Its All Coming To An End!

This semester is coming to a an end, which can only mean one thing the presentation day for virtual environment module is only a few days away. Preparation has started to create the best possible presentation we can to inform the class and lecture's how are journey in trying to make a charity and cause go global has gone. As mentioned previously that our project aim is to raise awareness for the charity www.tlc4cf.ie and awareness for the disease cystic fibrosis. We had planned to use Second Life as a base as we wanted to encompass a part of out virtual environment module. In hopes that it would not just include a community that is often over look in society but also to broaden our knowledge on on-line interaction, using digital worlds and participating in a virtual reality to help us mange and create content within it. The idea of 'holding a rose for cystic fibrosis' and continue the challenge on to another person/avatar we felt was appropriate and thought that it would of gained more feedback and interest than it had. However, by doing it we have obtained information on how to brand, mange and create content on-line more efficiently. Things that could of benefited our project;

• The group didn't get in contact with individuals from the charity (as we didn't realize we could), this could of helped to spread the word about the idea. 
• Should of interlinked all sites and really designed them to look and appear the same to create a better on-line identity.
• More time could of been dedicated to building on-line connection. Even making more friends in Second  Life could of help spread more awareness or given us further knowledge on where to spread the rose. 
• Could have contacted second life radio's/broadcasters to try and air our idea. This could of created a bigger platform from to use. 
• Could have contacted other charity's within second life to see if they could of interlinked with out idea or given our group suggestions. 
• Possible could  have set up a charity bucket in certain locations in second life.
• Tried to reach out to a wider group of societies/organisations within second life 
• Interlinked all form of content on-line (such as adding links into any content that was on-line about the project) 

As none of the group is very familiar with Second Life's software it has been a challenge for the group to figure out how to put together our slides and imagery for the presentation day. For idea's on this to be shared we met up in Second Life to have a chat and see whether we could figure it out. We had a discussion and decided that we would probably have to ask one of the lecture's to help us create 

our slides. Kerri (wordpress.com/2015/04/27/reflections/) kindly offered to contact Dudley and see if  he could help us or give us advice. We also went through breaking up the project in to four different sections so that we could each take apart and expand on it. I wrote out the sections while doing this, Elly (ellymariec.wordpress.com) did some searching on presenting in second life and found this http://www.pechakucha.org/faq that discuses a way of presenting images in a, show and share work. It seem like it could be helpful to use for the project and even if not it is yet another on-line programme that I have learned about through this module. This will will be the last push to try and get the presentation together as we are presenting in-front of the class on the 7th of May. I just hope that even though it hasn't gone to plan the effort that was put in pays off. 

Unfortunately for our group our 'going global' hasn't gone as smoothly as we would of liked as we received very little feedback from any one when handing our rose's out. However, I have definitely learned a lot from the module. My computer skills have improved and even my anxieties about talking to stranger's on line has slowly broken away. This has ultimately allowed me to communicate with in a virtual environment, create my own on-line identity (my avatar and blog), mange a social networking site, gained a greater knowledge for personal brand identity, work collaboratively across the world, and gain more information about on-line content and creating ones own on-line content. Before this module I would have given little thought to such things but as our global society grows on- line it is important to understand how one is contributing to this. The module and project has definitely developed more of an on-line confidence within me. And as our world is becoming ever more immersed in  technology it could ultimately help me in years to come. Although at times it has been frustrating with communication difficulties and trying to wrap my head around new software it has expanded my appreciation for the time and effort that goes in to such things like Second Life and on-line content. Even updating twitter or tumblr to keep up with ones on-line identity takes up more time than I would have ever thought. I am grateful that I was able to take the module and develop a greater knowledge of the technical world.