The Affordances of Second Life for Education - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 112

other times that are convenient to the participants.
For teachers who may be the only teacher of a
particular subject at their local school—for ex-
ample, the art teacher in an elementary school or
a physics teacher at a small high school, Second
Life offers the opportunity to come together with
teachers with similar interests from a larger geo-
graphical area—even across continents or oceans.
Some organizations providing access to SL learn-
ing communities for teachers include the Teach-
er Networking Center (TNC), the Discovery
Education Network, and the Virtual Pioneers
which tour builds or sims together that have his-
torical or cultural significance.
Be sure to check out the Curriculum Tower on
International Schools Island, which includes three
towers devoted to information, curriculum, and
technology. On the bottom floor of the curriculum
tower, for example, there is a basket of free “as-
sessment goodies” including surveys and a pie
chart maker. On the seventh floor, Shamblesguru
Voom has assembled a wealth of information about
SL sports. By clicking on these boards, you can
receive folders with landmarks, Notecards, and

sometimes equipment, for activities like giant
snail racing, hang gliding, bowling and soccer
(see Figure 6). This island also conducts language
classes involving an international clientele. As
with other organizations mentioned in this section,
International Schools Island has numerous other
resources available; it's best to find the island and
look around. Don't be afraid to ask questions!

What about the Practical Realities?

The previous section outlined the many possibili-
ties for meaningful learning afforded by Second
Life, perhaps leading the reader to conclude that
it is, in some sense, an educational nirvana. While
we certainly intent to convey our enthusiasm for
the many possibilities, it is important to recognize
that there are many obstacles to the effective use
of Second Life for education. This section outlines
some of those obstacles.
The first obstacle to the wider use of Second
Life for education is the time commitment neces-
sary to become comfortable in the environment.
For more technologically experienced users or

Figure 6. International Schools http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools/68/18/84