Digital Nation (part II)

These segments of Digital Nation showed aspects of technology that I did not know even existed. What was most surprising to me was the "Second Life" program that could have the potential of being integrated into the business world.
The program is basically a grown-up version of the “Sims” gaming series. The avatars in the “Second Life” program allow business companies to cut the cost of flying their employees to, say, Beijing for a business meeting or negotiation. It is astonishing that someone from Hong Kong can have a formal-attire business meeting with an employee from Australia, England, India, and the United States all from the comfort of his/her own home while sitting in the kitchen in his/her pajamas. I can see why this would be very beneficial to the companies as well as their employees, and I think that it is great that big companies like IBM are finding creative ways to utilize the technology that is available to them. It just came as such a shock to me that technology has really come this far. I think that this part of the video was a sort of reality shock for me because I had never actually took the time become aware of all the different technologies are involved in my everyday life that was not here say 50 or so years ago – TV, internet, cell phone, iPod, GPS, computer games, video games, etc. If I had realized that I as an individual was so in tune with technology, maybe I could have imagined what was available to big companies like IBM and seen something like this coming. It is unfortunate that employee teamwork may no longer be face-to-face and that people at a business meeting may never actually meet the others, but this does not mean that this form of technology is bad. This “Second Life” program may have the opportunity to revolutionize the business world, and its impacts will be great.

Another point I wanted to make concerned the segment about teaching through technology. I believe that teachers hit the nail on the head when they recognize that students today do not learn in the same manner as kids did a decade or two or three ago. It is not that our generation is a dumb generation, but rather that we have been introduced to new potential distractions need to be lured to learning with a method of teaching other than just the traditional lecture. I agree with Katie Salen (from the video) when she says that video games can have the same potential as books when used correctly. The internet is a great thing, and I fully support integrating it into the school curricula more than it has been in the past. I think that people stigmatize the technology of the internet and video games because they are afraid that we will not be able to control it. That should not be a concern if we add technology education and utilization of educational video games to the curriculum from the very beginning of one’s education. For now, I side myself with those who believe that the internet and video games and other forms of technology have a positive effect on society.