Comments on: Exotic Tools: Second Life

By: Kim Clevinger

Kim Clevinger — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:24:53 +0000

I am not familiar with second life, but it sounds interesting. I googled it after I read your post…something I will have to experiment with to learn more about.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:27:20 +0000

I have a second life account but I started it with an email address I no longer use, and can’t remember the password. I agree-the best use of SL as a learning experience is to assign students a task that they would want to do and get some practical experience in, rather than just sitting in a virtual classroom somewhere. Have them learn how to be virtual dentists. They get to see if they like it, before they go digging around in some real person’s maxilofacial region.

By: carla

carla — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:22:49 +0000

I guess the one question was a bad question… I guess I need to ask… how do i make a classroom with task? Is this just one of those things you do on the SL.

By: lowell

lowell — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:55:23 +0000

“How can I use this site to incoorperate some of the core content?”
- Depends on the core content and how much imagination you have. As in any effort, you need to figure out what you want students to learn, how to make that learning possible, and how you’ll know if they did.

“Can I make a ‘classroom’ with tasks so the students are learning and not just playing around?”
- Did you read my post?

Do you know of anyone who is doing this that may be a health teacher so I can investigate this myself? Any example of content based applications would be great.
- The only example of “health” applications is a fun-house ride through a HUGE mock up of the testes. I know there are a lot of nursing professionals looking at using SL for clinical practice — I’m presuming that it’s role play. Google is your friend here. Keep in mind that students under 13 are not supposed to be on the SL main grid, altho there is a Teen Grid where they’ve removed pretty much everything that makes SL exciting as a learning environment in order to make it safe for teachers. (Disclaimer: secondhand info here. I’m not authorized on Teen Grid so I haven’t actually visited it myself)

“I really would like to try this out but I am still not familiar with it.”

There’s only one way to try it out. Download the viewer, create an account, log in. We can talk all day but you won’t know anything until you log in.

By: Ashley Pelfrey

Ashley Pelfrey — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:36:43 +0000

Second Life sounds really interesting. I am taking time to explore and discover the site, and hopeflly I will better understand its workings. It sounds like most other technology. It is a great resource if it is used correctly. The idea of learning by doing is wonderful, I try to incorporate as much of that as possible into my classroom.

By: carla

carla — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:00:25 +0000

Second life sounds like a really cool resource but I have a few questions. I have joined SL but my computer is messed up right now so I haven’t got to play with it right now.

Questions:
How can I use this site to incoorperate some of the core content?

Can I make a ‘classroom’ with tasks so the students are learning and not just playing around?

Do you know of anyone who is doing this that may be a health teacher so I can investigate this myself? Any example of content based applications would be great.

I really would like to try this out but I am still not familiar with it.