Sunday, September 03, 2006
Classes
After attending a few classes (a flower/fountain making class and a class on making rave sticks) I began to wonder if the same stipulations for real life classes should apply in SL.
Should someone be allowed to leave during class? An avatar in one of my classes just stopped following along, and then 10 minutes later came back and said “sorry, phone.” The teacher then had to stop and catch him up. You wouldn’t leave to answer the phone in real class…you aren’t even supposed to have your phone on in real class.
Should the class wait for people that show up late? One of my classes ran a half hour behind because avatars kept on showing up well after the starting time of the class. In real life, class doesn’t wait for anyone. It starts on time, no matter when you show up.
Should you be allowed to take a class that is beyond your skill level? In my flower class one avatar didn’t even know how to use the arrows to move their object around. The whole class had to slow down for her. In real life you start with 100 level classes and progress from there, making it rare to be in a class that's way beyond your level.
Though an overall beneficial experience, I became slightly frustrated with the avatars not abiding to real life rules. The somewhat pressure free atmosphere of SL makes it easy to do a lot of thing that are normally looked down upon in real life (showing up late, being rude, etc). Plus, it’s only your avatar; you’re not putting your REAL self out there. I suppose it’s a double edged sword, because the atmosphere of SL also makes it easy to do things that are smiled upon in real life (ask questions, be friendly to new people, be bold, etc). I guess I shouldn't be too frustrated with some of the avatars because I found myself only half paying attention sometimes. It was way too easy to start doing something else (AIM, TV, music, daydreaming) during SL class. If nothing else, SL is sharpening my multitasking skills :)
Should someone be allowed to leave during class? An avatar in one of my classes just stopped following along, and then 10 minutes later came back and said “sorry, phone.” The teacher then had to stop and catch him up. You wouldn’t leave to answer the phone in real class…you aren’t even supposed to have your phone on in real class.
Should the class wait for people that show up late? One of my classes ran a half hour behind because avatars kept on showing up well after the starting time of the class. In real life, class doesn’t wait for anyone. It starts on time, no matter when you show up.
Should you be allowed to take a class that is beyond your skill level? In my flower class one avatar didn’t even know how to use the arrows to move their object around. The whole class had to slow down for her. In real life you start with 100 level classes and progress from there, making it rare to be in a class that's way beyond your level.
Though an overall beneficial experience, I became slightly frustrated with the avatars not abiding to real life rules. The somewhat pressure free atmosphere of SL makes it easy to do a lot of thing that are normally looked down upon in real life (showing up late, being rude, etc). Plus, it’s only your avatar; you’re not putting your REAL self out there. I suppose it’s a double edged sword, because the atmosphere of SL also makes it easy to do things that are smiled upon in real life (ask questions, be friendly to new people, be bold, etc). I guess I shouldn't be too frustrated with some of the avatars because I found myself only half paying attention sometimes. It was way too easy to start doing something else (AIM, TV, music, daydreaming) during SL class. If nothing else, SL is sharpening my multitasking skills :)
// posted by Kate @ 11:59 PM 
