Seeing Through New Eyes

One more week of playing for class…that is playing the game Lineage. It is amazing how much is packed into this game. When you step aside from having some fun to analyze the games components and the interactions taking place there’s a lot going on. So is there learning occurring? What is true learning anyway? David Merrill states in his First Principle of Instruction five components of learning. Here they are: 1. Learning if facilitated when learners are engaged in solving real-world problems. -solving the problem in progression, more complex as you go 2. Learning is facilitated when relevant previous experience is activated. -have a foundation, take time to use the previous knowledge 3. Learning is facilitated when the instruction demonstrates what is to be learned rather than merely telling information about what is to be learned… -media is used, examples of concepts and non-examples 4. Learning is facilitated when learners are required to use their knowledge or skill to...

Now I know why people get so addicted to gaming, it really is fun. I have played games on the computer and on game systems, but never online like this. I had a blast! I must admit that I really suck, but I am having fun. After a long time I have reached level 10. My screen name is AvensGray (I'm sure I interacted with fellow class mates-especially RoeHaun, thanks for helping me). I signed on as a Knight (my class and race?) using a dagger, an pprentice knight sword, and a mace. I had a good orkish helmet, cloak, armor and leather boots to top off my look and protection. As you can imagine, I died A LOT. After dying 25 times I quit counting. Oh, and the most embarassing way I died was while others were trying to help me and they had to keep finding me again. I don't think I had a favorite creature, except the water snake women things in the dungeon were weird, can't remember what they were called. Looking forward to actually getting into the normal areas of the game, now tha...

Are people different online than they are offline? That seems like it should have a simple answer, but in today’s world it doesn’t. I found it interesting in the readings David gave my class Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community that what can be found in the offline world is found in the online world. Take a look at trolls, identity lying, identity of people by voice and language (or actions), etc. I was particularly interested in the section on trolls. In the example of someone on a community who started out being nice and following the rules suddenly turned on others and their posts. Was she (Ultimatego) a troll or just that way? The various reactions to Ultimatego ‘s malicious postings and know-it-all attitude were not far from what you’d see in the offline world as well. The range was from people who totally ignored her to those that would lash back. So why would anyone want to have two identities (an online and an offline)? There is always a chance that you can meet an ...

What a fun week this has been. Once I waded through the readings, I finally got to the fun part of talking with people. I must admit, that IRC is fun and informative at the same time. Quite the contrast to the MOO experience of last week. So I was connected to IRCnet for a while. First off I visited the channel #Beginner to get started. That was a good experience. Everyone there was friendly and very helpful. I learned a lot about the interaction and shortcuts by observing and chatting. I was surprised how many people were logged on, but not participating. I guess like me, they were learing by observation too. I actually spent quite a bit of time here. It helped so much. Next I visited the channel #Chatzone. That was a little slow. The conversation I had with one person was really hard to follow. Here I was also asked to join a small erotic chat. I declined graciously. My time in this channel was short-lived. I also visited the channel #Worldchat. Wow, this was a fun place to...