Week 4 - Blog Posting #7 -Second Life

While I studied Spanish in Spain, we were each assigned an intercambio, or exchange, student friend from Spain. Part of our immersion experience took place in the classroom setting, of course, but most application took place within those personal relationships. I learned Spanish from my Spanish friend, and he learned English from me. Learning was enhanced through living, breathing, real-world experiences with other people.

Teaching languages works best when combined with social interaction. As an educator of English language learners, I know that foundational best practices for acquiring new language skills include discussion, conversations, and familiarity with social situations. Interaction is part of the learning process. Also included are culture, historical connections, and gestures that vary from culture to culture.

Second life is a free online virtual international community that offers a place where travel is a click away, interaction with people from around the world is possible, and where educational experiences include not only language learning, but every content area imaginable. My first time in Second Life I heard at least three different languages being spoken. My second time there, I met a group of people on Avatar Island that helped me navigate this new world, find my new avatar personality, and play a little.

My first month in Full Sail University's master's in Education Media Design and Technology threw me into a project that required me to explore historical places in Second Life. Four of us searched and teleported across many virtual oceans to places like Caledonia by the Sea, Sparta in Greece, and the Great Wall of China. On my own, I found a Shinto Temple, a Geisha Training Center, and simply fun places like fairy lands and free clothes shopping. One group I joined at the time was Chinoesfera, a group that studies about Asia.

Second Life is a lot of fun and has greater learning possibilities when interaction is involved, at least for me. When I have just gone on to explore without an agenda or a friend to meet, it was actually kind of lonely. Wandering randomly to explore is enjoyable, yet starts to lose some appeal when many places are quite empty. It can be like going to a great museum with no one there to share the experience.

I believe that the more effective use of Second Life is with learning communities. Specifying purposes makes the experiences more meaningful, especially as an educational tool. A lecture in Second Life about volcanic activity next to a virtual volcano would be much more effective than a basic classroom chat. The Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House, Beth Noveck, utilized Second Life in July of this year. Her discussion was open to both a live and a virtual audience at Second Life's MacArthur Island conference amphitheater (Second Life Blogs, July 21, 2009).

Many types of groups are available on Second Life. Although I am far from an expert at this point, here are a few suggestions for educators:

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

Society for International Education Training and Research (SIETAR) on Second Life

-SIETAR Web page and Blogs

Multiple Intelligence on Second Life

Blooms Taxonomy on Second Life

Finally, this video makes educational uses of Second Life very clear:

Week 3 - Blog Posting #5 -Social Media

Facebook is my friend! When I started in January, I was hoping to get in touch with some family and friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. So much has happened since then. I have made friends in England, Australia, Greece, Malaysia, and all over the United States. Now I am reconnected to friends from grade school to college. Yesterday I got an e-mail from my friend, Laura. I was the maid of honor in her wedding and we had lost track of each other.

Social networking has opened up many opportunities, friendships, and learning experiences for me. Before I joined, I was clueless about what it was, or why people were so enamored of it. At my school, we were concerned about students that had not used good judgement about pictures that they posted. Then my friend, Shelby, sent me an invite to join Facebook myself.

My conclusion is that Facebook, blogging, and social networking is a positive force. The potential good outweighs any negatives that I have seen. It has allowed me to get to know some teachers at school better also. We occasionally talk about the games we mutually play, like Yoville, and enjoy sending each other messages there. In the article Blogging Boosts Your Social Life by Claudine Ryan for ABC Science Online, blogging allows a person to feel more connected...and more satisfied with your friendships, both online and face-to-face. This has been true in my experience, as I'm sure is true for many others.

As an educator, social networks provide opportunities to read, research and discuss the best practices worldwide. Groups like the Global Education Collaborative and Classroom 2.0 provide educators a forum to learn the latest technology, how to use it effectively, and get advice as well as support from a wide variety of educators outside of the circle at one's own school. The knowledge base is staggering! Isolation is abolished by the open doors of internet collaboration.

This past weekend, I was researching blogs because I want to give my students an opportunity to fall in love with writing through blogging. Literacy today should involve the computer in some way. Some of the blogging sites I found are Edublog, Classblogmeister, and many more that I have put on my Netvibes page.

Then, I was taken aback when a friend told me he discourages kids from blogging due to predators online. He works with groups that catch such people and knows their tricks. Originally I wanted to do the free blogs through Blogspot, like this one. However, I must open e-mails for each of my students. Edublog allows control and the ability to add students, but it also has a fee, as does ClassPress. The cost is not high, but usually this comes out of my pocket and not the school budget, especially in today's economy.

One alternative is a wiki. Wikispaces has both free and pay plans. The free plan allows for an unlimited number of users. I'm still researching and plan to start by the end of this week. Any suggestions or feedback are appreciated.

Some references worth reading:

Educators Click with social Networking

Wiki Shines Spotlight on Top Educational Blogs

Moving Forward Wiki - Education Blogs by Discipline

Education Total Blog Directory