#6887478 rivenhomewood wrote:
Going back into my blogs was a similar experience. Yes, I remember being the person who wrote that. She's pretty cool, but she isn't me now. And why did I ever put this post online? Well, at this point deleting it would be pretty silly. Etc, etc, etc....
Ah, memories! I remember when, pre-college, I used to sell (broker) 3D models using the username Kimmarcus. When I go back, I cringe at the level of ineptness my graphics showed. On the other hand, some of the technical stuff I accomplished still impresses me.
I remember having an interesting conversation about online identity related to learners. There was a question brought up...it was something like, "How can we get students to integrate their academic identity online?" At the time, my mental image was of a student building an avatar to represent themselves in their academic journey.
What would it be like it we could encourage students to build an avatar (RPG-like) and build in certain characteristics to emphasize what kind of learner they are and what they want to learn? Honestly, I don't know if this would be something that could work or not. It could so easily be seen as "lame" by students, including adult learners. So much would depend on the presentation.
I do know that every time I have brought students into Second Life or Open Sim, the first thing they do is ask, "How do I change his/her clothes? How do I put on this robot costume?"
For us as educators, I think that how we represent ourselves on the various social networks (our PLNs) is important, too. (Maybe this is just my bias?) It's not just about gathering resources and figuring out who is the "go to" person for certain subjects, it's also about establishing ourselves with our strengths and interests, academically and technically speaking. "I'm a designer. I'm interested in educational technology, especially with games. I know Photoshop." This is pretty much what Dawley was saying about educators in virtual worlds: "Teachers and students in virtual worlds must gain ‘‘avatar capital’’ (Castronova, 2006) through ongoing participation in networks to develop their credibility as a network member. What does this mean for a teacher in virtual worlds?" We need to consider what this means in our social networks, too.
So, how do you manage your past social interactions? How do you curate them or even censor them? Rivenhomewood decided to leave that post, but has anyone ever had to go back and try to change history? :D
-LeeDale