New Frontiers?

"Second life is ideally suited for (at least) two kinds of learning activities - empathy-based learning and encounter learning. Second Life is inherently a random-access, exploratory environment. That offers a third "E" to this list of educational modes that are natural to Second Life:

- Empathy
- Encounter
- Exploration
* Rules (Logic, conceptual/factual structure)
* Play (Learning activity, processing)
* Culture"

(LaChapelle, 2007) (blog RE presentation by Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins)

An article in the New York Times Education Life section was particularly illuminating. (Hafner, 2010)

What will happen if learning is free? Colleges and Universities still hold the key to the certification or degree - for that you still have to pay(for now).

In the past I have worked with Blackboard and WebCT in college classes. For my rural high school students and teachers I worked with USDLC, a distance learning group since 1985. They first broadcast to 51 schools in Texas and were thrilled to get their own Educational access channel through DirecTV. As they developed web based curriculum they created a professional development portal for teachers in 2005, video on demand 2007, their own YouTube channel in 2008, podcasting in 2009 and now are boasting Star Island in 2L. I think our future for education presentation lies in this blended technology. Frankly the affordability of the high school and college campus culture is on the line. Finances will be the key that presses us to this new educational access. The F2F personal classroom might not be supplanted but may be supplemented with this blended technology to provide access to expertise and varied learning modalities. The ubiquity of mobile connectedness provides a venue that is exploding now. The more people have cell phones in Africa than anywhere else because they didn't have to overcome an old technology (land lines). WiFi and mobile phone connectedness is the next level of adaptation.

I also question whether we are developing a new mode of learning beyond the multiple intelligences that requires the interactive social engagement exemplified by online gaming. If so this blended technology may save public education which is long due for a that is not based in theories formed in the Industrial Revolution. I am not placing a value judgment here. Just that evolution happens and the ECAR conclusion that "e-learning (so far) is about convenience not learning." (Sonwalkar, 2005) has that one caveat - time. I remember the generational theories and look at today's Z generation and think things are changing.

I went onto Second Life and enjoyed my experience there. I can see how the lovely fantasy can entice gamers. I also see the ease at which one can enter into a realistic environment to practice nursing skills or build collaborative engineering models. Very intriguing.

"Play, an important contributor to human development, maturation, and learning, is a mandatory ingredient of serious games."(Derryberry, 2007)

Derryberry, Anne. Serious Games: Online Games for Learning. Adobe Games, 2007. April 19, 2010. (ref:www.imserious.net ) http://www.adobe.com/resources/elearning/pdfs/serious_games_wp.pdf

Hafner, Katie. An Open Mind. New York Times : Education Life. April 8, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/education/edlife/18open-t.html?ref=edlife

LaChapelle, Neil. (The Cooperators General Insurance Company) Hired Ed's Blog: Some Foundations for Second Life Pedagogy. EDUCAUSE. July 18, 2007.

Sonwalkar, Nishikant. Adaptive learning Technologies: One-Size-Fits-All to Individualization. EDUCAUSE: Volume 2005, Issue 7, March 29,2005. Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE.

The Other World

Have you visited Farmville? Adopted a Virtual Family, been to the world of the SIMs or been the god of a bunch of virtual villagers? Two things lead me into this strange new way to live - studying how to teach online and boredom. Unable to fall asleep and not the biggest fan of late night TV, I tried the virtual family game that came free with my computer. Afterwards I found I just couldn't leave it alone! How is the little family doing? Do they have enough food? Are they tired? Did they ever pick up those wretched leaves? And deeper stuff because you can praise and punish your little people. Ah, yes. The game does warn you if you punish your little people too much they get depressed. So I switched to virtual villagers who just had to find food and shelter. But they needed to have children and as much as I bumped the guys and girls together it just didn't take. "Not this time." or "I don't feel well enough." Jez, I can't even get lucky in a virtual world! So I decided Farmville was my ticket. Just growing crops and caring for little virtual animals. Now I have whithered crops and hungry chickens if I don't play the game several times a day. Farmers are busy people.

Now my class for online teaching has introduced me to Second Life as an educational tool.

After a little research on Wikipedia, I learn that "in world" people date, have businesses, play music, create art as well as attend classes at well known universities. Real people are living their lives using real money online. Of course with a user driven culture, Linden Labs, the creators, have to set some limits - sexual play, for example. Linden also handles the business end of things and has links to some powerful Real Life businesses like IBM. I didn't see any death but there are taxes.

Although the lure of becoming a purple flying cat woman with a real tail is tempting, I think I've had enough. After I left the computer to join my husband in front of the TV last night I announced, "I've been playing Farmville!" "I know you have, " he replied with a pout. I guess I better pay attention to First Life a little more and let that virtual chicken wait.