Sometimes I read an article and have to check the date, then check it again. This was the case this evening when I was reading about Indiana University Northwest University Professors Taking Classrooms Into the Virtual World. The reason I needed to check the date was due to some of the terminology in the article:
On the surface, Second Life appears to be nothing more than a gamer’s paradise, but educators say it is also what’s next in distance learning.
The article really was published on December 13th 2012, even though that sort of talk sounds like something I may have read in December 2006, then there’s this:
As with any new technology, Second Life brings inherent technical challenges and a steep learning curve.
…. mm yes Second Life has a steep learning curve but not many people would call it new technology in 2012. However the article is interesting to read, it talks of good use cases for Second Life in terms of collaboration between students in a distance learning environment and how well it worked, Dorothy Ige, Ph.D., Professor of Communication is quoted as saying:
Since this is the first time trying the Second Life approach, I was not sure that students could bond interpersonally at a distance through technology,” Ige said. “I was pleasantly surprised that they not only bonded, but took interpersonal communication to another level.
Continue reading “Indiana University Northwest Takes Teaching To Second Life”