About my Project

The topic of my project is "The power of Social Capital". My main goal was to summarize the benefits arising from Social networking to better understand its power and impact it may have on our society. I gave examples of how Social Networking may bring any kind of social group together in one place and let them co-operate, get information and gain knowledge. Individuals and professionals commonly use it to benefit in many different areas/disciplines of life, which I described in detail. I described main characteristics of Social Networking and provide some interesting real life examples. I also discovered some disadvantages that I did not hesitate to mention in my work. I learned a lot during the process and became aware of or better understand new technologies that are part of our new media now. I Chose this topic because it fascinated me how Social Networking became so popular and significant in almost every aspect of our life.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Online privacy and confidentiality draw significant attention these days, especially when it pertains to children. All Web site operators must be aware of the COPPA – Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, to obtain parental consent in connection with the collection of personal information from children under 13 years old.

Another practice raising privacy concerns is so called “ advergaming”, the provision of marketing-driven interactive games. The purpose of such games is data collection, like user name, mailing address, sex, age, etc.

Class Wiki - So Far

I have started contributing to the Class Wiki recently since it took me a while to figure out how to work this out. Therefore I did not offer a lot in contributions so far, but I am working on it.

So far I have been making some small changes, which stand for grammar and space corrections. They are reflected in different pages created on our Class Wiki. I am in the process of editing the Glossary and New page I created about Microblogging. I also added a link to the article related to the issue. I will continue working on those next week.

ADVICE TO BARUCH COLLEGE

Second Life offers a variety of new and exciting possibilities for teachers and students.
The idea for Baruch College is to deliver a wide range of courses and educational events using an on-line virtual world. Avatar-based virtual world education is very effective and highly interactive experience. Students would most gladly attend the virtual classroom. The biggest benefit of Virtual Education would be:

1. Thousands of students can be in the same class at the same time.
2. Students can watch the professor write on the electronic white board
3. Students can post questions during class time to smooth the progress of learning.
4. Immediate after class Web-based testing
5. Chat rooms for after-class discussions on the presented topic
6. Students can learn from the best instructors and experts
7. Student flexibility – individual learning style

Implementing this idea would give new opportunities to studying moms and students with disabilities who have limited access to education. This would make the learning process more interesting and exciting. Having said that, I also believe that this would encourage more people to apply and gain college degree.

THE NEXT NEW THING!!!

Digital Touch - Screen Kiosks: in airports and other heavily trafficked locations where consumers can plug in a flush drive and instantly download movies and other content. Please check the below link to read the whole article.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/media/e3i8ef233d9d2bed355990b13091a51365b

My New Media Class So Far

The new media technologies are web-related communication technologies, such as blogs, wikis, virtual worlds, online social networking, and other. New media are characterized by collaboration, creativity, convergence and communication. An access to and use of the Internet have become a normal aspect of everyday life in the world and it is continuously improving the way of communication in society.

Social networks are used widely in all aspects of our life. For example: Networking became a critical skill in the job search process. Thousands of jobs are now listed daily over the Internet. Internet is so called "door - opener" and it's hard to imagine our life without it. To continue on the above idea - we also have "Linked in", where you have an opportunity to present yourself to a very professional environment, make connections, and put your foot in the door by making a good impression and get recommendations.

In conclusion, it is not a surprise that new media are replacing old media, however we also need to remember of the fact that " the old media were once new". Media consumption habits are quickly changing followed by technology innovations. The biggest difference between new and old media is the level of communication and collaboration needed to be successful.

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

A virtual world is an interactive simulated environment accessed by multiple users through an online interface. The virtual world depicts space visually, ranging in style from 2D "cartoon" imagery to more immersive 3D environments. There are many different types of virtual worlds. All off them allow many users to participate at once and interaction takes place in real time. The world allows users to alter, develop, build, or submit customized content. The virtual world allows and encourages the formation of in-world social groups like teams, guilds, clubs, cliques, housemates, neighborhoods, etc.

Virtual worlds have been created for many different purposes. Commercial gaming worlds tend to be the largest and most common type of virtual world that are strongly influenced by fantasy, science fiction, and anime genres of literature and film. Those gaming worlds consistently follow formal conventions such as character-focused avatars, progression through an interactive narrative storyline, and a series of competitive events.

Some virtual worlds have been created for educational purposes. Academic institutions or nonprofit organizations mostly sponsor educational worlds. Forms of Educational worlds include 3D recreations of museum and gallery spaces, computer programming tutorials, virtual libraries, and meeting spaces for online university courses. Similarly, IBM’ idea of creating virtual world for employee trainings may be very attractive to young employees. This makes people “more willing to take risks and more flexible in their thinking”. (Ed Frauenheim)

In addition to the above, there are many commercial community-focused virtual worlds that put emphasis on socializing rather than gaming. These worlds are strongly influenced by the cultures of text-based chat rooms. Participants are there to socialize with others and, in many cases, create and decorate a personal space such as a home, room, or apartment. Social worlds tend to use settings based on idealized versions of reality. Most provide some basic building tools and the ability to host activities and events that revolve around a wide variety of topics.