What a fascinating article at http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue53/kirriemuir/ . OK confession time first. I am an ex teacher who regularly plays on World of Warcraft (WoW) which is a multimedia roll playing game (mmrpg) with monsters and sword fighting and treasure and quests and… So one might conclude I am slightly biased about an article about an mmrpg.
The article discusses the use of Second Life as a resource in higher and further education in the UK (that’s age 16 + students). Second Life is a virtual reality world that one can access at http://secondlife.com/ One creates an avatar (a 2 dimensional characer representation of yourself) and then one can interact with other characters in the world. For example you can buy a house, get married, get a job and buy a car as your online character. A lecturer could set up a classroom in Second Life and real students could log on and attend the class in their avatar form and get real learning.
If you have never played an mmrpg try it – the easiest way to describe it is like watching a film that you get to decide where the lead character (your avatar) goes and what he or she does.
The article discusses 9 types of Second Life use by academics including thinking together, researching, developing courses, supporting courses, advertising courses, holding exhibitions and some universities are even developing entire campuses in Second Life, as many real life businesses have done.
The article then discusses issues such as cost, time, simulate or create and getting support from their institution. It concludes by briefly discussing future trends including the possibility of institutions running entire courses through Second Life.
I know I am already a convert but I think this is a fascinating area and I would encourage any teacher or lecturer to look at this article and then go to Second Life and have a play. It almost makes me wish I was back in education, and that is saying something.
Chris,
Some Japanese friends told me recently that there is now a Japanese version of Second LIfe. It will be interesting to see how popular it becomes as role playing games are very popular in Japan.
Stephen
Hi Chris,
I think second life is a fascinating application though I admit I’ve never used it. Its uses are endless and I think it will be more heavily used in future in many aspects of society. A lot of people at my work are into it so I keep thinking I ought to try it.
Well done with the review!
Clare