Second life is a 3D virtual world that is played online and is one of the many applications available with Web 2.0 technology. It is basically a game where the players have a virtual life in another realm. However there is no objective to the game, so it is better described as a social space. They choose an avatar that may represent themselves and socialise with others, participate in activities, create or trade property or just explore the realm and travel
It was developed by Linden Labs in 2003 and it is free to join and play. A premium membership has a small cost associated with it that enables upgrading of items, clothing etc. And extra technical support. This also gives the user a salary of $300 in second life money per week. This money is called Linden dollars.
There is a chat service available where users can communicate directly with each other during the interacting on the game. This chat is visible to anyone within a reasonable distance from the chatters. A private chat service is also available.
The educational benefits for Second Life are numerous. At Curtin uni the nursing program is developing a platform whereby routine duties can be practiced in the virtual world, before attempting them on real people. This is a much safer way to learn. At a primary school, teachers could set up a platform to teach a specific content. The students could work through a series of activities designed to meet a specific outcome, this could be then assessed within the virtual world. However, as the age limit of second life is limited to those over 18, it is not practicable for the primary classroom.
Overall, this program has massive educational benefits for the future. Virtual world offer the chance to practice skills without doing real people any harm, so it will probably become more popular as time goes by, and as people get used to the idea.
I can’t imagine doing my teaching prac in a virtual classroom, but perhaps practicing behaviour management techniques, or explaining difficult concepts in this environment would be an exciting opportunity and beneficial to those without much real life experience.
It was developed by Linden Labs in 2003 and it is free to join and play. A premium membership has a small cost associated with it that enables upgrading of items, clothing etc. And extra technical support. This also gives the user a salary of $300 in second life money per week. This money is called Linden dollars.
There is a chat service available where users can communicate directly with each other during the interacting on the game. This chat is visible to anyone within a reasonable distance from the chatters. A private chat service is also available.
The educational benefits for Second Life are numerous. At Curtin uni the nursing program is developing a platform whereby routine duties can be practiced in the virtual world, before attempting them on real people. This is a much safer way to learn. At a primary school, teachers could set up a platform to teach a specific content. The students could work through a series of activities designed to meet a specific outcome, this could be then assessed within the virtual world. However, as the age limit of second life is limited to those over 18, it is not practicable for the primary classroom.
Overall, this program has massive educational benefits for the future. Virtual world offer the chance to practice skills without doing real people any harm, so it will probably become more popular as time goes by, and as people get used to the idea.
I can’t imagine doing my teaching prac in a virtual classroom, but perhaps practicing behaviour management techniques, or explaining difficult concepts in this environment would be an exciting opportunity and beneficial to those without much real life experience.
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