My Thirteenth Post – Second Life, Real Life
Posted by simonsays on February 2, 2007
I just saw a story on the CBC about how educators (Loyalist College) are using a virtual world called Second Life to grant credit to students. Students participate in this virtual classroom engaging in converstation with other students and their teachers by raising their avatar’s hand. Imagine that. The teacher could be in one part of the world with students “attending” the class from anywhere in the world where they have access to a computer and an internet connection. It made me stop and think about the situation many of my high school teacher colleagues and I find ourselves in, and that is the same type of learning that we were engaged in twenty years ago. I can remeber using a computer in my Gr. 5 class in 1982. I typed in a friend’s name and with the help of the teacher I centered it on the screen and then copied it into the four corners of the screen. (I wonder why I can remember that over any other of my school days experiences.) Other than that I remember overheads, blackboards, and textbooks. The only thing different in the classroom that I teach in is that there is a TV mounted to the ceiling. The school is wireless and a few students are stariting to bring in their own laptops. I think/hope this trend will continue where it gets to the point that the students (and their parents) will demand access to technology in the classroom which will lead to it being more fully integrated. Until then we will continue to take babysteps.
flatworld
education technology
virtual learning
Turbo Tagger
February 7th, 2007 at 2:37 am
I’m an elementary school teacher in Georgia and listened to you on the WOW 2 show Tuesday evening. The idea of SL classroom space is so intriguing. When I was listening to the George Siemens conference on connectivism there was some discussion about 21st century learning spaces. The idea of four walls is fading. It makes me wonder what will become of all these institutional structures based on an outdated industrial model (Wes Fryer) of production.
http://ripplingpond.edublogs.org/