The Drax Files Radio Hour Episode 16 : lindens are people too! [part 1] is another superb production from Draxtor Despres and Jo Yardley. A wide variety of topics are covered and as usual, I won’t go too deeply into them because the true richness comes from listening to the show!
However they cover education in Second Life and OpenSim. In terms of Second Life they talk of the recent Introduction to Second Life for Educators – a Course in Spanish, which Linden Lab blogged about. I must admit I got this a bit arse about face when I read the blog title because I thought it was teaching Spanish in Second Life, whereas it’s teaching Second Life to Spanish speakers.
Second Life Para Docentes
El curso MOOC Second Life para docentes, está diseñado para capacitar a educadores de habla hispana en el uso del mundo virtual Second Life, como punto de partida en su interacción en entornos emergentes e innovadores que pueden ser utilizados en favor de la Enseñanza. Esta iniciativa responde a las necesidades de los estudiantes y su nueva forma de aprender y estudiar, así como a su tendencia por el uso cada vez mayor de la tecnología.
Visit in Second Life
In terms of OpenSim there’s an excellent feature on a school in Ireland using OpenSim and Oculus Rift to teach history by allowing the kids to experience historical settings in a virtual world. Virtual worlds do have a place within education but I feel the problem with virtual worlds and education remains the baggage with a one size fits all solution to delivery in terms of Second Life, indeed this is where OpenSim does have an advantage.
Now if Linden Lab were to make Second Life technology available to schools to host their own Second Life technology grid, away from the main grid, I feel real progress could be made there. Say for example if JANET in the UK hosted a grid powered by Second Life technology that educators could build on and collaborate with other institutions, there would be potential there. I thought this was where they were heading with SLEnterprise until I saw the pricing. However in this day and age when the public sector is still being squeezed, a presence on the Second Life main grid and all the associated baggage (much of which is overblown but still exists) is a difficult proposition for educators to sell as a business planning need.
I do believe Linden Lab need to consider such a setup because if they don’t deliver it, High Fidelity is likely to look very appealing to educators due to the nature of how that looks like it will allow people to create their own grids.
However back to the show, there are lots of features, lots worth listening to but the big news is that Draxtor has been out to Santa Cruz, where he was probably initiated into the FIC hall of fame as he fraternised with Ebbe Altberg and The Lindens … to those unfamiliar with Second Life, that is not the name of a rock band.
Continue reading “The Drax Files Radio Hour Episode 16 – Drax Meets The Lindens”
