The Excitement of Education in a Virtual World
What will be?!
Interview in SecondLife www.secondlife.com between Tommie Vig (Menno Lanting, director Business Development at the Baak) and Pathfinder Linden (John Lester, Academic Program Manager at Second Life)
Tommie Vig: We are now at the in world Ohio University, is this a good example of education in second life (SL)?
Pathfinder Linden: yes, I think this is a very good example. As you can see, they have created an environment that looks very much like a real life campus. I feel like I'm really at Ohio University. I see classic buildings and meeting areas. I believe they have scheduled events here for students.
Why should a school, university or company like ours have a SL presence?
Pathfinder Linden: One reason is that SL allows students and faculty to meet and interact in a central place independent of where they may be physically....so it is ideal for things like distance learning, or situations where it is difficult to get everyone in the same real life (RL) place at the same time. And SL has a great deal of emotional bandwidth. Much more so than simply chatting in a chatroom. In SL, you are represented by avatars, and can create a 3d space (like here) that is very rich in detail. So it feels much more ‘real’ to people. More immersive, both perceptually and emotionally.
In what case would you advise not to start in SL?
Pathfinder Linden: Hmm....well, I think it is important to first explore SL as much as possible before thinking of creating a space here. Learn how SL works, how people communicate and interact, and explore what other people are already doing in SL that may be similar to what you are thinking of doing. SL is fundamentally a social space. It is a place where people interact and communicate. Educators should leverage that whenever possible, in my opinion.
What is the most common mistake companies/institutes make?
Pathfinder Linden: I think a common mistake is to focus on creating edifices as opposed to communities. It is important to not only create spaces in SL, but to create spaces where people are meeting and communicating on a regular basis. SL is all about creating environments where people interact and share knowledge around common resources and goals, in my opinion. Another common mistake is to restrict oneself to ideas that come from previous mediums. So, for example, recreating a classroom in SL that looks exactly like a classroom in RL often useful and works very well for meetings, but....people should also think beyond that. SL allows you to create amazing experiences that could not exist in RL. So, if you are teaching a class on biology, instead of simply having students log into SL and sit at desks looking at slides on a wall, why not create a giant 3-d interactive cell and let students explore the cell? Be a mitochondria! Ride a ribosome! that kind of thing.
Will SL be the next fase of Internet within 10 years? Will the majority of classes find place in SL?
As a technology, I see SL expanding and being used by more and more people around the world. I see it becoming more visually immersive, perhaps even one day looking just as real as RL. Graphics technology is always evolving. And I see educators in the future discovering completely new ways to leverage SL to teach things that may be difficult to teach in RL. SL is a tool that augments, not replaces, RL interactions. When educators discovered the Web, they initially simply put textbooks online. Over time, as they became more familiar with the Web and explored it, they came up with totally new ways to leverage it. I see the same evolution happing with educators in SL. So, in essence, we cannot imagine the amazing new ways educators will use SL in the future, simply because it hasn't been invented yet by the educators. That is how the future is best predicted...by innovative people inventing it.
Do you see a difference in the way young kids now use SL?
Pathfinder Linden: well, I think that people who have grown up in a world where they have always known the Web, Instant Messanger, and email see the world a bit differently. I think they naturally embrace new technologies that allow them to interact with people in new ways. And they very easily ‘connect’ with people around the world using new technologies. They don't fear these technologies, and quickly embrace them to connect with like-minded folks across the planet. I think kids see SL as simply another tool, and quickly understand how to best use it. I always tell educators "look at how your students are using SL...that's the future".
Reageren?: e-mail m.lanting@debaak.nl