Stealing academic ideas

I was reminded again today about the dangers of posting such ideas online.  Your own original (or not so original for those of us who are in the "postmodern" in-the-know) content is at risk all the time from those who want to and are willing to steal our ideas, much like those who steal music, art, images, videos, and other sources of intellectual property off the Internet.

Honestly though, most people steal either when they want to get popular or can make money off it, or need something they don't want to pay for.  Would anyone really want to steal my ideas on this page?  And (another reminder from another colleague of mine), would anyone really be able to find this blog as well as my web page? This blog as well as my dissertation page is buried upon buried underneath all sorts of webpages in Google.  If you type in any combination of keywords relating to my "supposed" topic, I am still buried underneath mountains of other web addresses.  I could barely find it.  Now it may become popular later, but for now I would highly doubt it.

And if anyone in academia would steal ideas, and claim it as his/her own, then I'd mostly refer to them, in common modern academic terms, as a "scab."  Honestly!  Education is about collaboration.  The sharing of ideas and working together.  Why would anyone in the field of education be such a "scab" and steal my content?  Now, I know anything is possible, and there probably is someone out there who might.  But those who are really educators should very much know better than that.  Plus, as long as you attribute the idea to the original owner of the idea, then you stay very much out of trouble.

Well, my ideas are specific to the area I work in, so unless someone very near to where I work and study steals my ideas, then, in my humble opinion, I don't really have much to worry about.  Even if they are in the same University as I am in, I still don't have much to worry about.  Plus, if the person who does steal my ideas is within the place I work and study at, I very much know where he/she is on this island and can track them down and confront them very easily (unless they want to run off to Mexico or some other foreign country, I doubt it).  And trust me, they will not be happy if they have to confront me.  I am fair, but firm in regards to things like this. (Well, for the most part) :-)

So, that's it.

So if this thing doesn't work?

Let's say instruction is virtual environments no longer seems to be the trend in the next few years, and I need to change topics.  Well, I've been thinking, and what I might do, if my original topic doesn't work out, is change to a topic that asks the questions,

"What are the attitudes and experiences of Christians, Buddhists, and Atheists in regards to technology at home and in the classroom?"

An interesting thought.  Maybe something educators would benefit from, knowing where their students and parents are coming from in regards to their views on technology.  And as far as I know Christians, Buddhists, and Atheists aren't going away anytime soon ;-)

So why do I like Second Life?

Many of my coworkers have asked me this question.  To be quite honest, I love the creativity that goes on in there.  People create stories, use screenshots, post them in a blog. Other people create music, and perform "virtual performances" in there.  Others have created businesses, relationships, objects, a whole slew of things that one could never really do in real life.

And then there are the stories. Iraq war veterans, recovering from their wounds, using SL as an outlet.  Long distance couples, who use SL, as a means to stay together despite their locations.  Lonely people, disabled people, educators, scientists, students, people with secrets, a gamut of people with stories, ambitions, and ideas, are all in here.  And I didn't even know it.

And what do I do in here?  Well, I build.  I tried half-hazardly running a small business, an art shop with my photos no less.  I have sold a few, but mainly b/c I feature them at the virtual apartments I built.  I admit that I have made my avatar look like the supermodel, so I get a lot of attention from the guys.  An interesting social experiment that I may want to write on one day.  And I attend a few educational seminars in here, and have learned quite a bit.  I will definitely write more about this later.

And what do I want to do later on?  Well, I am not planning on doing anything in regards to research here.  I may interview someone, but probably want to interview their real life selves, not their avatar.  Most of my research will be with students at UH, maybe faculty.  What I do want to try is clothes designing.  It looks like a lot of fun.  Maybe try and attempt to be a recording artist in here.  LOL.  Well, we'll see.  And maybe try my hand at building a little more.  

Who am I?

If you want to know who I am in Second Life, feel free to email me, and I will be more than willing to share it with you. I want to keep my Second Life username away from the public since there are some people I know "in-world" who have no idea who I am in "real life." However, I am willing to share my Second Life name with other educators and friends who I know in real life since I know they won't "stalk" me.

There are some "crazy" people in Second Life, so keeping my privacy in regards to who I am is important to me.

Questions questions

Some possible question ideas for my dissertation

1. Is creating and teaching courses in 3-D virtual environments a viable option for University of Hawaii instructors?

2. Are students willing and able to participate in a class that regulary uses or is held in a 3-D virtual environment?

3. Can the College of Education use 3-D virtual environments, such as those in Second Life, as a possible recruitment tool for undecided college students who may possibly consider a career in education?

My First Post

Hi Everyone, this is my journaling area where I write down my random thoughts that occur regarding my dissertation. This is where I am storing my ideas until I have an idea on where to put them.

At first I was a little hesitant on putting up my dissertation ideas online. I have heard of horror stories of people stealing other people's dissertation ideas and the original person no longer being able to pursue their dissertation idea because of someone publishing his/her idea before that person does.

However, I think if I publish this first, whether this can be considered a dissertation or not, I will at least have a record of this idea coming in to fruition. Then, if someone decides to publish, I can claim that I have this idea first. Hehe.