Week 4 - Blog Posting #7 -Second Life

I feel the need as many of my colleagues have done to establish my status as other than a nimrod. I took my first programming class in 1972; computers have been a part of my home and professional life since 1978. While that does not fully qualify me as digital native, I am an immigrant from long ago. Computer games have been a part of my world for many years. As a science fiction fan I have spent thousands of hours in alternate realities with my favorite authors. As a teacher I connect to my students in virtual classrooms.
I approached Second Life with great eagerness and high hopes of finding a new way to engage my students across the country. When faced with a new platform I first go to YouTube and see what other people say, and to look at tutorials.
One of the best I found was

from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFU9oUF2HA

The possibilities appear to be endless. Unfortunately the reality for me was not so hot. In my professional practice I need to demonstrate live techniques in the Adobe Creative Suite. So far I have not had luck with this task. The exhibits in SL are great; being able to move through virtual museums and historical villages is great. Probably any standard lecture could be enhanced in second life.
I was thrilled at the possibility of a ballet performance in SL. Again the reality failed to live up to the hype. On the other hand, there are many examples of high quality Machinima on YouTube and I am excited to learn the techniques to generate examples of this type.
Among my students I have received the same kind of feedback as mentioned by Anonymous (2009). Students are frustrated by the steep learning curve, the glitches and the lag time as well as the unpredictability of teleporting to new locations.
So there is hope, my best guess SL will be great in a couple of more years as the technology matures.


Reference

Anonymous, . Barriers to Student Learning in Second Life. (2009). Library Technology Reports, 45(2), 29-34. Retrieved August 27, 2009, from Social Science Module. (Document ID: 1668931091).