Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

The use of virtual technology can be applied to so many different areas than just gaming. One of those areas is the educational system both in schools and most importantly trade schools and hands on programs. The idea of online classes like this class for example might have sounded bizarre a few years ago but with the advancement of technology and the internet , all of that is now possible. Taking that concept to the next step would be to use virtual reality to simulate a real classroom from the comfort of your own home. By connecting with fellow classmates, virtual reality simulations will make class discussions and interaction with the professor so much more realistic than just sending an email. In regards to trade school such as medical schools and automotive technical institutes, rather than just reading about the profession from the textbook and imagining what the field would look like, its always better to experience it hands on. With that being said, equipment like cadavers can be very expensive for some colleges but virtual worlds is a great and cheap alternative to that. This concept applies to other professions such as pilot training, truck driving even for psychologist to help traumatized veterans according to the Forbes article " After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?"

Some of the pros of virtual reality is the fact that it simulates actual environments without any of the dangers that are involved such the case with military training. It allows for people to improve their skills in various professions like mentioned before. The example of helping traumatized veterans can be expanded to other forms of trauma such as depression and anxiety. Another advantage many people overlook is the fact that it can help children with Autism since Autistic kids interact well with technology. One of the cons is the fact that children might end up spending too much time with VR that they loose the sense of reality. They might even end up becoming very anti social and lazy when they can play a sport in VR rather than real life. Another con is the fact that it hasn't been fully magnetizable yet so the cost of producing is somewhat high. Virtual crime might also be an issue as the technology becomes available to many people.

Virtual worlds can foster creativity especially in an educational setting for young children. Games like Minecraft lets you use your imagination and build so many different things. If we replace the same concept to other things like building virtual robots from virtual parts, it might lead to so many other great inventions.  It also creates a world without any boundaries and limitations in their capabilities which will motivate them to have the same mentality in the real world. Guy Posey's piece "The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Virtual Classroom and the Role of the Teacher" states that " with virtual reality both the educator and the student are inspired and captivated, new ideas are sparked, and barriers crumble" (pg.7). The future of VR is very bright since there is so many uses for it. The only problem is the fact that no one is yet to fully monetize on the idea on a large scale but companies like Oculus Rift are changing all of that. Within a few years, the technology should be readily available to everyone to enjoy.

Blog About Twitter

Unlike the first BlackBoard discussion we had as a class, Twitter limits us to only 140 characters where we have to keep our discussions and reply's very concise and brief. Twitter organizes our discussions by using hashtags where in BlackBoard, everything goes on the forum. When it comes to replying to someone, Twitter has enables us to use the @ sign to respond directly to someone or use the re-tweet function to "quote" them just like in many forums. Although Twitters reply and respond system is much more disorganized than Facebook, it is however a lot better than Discussion Board since it shows arrows and links to the original post. Twitter is obviously the more modern choice of having a discussion about a particular subject but Discussion Boards are somewhat more private since only a certain people can gain access. There is also no picture boxes next to replies in BD which makes it somewhat more inconvenient where you can tell who's replying instantly by the picture icon on Twitter.

In class discussions on the other hand is probably the best form of discussion in my opinion. Everything happens instantaneously and you don't have to wait for someone to reply on the computer and it's face to face. Speaking of face to face, body language also plays an important role in in class discussion where in an online discussion be it Twitter or DB you can't really tell what that person is doing. It's also more "organic" and natural to have an in person discussion as ideas and thoughts flow continuously where in online you have the chance to think for a while and even edit/delete your comment. Overall, everyone has their own preferences but me personally, I like the traditional and old fashioned way of having a discussion, in person.

Social Networking Sites

All though Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn all have the common concept of connecting people and sharing content, they are different in their core purpose. 

Facebook is the social media platform that I use most frequently. My first impressions of the website is it's easy to navigate homepage and user friendly navigation. One of the assigned articles mentioned that Facebook is being flooded with older demographics and it's easy to see why. Like mentioned before, it's very user friendly, everything is organized in block shaped content boxes and it's easy to understand for a first timer. There is endless amount of content as you scroll through your "timeline" and even gives you the ability to share it on your "wall". When logged in, the first thing that catches your attention is the top right corner that indicates with red marking whether or not you have any new notifications. You can also like peoples status updates to stay connected and like pages that interest you ranging from funny videos to political discussions. My personal favorite is the Trending box that shows some of the most searched topics or breaking news that happening at the moment.     

As a first time Twitter user, I'm still getting used to some of the features even though I've spent a couple of days on it by now. It took me significantly less time to master Facebook 5 years ago, but I can definitely see why Twitter has overtaken Facebook. For one thing, people are more active in their Twitter account than their Facebook. I conducted my own little experiment and found that athletes and celebrities in particular have more "tweets" in one day than "status updates". In regards to user friendliness, Twitter seems a bit more disorganized especially when it comes to replying and re tweeting. In contrast, Facebook replies are all organized "under" the status updates and is easier to follow who is replying to who. The notification and new message bar is similar to that of Facebook and I especially like the trending box in both. I also like the fact that Twitter is less crowded with adverts and promotional pages.  They both have the same color scheme which I find very interesting. 

Although some might argue that YouTube is not a social media site, it's features and functions say so otherwise. I personally spend more time on YouTube than anything other website as well as traditional television. It super easy to navigate and well organized. The "thumbnails" shows a sip of the video and has all the small info about the video in the little video box. Once clicked on a video it shows all the other information such as the number of views and likes/dislikes. Just like Facebook and Twitter rather than liking a page or following someone, you subscribe to a channel and all their new videos in your feed. Rather than trending topics of the previous two websites, YouTube has trending videos as you would expect from a video content website. It's my go to place for any videos or music.

LinkedIn is a social media platform aimed at working professionals as well as students for networking purposes. As a student trying to break into the professional working world, I use LinkedIn frequently as well to connect and stay in touch with some of the professional I meet at corporate events. It's awkward and unprofessional to ask them to add you on Facebook but LinkedIn solves that issue. It's also a great platform to land open jobs and to connect with HR professionals to see if there is an opening in their firm. It's also very easy to navigate and is somewhat similar to Facebook in regards to the way the content is organized. You scroll down to see what people are up to and see some of the things that they liked or commented on. It also has the notification bar on the top right corner and a search bar in the middle. Only other difference I could see is that rather than friends, you have connections and it's reply and comment function is exactly like that of Facebook. You can also follow influential people and like pages that interest you such as "Accounting Changes in the Industry" and so on.

Social Networking

Social networking has revolutionized our world in the last two decades and had made us more connected than ever before. What started out a way to stay connected with friends and family has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry. Although it has many positives for individuals and businesses, it also comes with problems and concerns but is continuously evolving to address these issues.

One obvious way social networking can be utilized is for businesses to promote their products and services. Small businesses in particular who are not in the position to spend thousands of dollars on their marketing campaigns greatly benefit from websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Some of these platforms have managed to integrated different marketing and selling features into one website. For example, instead of going to Yelp to read reviews on restaurants and then going to another website for their special, you can access it all on Facebook's user friendly business pages. Going back to the idea of reviews, you can also use the feature to track customer service and satisfaction. Rather than setting up a toll free number or a hotline to intake customer feedback, customers can share either positive or negative feedback online. Its overall a great tool to create and raise brand awareness for little to no cost. Targeted ads can also be purchased to increase traffic to your website and lead to higher customer conversion rates.

The major benefit of social networking is obviously the power to stay connected with friends and family from anywhere in the world. Many people are regaining lost connections all the way back to their early childhood. It's also being used in emergency situations and to break breaking news to a wide range of audience. It's even being heavily used in the current election to engage young voters to go out there and vote. Another major contribution to society is the fact that websites like Twitter and YouTube have been credited with helping topple oppressive regimes in parts of the world when people shared videos and pictures of their uprising.

Like the old saying goes, "everything good comes with a price" and social networking and social media in general has some negative aspects or "dark side" that needs to be addressed. One major concern is of-course privacy. When something is uploaded to the internet, it's usually close to impossible to erase it. You can try deleting the content all you want but once its out there its out there forever. Bringing it back to our class and relating it to the corporate environment, one negative aspect is that many firms and employers now include looking up your social networking sites as part of the background check. This is why every time you upload something about your personal life, you need to think twice about who might be able to see it. I have read many stories on people being denied job offers because of controversial statements or photos they posted on Facebook that was eventually seen by the hiring manager. There are now even paid services that try to "hide" your illicit uploads on to the last pages of major search engines because even experts know it cannot be permanently deleted. Another major concern, especially among the younger generation is the fact that increased amount of time spent on social networking websites can cause social anxiety and lack of social skills as stated by Hillary Stout in her piece, Antisocial Networking? In addition, cyberbullying has also increased in the last decade to the point even government officials are stepping in and setting up programs in schools and universities to combat the issue. Websites such as JuicyCampus that is mentioned in Jeffery Young's article titled They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites shares rumors and gossip about fellow classmates that can have a detrimental impact on their self esteem and confidence.

However with new challenges come new opportunities to combat these obstacles and even profit from them. The field of cybersecurity has gained a lot of momentum with the concern of privacy and better technologies are being created to make the internet safer both for the individual user and government entities. With increased funds to technology programs in schools and campuses, the next generation can work together to make the internet a safer place.