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I've actually never heard about Second Life until I read the article and watched the short video. What a neat concept. The first thing I actually thought of when I was watching the short film was Minecraft. Minecraft is an online game where you build and have challenges to gain tools and materials to build your own city. I don't know much about this either, but last semester one of my seniors made a scale model of the Globe Theatre using Minecraft. It was fantastic! He did all of the research to find out exactly what the outside and the inside of the theatre looked like. When he was finished, he brought his computer into school and took the class on a tour using his character. We were able to "go inside" and sit in the audience. We were also able to go on stage and figure out what was in the back tower. This student did all the research so his Globe Theatre would be as accurate as possible. What a fantastic way to learn! He was extremely proud of his product. The class enjoyed it as well because we were able to go on a "tour" of the Globe Theatre.
Second Life has some similar components as far as being able to take virtual tours. Having virtual options for children, especially homebound children, makes learning more relevant. I wish I could fly all of my students to England to see the real cities and places where Shakespeare lived and worked. However, we can't, so we have to do the next best thing. Personally, I think that virtual learning, in this sense, is going to become more prevalent over time. I think in the near future, we will put away the textbooks and rely solely on Second Life type of learning.
According to the article, "7 Things You Should Know about Second Life", this type of software allows for virtual field trips and allows students to interact in a 3D world where they feel comfortable. This allows students to explore learning and engage in informal self-directed practice. Overall, software like Second Life can and will create meaningful educational experiences.
"7 Things You Should Know about Second Life." Educase Learning Initiative (2008): n. pag. Web. 11 June 2013.
Minecraft sounds like it would be perfect in a Geometry classroom. I could see all my gamer kids really getting into it. I love the idea of virtual field trips as well. What a cool idea to be able to go to the cities Shakespeare was writing about without having to leave the classroom. Great post.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, Brenda. My kids are both hooked on Minecraft. Virtual field trips are becoming more popular as budgets are tight for real field trips and certainly long distance trips. You will see more and more students emerging like your student that presented a scale model of the globe using Minecraft. Kudos to you for being open minded enough to all that student to be creative while still meeting standards and assignment expectations - I'm guessing he probably even exceeded expectations with his presentation. :-)
ReplyDeleteGood blog. People all over the web have created a of different things using Minecraft. I showed my students a time-lapsed video of the Roman Colosseum. It was pretty awesome. I also had a student create their own design of the Egyptian Sphinx for an assignment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Second Life sounds pretty awesome. We will see if there is some way to incorporate it in to my classroom next year.