Session 8 - Second Life (2/3)

We were introduced Second Life (SL) for this session. I know about its existence but I did not use and experience it before. Previously, the only close-to-similar platform that offers such an experience that I played was The Sims. Anyway, I came to know a lot of on Second Life. Dr Tan said something about SL that hit me. He said that it's a misconception that SL is not a game. Personally I always had the impression that SL is a game on the virtual world. I believe that many others had the same misconception as me. I've read in papers and on the internet on how SL brings certain impacts on people's life and such. I have no idea how that could be possible since it's fake. But after experiencing it myself, I came to understand why. SL provides a very real, interative and "non-realistic" (like flying and teleporting. I do hope that I can do that, but I can't!) experience, and it gives us to chance to go through what we can't in real life. Dr Tan mentioned how a handicapped person found a new light to life (her/him?) on Second Life. In real life, she doesn't have the ability to do a lot of things because of her condition. But on SL, she is a totally normal person who can do all the things she couldnn't do. Who wouldn't be touched by that? No wonder it's called Second Life.

However, putting that aside, SL sure has it's negative impact. I've heard of people getting too immerse in it that they couldn't differentiate between a "virtual" life and "real" life. Just to think of it, is this due to people's mindset and behaviors, or does this has something to do with SL itself? This is definitely a question worth pondering over. Will virtual worlds like SL take over and control our lives one day? How impractical and scary it is, just to think of it. Isn't our "real" life more valuable than what's not real?

Anyway, I found two journal articles online which presents different impacts and aspects of SL, which I think is both useful and interesting for our own knowledge and reference.

• "Measuring" the impact of Second Life for educational purposes
• Putting a Second Life "metaverse" skin on learning management systems

BUT, so far, my experiences on SL at the MXL was generally great and fun. We can change our appearances, we can fly, teleport, can genders, can buy clothes and learn new things just like in the real life. It's very interactive, and chat functions are available at the same time. Voice chats are possible too. It's really very "real" despite it being "virtual". The high-technology experiences make the whole thing attractive I guess. Although we only played for 20 minutes, I was already having fun. (well not FUN!!!!!, but it wasn't bad experience). I do hope we get more of such experiences in future. But as I was playing, I was thinking about this: How is this related to education in anyway? I mean, all these are about virtual worlds, avatars and such, so in what way can it be applied to teaching? Anyway, although I enjoyed myself, I don't think I'll download it. Maybe in the near future, but definitely not now. I have not fully explored all the games for PSP and Nintendo DS!

Anyway, I found this video on youtube, talking about how SL can be used for education purposes. The educational benefits.



After watching this video, my question above on how SL can be applied into teaching is more or less answered. Frankly speaking, I did not know that SL offers so much. For example the quizzes, slides and such. I totally did not expect that. I think this video is rather useful in highlighting the educational benefits of SL as it covers a lot of aspects and pedagogical approaches in teaching. Things like co-creation, cooperation and collaboration in the real life definitely is not as fun as this. Students are sure to enjoy and learn from this. Another thing is that students can visit places that they may not get to visit in real life and learn from there, for example historical places etc. It is also very interesting to see that literature can be learnt. As voice chat is available, it promotes interaction between the avatars, which make the entire experience "real". However, of course under such medium, netiquette is one issue that could affect learning and bring negative impacts on the students. Hence I believe that although SL has its benefits, teachers should not neglect or forget about the few negative impacts that could arise. Overall, I'm quite convinced of using Second Life as a medium for learning. If used appropriately, students will get to benefit a lot from it, and look forward to learning. Isn't learning more attractive when it isn't forced?