Week 4 - Blog Posting #7 -Second Life

Quite honestly, the more I tried to search for an appropriate site for which to direct interested parties seeking educational opportunities, the less I found content that would be stimulating. Perhaps it was the fact that I’m a visual person or maybe the lure of adventure was not adequately represented in the SL (Second Life) world. This puts me in a situation where I find myself with no recourse but to state the facts as I see them.

First, while I believe that when it comes to education, all resources should be explored for possible exploration, I do not believe in just placing material in a blog just for the sake of satisfying a requirement. In doing so, would lead to the systematic “devolution” of responsible research and practice.

And second, if an educational source is located, then it better be tested for accuracy and purpose.

Below is an example of a search in SL that somewhat tests my point:

Look at this picture and think about the purpose behind the creation of SL.

I would challenge one to ask themselves these questions before creating a world (or at least, understand the purpose for creating it in SL to begin with):

1 - What purpose does this ramp serve in SL?
2 - Would it keep an avatar from accessing the learning resource center had this ramp not been there?
3 – Is this fauxpaux similar to that of driver’s side brail-instructions at a drive through ATM?
4 – Does this now place an undue concern amongst individuals who’ve entered SL to forget the realities of their FL (First Life)?

I feel that although well-intentioned, SL will not quite reach the “catch-all” in generating opportunities for education and learning but it does, however; provide the catalyst for future concepts to be tweaked and perhaps may be used as a model for concepts not yet thought of.

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