Students' Brains Re-wired by Internet

"British students are unable to concentrate on reading an academic book because the internet is 're-wiring' their brains a new documentary claims".

Take a look at the article. Hold any validity? (from your experience)?

(Armchair) Work-Based Learning

Think our Work-Based Learning Modules might be more or less popular? Think this approach might be more or less useful to our undergrads? Advantages and disadvantages?

Using Second Life for Workplace Learning 03-25-09

View more presentations from twerner.

SLowly resembling FL?

A presentation that provides a good overview of the uses of SL. Any surprises?

SecondLife, a real new world: life, business and toxic immersion

View more presentations from danrev.

For those of you interested in readng about SL culture and news, here's a link to what has been voted the best blog on the subject. 'New World News' by Wagner James. Cornupcopia of the cranky and manky (amongst the sane tidbits) BUT, it does give an insight into the 'culture'. The 'Avatars United' article is particularly bizarre. At least to me...and now. :/

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/

'Ello all. Here's a little snippet of John Perry Barlow's 'Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace' manifesto (which we'll be visiting briefly, in full, next week) to assist in appreciating dominant mental models of cyberspace.

A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

"Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind….

Cyberspace consists of transactions, relationships, and thought itself, arrayed like a standing wave in the web of our communications. Ours is a world that is both everywhere and nowhere, but it is not where bodies live…

Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity, movement, andcontext do not apply to us. They are based on matter, There is no matter here… Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot obtain order by physical coercion….Our identities may be distributed across many of your jurisdictions…

We must declare our virtual selves immune to your sovereignty, even as we continue to consent to your rule over our bodies. We will spread ourselves across the Planet so that no one can arrest our thoughts. We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before".

John Perry Barlow

Davos, Switzerland, February 8, 1996.

Inspired by the 'Brain in the Vat'

'I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man

Hi all you current and ex-cyberspacers!

Just in case there is not enough sunshine and other non-academic activities to entertain you I have seen an interesting article in the June edition of The Psychologist called 'Get a second life' by Christian Jarrett. It covers a lot of the topics from the module as well as looking at the conduction of therapy in second life. I will try and email it as an attachment onto the webct discussion forum and to Debbie.

Happy hols
Polly