Week 14: Education through Second Life

Nowadays, there are more and more students that are gamers. For them, education in a classroom where you copy notes from the board can be boring, ineffective and unproductive. It's time to change the way we teach students in today's classrooms. One way to do this is through the game called Second Life. It's a virtual game that allows learning to take place through both traditional and non-tradtional settings. There is a "classroom emulation" where avatars can sit and learn material, but they can learn in other ways as well. One of the benefits of the game is that a teacher can show their students what a different country or a piece of art looks like without actually being there. Most people will never have the chance to go to Italy or see a Picasso painting first-hand. Second life allows you to experience these things with it's amazing amount of detail and ability to make everything look realistic. Another cool feature is that of the "scavenger hunt." Avatars can look for information related to their field of study. Through this activity, they learn new vocabulary and can learn how to recognize paintings in a gallery etc. Avatars can also work together on projects which helps teach people how to connect, communicate and interact with others. Avatars can also be quizzed or follow tutorials for specific material assigned by their teachers, at their own pace. Teachers and other professionals can also benefit from such games. People from around the world can meet and discuss ideas and topics. The ability to see that person's avatar and interact with it makes the meeting seem more real than just chatting through email or a blog.

I would probably not use this in my classroom, because I want to teach kindergarten and it may be a little too advanced for them. However, it's good to know about it in case I were to ever teach older students. It's also cool to learn that such games can actually be used for educational purposes and are not just a waste of time. While I still believe that first-hand experiences and person to person learning is better than learning online, there are many benefits to online learning especially when travel or time changes don't allow people to meet face to face.

This video is an example of how learning can take place on Second Life. It covers science and I thought it was neat because everything looked so real and I think that it gives people a better idea of cell structure, the human body, etc.

Examples of Learning on Second Life (specifically Science in this video)