Future Realities

“Reverie is when ideas float in our mind without reflection or regard of the understanding.”

-John Locke

As I look back on my experience in writing this blog, I am amazed by the wealth of knowledge I have uncovered about the nature of role-playing games. Hobbies that I have enjoyed since I was in middle school have been at the center of popular entertainment, intense controversies, practical uses, and incredible technological innovations I never would have imagined. Four months later, I find myself most attracted to the technological/practical aspects of role-playing games.

How can they be used for human performance enhancement? Can they be used in education or perhaps therapeutic settings? What types of technology are being developed to make our role-playing experiences more immersive? What pros and cons come with this development?

Since the beginning of the semester, my love of activities such as Dungeons & Dragons, Humans vs. Zombies, and mystery dinner games has remained constant. What has changed is my plan for the future. Initially, I believed I would pursue a career in advising or career counseling at the college setting. In part through this class, I have since discovered a much more versatile path—"Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies. “

Through this field, I will have the opportunity to choose from a broad variety of careers—team building, training, teaching, web design, human resources, and instructional design just to name a few. I believe that my blog highlights many of the skills used in this field—for example, it goes through the use of technology to enhance experiences as well as using role-playing activities as a way to bring teams and organizations closer together. The website itself is testament to my ability to thrive in ISLT—familiarity with design and web applications is vital for such a program.

In the future, I will likely use two blog post topics in particular as inspiration—the “Craft of Character Creation” and “Twisted Virtual Realities” posts to be specific. These are focused creating effective role-playing games and utilizing technological innovations, respectively. Areas of ISLT such as boosting performance would take a particular interest in how we can use these activities for team building and boosting productivity. Moreover, the program is heavily geared toward the constant rise of technology such as VR—which I cover extensively in the latter post.

In closing, I believe the future directions of my blog will take a turn toward covering utility, practical applications, technology, and the effects of role-playing games on aspects of human productivity. I will also continue to make the website itself more advanced and aesthetically pleasing as I build my repertoire of web design skills.

The future looks exciting and I cannot wait to see the possibilities that lay before me in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies.