Disruptive technologies are those that come about without warning. They bring about change in how we do things, and while the new technology has the same role or purpose of the old technology it functions more efficiently, thus obsoleting the previous technology. (Thornburg, 2009). Second Life is a disruptive technology because it came about without warning and brought about change in how the 3D world worked.
Second Life was not the first virtual world to be used for educational purposes; others
had existed for several decades. It was not even the first 3D virtual world to allow users
to generate their own content. But it was the first to combine easy 3D content creation,
(relatively) easy scripting for interactive content, and an effective system to allow or
restrict the sharing of user-generated content. And with a stroke of luck, Second Life
happened to time its release, in 2003, just as high-speed Internet connections and 3D
graphics cards were becoming ubiquitous (Livingstone, 2011, para. 7).
Second Life replaced how we interact with each socially and online games. Second Life also began to be used by universities to have virtual classes and a virtual college experience for those who cannot attend a class in person. Second Life has the potential to replace field trips because users can visit museums or other places through the virtual world of Second Life. However, the experience of a field trip in person can never fully be replaced. The ability to visit places virtually does give students the opportunity to see different places they may never have to opportunity to see, but the actual in-person experience is invaluable and will most likely never be fully replaced. While Second Life could be beneficial in the classroom by appealing to individual learning styles, it is currently only available to those aged 16 or older. For this reason, it may never fully emerge in the K-12 educational setting.
Second Life could eventually be replaced by holographic communications. Through the use of holographics, people can attend meetings in other countries and never leave their home office. Their experience would not be virtual but live, which may eventually become more appealing. Second Life if great for the Internet gamers and may be around for many years to come for that purpose. For the purpose of educational settings and meetings, it may be replaced within the next 5-10 years by holographic capabilities.
The social benefits of Second Life depend on the user. In one study conducted by Eryn Grant, a PhD student in Queensland University of Technology's School of Humanities, “Ms. Grant said she did not share the worry of some that increased online interaction would detract from traditional social skills” (Queensland University of Technology, 2008). Eryn found that if you do not have the social skills to communicate in real-life, you will not have the social skills to communicate in a virtual web-based life. "One major thing which I [Eryn Grant] found was that you cannot have this intense kind of web-based interface without real-life tools - if you can't communicate to someone in real life, you won't be able to do it online" (Queensland University of Technology, 2008). How the attractiveness of an avatar affected human behavior online and offline was another study that was conducted. It was found that if an avatar was pretty or good looking they displayed more confidence and would go up to other avatars and begin a conversation versus those whose avatars were homely (they remained wall-flowers and didn’t approach other avatars for conversation). This behavior was the same in real-life as it was in the virtual life. Another experiment was having people watch their avatar exercise versus watching their avatar just lounge around. The experiments showed that the possibilities are endless. If you have a cuter version of yourself as an avatar, it will help you gain confidence. If you have a buffed-up version of yourself as an avatar that exercises, you will be more apt to exercise and lose weight. ‘"The most stunning part is how subtle the manipulations are and how difficult they are to detect," says Bailenson, “but how much it affects real life later on"’ (Dell, 2008).
For education, Second Life can provide students with access to materials, resources, teachers, or field trips that are not possible in their physical environments. It would open up a new world for students. For those students who have difficulty communicating, they would be able to communicate via their avatar through Second Life. It does appeal to individual learning styles, but the age limit would have to go down or K-12 educators would have to find another way to use Second Life.
References:
Dell, K. (2008, May 12). How Second Life affects real life. Retrieved from Time Science & Space:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1739601,00.html
Livingstone, D. (2011, April 7). Second Life is dead, Long live Second Life. Retrieved from Educause Review Online:
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/second-life-dead-long-live-second-life
Queensland University of Technology (2008, July 21). Second Life Improves Real-life Social
Skills. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 11, 2013, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/07/080717210838.htm
Thornburg, D. (2009). Disruptive technologies. Laureate Education Podcast. Laureate Education, Inc.
