Blogs: Virtual Worlds

I think virtual worlds are extremely interesting and that they can become a huge factor when it comes to the future of education. Virtual worlds can be used for educational purposes in a lot of entertaining ways. For examples there are games like Runescape and Minecraft which Diane Mehta mentioned in her Forbes article. These games can educate and teach real life theories and ideas in an interactive and appealing way. I learned the basics about the market and economy through these games and a lot about different natural resources. Another pro for these virtual worlds include the interconnected nature of these games. You can reach practically anyone around the world through these platforms which can offer exposure to a bunch of different experiences. Virtual worlds foster creativity by enabling you to literally create things from scratch. You can role play through these games and allow you to aspire to reach specific goals that interest you. I think the future of virtual worlds has an emphasis on collaboration. You want to focus on benefit of having everyone connected and the synergies that come along with that connection.

With these pros comes a lot of different cons. The first negative is that privacy and security is something that will keep skeptical people from trying. Technology can also lag where many people throughout society are slow to convert to more modern things. Despite these possible negatives I believe virtual worlds add a lot of value to our current society and will continue to gain popularity.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/index.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/