Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
What Does Second Life Offer?
Art and Music Projects
Literature, Composition and Creative
Writing
Second Life (SL) is a multi-user virtual environ-
ment (or MUVE) that allows users (known as
“Residents”) to create and customize their own
avatars, shape the landscape and environment,
build almost any object or structure imaginable,
and script those objects using a proprietary lan-
guage. SL is different from other virtual educa-
tional environments like Quest Atlantis (Barab et
al, 2005) or River City (Galas & Ketelhut, 2006)
in that the Second Life environment itself does not
offer any specific educational content, activities or
situations. Rather, it presents an open, adaptable,
extensible virtual space that offers infinite pos-
sibilities for creating almost any situation that can
be imagined. Indeed, the most exciting possibilities
for using Second Life for education are those that
stretch our traditional conceptions of learning and
effective learning environments beyond what is
generally done or considered acceptable in what
may be called “First Life” (Cross et al., 2007).
To get a sense of the possibilities, look at the
SLEducation web site at http://sleducation.wiki-
spaces.com/, which offers a database of different
ways that Second Life has been used for education.
Here are some of the categories:
Theatre and Performance Art
Photo stories and Photo Scenarios
Machinima (videos of events in Second
Life)
Treasure Hunts and Quests
Virtual Tourism, Cultural Immersion and
Cultural Exchange
Language Teaching and Practice, and
Language Immersion
Social Science and Anthropological
Research
Awareness/Consciousness Raising and
Fund Raising
Support and Opportunities for People with
Disabilities
Politics, Governance, Civics and Legal
Practice
Business, Commerce, Financial Practice
and Modeling
Real Estate Practice
Product Design, Prototyping, User-testing
and Market Research
Interior Design
Architectural Design and Modeling
Urban Planning and Design
Distance and Flexible Education
Presentations, Panels and Discussions
This incredible range of possibilities presents
many opportunities for imaginative, technically-
skilled educators or those with the resources to
hire technical specialists, but it also presents huge
challenges, especially for educators who work
in relatively under-resourced schools. Some of
these opportunities and challenges—and possible
strategies for meeting them—are described below.
We will now describe some of the opportuni-
ties that we believe Second Life offers education,
by discussing each of the four major affordances
that we outlined in the previous section.
Training and Skills Development
Self-paced Tutorials
Displays and Exhibits
Immersive Exhibits
Role-plays and Simulations
Data Visualizations and Simulations
Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums
Historical Re-creations and Re-enactments
Living and Immersive Archeology
Computer Programming
Artificial Intelligence Projects
Artificial Life Projects
Multimedia and Games Design
Search WWH ::




Custom Search