Emerging+Trends+in+Web+Technology

Emerging Trends in Web Technology: A VoiceThread on //Second Life//

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Description of the Assignment // For this assignment, we were tasked to choose an Emerging Web 2.0 technology, analyze it, and discuss its applications in both the real world and in education. To present the information gleaned from our research, we used an online tool called “VoiceThread,” which is an application that allows you to take pictures, slideshows, documents, movies, and other media, upload it to the VoiceThread website, which will make a ‘slideshow’ out of it, and then allow you (and others!) to add voice/written comments about each slide.

In its entirety, I created a VoiceThread about the Emerging Web 2.0 technology virtual world of…. //// Second Life ////. //

Process for Making My Choice // Well, making my choice was actually very easy. Simply, I am a nerd, so the opportunity to explore and research a virtual world (still something I would consider a game!) for a graduate class, then report back on what I found in a novel format piqued my interest heavily. //

// I chose  // // Second Life //// because, even with my rudimentary knowledge of it, I knew that there could be many applications of it to the educational world, and was interested to find out what they were! //

Reflection! // Wow. A lot of times… wow. I thought I had I good scope on the possibilities behind // Second Life //when I started, but the deeper I got, the deeper **it** got. In the short amount of time we had to research our 2.0 Technology, I believe I barely scraped the tip of the iceberg. I have discovered that the possibilities to// Second Life //are nigh on endless, given enough imagination, patience, and time.// // However, therein lay the issue as well. // Second Life //is an extremely complicated game, and I found myself getting a little bit frustrated with the interface at times. I cannot imagine how a kid would feel sometimes with the enormous scope of everything, especially in middle school or lower grades. I would definitely take a lot of time and reinforcement of expectations to apply it effectively. However, any teacher that could find that opportunity can most likely see their investment return ten-fold.// // On the note of VoiceThread, I love it. I have already shared it with colleagues at work, especially those going out on maternity/paternity leave, and a couple of them have already asked for some assistance on getting it set up. I think VoiceThread is one of the best things I have learned about in this class so far. Simple to use? Check. Effective? Check. Fun? Check. //

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