Second Life? Why do I need a second one when I am more than preoccupied with my first? Well, at least that is what I was saying back in February. I was completely new to the concept of virtual world education. Saying that I could not quite see the value was an understatement. I had come through a school system of neatly ordered desks, books and a whole lot of, “pay attention!” The most “immersive” learning experience I had in school was playing Oregon Trail on an Apple computer.
The process began as we split into groups and assembled information about the real pirates of the Caribbean. Our target audience was junior high school students. Lectures included an explanation of how to use tokens and traps in learning. Even then, it took a long conversation via text message with my gamer baby brother for me understand the concept of tokens and traps.
With the concept down pat, I could try and create some, right? For me this was easier said than done. I spent approximately two hours on a Sunday on our virtual pirate ship, creating one pocket watch to use as a trap even with lectures and YouTube videos to assist us in their creation. With many hours logged already in the creation of our traps and tokens, we then had to organize it, create our quiz boards, “decorate” our ship and try and give some kind of flow or sequence to our part of the game. The whole process was extremely challenging to me not just in the execution but also in struggling to realize the value.
Dr. Partridge had told us in class that the students who benefit the most from learning through games were learners who were younger and disconnected. I believe our target audience would fit this description and it could potentially be an excellent tool to engage them in learning about pirates.
What I am still struggling with in this experience is the feasibility. As Dr. Partridge had pointed out, Second Life had created a way for K-12 schools to use worlds in isolation for students to use, but cost was a factor that inhibited its introduction. If a tool like this could be used in a way that is cost effective, easy for teachers to implement and easy for students to use, I think it could be very powerful in engaging younger learners. At this point in time, I do not think it would be a very feasible method of content delivery.
In summary, I enjoyed getting my virtual feet wet, so to speak, in Second Life. I think Virtual World Education is very promising in engaging young learners, but a lot of barriers to its use and implementation in K-12 school settings must be addressed.
I agree with you on this. As I mentioned in my post, Second Life has much potential. The glitches need to be worked out and a mass delivery system for Second Life could be established to distribute it to many schools to lower the cost. This is in the near future. Second Life editors just need to be innovative.
I agree with you on the feasibility aspect. I don’t think that it should be used in a K-12 setting because it is too time consuming to organize.
I agree with you on all accounts. Even as a gamer I had a lot of trouble with this assignment and getting the grasp on the creation. I had previous knowledge of traps and tokens, but not how to create them. It was very tiring and a long, grueling process. But once I was able to get that grasp it became easier. I do not think we could have done this without the help of the game kit. Learning to write the code and create the correct sequence would be impossible for a k-12 student, let alone me.
Virtual World Education will be a great tool of the future. The world is not yet ready for it. In further, Second Life is definitely not the answer.
I agree that virtual world education has a very promising future when it comes to engaging young learners. One thing that I have noticed about young learners is the fact that they tend to retain more information when it is distributed in a fun filled environment. On the other hand, the Oregon Trail was the best game ever!!!!!
I’m with you on the k-12 idea, Jen! I think that young students, who we originally designed this for, would really enjoy the game. Kids love games… and who am I kidding, so do most adults!
“Second Life? Why do I need a second one when I am more than preoccupied with my first?” I agree, finding my way around this life provides enough challenges. Additionally, I too agree that the advantages of this gaming software will provide learners with a new interesting environment to learn, assuming the “bugs” can be worked out.
I think using Second Life for K-12 is a good idea. Kids love video game and it’ll be easy for them to use this program.