Blog #7: Second Life

I am not a big fan of Second Life for educational purposes because it is not appropriate for elementary school due to the fact that anyone can fly or walk right up to you to chat. The time it takes to move up the learning curve in Second Life is something that educators just do not have in the elementary school setting. Before I use a virtual world such as Second Life with my students many changes would need to be made. For instance, there should be separate areas for elementary aged students that require a password to get into. In order to get a password, the applicant would have to provide information and proof of age as well as purpose for using Second Life.

Even though I do not see a use for Second Life in the elementary school setting, that does not mean that it is not being used by elementary schools. I would love to see an example of how it is being used in 4th grade classrooms. In order to change my mind on the subject I would have to see it in action and know what procedures and paperwork had to be taken care of before the students could use the Second Life software while being under the care of the school system and the responsibility of the teacher.

A fellow student in my Master's program talked about using Second Life to teach soccer, and yes I can see how it would work. I also understand that it would be of value to College students, adults training for a specific skill or task, and perhaps some high school classes. But with elementary school, the area in which I will be focusing my studies on, I do not see where it would fit in where I could feel safe that there would be no complaints and that predators could not reach my students.

If anyone has found a Second Life world that is used for elementary school students, specifically 3rd - 5th grade, I would appreciate it if you would send it my way. With many school districts, this type of social networking would be frowned upon or banned. I cannot lend my support to the fight for being able to use Second Life in the elementary classroom without seeing how it works in action. If I believe in something I am more than motivated to fight for it and will do so without anyone asking for me to. I would fight to use Second Life with my students because I found value in what it had to offer. I just haven't seen that value as of yet. Again, if you know of any Second Life worlds for 3rd to 5th grade students please send them my way.