Educational Uses for Second Life

Communities of Practice in Second Life

 

Unknown author. (July 2009) Virtual Environments Enable New Models of Learning. Second Life Grid, Linden Research, Inc. Retrieved on July 27, 2009 from http://secondlifegrid.net/slfe/education-use-virtual-world.  This article was published by Linden Research, Inc. who is the developer of Second Life. The short article explains some uses of the virtual world, however, the bulk of the article gives Educational case studies. The one of the educational site mentioned in the article was The International Society for Technology Education, or ISTE. ISTE offers members benefits and resources that include: volunteer assistance; scheduled tours, speaker series, and educational uses of SL; learning from other educators and how they are using SL; tools to help educational uses of SL; and additional tutorials to help you land on your feet in SL.

 

Open University was developed by Anna Peachey, (2009). Providing Geographical Dispersed Students and Faculty a Place to Meet and Learn Together. Linden Research, Inc. Retrieved on July 27, 2009 from http://secondlifegrid.net.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/Second_Life_Case_OpenU_EN.pdf. Ms. Peachey realized that the development the university in hopes of increasing student classroom attendance, and effective ways to communicate, and collaborate, Students adopted SL as their classroom and home. The students requested homes near the university as well as planned events for life outside the university. The best thing about the world in SL is that if educators find a place in this world that pertains to their own teaching area they may find it easier to sway skepticism and creativity.

 

In her blog, Eloise Pasture, (2007). Education explores Second Life. Second Life Insider. Retrieved on July 27, 2009 from http://www.secondlifeinside007/02/18/education-explores-second-live/ talks about new resources found on SL. Such as, Edinburg University School of Information, the University of South Queensland and the Queensland Government are the first of SL’s education institutes. Pasture also gave a fairly current site to find the list of islands in SL. The list can be found on the Sim Teach wiki site.

 

Unknown author, (2009). Virtual World Simulation Training Prepares Real Guards on the US-Canadian Border: Loyalist College in Second Life. Linden Research, Inc. Retrieved on July 27, 2009 from http://secondlifegrid.net.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/Second_Life_Case_Loyalist_EN.pdf. Canadian border guards were introduced to a simulation of a virtual border crossing in Canada. The results from the newly instituted virtual training increased critical skills test scores from 56% in 2007 to 95% in 2008. The Director of Educational Technology at Loyalist College in Second Life created the training simulation. Former students with the SL classroom helped developed new virtual learning environments.

 

In the article from Second Life In Education: Exploring the Educational Uses of Second Life (2009). Second Life in Education. Retrieved on July 27, 2009 from http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses the author discusses the history, uses, and educational sites in SL. If you want a quick reference to the educational sites this would be a great place to start. The names of the sites are listed and a brief description of that site.

 

Each of the sites reviewed gave a brief history of Second Life. The cases showed that Second Life is a good resource and tool for education.