Week 6

Week 6

Dear Mr. Bailenson,

Your article about Transformed Social Interaction in Collaborative Virtual Environments was very interesting because it was very relatable.  After working with the virtual environment of Second Life for class, I feel like I have already learned a great deal from the experiences I’ve had in there and can really relate it to your three dimensions of the TSI theory which I thought was cool.  As mentioned, I liked the idea of teachers utilizing distance learning applications and having to keep track of students through virtual environments instead of actual class settings.  Also, if you need to get help and ask it through an online classroom setting it can be easier because you might not feel embarrassed to ask a question or get help and it also allows you to participate more freely and express your opinions easier as opposed to being face to face.  The idea of rendered time in a situational context was good because it’s nice to be able to rewind if you ever miss something said, where as in a f-t-f class setting you might feel rude asking a professor to repeat themselves.  The dimension about self-representation was interesting because after making avatars on Second Life for class, I was able to see what you meant and it was cool to see how everyone created theirs and showed how they wanted us to perceive them.  These dimensions were very applicable with all the online work we’ve been doing in Second life and I thought it was cool how I could relate the whole article to my own experiences.

Gabby Theroux