This is my second experience with Second Life. The first time I did not enjoy it at all, and I felt like it was very cumbersome. This time I still think it is cumbersome, and things did not load very quickly, but I had a better experience than before. I saw someone and chased him down until I could talk with him. He was very helpful. I told him that I was confused, but was on here for a class. I asked him if there was anywhere special that I needed to go. He asked me what I liked, and I said country music and dancing. I blinked, and he disappeared. A minute or so later, he sent me a friend request, and when I responded he was able to send me a teleport request. We went to Moose Lodge Stonewood Homes and Interiors. I asked him how long he had been on Second Life, and he said ten days and that he had had good help navigating Second Life. I told him that I had already had a better experience than last time because I had talked with him. Besides the chance to teleport from a teleport request from a friend, he gave me another tip that was very helpful. There is a search button just below the time. I searched some things, including Hawaii, and then I teleported there. I couldn't maneuver anywhere and lost contact with my new "friend". I also lost connection. I have had lots of problems getting cut off.
After researching Second Life further, I have become very excited about the educational possibilities. I found a You Tube video (below) which was too long for me to watch it in its entirety now, but I was amazed at the possibilities. Sarah Robbins, doctoral candidate from the University of Indiana, teaches Freshman Composition in Second Life. She had over 200 students applying to take her Second Life Freshman Composition class when only 18 seats were available.
Students can interact with each other at a low risk because they are in a virtual world instead of the real world. When educators build learning spaces, it gives students the opportunity to learn authentically by letting them be themselves, which might be more difficult for them in a face-to-face classroom. An extreme introvert may have more opportunities because he/she would be less nervous.
Educators can teach class on different free properties or there is a lot of open space. Educators can build on Second Life. Even though it is free, there are incidental costs—different carpets, etc. She gave each team 100 Lindens (equal to about $.30).
The instructor has all of her students in a group, so it is easy for her to disseminate information to the group. There are different controls that can be set at different times, which can be turned on and off for class times. Here is the video where Sarah Robbins explains her experiences.
After researching, I tried to think of a group that may be involved with Second Life, and I found ISTE has its own island, which I was able to locate on Second Life. Here is a short YouTube video discussing it.
I found another article written by a student, Rachel Gollub, that also explains Second Life and discusses how it can be used for library resources.
Also, here are two of the pictures from UCM Selmo Park.
Great Post, I learned a lot. You put a ton of information on here and I appreciate that. I have also had trouble navigating around Second Life, and I have also struggled with always seeing its educational benefits. That said, the worlds are truly amazing in Second Life and there is so much I still have yet to uncover.
ReplyDeleteI like your avatar's outfit. I like dressing and re-dressing mine like a fancy paper doll. I like the videos you found that use Second Life as a tool for professional development. I think that is one of its most valid uses for education.
ReplyDeleteWow, if the teacher has 200 students wanting to get into her class, something must be working right!
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing such an informative post! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI visited the ISTE island also. It has so much information in it I could stay for hours just in the towers there. I would love to see one of their professional development seminars there.
ReplyDeleteI went to ISTE island last semester, very cool place. I can totally see how the generation of students in high school and college now would really be excited about a class in SL, but I just don't get it. I guess I'm an old fuddy duddy. Great post!!
ReplyDeleteTracy, you are not an old fuddy duddy. Karen and I have talked about Second Life in a previous class, and kind of feel the same way. Karen, thanks for sharing the videos. It really helps to see how other preople are utilizing second life - I just can't seem to find a "second" (pun intended) to figure out how it to keep it from being cumbersome and time consuming in the classroom. I could just foresee it becoming a "time waster" in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteFinding someone to talk to and help makes the experience better and when someone teleports you to where they are certainly helps. Glad you had a better experience the second time around. I can't imagine taking a class in SL, online is difficult enough. I guess it would allow for synchronous communication, but that would require everyone to be available at the same time. I guess it would have to be scheduled like a F2F class only in SL, maybe I would audit that to see how it works, but I don't think I would sign up for it as a graded class.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting so much useful information. It is great that you found a SL "friend"--it seems like I never have much luck finding people during my visits.
ReplyDeleteAnother great post! There is a lot of info on ISTE island and of course YouTube. Having helped developed and trained faculty on SL it's interesting to see what students do in there. While it took weeks to get the students to be comfortable, once they were, they did quite amazing things. For one instructor the students built their own classrooms. They set up their desk according to what they've learned in that class -- it was about classroom management. It was great because each student could set up a classroom without having to move real furniture around to demonstrate.
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