Well this topic certainly raises a lot of mind boggling questions!!!!
I remember a while back at a SLAV conference in Melbourne watching a presentation from the ABC about virtual worlds and Second Life. At that time I didn’t really take a lot of notice about it as I couldn’t see how it related to me or my role in a Library. Looking at some of the suggested sites reminded my of the ABC so checked their website and sure enough they have a set up “ABC Island” on Second Life. Their reasoning can be found under FAQ on their Second Life site ……. “The ABC thinks it is important to explore this rapidly growing virtual space. Second Life - and other 3D virtual worlds -allow the ABC to present content to audiences in new and different ways, create social spaces for visitors to interact with each other and the content, and showcase Australian talent and creativity in an innovative way.”
After looking at some of the suggested links (Murdoch Uni one is quite interesting) I can see how virtual worlds could be useful for learning and would certainly engage students in this day and age but as mentioned in the Murdoch Uni clip it needs to be done in a very controlled way otherwise it can become out-of-control very quickly. How do you maintain control?
This whole area raises a lot of questions; Do we really need to teach our students in this way? Where do you draw the line as to what is educational and what is not? Where is the balance between what is real and what is not? Isn’t there the danger of isolating a student in an “unreal” world rather than teaching them to interact and learn with others in the real world? Do we want well-educated confident avatars in a virtual world or students who are confident collaborating and interacting with each other in the real world? I don’t know, it’s all a bit too much to comprehend and I am unsure of the long term benefits to the student!!
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