Second Life. . .

Surprising to me I joined second life  one year and 3 months ago at the request of my supervisor. He said he indulged for fun and that I should set up an account and see for myself. He was quite fond of it and I seen him on it a few times while at work. At his suggestion, I got an account and downloaded it to my work computer. I hated it! I know, I know. Buuuuut give me a chance to explain.

Just moments ago I set up a new account and put it back on my computer at work. When it finally logged me in it was the old account. I left it that way and started to "look" around. Instantly I had some friend request invites and some teleport invites. I am still unsure of how to use Second Life or request anything of others just yet. I did however figure out to chat and ask how on earth do I use this thingy!

Now, I may be taking a leap here and some may disagree. But I am not enthused nor do I see the positive and for sure I do not see the user friendly effectiveness of participating in a second life. I read a few articles and listened to a few gaming videos about pros vs cons of actively participating in second life but I can not fathom the implications it would have on education. Or it could just be the virtual world in which I am existing as an avatar at the moment. As I type this blog, I am switching back and forth from second life and trying my best to produce a blog that is both reflective of my opinion but also a blog that is conducive to the instructions of the Game Lab for this particular quest.

I was not too fond of second life when I was introduced to it over a year ago and after surfing...oops..let me say "living" in second life for most of the morning, I am not sold on how it can be great for educational purposes. I am struggling to see where a blog or podcast or even a game with quests like Game Lab or discussion like that on BlackBoard doesn't somehow serve a better purpose than sitting in front of a computer living vicariously through an avatar of your choice with people you don't know.

Now, maybe I need to broadened my scope of the situation at hand. Maybe I need to dig deeper. Or maybe I need to think outside of the box so that I can really see how practical this could potentially be for education, teachers, and most importantly students. I can't help but think of the very communication process itself. Rhetoric as we know it has changed immensely since the emerging and now monopoly of electronic devices and their vast capabilities. So many other forms of communication have replaced the actual "talk". Second life seems very informal to me. I am all for being comfortable and even support unconventional methods of teaching and learning. I am just not sure if I am agree (especially with younger students) and the self esteem issues that arise around the puberty age if hiding (if you will) behind an avatar is the best way to enhance and promote learning outside the classroom. I do think it is important to enhance social skills and in my mind a Skype session or discussion board or wimba or VoiceThread or oovoo or many other types of applications may be more practical than second life.

Seeing as though I am not exactly a fan of second life....I must do some more research outside of actually participating in the "game" to clarify some things for me. With that being said, I look forward to seeing, reading, hearing the views of others because it is just not clicking for me. . .