The Alamo
Literature:
Alliance Virtual Library
Science:
NOAA Island
Music Education:
The Music Academy
Higher Learning:
Princeton University Island
Educational Technology:
EDTECH Island
Second Life:
Help People Island
Back to Virtual Worlds Home
There aren't many people anymore who haven't heard of social networking. An idea that rose from the ashes of the Dot Com bust in 2000 has become an international technological phenomenon. With Web 2.0 interactive internet and media comes what seems like endless possibilities in building relationships, collaboration and learning. We have instant access to information from numerous sources, allowing us to think and come to our own conclusions. We can take our business from local "mom and pop" shop to global e-commerce. We can meet, interact with, and learn cultures of people from other parts of the world. We can become instant celebrities through the posting of videos or creation of blogs.
Terms like blog, wiki, ping, podcast and tweet have become household words. Less known is the term "virtual world". Wikipedia defines a Virtual world as "a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avators. These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical representations."
In a study " Virtual Worlds Market Forecast 2009-2015" (http://www.strategyanalytics.com/), it has been predicted that the global virtual world population will grow from today’s approximately 186 million inhabitants to a monstrous 640 million (the equivalent of twice the current US population) by 2015.
The most renowned virtual world is Second Life, and online networking platform that functions as a 3 dimensional virtual world. It is currently gaining international media attention. Second life depicts an envirnment very similar to the real world. Players create a character (avatar) to travel between buildings, towns, and even contries to carry out business or personal activities. They get jobs, buy land and build houses. They go to clubs and cafe's. They shop, travel and build relationships.
(My Avatar, Shannon Elan)
So how does education fit into all this? Like a glove. There are numorous sites that teach everything from science to computer programming. Virtual Worlds offer a vast supply of information for research. Students can collaborate, share ideas and even role play. In many of sites, there are tutors and guides available if a student needs help on a specific subject. For the distance student, there are virtual classrooms and study halls, offering more of a "real" school experience than just message boards and group pages can offer.
Relative Advantages:
- Students are engaged, creating a higher Increasing the retention of information
- Students can collaborate and share ideas, thus encouraging higher motivation and productivity
- Higher level of connection with technology
- Self-instructional multimedia, distance courses provides structured, self-paced learning environments
See the links on the left for examples of sites in different learning subjects.
The Islands of Jokadia (above) explore, indepth, education in Second Life. The creator, Jokay, has a done broad research on virtual worlds and the impacts they have on education, the arts and society in general in the future.
Jokay has also compiled a comprehensive wiki discussing the educational possibilities in Second Life, which includes an extensive list of educational projects.
Other resources are:
SL beginner guide: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Gwyn's_Beginners_Guide_To_Second_Life
Wikipedia Site: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_world
