SL as a virtual learning environment

[paulmarshall]

My educational establishment is considering developing SL as a virtual learning environment. I would greatly appreciate any ideas on where to look for academic research on this, or tips, guidance or showcases. I myself will have to do some research in this field, and it would be nice to see what has already been done. Thank you!

[Storm Clarence]

More information and resource at:

Btw, what ages?

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Second_Life_Education/FAQs

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Education_Related_Articles

http://www.delicious.com/secondlife/education

[Identity Euler]

Hi Paul,

Welcome to Second Life Answers.

Yay it is my favourite question. Here you may find more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Second_Life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_World_Language_Learning
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Membership/Member_Networking/ISTE_Second_Life.htm
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Education
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/sl/index.php/Sloodle
 

[Xiolin Furlough]

I do know in the past, a few colleges have indeed used Second Life as an means of educational learning. Specifically a college that sticks in my mind is Drexel University back in 2007. They used this mostly for their chemistry department, as they were able to build the molecules on they land they had bought, and the students and teacher could walk around it and talk about it.

 

Now-a-days, colleges have lost their interest in the public virtual world of SL as a means of educational background, which is something I have been looking into just recently. However, due to the interest and promising outlook SL did create, colleges still have not given up on a virtual world environment. Colleges that have started their vitrual education in SL have been looking into creating their own private vitrual world for educational learning.

 

Personally, I think if you do want to have a start in vitrual learning, Second Life is a great place to start and BETA test the idea with the group of people you will be working with, to see how effective a virtual learning environment would be with the people you are teaching.

 

I do hope this idea works out for you paulmarshall, and hopefully I could offer any possible help or answers to questions you may have.

[Rolig Loon]

The educational community is a strong and vital part of SL, although recent pricing changes have thinned the ranks of educational institutions by about 20%.  If you are an educator, be sure to join the SLED list, which has over 6,000 members.  Educators trade information, solve problems in SL and related VWs, and colaborate on research and teaching projects through SLED.  You can find out more and join the list at https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators .