Second Life Pow Wow…

We go on our winter break next week and yet, I must admit that I am looking forward to small brainstorming session that a few of us have planned for Monday afternoon. The “pow wow” was brought on by a discussion at lunch the other day regarding the educational value of Second Life. For those of you not familiar with Second Life, it is

(From the Second Life Website) Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by millions of Residents from around the globe.

* From the moment you enter the World you’ll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you’ve explored a bit, perhaps you’ll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.

* You’ll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow Residents. Because Residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other Residents.

* The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online Linden Dollar exchanges.

In essence, the discussion revolved around the educational value of Second Life. There is a portion of Second Life that has been dedicated to non-profit organizations and educational institutions. The process consists of downloading some software and setting up an identity. You are run through a training module and then you are free to roam through this virtual world. The real issue that was presented was how does the potential of this virtual world translate into the very real world of teaching and learning. From what I can gather, it has the ability to link schools, teachers, students, speakers, guest artists and other creative thinkers in a way that is very real and would otherwise be difficult due to resources or distance. However, the seedy underbelly of Second Life does present legitimate concerns for teachers, and yet, the potential of Second Life raises interesting questions for educators.

How will learning outside the four walls of the classroom continue to change and evolve over the next 5 to 10 years?
In an era where emergency response plans include everything from lock downs to the closing of school due to pandemic flu, how can classes be conducted in a virtual environment?
What role will new multimedia and social-networking have with respect to teaching and learning?
How will long distance collaboration change when creative thinkers are able to interact in real time, in a virtual environment?
Will schools such as mine, take advantage of the endless supply of land and forgo our land locked, urban school dilemma?
Is it truly possible to nurture “whole-brain” thinking, the likes of Daniel Pink in a world where every single thing has been created by someone living in Second Life?

The results of this brainstorming pow wow will be interesting. My hunch is that Worcester Academy will in fact purchase property in Second Life. What we do with it has yet to be decided, but like our students, it represents infinite possibilities.