As if I don’t have enough time to get my first life in order, I’ve been spending a bit of time exploring Second Life of late. As with anything else new like this, it helps to have a mentor, and mine has been Kevin Jarrett (aka KJ Hax) who has been kind enough to take some time to show me some very cool places. (If anyone cares, my SL name is Blogsar Lumpen…don’t ask. And that’s Kevin in the picture, not me. I need a serious wardrobe adjustment. And some hair.) Anyway, there are a lot of people who are putting some serious time into creating education spaces, and some of them are pretty provocative. I’m still waiting to sit in on a live presentation to get the full effect, but the guided tours of a couple of the islands that I took Saturday night were pretty incredible.
Anyway, today Kevin is up at Suffern Middle School in NY getting a first hand look at their use of Second Life.
In a few short hours I will be walking the halls of Suffern Middle School … as well as cruising their teen-created digital world, Ramapo Islands. With Victoria as my guide (she has been there before) today promises great things. I will meet new people (virtually and in person), experience a middle school language arts classroom actually USING SL as an instructional tool, and I will get to see the Ramapo Islands build in detail for the first time. I’ll get to meet Peggy Sheehy, the leader of the SMS initiative. And, I’ll also get to finally meet Victoria (Catherine Parsons in RL) – an educator, mom and Ph.D. student whom I have gotten to know very well with via SL over the past month or so.
I’ll be interested to see what he finds out.
Technorati Tags: learning, education, secondlife
And here I was thinking after reading about Second Life that here was an application that had no educational value. It amazes me what some savvy educators are able to do.
I need more posts detailing educational uses like this, Will. I am just checking it out myself (screen name–Fish Canning–yours is not so bad, afterall!), and I wish I had a guide. I am struggling with the orientation! Thanks for the link to Kevin’s blog.
YAY!!!! The Blogvangelist has arrived in Second Life! Did you visit the English Village? If you happen to have the time around 2:30 pm EST on Friday, come inworld and check out our lesson. We have group lessons at the beach at that time and there is a bunch of teachers that work with the non-English speakers in SL. We have a huge marketplace set-up so that they can learn not just the language of shopping, but also the acts of purchasing items in SL.
Our classrooms also are equipped with Holodecks and we are having a Holodeck building contest. I’d love to show any educators around!!! My SL names (yes I have two avs) are Deanna Lancaster and Jordyn Peccable. Come and visit me at the EV!!!
Will,
We have met in the past. I work with Peggy Sheehy. Please let me know if I can be of any help to you or to any of your readers related to SL.
I just joined Second Life. Having a bit of hard time getting used to what I am supposed to be doing. Will do some more tomorrow. Thanks for motivating me to join. Maddy M Babenco