Hayley really needs our help! She is one of the students studying to be a teacher and has to do a presentation on Second Life. Understandably she’s new to Second Life and virtual worlds so is finding it hard to relate to their usefulness in the educational world.
Anyone whose seen me in action in Second Life with my perfect sexy body knows that while I have THE WALK to go with my avatar — Virtual worlds aren’t my area of expertise. Definitely I’d recommend Hayley spend time checking out Jo Kay‘s and Sean FitzGerald‘s Second Life in Education Wiki — it’s an amazing resource for educators. In terms of age Teen Second Life is for 13 to 18 year olds only and Quest Atlantis is for 9 to 15 year olds only.
Using Second Life For Student Literacy Projects
Dean Groom was nice enough to talk tonight with me about how he uses Second Life with his students. Currently he has thirty year 9 students working on a Shakespeare project to create 2 minute Machinima.
The students have 6 weeks of 1hour per week in class to:
- Create a story board for their play
- Make their own outfits for their avatars using Photoshop
- Build their own set for their play
- Learn to manipulate their avatars and use the camera to film the performance
- Film the scenes in Second Life and edit their movie using iMovie where they will add the voice to go with the avatars
Each week the students are required to complete reflective writing — you can check their progress here. The students chosen were those struggling with literacy skills. Not only does this process help them visualise Shakespeare’s work better but they also gain a wide range of other skills including collaboration, leadership and improved digital literacies. Dean also commented that these projects often open up the shy, quiet students who become more confident as a result.
Here is a video of his students working hard — right at the end you will hear two students discussing their set design.
Final Thoughts
Please share your knowledge and experience to help Hayley with her presentation this week:
- Do you use Second Life or any Virtual Worlds with your students? If so how?
- What have been the benefits of using Virtual Worlds?
- What have been the challenges?
- Can you suggest any resources for her to check out?
Please feel free to leave your comments here or on Hayley’s post.
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