SOCIETY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN SECOND LIFE (more course information)

- Wednesdays, January 9 - May 21, 2008, 7-9 pm E.T. on Berkman island in the virtual world of Second Life only

 

- Instructor: Scott MacLeod

 

 

This is a sociology class aimed at undergraduate students of all backgrounds and interests. It does not require specific sociological knowledge and is designed to be understood by any student with a general level of information about society, politics, the economy, and international affairs that can be expected from a Penn State or a Berkman island Second Life student/participant, regardless of the participant's expertise.

 

While undergraduates are welcome, we'll explore a wide range of themes that serious scholars, interested graduate students and at-large participants in the field will find engaging and relevant. You are welcome to participate, if only to attend a number of classes. It's also an opportunity to see how courses in Second Life work.

 

This class will take place only in the virtual world of Second Life, and online through video and on the Internet. A series of video lectures will analyze the interaction between society and contemporary information technologies, in a multicultural and comparative perspective. We will meet in Second Life for 2 hours every week on Wednesday evenings from 7-9 pm ET. There will also be two hour-long lectures per week, of 1 hour each, to be viewed before the Second Life class meetings. Lectures will cover 8 topics, which will be subdivided in specific themes. Specific, required readings will be assigned for each topic.

 

 

 

Pre-requisites:

For non-sociology students; consent of the instructor (there's a 40-avatar limit in any given simulation in SL at present).

 

Requirements: 

Regular attendance in class in Second Life. Required readings. Course projects, papers.

 

Course Wiki:

Here is the course wiki's address:

http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com

 

 

 

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About Second Life:

 

Second Life is a virtual world where avatars meet, communicate (group chats via typing, as well as with voice), and build things, among other things. It’s an emerging society. I’ve participated in two courses there through Harvard in the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007, (and taught one in SL in the summer of 2007), of which this is, in a sense, a continuation.

 

 

Check to see if you can use Second Life. You will need to spend some time becoming familiar with it. Here's a tutorial:

http://cm.dce.harvard.edu/2006/01/82002/P11/index.html

 

After getting an avatar and learning about Second Life, teleport yourself to Berkman island, as well as start exploring other places in Second Life.

 

My avatar's name is Aphilo Aarde.

 

E-mail me your avatar's name.

 

Come to Second Life

 

 

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Technology Requirements:

 

In order to participate in this course in Second Life, you will need:

 

- broadband access (DSL, cable or faster, - not dial up modem)

- a minimum of 300 MB of free memory (free RAM) on your own computer, which makes Second Life and video workable

- (the Macbook with Boot Camp which runs both MacOS and Windows, at the same time with Parallels, works well here)

 

 

 A gmail account is also useful.

 

 

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Scott MacLeod, M.A., D.R., has taught "Sociology" at Penn State New Kensington and as well as "Society and Information Technology." He has done graduate work in sociology and anthropology at Berkeley, the University of California Santa Barbara (M.A.), and the University of Edinburgh (D.R.). His research focuses on the Internet and California culture, engaging ethnographic and sociological approaches. http://scottmacleod.com

 

 

 

This course is a very interesting opportunity to learn about how the information age is developing, and to engage in emerging kinds of virtual learning / education.

 

 

See you in-world,

Scott

 

 

 

Home - http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com/