This course covers the latest and greatest psychological research on avatars and is relevant to current and future designers of any medium that includes user self-representations (e.g., video games, virtual worlds, robots, automobiles, social media, etc.). By taking this course, you will be able to define digital and non-digital avatars and identify how they are applicable in everyday life. You will be able to differentiate between the types of relationships people have with their avatars and motivations for using avatars that are more or less similar to the self. The course will help you discern the importance different avatar attributes (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, attractiveness, personality, humanity, body type, hair, controllability) and avoid common harmful stereotypes in your designs. Finally, you will gain the ability to design avatars that harness their psychological power to influence users toward specific (hopefully non-evil) outcomes, even beyond avatar use. Dr. Ratan, the instructor of this one-of-a-kind course, is an internationally recognized scholar who actively publishes research on avatar psychology. He is also known for his jovial and engaging lecture style and believes that you learn and produce more when you are having fun. Hope you enjoy the course.
JS
Good, interesting information. Gave me something to think about. Neat quirky instructor. Gave it 4 stars because it has peer review. Hate peer review (people are mean on the internet).
Showing: 10 of 10
Good, interesting information. Gave me something to think about. Neat quirky instructor. Gave it 4 stars because it has peer review. Hate peer review (people are mean on the internet).
Uses many progress blocking peer reviews (1 in week 1, then 2 every week). But because there are very few students, the effect is every peer review is a 10 day wait because there are no peers.
It will cost you 7 times 10 days waiting for a mere 8 hours of study. Do not enroll.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! THIS COURSE IS A JOKE. It is contingent upon peer review graded assignments without a set number of learners or a timeline, such in a regular classroom setting. You could be waiting weeks or months for a graded assignment and can NOT progress through the material until it is graded. The other graders might not fully understand or comprehend the assignments as it pertains to the lecture material. Look at the discussion board and it will show that some people have been waiting years to get their grade and complete the course. The only reason I gave it a one star is because it's an interesting subject. However how the course is set-up in COURSERA needs to be completely redesigned.
I personally really enjoyed taking this course overall, and I think it's for anyone who's interested in subjects such as video games. design, and avatar psychology itself of course. It really opened my eyes on how designing avatars linked together with real-life aspects of history, language and culture, resulting in various interactions for all kinds of users imaginable. You have to take the quizzes, complete the given assignments and interact with your peers in order to get the best full grade possible, and it really helped that it was all put together by a kind, funny and helpful professor who is passionate with teaching the aspects of psychology combined with avatars and design. So do I recommend this course? Yes, I do recommend it to anyone who is interested in these things, and I hope you found this review to be beneficial. Thanks for reading, and take care.
Beginners must enroll in this course. Good one to start your journey.
Excelente Curso muy didáctico
The course was really useful with state-of-the-art knowledge and resources and the tutor was enthusiastic! Although the peer-review process was a huge disadvantage, many people were mean or evaluated correct answers as wrong, and thus it is possible to have significant delays in finishing the course.
Good content & Excellent Instructor
El tema de aguardar las calificaciones de cada alumno es un poco frustrabte.
boring