Session 4 blog assignment

(1) What are your thoughts about virtual environments and "life online?"

The virtual environment is a new hit of today's technology world. The combination of virtual machine monitor and hardware platform creates a 3D space which makes users feel that they are situating in the real environment. The immersive experience can be utilized as a unique simulator system, which can be used in training, such as astronaut and pilot training. It also upgrades gaming interaction to another level. More virtual reality applications will be developed in entertainment as well. Besides gaming, movie, traveling, just name a few, VR will change the way people consume entertainment.

At the current stage, virtual reality didn't emphasize too much on its social aspect, which is a big component of people's life online. After I dug a little bit further, I found out that social virtual reality would take place in the near future. A few companies are working diligently to make it happen faster (Facebook is one of them). Just imagine, you and your family and friends can be together inside another world, which will allow much richer communication to happen between each other. By then, you will not miss the time chatting with each other by typing or talking to a flat screen.  

2) Do you feel there is a correlation between life online and academic achievement, for better or worse?

I am not sure if there is a fixed formula for the correlation between life online and academic achievement. The Internet really is a double-edged sword, how much it will affect the academic achievement heavily depends on how people use it in the academic settings.

Nobody will neglect the fact that the Internet brings the world at our feet. You can almost find any information within a few clicks. But at the same time, the overwhelmed information and platforms also serve as big distractors.  It is hard to stay abreast with how many choices people have for social media, even each one just provides a little bit different functionality with one another. People thought they can multitask and migrate well between studying and chatting online, but multiple studies have been showed that almost everyone is terrible at multitasking. The more people try and do the worse they perform on every task. I think institutions should help students be aware of their social life online and encourage them to use the Internet wisely.