Real Schools in SL?

I was wondering what real life schools and/or universities are using SL as a teaching tool?

I'm discussing the possibility of doing the same at my school so curious to see what other schools I can point at as examples of this.

THANKS!

I originally entered SL with a view to introducing University students to the environment.

Superficially SL has some very good features. I am really keen on the in game programing (its perfect for teaching object orientated prgraming basic concepts in a very visual way). There could even be opportunities for building activities.

As far as intreraction with the students is concerned - it might be made to work. In some fields (e.g drama, theatre) there may be opportunities for doing "plays" productions etc.

However, I don't believe I'll be introducing my students to the environment. because I also wander around the other areas of SL. .... as they would do..

I would find it a little difficult to justify to my University the idea that I am teaching 18-21 year olds in a virtual environment which flourishes on Gambling and Fetish type behaviour (as judged from the popular places search). Now- I'm not going to be judgemental on this but.... I can just see the headlines in the press....

I also very much doubt whether LL can technically support the number of students I would involving - I've only been around a couple of weeks but I've seen nothing but debacle after debacle - searches.. lag.. griefers.... all sorts.


I know some institutions have their own environments (and hence more administrative control) - this is probably a better way forward..

Let me play the devil's advocate, Seelowe, and ask if you the web in your teaching, to communicate your students, or to distribute materials? If so, how do you justify that, considering the WWW is also full of porn and gambling?

Ha!.. I like Devils

I am a full blown digital native .. I teach the Web at all University levels.. I have my own Virtual Learning Environment which I use in a way to "social construct" my student cohort. I was right there at the begining of the net (I sent my first email in 1985) and apart form two degrees from an early life.. I did a further degree in this very subject - it was one of the first (UK) degrees to use VLE's at any level. That was 7 years ago.. Since that time my research interests have fixed on the web and have included extreme exploitation of the stockmarket tech boom in the lead up to 2000; Thankyou net for paying off my mortgage..

I also subsidise my meagre academic salary by playing poker (online of course) semi-professionally..

I have concerns about the 'net and the student intereaction with it. I did a survey a few weeks ago and discovered that out of approx 100 students - 80% of them spend more than 20 hours a week on the net. I have an objection to this becasue

1] If they are surfing porn - they really should get out more and try the real stuff... Seriously.. I am concerned abou the level of peer-peer social interaction between students I see now..

2] Gambling: I make no bones about this. I make money from people who can't play poker. Less that 1% of online players are "winners". I take every opportunity to educate my students to this effect. More than 1% of players lose SUBSTANTIAL amounts of money. No gambling (apart from poker) on the Internet is -ev. I.e you will lose.

The Internet is the epitiome of the free market and as such offers many opportunities. In any free market there are opportunities AND dangers. I work to ensure my students are aware of those dangers and equip them to maximse the opportunities.

Universites have ethics committees. If I was teaching Psychology then maybe there would be a case for taking the students to SL to witness "power exchange" relationships. As someone who teaches the technology and practice of the net.. I would be concerned with introducing students into an environment where these things are ubiquitous. I am not equipped (and I couldn't equip the students) to deal with scenarios that are could arise.

My concern is for the students welfare. The Internet is pushing the University system to its limits - and certainly I find myself in some very odd situations - the students often know more about it than I would hope they should .

I suppose its a bit like teaching sex education to 14 years olds 30 years ago.. Teachers had to do it.the social norms at the times made it a difficult job to do for some - but it was a job that had to be done.

I do have some reservations abou the clientel in SL... lol...There seem to be two major groups (very simple model)..

1] Those involved in BDSM.

2] The other group who are heavily involved in pain, dominance, weird dress,voyerism and unihibited sexual behaviour.. i.e the teacher/lecturers/ researchers


These are interesting times.............

I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but the web is positively full of BDSM stuff (both informational and pornographical in nature). You are in fact already introducting students to such environments.

I am not sure what you are trying to say with the clientele in the last sentence; the majority of people I speak to in SL are into "virtual" arts, raising citizen's awareness of current issues, and/or learning to program. Sure, there's BDSM folks in SL (or in the web). Sure, a majority of SL (or the web) might be porn. That does not mean I have to surf to places where that exists, or if I happen to enter a place like that, to stay there.

Don't worry about bursting my bubble

a} Where have you been!!! I don't introduce them to the 'net - they're already there!!!

b} BDSM stuff on the net: Certainly in the University environment it would be inappropriate to make use of these sites. We have to be sensitive to different cultures (many of our students wear veils) and also - it would use a ton of bandwidth.... We have firewalls.

c} I would hasten to add that my knowledge of BDSM stuff on the net is clearly less substantial than yours. I'm also the last to be judgemental - it is a perfectly natural thing....

d} "the majority of people I speak to in SL are into "virtual" arts, raising citizen's awareness of current issues, and/or learning to program." - you should get out more

Seriously .. barriers drop in this environment.

I take a rather oblique view to all this.. A few days ago I visited the most popular sim in SL (a fetish club) i.e a place were most ppl exist/visit in this world. I got talking to three people.. (two women and a bloke) they were all teachers/lecturers in various guises. The question was asked why we were all there..

One said - I'm here to research in new ways of teaching
the other - I'm testing the software - I wish the search function would work because this was the only room I could get into
The third said - I'm doing a Masters on "The socialogy of Virtual environments"
they "looked at me"..

pause.. I thought I'd break the ice

"I'm looking to get laid....anyone been to Excite yet? "


The conversation chat ensued were interesting but very different from the ones one would followed if I'd said this in real...

and yes.. two of them had been to Excite


The problem with SL as a teaching environment is students wandering off into these areas (as they will). It will only take one student finding his/her way into a fetish club and reporting to his parents (whilst wearing his best latex suit) that his teacher took him to a sex site (its all one site) on the Interent and...pffft... end of career....lol.

It is quite a different matter if a student goes into a sex club in the University city on thier own volition.

Nah. I select my company so I can talk of stuff that interests me. I have enough sex of my liking in my first life, a very low interest in porn in general, and don't really enjoy social dancing much (RL or SL), so I do not see any point to go to clubs (fetish or otherwise) and other places like that very often. (Not that I don't, sometimes.)



Frankly, I find that hilarious. In my mind, it is about equivalent to a lecturer surfing porn sites in the web and then claiming he was exploring the web as a teaching tool. (Brings into mind the question what the heck his field is...)

The Search not working is a problem currently, I admit.



Yeah, time might not be ripe yet. But someone has to start it and take the risk, if we want to ever use virtual worlds in teaching.



I don't think it is, in fact. The unedudcated parents might view is as such, but it is not. If you take student to say a park or a museum in SL and they wonder of to fetish clubs after the class, in my opinion, morally, you are about as much responsible for it as you would be for the same incident in RL.

Yes we would be.. Thats why if you take students on a field trip you have to sign them in AND out. There are Health and Safty issues in not doing so and also University liability is high in these situations.

How bout this. Allow teachers to keep people from entering mature areas. That would stop all this. And if you want a quick solution teach on the beta or teen grid where it is totally safe.

*blink*

Ok, let's say the situation is equivalent to students seeing a club during the field tip, then returning from the field trip with you, and going back to the town for a club - would you be responsible?

I just cannot get my head over the idea that you can show them web pages and not be held responsible if they surf porn sites, but not show them a museum in SL and not be responsible if they surf porn clubs in SL.

Letting a teacher police what I do on my account while I am not in a class? No thank you.

(Part of this is likely cultural difference. Where I hail from, signing over 18-yo students in and out for a field trip is a mind-boggling idea too, but I take your word for that. You mention 18-21, maybe the legal age is 21 where you are?)

Getting off-topic from the original question here though, so I will stop. Internet is not all porn, and neither is SL, is my point.

to OP: Getting back on-topic, have you tried the "RL Education in SL" group?

The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) has a sim (UTD ArTech) for art and technology displays and learning.

Imagine if on eBay you were able to physically see and hear the millions of other people searching "alongside" you. Some guy might be searching in his BDSM uniform, or just sitting at the computer naked. Ack!

Imagine if on Google you were able to physically see and hear the millions of other people searching "alongside" you. Some guy might be searching in his BDSM uniform, or just sitting at the computer naked. Ack!


The problem with holding classes in a virtual environment like this, vs just using a website or doing a video-conference, is that you are aware of other people who happen to just be wandering by.

On the regular Intarweb the view is you pointing straight in at the server. You cannot "see" anyone else around you who is also using the same services at the same time.

The communal design of SL forces this onto you, such that you cannot work in a public space, without the potential for being disrupted by some random person wandering by, that you and others you are working with are aware of.


So, while browsing CNN, the likelihood of being accosted with the awareness of another website user is not going to happen. While browsing on SL, it's a very real possibility.

Well an intersting thought is this. Recently a major publisher of education books for law and computer degrees joined SL (I won't say the name cause I will butcher it). With that being said here is how you could hold a virtual class.
1) HAVE A PRIVATE ISLAND! Noone can fly over if only students and teachers are allowed and you have "no fly" enabled.

2) Students will wander outside of class. As they do in real life after class. Just ask they do not sport thier activities on the island outside of the more mundane things. Maybe like no Xcite parts, no "adult" stuff, have a uniform, require a standard avatar?

3) You will never have any K-12 teaching. It would require a TOS violation in mass as it would join the teen grid players with adult grid players.

The equivlent to "wandering" in SL is equal to "after school" behavior. Also as this is an 18 and over environment there is no need for "concent" or "parental permission" for "field trips". Also see it this way there are those around SL that WORK HERE! OMG IBM IN BDSMVILLE! Dell, wells fargo, NBC, BBC (Correct me if wrong) all have presence here. They see it the same as the internet I bet. Yeah that is bad stuff out on the net and yes thier people most likly WILL be in it but these people that work here are here for work and then play. Either way most companies realize working here is not a 9-5 or an 8 hour a day job so many will "live and work" here.

Also if you have been to the IBM islands you will see they have 3 large discussion areas. Something tells me these will have an educational/informative use if they use it for their own corporate use (so far they have not really said). Either way the fact that IBM has released this model shows they see the potential pitfalls of "wandering" and shrug at it.


EDIT: This is a real talk I have had with family as a good portion are involved in education and do alot of travel and/or distance teaching.

*burp*
http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life:_Educators_Working_with_Teens

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELCH*

I stand corrected. Course I wil admit I just stay away from anything with the mention of RL teens...just won't even touch it with ten foot pole. It is good though to see they rules were bent for this. I won't go into the 200 questions I have about it but it is definatly good to see. I just wish my family would get over thier techno-phobia and jump in.

Hello!

My name is Fire Centaur from http://www.eslteacherlink.co.kr, I am an English Language teacher from Canada, currently living in Seoul South Korea.

I have recently opened English Village to help teachers interested in Teaching to get started.

Since we are all pioneers here in this field, I beleive that collaboration is the most important! We must stick together and help each other out!

Over the past few months I have collected a few tools that can be useful in giving SL presentations, and for teaching in SL.

Therefore, if you want to get started in SL, and work together to find a way to deliver English Education in the VR world...
come to my island!
I will be very excited to meet you!


We hope that by using the island, teachers may find students and that students interested in studying English in SL may find teachers to teach them!

Currently we have four classrroms available, and also a clubhouse.
In order to cover costs of the island, we have prepared four classrooms - equiped with tools for you to use. Three of the classrooms are four permanent residents who need a place where they can regularily meet - we have established a fee structure for this to help cover costs.

We also have made a free a free classroom available for those wishing to experiment with first.

Any teacher can use this, just please book ahead with me so that we may avoid any scheduling conflicts.

The Free class comes equiped with:

*** A Separate Reception Area
*** A Teacher's Desk
*** Optional Email Kiosk set up on the island for your students
*** Optional Homework Submitter Kiosk - goes to your email
*** Skypeme Now Button
*** Chalkboard that you can type on
*** Two white boards that can accept PowerPoint Files
*** Laser Pointer (Must buy this - 700L)
*** A Shoulder Puppet that you can use to facilitate the lesson (Must buy this 100L)
*** Chairs for your students
*** A table for the teacher

If you are interested in using our permanant facilities, we can make arrangements to get you started! Just IM me in SL, or send an email to [email]fire@eslteacherlink.co.kr[/email]

Our permanent offices include some addtional tools and support:


*** Your Own Desk
*** Email Kiosks for your students IN YOUR CLASSROOM
*** Homework Submitter Kiosk IN YOUR CLASSROOM - goes to your email
*** Skype Status Indicator IN YOUR CLASSROOM
*** Skypeme Now Button IN YOUR CLASSROOM
*** Chalkboard that ONLY YOu, AND OTHER AUTHORIZED USERS can type on
*** Two white boards that ONLY YOu accepts YOUR PowerPoint Files
*** Laser Pointer
*** A Shoulder Puppet that you can use to facilitate the lesson
*** Chairs for your students
*** A counter for the teacher
*** Customized Wall Clocks for your timezone, and or your students timezones
*** A Note card and Sound Bulletin board where your students can leave messages for you
*** 1 HOUR PRIVATE TEACHER TRAINING

Also, if you need help learning how to use the tools, I can help you with that too! See our forums for more info

We also have a website set up to support the island:
http://www.eslteacherlink.co.kr

Anyhow We hope to see you there!

OK. not exactly what I was looking for.. I was hoping to see if anyone knew of any RL colleges that have classes here in SL.. something I could take that would be RL college credit.. Anyone know of any? I did search around and found that Ohio University (I'm from Ohio.. I was so thrilled to see that) has two islands.. but.. I went there.. I could only fly around one island.. the other was closed off.. and there wasn't anything there but some basically empty buildings! Disappointed.. I flew off..

So anyone? RL colleges in SL? other than ones that are here to teach their students about SL? Something maybe.. that people all over the world to take classes at OU or UCLA or something?

Rowan Carroll

Recently, I hosted InTech University, an IT university on my Island.

They are currently having SL RL classes - parlez vous francais?

Contact me if you want the instructors contact info. Here is their website: http://www.intechinfo.esiea.fr/

If I find anymore, or others approach me on my island, I will let you know.

Cheers

Fire Centaur

Check this page. http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Institutions_and_Organizations_in_SL I think it has the list of organizations you are looking for.

- Leo