My timeslot to meet the HKPolyU students is at 7.30pm to 8.30pm, and I logged on to Second Life promptly. The assigned place to meet is at Temasek Polytechnic Island for me, so I teleported there. There were many TP students there, in fact all of them are TP students. Suddenly 1 of the HKPolyU student is here, everyone gathered around him trying to be his Second Life buddy. I can tell that the HK student had a hard time answering everyone's questions.
After a long wait for more HK student to be online, I decided to teleport to HKPolyU Campus instead to try my luck to find a buddy. I found out that most of the HK students are at HKPolyU Campus, so thankfully I made the right choice. I was greeted by almost everyone there upon my arrival, it made me feel welcomed by them. The whole situation is rather messy, we do not know how to identify each other, and do not know if one is TP/HK student. After everyone settled down, I did a brief introduction about myself and managed to get a HK buddy - angushk
We discussed about the questions and he asked me questions for his assignment too. Finally we went to my dream holiday which is at Paris. I'm still very amazed at how everything looked so real, like Temasek Polytechnic Island, it is like 90% alike to the real life TP.
What do you like best about this virtual experience which you cannot get in real-life?
I like the convenience of being able to talk to more than one person at a time and everyone pays attention to what I have to say. In real life, when I want to talk to a group of friends, I have to raise my voice to get their attention which is hard for me because I do not have a loud voice by nature.
Do you have to observe special mannerisms/behaviours/ethics when meeting your new friend on Second Life?
Yes I do take into consideration that I am meeting someone new, so I will watch the words I use.
How do you feel about meeting and sharing about your Dream Holiday with your new friends from Hong Kong?
I feel that it is pretty interesting and fun! My Dream Holiday is France, Paris. I never been to the place, but I saw pictures of Eiffel Tower and I hope to visit there one day. When I arrive at Paris on Second Life, I was like all woah! Because it feels too realistic. My HK buddy and I wanted to visit his dream holiday too, but sadly it cannot be found on Second Life.
What is so special about discussing on Second Life with your friends about ethics of using Social Media?
I guess it is special to discuss about ethnics of using Social Media on Second Life because Second Life is a social media platform itself. It is also special because I am able to know of someone else's view on social media (refer to screenshot).
What have you gained from this e-learning experience?
I learnt that it is important to be flexible at times. If I had stayed on at Temasek Polytechnic Island throughout, I guess I would not be able to complete my task as soon as I had teleported to HKPolyU Campus. Sometimes it does not harm to adapt to different situations.
What is the one most challenging experience you had?
I think the most challenging experience I had through this virtual meet up is not being able to look for a buddy quickly. I thought that I will not be able to have a buddy because of there were more TP students than HK students at that point of time. Thankfully for my perseverance, I managed to have a buddy in the end.
