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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, February 23, 2002
http://www.convergemag.com/magazine/story.phtml?id=3030000000004181 Cave Of Dreams: Simulations in Higher Education By Susan Abdulezer THE CAVE Plato wrote about cave dwellers (that's you and me, allegorically) who only see their own shadows, and the shadows of others, and are convinced that that is reality. Further, we shadow people talk to each other and handle objects, which are also shadows. And in the spirit of this shadow community, everyone agrees on the names and qualities of these common shadow-things which, although insubstantial echoes, seem to have a convincing heft. It's all quite congenial given the atmosphere of shared illusion. Actually the thoroughness of this vision -- with its self-contained environment (the cave) populated with simulacra, avatars and automata (puppets and shadows) complete with remote networked communication (word echoes) and a powerful real-time processor (blazing fire) -- suggests that if Plato were around today, he might have considered switching careers from philosophy to simulation technology....
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