Off the Rails Episode 32: SR - Somebody Else’s Reality

Recorded December 17, 2021

Have y’all heard of this Metaverse thingy? It’s exactly like Second Life from 2003, but… uh… new? And people want to live in it for some reason? I don’t get it. No one does, but we’re all playing along. So, we have a news story about a recent poll that says people want to work in the Metaverse because it’ll… uh… increase… productivity… somehow?

Then we introduce a new segment we call Technology on Trial where we select a new or emerging technology that is getting a lot of coverage and present arguments for and against. It’s like Law and Order, but the listeners are the jury. Look for an upcoming Twitter poll to determine the outcome!

Finally, we look back on our predictions for our fall semesters. Were we right in our prognostications about instructors and students having trouble adapting to hybrid learning environments? Hint: No… and yes!

Articles dicussed:

• https://www.avinteractive.com/news/collaboration/nearly-half-employees-want-workplace-metaverse-08-12-2021/

• https://er.educause.edu/articles/2021/12/educause-quickpoll-results-xr-technology