The Story of My “Second Life”

Saturnine Fei, an ISTE SL member who happened by HQ last night during Victoria’s shift, told us that NPR’s Science Friday segment (31-August) was on virtual worlds … click the image at right or this link to listen. The panelists:

• Dmitri Williams, Annenberg School, USC Annenberg Program in Online Communities, University of Southern California
• Cory Ondrejka, co-founder and chief technology officer, Linden Lab
• Sherry Turkle, director, MIT Initiative on Technology and Self Program in Science, Technology, and Society
• Eric Lofgren, PhD Epidemiology Candidate, University of North Carolina

Dmitri is teaching the first course of its kind in the country (and makes Dr. Turkle’s works required reading for his students, including Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet.) He gave a special nod to educators in Second Life, calling our presence in the virtual world “vibrant” and rattling off a list of the various courses and subjects currently being taught in SL. Education was not the focus of this piece (perhaps a follow-up is worth exploring, hmmmmm) and there was no mention of the Teen Grid and its protective protocols in response to host Ira’s question about potential child predators.

A caller described her daughter’s fascination with Webkinz, which Turkle handled beautifully, while another caller wondered about time spent in-world appreciating art when so much art is available to be experienced in real life. Virtual relationships were discussed at length (not just in Second Life) and Turkle pointed out that much research has already been done on human behavior & communiction via Internet-based systems – so what we are seeing with Second Life (including obsessive, dangerous amounts of overuse) is nothing new. That gives us a leg to stand on when dealing with selling these projects within our institutions.

Overall the segment was good, I was able to enjoy it while getting some other work done, and I’d recommend it for sharing with others who are new to virtual worlds (and of course NPR fans). They maxed out the sim (wish I’d known the event was scheduled, I’d have tried to be there too). I’m off to find their place now…

-kj-