Since I was basically doing this assignment twice I thought I would go more in depth of how Second Life(SL) could be used in education. I started to do some research on the internet about virtual worlds in general. Really SL is the one that kept popping up. I looked more into what it had to offer then. I ran into an article that had a few top islands in SL. One that stood out to me was Really Engaging Accounting. I teach math so I thought I would look into how you could teach math using SL. This island was designed to make people into debits or credits. They were to actually go through the exercise of obtaining items and using formulas. As they obtained items they saw how it changed the formula automatically. I know I do not do the island justice but I would check it out.
Then I ran into the SLOODLE island. It is Moodle connected to SL. You can either comment while in SL or while you are in Moodle and the comments show up in both places. The Moodle website and SL are linked together. You can learn using the 3D virtual world of SL and the answers go to the online classroom of Moodle. It even had where you could take a quiz in SL and the grade goes directly to Moodle. Most of this is done using the Moodle toolbar that you must attach to yourself. This just shows how all the things we are learning about link together. If you would like to learn more about SLOODLE check out this article or just go to the SLOODLE island in SL and it will explain it all for you.
The last thing that I will add is the picture of me in Selmo Park. I found a cool place that I would like to hangout.
This is the second time that I've had a Second Life assignment, too, Melissa, but I really liked it because I learned so much more this time. Last time I didn't enjoy it, but I see that it has a lot of potential to engage students, as well as professionals.
ReplyDeleteGood post. I went to EmergingEdtech. There was a lot to offer. I think I'm going to check out the "Really Engaging Accounting" area also. There was also the NMC. Thanks for listing them..
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that SL and Moodle were linked together, good to know! Thanks
ReplyDeleteWhat I still find amazing is how BIG the world is. Getting easier to navigate this second time around but still it's impressive/intimidating.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a really cool place to explore as well. It's just a little complicated to get around if you're not really experienced with it, but I can see it being very beneficial for certain activities.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good place to explorer if you have a lot of free time on your hands.
ReplyDeleteThe waterfall at Selmo Park is also my favorite place, it is the first place I find when I get there and then I think about where I am going. I liked SLOODLE, think I will have to check that out and landmark it. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing some great areas of SL. I really like your picture!
ReplyDeleteGreat extra research you did! I did the Sloodle project when it was still in beta. I got Moodle to link up but once it was all done they wouldn't interact. Then the person who wanted it to happened moved on to something else and I abandoned the project. I think virtual world in general has a lot of potential. For military, an example here, it'd be safer and cheaper if combat exercise was also done virtually. Granted real experience is important, I think there can be a lot done virtually also... like learning the enemy's terrain :)
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