So about a month ago I decided I would check out the online world of Second Life for it’s educational possibilities I kept reading about.
I logged in, created my own bald (looking only a few years in the future) avatar and started looking around. I was, of course, overwhelmed with the many, many ‘adult’ centered nations, but was pleased to find EduNation. I joined several Education centered groups and even went to a couple of online meetings. I started forming some virtual relationships with some really awesome educators.
Alas, work and other responsibilities called and I after about a week I returned to the ‘real’ world. I have not been back since. If I had a class I was teaching I might have some of my students meet there, or even look into using a classroom somewhere to teach a class as a test. For now I have just chalked it up as information to be passed onto a teacher at some point in the future.
Future of Second Life
Last night, however, I came across an article on CNNMoney.com entitled “Second Life: It’s not a game” that really caught my attention… specifically one sentence. In pointing out the economic potential of the ‘game’ for businesses David Kirkpatrick says:
“It’s the ability to use Second Life as a platform for a whole new Net – this one in 3-D and even more social than the original – with huge opportunities to sell products and services.”
Networking
This really got me thinking. When I was in the game I really did form some real relationships with people. Much like a chatroom I made contacts with people that were already using Second Life in the classroom. I was once just sitting around in EduNation by myself and a lady flew in (yes, you can fly in Second Life) and started chatting with me about some of her research. I left with some great links to some great research. I was able to talk with other educators and bounce ideas off of them. The people I talked to were not always the same as me either. They were people teaching in high schools, small colleges, and more often than not, foreign countries. They offered insights that neither I, nor my colleagues, could come up with by ourselves. Now, all of this could be accomplished in an educational centered chat room, but somehow this was different.
Personal Touch
There were several times when I met somebody and as I left they asked to be my friend (which was added to a list where we could track our Second Life online status). I don’t know if it is just educators, but twice as I parted I was presented with a virtual gift (once a script and once some wings for wearing). Now I realize that the gifts I was receiving were probably just second-hand gifts from somebody else, but it meant something to me… in my ‘real’ life. I had a visual image of a person that was my friend. My favorite gift was a script that allowed me to play paper/rock/scissors online and do backflips when I won.
I also remember once when I was talking with somebody and I had to talk with somebody in real life I asked the virtual person to wait a second. A second turned into a minute and when I looked back at my screen her avatar was looking at her watch. There is the added non-verbal communication of body language that adds to, and makes those relationships even more real.
This morning I came in and was going through my daily reading list and saw an article printed in Campus Technology about a researcher at Harvard that is creating his own virtual space for students to come and explore the 1800’s in a real life, collaborating and social atmosphere.
Conclusion
I still probably won’t make it back into Second Life anytime soon because I don’t have the real need right now. If, however, Second Life actually turns into the new net, which I could really see, I will have to re-evaluate. How was your Second Life experience?
