Educational Uses of Second Life
Write the Overview
This page is part of the Educational Uses of Second Life Resource which documents projects and resources in Second Life.
content added 5-8-09
Describe your Intended AudienceEducation people who are interested in using SecondLife
State the Purpose
Anintroduction to educational use of SL for new users
List any Prerequisites
Educational and a bit technologial background
Describe the Steps of your How-To
Second Life can be used to create fly-throughs of houses for sale, prototype architectural designs, checking out hotels and other accommodation before you book. Check out the facilities at a university you are thinking of attending (including the dorm rooms if you are thinking of living on campus).
Teachers can design immersive, constructivist lesson plans for students. The virtual world provides tools for students to create their understanding of the topic and work collaboratively. Editable avatars (inworld representations) that "breathe" look around and blink add to social presence and immersion by helping to dispelling disbelief and provide personal expression. Communication can be in voice or text.
Builds can be synchronous or asynchronous, so students can work in groups or independently at different times. Students with computers can work from home. There are many examples of educational builds and resources. College students may take field trips to these locations. There is also a teen grid for 13 to 17 year olds, although teachers must be background checked to work there, which adds to the safety of the simulation.
Add Examples and Applications
The in-built building and scripting tools in Second Life allow for the creation of sophisticated self-paced tutorials, allowing residents to learn both real world and Second Life skills.
Second Life provides an immersive environment for social science and anthropological research, with a wide range of communities and cultures within it's resident's population. Students can explore behaviour, psychology and culture in an authentic and realistic way, trialling research strategies, surveys and oral history techniques.
Second Life has also been used to help abused children redevelop socialising skills; adults with cerebral palsy to allow them to share personal interactions without prejudice.
The Virtual Abilities organization in SL provides training and services to people with a variety of disabilities.
Second Life offers the ability to create a range of performances and theatrical events. Easy to customise avatars, and the ability to make elaborate sets and props quickly and cheaply makes it an appealing platform to some performance artists.
The Second Life platform allows for the development of a range of strategies and spaces for training and skills development. Users can access a range of training options in Second Life - both useful in the virtual world and in real life!
The built-in building and scripting tools in Second Life allow residents to create engaging treasure hunts and quests, which may include scripted tools to aid the participant in engaging in a range of inworld activities.
SL is a meeting place for educators from all over the world to share ideas in text, voice and visually to collaborate and enhance professional development in organizations such as ISTE, SL Education Roundtable, New Media Consortium and many other groups.
There is also an inworld economy where teachers and students can shop and sell their creations. All content created in SL is fully owned by the creator.
References/Bibliography/NotesTo view educational videos on YouTube see http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=3Dsecond+life+learning&search=3D International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) www.iste.org. Entry point for SL provided for teachers. http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Institutions_and_Organizations_in_SL see a list of other colleges and universities and projects in SL http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Virtual_Ability