Read Write Web and "A Second Life"

What does the future of education hold for us? We don't know but we can speculate on the direction education may follow based upon current technology. Read, Write, Web , "builds communities, fosters shared knowledge and experience, and begins to virtualize the human experience." (2008. Hendron p.15) The concept of Read, Write, Web takes technologies such as RSS, wikis, and blogs and uses them in an educational way that will allow educators and students to enhance and expand their teaching and learning.


Hendron discusses an area that he sees as progressing into the future which is called Second Life http://www.secondlife.com/. Second life is a three-dimensional virtual world where over two million residents interact. (2008. p.15) When we as educators think about what our students are interested in and we combine that interest with educational possibilities we come up with something like Second Life. Now I have never been interested in virtual worlds or games but I find Second Life to be intriguing and the potential is limitless. On the website introduction of Second Life it is described as a, "place to connect, shop, work, love, explore, be different, be yourself, and free your mind." (http://www.secondlife.com/)
Second Life is not only a place to make friends it is also a place where we can connect with people from all over the world. We can collaborate with people about subjects and problems we are interested in. "You will find other faculty to work with on projects and figure out best practices for your common goals. But you can also leverage all the things--the content, the events, the tools--that have already been created in Second Life." (2009. Waters p. )
Just think about all of the possibilities. For example chemistry teacher was interested in creating models of molecules and simulations of chemical reactions. The teacher was prepared to build them all from scratch until he found out that the American Chemical Society has an interactive museum in Second Life that users can freely visit. Second Life is a rich ecosystem of learning experiences that are open to the public. Teachers don't have to create everything from scratch. (2009. Waters) It takes so much time and energy to create lessons that will engage our students. Second Life is a place where educators who are willing to share their creations with each other can meet.
Students will find that Second Life is a place they will enjoy and they will be able to connect with classmates, make new friends from all over the world, explore new ideas and create a virtual world from which they can play and learn.

Citations:

Hendron, J. (2008). RSS for Educators: blogs, newsfeeds, podcasts and wikis in the
Classroom Eugene, OR:ISTE.

Waters, J. (2009, January). A 'SECOND LIFE' FOR EDUCATORS. T H E Journal, 36(1), 29-
34. Retrieved September 16, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Second Life. (2002). Retrieved September 16, 2009 from http://secondlife.com/?lang=en-US