I have used Second Life before and have mixed emotions about it. I love the ability to explore the ocean, African wildlife and creating weather disasters. However, I would never let my students use it because there is a lot of inappropriate material. Adult suggestive themes, materialistic ideals and scams are not what I want to expose my students to. I would show them the educational material previously mentioned but would have to pull it up out of their eyesight to make sure they are not exposed to adult themes.
I do like virtual worlds, but mainly those where students can be active learners. One I have used in my class that students seem to enjoy is Whyville. It can be found at www.whyville.net/smmk/nice.
Whyville allows students to explore a kids world with science, social studies and other educational topics. Some of my favorites are when students have to land a hot air balloon in a designated area using force, wind and other variables. Another cool part is when students sort different recyclable materials.
Virtual worlds can be a tremendous growth opportunity for students. Please use them with caution.
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I agree with you about second life. There are lots of things that are definitely distracting. And I have enough going on with my first life! I like some of the things about whyville, too. I'm glad it has worked out for you and your class.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this information. Some of the cautionary information was pretty scary. I will consider this carefully, assuming I can get mine working.
ReplyDeleteWhyville is relatively safe and I am sure there are many others. Second life definitely had some "stay clear of" material but some was very useful so it has its positives and negatives.
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