Techlearning blog

For many, it is nearly impossible not to be excited about the potential of Second Life in education after exploring its various educational spots. Without a doubt, I was one of those people (or is that avatars?). As a former high school English teacher, it only took seeing the various Literature Projects for me to see the classroom potential.

Looking back, I now realize that what I was really seeing was the potential of virtual worlds NOT the potential of SL. Sadly, I had fallen victim to the Kleenex Syndrome (i.e. thinking that the only tissue is a Kleenex).

The reality is that Second Life is just a brand of virtual worlds with TOO MANY problems for it to be anointed as the Kleenex of virtual worlds in education.

The Five Most Pressing Issues

Plain and simple, Linden Lab requires a fairly strong machine (recommending an even more powerful one) in order to run efficiently and effectively not to mention what some would consider pretty robust network demands.

For some schools and educators, this might not be an issue but there are many in which this would pose complications. In fact, Second Life may only perpetuate the digital divide where the schools with the high end systems and networks have access to Second Life and the rest go without.

2. Stability

Last week, I spent hours trying to enter Second Life only to get on and freeze, get on and freeze, and yes, get on and freeze. This isn't the only time or issue. In fact, problems with Second Life's reliability are frequent and common to many. From crashes to bugs, Second Life simply IS NOT stable enough to be a reliable tool in the classroom. Honestly, how many teachers are there that would tolerate being unsure daily whether or not a tool will work?

3. The Missing Grid

Within a short time period of being on Second Life, one thing became quite clear to me: Linden Lab needs to invest in an Education Grid if they really want SL to be successful within K-12 education (at least, 6-12 education for now). Today, my feelings have not changed but there still remains no Education Grid and the problems and limitations of educators trying to work in SL to its fullest continue.

4. Extremists

Quite frankly, there are those that go to extremes in defending Second Life and often turn a blind eye to the plethora of issues. Sadly, these extremists need to come come to the realization that it isn't SL we should be fighting for. We should be fighting for virtual worlds and critically examining all of them to determine which one best fits our needs.

5. Safety

By no means an issue isolated only to Second Life, it is obviously an issue and one that will undoubtedly arise as more and more articles appear in the news about controversial issues and content within SL.

With these and many other problems, it seems obvious to me that SL simply is the wrong choice right now in K-12 education but remember not to throw the baby out with the bath water because virtual worlds DO have a place in education.

Farewell

With these realizations, Existential Paine is saying goodbye to his weekly writing for Technology & Learning and in his place is Ryan Bretag who will begin writing on a variety of instructional technology topics and tools that have a bit more hope and a little less hype.