Lesley Anderson

 Another Battle - Runescape  www.runescape.com 

After spending a few minutes on this site I can understand why the boys recommended that I had a look at it. Runescape is flashy. The graphics are excellent and the music loud and of excellent quality.  The game requires Java to run it and is “playable” straight on the screen with nothing else to download. There is a distinction between freeplay and member play as some of the “Worlds” within the game are locked to free players - I’m not sure what the difference between the games are. I suppose the site offers their 15,000 free hours and then you must subscribe.
Runescape does require some time spent to set-up.

• a profile is created - basically username, password, DOB, email address, country of residence. 
• a world is selected - this must be a free world as member worlds are locked for freeplay
• a character is designed - gender, clothing etc - could be classed as an avatar and is customisable, and changeable at certain times during the game.

• mouse options selected
  then a tutorial begins.

I worked through a fair bit of the tutorial and I actually quite enjoyed the setting up and acquiring of skills and items for use further into the game. I didn’t have to battle anything much during the tutorial, but that’s what this  game is about  too, although it is quite upmarket and sophisticated and much more than just a battle. I think that looking at Runescape and having a go at it for a while will help open up some avenues of conversation with some of my students which could be quite interesting.

The Battle for Wesnoth

I have held off posting this response as I wanted to have a few experiences with this game before I posted. I had no problems downloading the game and installing it on my computer, which was a good start with it.  Unfortunately I couldn’t seem to organise an online game with someone else so I’m not able to respond to that experience which might well have shown me something different about the game.

I am afraid I am not a “battle” game person, there is something about running around battling and killing people that just doesn’t appeal to me but I did try to go into it with an open mind. I’m sure there are many people who would find the game interesting and enthralling but frankly I found it quite boring.  Perhaps  it wasn’t fast moving enough?  It’s not that I am against computer games - I have spent many hours trying to beat my kids through the levels of Theme Hospital and my 8 year old and I are big on playing SimCity. I suppose I just enjoy a different type of game.

After discussing the Battle of Wesnoth with some of my Grade 6 boys, they suggested that I look at a game they seem to be playing a lot called Runescape - www.runescape.com  Runescape seems to be quite a popular game with them and I will have a look at it and perhaps post my response about it as well.

Mobile Computing Research

What is the educational value of online mobile games
and mobile social network access?

Wi-Fi technology advantages for e-learning 

Improving interest and access for many ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001) by employing familiar and flexible modes of learning, e-learning develops 21^st Century skills - problem solving, decision making, collaboration and teamwork through varied content methods such as simulations, games and social networking - effectively changing the face of both teaching and learning.

Using technology and these methods, to access learning across personal, local or world-wide networks, caters better for individual needs and learning styles. No boundaries of distance or time, means students have personal control over their learning. Read the rest of this entry »

Online Identity and Your State of Presence

Briefly explain, in your own words, what you think of the ideas
and solutions presented in Reading A by Dick Hardt.

 I found this a difficult video to follow and had to keep stopping and rewinding to review sections of it. This was mainly because Dick Hardt spoke so quickly and, of course, most of the language was new to me. Basically, though I think he was putting forward his case for a need for an identity management system to be employed over the internet. This type of system would prove a person’s identity on the internet, just as a driver’s licence does in the real world.  Hardt gives several different models of varying systems and how they have changed over time.  I particularly thought the model that he described where a user “registers” with an identity site set up on the internet of some interest and value to help protect a user’s identity. When the time comes and the user needs to input personal information to a site requiring it, the user contacts the identity site, tells them which information they need to release and the site sends the user a token or some type of indication of their identity. It is then the user who sends the information to the site requiring it. A system such as this means that a user only registers information once or updates in one place if and when required. Communication of information only occurs between the user and the trusted identity site. This leaves less chance of information going anywhere but where it is intended to go. Having the user pass on the “token” to the requiring site means that the user is still in control of the destination of the information. Read the rest of this entry »

Create and Record Your Online Persona

Will you have a persistent avatar across all your social
networks and virtual environments ? Why or why not?

I decided to place a photo of myself on my page - I have done that previously on websites etc and not had any problems with them and thought that it might help some of the other students studying 510 to put a face to the name. That is one thing I have found with distance education - you can feel isolated from others. Read the rest of this entry »

Virtual Worlds and Citizenship

I joined second life on Sunday 18^th July 2009. 

My first task was to create an avatar with a suitable persona and name.  I was thinking about using the meaning of my first name to create my avatar name

After much deliberation and searching, I finally decided to use a combination of my first and last names to make Lesander.  When I put these together and did a search for the meaning (if there was one!!) I found Lysander, Lisander and various other forms of the name.  I discovered a whole myth about Lysander and thought it a reasonably intriguing name to use. I realised I am more serious about things than I thought and the whole exercise of finding a name for my avatar has shown me that I am somehow compelled to do things with a purpose!!!  As I was creating my account I was offered a list of last names to use with my first. Again, I thought about which name I would use. I am certain that other people must complete this task much more easily and quickly than me. This particularly affected me when I read that you can’t change your avatar’s name.  I didn’t even think at the time that I could make another account/avatar if I wanted to - who would know?? Read the rest of this entry »

Virtual Environments and Your Cognition

Using Facebook

I joined Facebook on 20^th July 2009.

Going to the Facebook site - www.facebook.com, filling in some basic details - Name, email address etc, I created a password and voila! I had a Facebook page. It was such an easy process to complete.  I found a couple of photos of myself to upload into my “profile photos”, filled in some personal info, such as the names of my husband and children and my page was definitely up and running.  Within a few hours I had requests from 4 people to become “friends”. It appears that being friends enables you to see the photos on another person’s Facebook page, write on their “wall” - a section of the page to leave messages etc and view their personal information.  24 hours later I had 7 friends that included family, past students and colleagues. I was intrigued to see the names that turned up with requests to be added. Read the rest of this entry »

Virtual Environments and Your Cognition.

What do you think is the difference between
social cognition and visual cognition?

Cognition involves a set of mental activities that include thinking, knowing and remembering that enable us to process and understand information.

Social Cognition relates to people using these mental activities to process social information. It focuses on how we encode, store, retrieve, and apply information to social situations - knowing how to interact and behave when together with others.

“It studies the individual within a social or cultural context and focuses on how people perceive and interpret information they generate themselves (intrapersonal) and from others (interpersonal)” (Sternberg, 1994).

Visual Cognition centres round using these mental activities to process the visual cues we encounter such as, recognition of objects, words and faces as well as perception of textures, space and colour and enabling us to understand them in various situations and contexts. Read the rest of this entry »

A Heuristic Experience.

I had a few difficulties finding the link to the heuristic evaluation site. I couldn’t seem to find it in the PDF file - none of my links would work.  I did remember stumbling across it as I looked at some of the past files for the course saved on ZOPE. Thankfully I found the page at -

http://oldwww.acm.org/perlman/question.cgi Read the rest of this entry »

My Experiences with Online Communities - 2

In my quest to discover and learn about Folksonomies, I realised just how involved the topic is. I managed to get my FOAF - Friend of a Friend - file completed and will be interested to see if or how that all works. The concept behind it is great, but in my mind I am still trying to get my head around the idea of trying to connect everyone who uses the world wide web in some way. I found it a little obscure, but perhaps I don’t fully understand it all? Read the rest of this entry »