The Final Blog.

I definitely learned a lot in this course. Before entering this class I had discussed the idea of culture industries before but had never really explored or applied it. It was very helpful to review the Frankfurt school and its theorists. The idea of “culture industry” was conceived by two members of the Frankfurt school, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer who believed that mass culture was becoming identical through standardization and mass production. Culture industries produce and commodify culture to an exploitable audience that falls prey to satisfying false needs through consumerism and advertising. I still believe that virtual worlds, namely Second Life, can be classified as a cultural industry because it is still an extension of real life and therefore reinforces the dominant world view. For instance, celebrity skins are offered so that you can look like you’re favourite celebrity, and as we mentioned in class, the majority of avatars are slim and good looking. In this sense, it is important to consume in order to have an identity, otherwise you are just given the standardized identity of “girl next door” or “club boy”. As well, consumption is a big part of Second Life since large corporations have taken up a presence on SL and are beginning to sell and market products. Obviously you do not have to purchase in SL to participate but these “false” needs have been created. Some have taken this counter argument that you don’t have to spend and therefore SL is not a cultural industry, but even the emphasis on giving away free t-shirts, filling out surveys for money etc emphasizes the face that we “need” these things. So I would undoubtedly argue that Virtual Worlds, like real life, can be defined as a culture industry. It seems almost impossible to try and escape ideologies that are so ingrained into society. I believe virtual worlds as a cultural industry was inevitable and ultimately unavoidable.

I found it most interesting to learn about education in Second Life. As soon as I discovered what this course was about I was excited because I felt like I could be part of something that is on the cutting edge and quite possibly the future of education. I learned a lot just from being immersed in a VW classroom experience and discovered all the possibilities that are not available in the regular confines of a traditional classroom. I was amazed at how enriched presentations can be by teleporting to art galleries, exhibits and universities. Besides face to face interaction, I didn’t feel like much was sacrificed by online learning but instead saw a lot of gains. Of course, it was very helpful that we had one class online and one class on campus so we knew each other in both environments. It was a really unique experience because we got to know each other in RL and SL and got to bond over the fact that all of us were experiencing things that were completely new. I was also really impressed with all the University campuses that I visited, although there never seemed to be much happening in them. Although the physical presence of a university in second life allows the potential for more things to happen there in the future. As well, there are tools such as guest speakers, like Mark Bell, who can enrich educational opportunities. I’m really excited about the potential SL and other virtual worlds have hold for the future of educational and feel privileged to be involved at a somewhat experiential time when professors are just beginning to test out VW classes. Also, with additional reading I did for my essay I learned about how valuable SL is for distance learners and people with disabilities and the different programs that are being offered. As well, there are places such as Commonwealth Island where health information is distributed and where they hope to offer private consultations in the future. Additionally, medical students are starting to have immersive experiences in SL to help them learn. Although I believe there is a lot of value in our traditional methods of learning, VW open the door to new ideas and opportunities that wouldn’t be available otherwise. I believe the traditional and new world of education can potentially combine and complement each other, to truly give students the best of both worlds of education.

It was very interesting exploring different universities in Second Life. Each had different architecture, style and design, some much more elaborate than others. I believe that SL was used very well in our class at Brock University. There were definitely more elaborate classrooms but I don’t think the setting is of the utmost importance. I think it worked well to have presenters, because my favourite parts of class online was actually when we got to teleport to a new location. Not that anything is wrong with Brock’s, but there’s a whole “world” to explore in SL and I found it very enriching to teleport there as a class. I went on SL a few times on my own and it definitely wasn’t as engaging as being with and learning with your peers. So there are not a lot of improvements I could offer on improving the Brock classes, except to empathize to presenters to be creative and plan some teleports and new activities that people likely wouldn’t experience on their own time. I really thought the structure to this class worked well and I got to learn and experience things I never would have in a regular 4th year seminar. It’s really nice when you learn something new...actually new. Not just a new perspective or a new part of it but altogether completely new. It’s really neat to see different reactions and perspectives to something you’re trying to make sense of and figure out. I really liked the discussions in class and hearing people’s reactions to different situations. Although, I think it would be interesting to have more field assignments – such as interviewing someone in SL and writing a report on it – asking questions such as how long they’ve been a residents, why they like it, where their favourite spots were etc. It would also be a challenge to try and build a relationship with someone outside of class. The field assignments were definitely interesting and allowed for time to simply explore and discover so I think there’s room for more of the creative field assignments. Overall though, I genuinely liked the course. I always learned something new and was always intrigued by the overlap between RL and SL, as well as my peer’s reactions to it. Now, when I talk to people about SL I love seeing how amazed they are at everything I tell them about it, the concept seems somewhat unimaginable. Since I’m not tech savvy, this wouldn’t have been something I would have done in my own time so I’m very grateful that I took this course and expanded my (second) world view.