would be a wonderful program to use with my middle school students.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Disruptive Technologies. Baltimore: Author.

Second Life. (2011, October 23). Retrieved October 27, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

 

Module 3 Posted To

Toney

http://toneyt.blogspot.com/2011/10/rhymes-of-history.html

Sara

http://enftechblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/rhymes-of-history-technology.html

Module 3 Blog

 Written text has been around for a long time starting with the ancient Mesopotamia ncivilization, over 30,000 years ago.  The first great library was in Alexandria, this was a public library (Survivor: The History of the Library, 2001). People have been going to the library for many years to read materials, but sometimes the library had to come to the people.  When I was a little girl and wanted to get a book to read I had to wait until the Bookmobile came to our town, which was once a month.  I loved to read and like most children back in the 70’s we usually only got to read what was at home.  While I went to school I got to read books at the school, but the one thing I loved the most was the bookmobile.  I always made sure I checked out enough books to last until the bookmobile would come to town.

According to Thornburg, technology will rekindle the past and the ones I feel have rekindled the past are the “Kindle, iPad, and Nook.”  Last year I purchased an iPad and now when I want a book to read I go to the library site and download the book I want to read.  Yes, you can purchase books on the mobile devices, but libraries are now making it where you can download a free copy to read.   

I sometimes wonder what will happen with this technology in the next 5000 days, I foresee the libraries becoming less popular do to using the new innovations to bring the books to them.  Will we ever totally lose our libraries, no because people will always want to read?

References:

Survivor: The History of the Library. (2001, November). Retrieved October 14, 2011, from History Magazine: http://www.history-magazine.com/libraries.html

 Thornburg, D (n.d.) Rhymes of History. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?

Learning Community Posted to

Sara
http://enftechblog.blogspot.com/

Sabrina
http://sabrina-mcdow.blogspot.com/

Kim Dean has not posted yet, due to her being sick