Lesley Anderson

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 »