A world I don’t inhabit: disquiet and identity in Second Life and Facebook

Abstract

The authors use their own experiences of social software to argue for the need for caution in its uses in education. They particularly draw attention to difficulties in engagement, the effects on identity, an emphasis on superficial issues, lack of coherence, and problems with authenticity and trust. While Facebook and Second Life appear to have potential for educational applications, the disquiet associated with them may need to be taken into account: and this can affect both students and their teachers. One of the authors is a student on an online course and extracts from her blogs and journal capture the emotional and psychological effects of engaging in these new worlds at the time it happened. Both authors have noticed changes in their responses over time and point to the need for integration and coherence for "virtual identities" to play an appropriate part in higher education. The paper raises more questions than it answers and suggests that there is an urgent need to theorise online identity, roles of academics and students and codes of practice in such environments. If social software has a serious place in academic life, these issues will need to be widely debated.

(SNTL #1) Costs and Benefits of Facebook for Undergraduate Students

“…One of the communication tools used by many students in their daily life is Facebook. In recent years, Facebook has been adopted extensively for educational purposes (e.g., see Boon and Sinclair, 2009;Hendrix, Chiarella, Hasman, Murphy, & Zafron, 2009).…”

Facebook as a Medium in English Learning as Foreign Language at IAIN Pontianak

“…Institutions of higher education around the world began to focus on the benefits of Facebook for educational purposes (Boon & Sinclair, 2009). Facebook was not developed to be a supportive learning environment but it has a potential to be.…”

“…Years, Facebook has been adopted extensively for educational purpose (Boon and Sinclair, 2009). The social media are computer-mediated tools that allow people to create, share idea, exchange information and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks through the internet.…”

Which e-Learning Technology is Right for me?

“…While social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo were not developed as educational tools they have been eagerly adopted by some educational institutions seeking new levels of student engagement and interactivity [18].However some educational institutions are concerned by the possibility of postings which might be considered inappropriate and they address this by blocking access to such tools through their network [19].…”