Experience
with Second Life
I
launched into Second Life http://secondlife.com/ not knowing anything about
it. Quickly I learnt it was an online interactive reality game.
Registration
took a few hours over two nights. Creating an account was straight forward, the
time was taken:-
· loading Second Life
· locating CSU, and
· navigating Second Life
I managed
to add my lecturers and they kindly accepted my invite. I teleported to CSU and
tried to enter a classroom but couldn't (probably wasn't meant to).
Second
Life lagged at times and on two occasions appeared to freeze. On one of those occasions
all I could do was shut my laptop down.
It
appears my broadband connection may not be fast enough and my graphics card
just meets the minimum requirements http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/?lang=en-US.
However,
the issue that disturbed me was how I felt physically. I wear multi-focal
glasses and found navigating Second Life quite difficult. After thirty minutes
of navigating Second Life I was a little dizzy and uncomfortable continuing as
I was running into objects. I have researched this issue and much to my
surprise discovered literature to support me experience http://www.livestrong.com/article/25560-computer-vision-syndrome/.
The article particularly mentioned users that require glasses may have
difficulty with computer work
I did not
enjoy this learning experience and I'm definitely reluctant to attempt Second
Life again. However, as it is a topic within the INF206 Modules I will attempt
it again with fellow students.
There are
mixed feelings among my fellow students. With some enjoying the new experience,
a couple already familiar with Second Life and a couple who felt like I did.
Together maybe our next experience will be a positive one. Like a few of my cohorts
I can't grasp how this can be a useful ongoing learning tool, however I stand
to be corrected.
References
Mooney,
L. (2009). Computer Vision Syndrome. Retrieved August, 4 from, http://www.livestrong.com/article/25560-computer-vision-syndrome/.
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