Thursday night I met up with two other classmates for an informal tour of Second Life. Our objective was to find some islands that offer simulations and virtual models. I have a few landmarks, so we tried them out first. We went to the Imperial College London for Medical Students, the Genome Island, Nuclear Reactor Center, a random island, Chilbo, Alice in Wonderland Island, and ISTE island.
At the Imperial College London Zee and I didn’t see anyone nor did we find any simulations. The buildings were easy to find and there were directions to simulation rooms, reception areas, and other rooms one would find in a common hospital. After touring around without any luck of experimenting or meeting others we left the island for a simulation of a nuclear reactor. Once again, the island was empty and we didn’t find a way to manipulate the controls on the reactor. I believe you have to be registered with them and then have special permissions granted to experiment with the simulation.
As a biology teacher I really enjoy going to Genome Island. It is in a region that is surrounded by other science related islands and research centers. On Genome Island there are several educational resources and simulations. There are “treasure hunts,” areas where you can perform test crosses and see the offspring (as opposed to just a Punnet Square), set up experiments, and manipulate variables to see how it affects a population’s allele frequency. You can see the results of both the phenotype and genotype as numerical data or observations of the population and their offspring.
Of course, I have to mention Alice in Wonderland. It is entertaining, awkward, and funny all at the same time.
At 6pm (SL time), Zee, Veronica, and I made it to a SLED event for educators. It was a great experience and even though it is for beginners I believe that it would be a great place for anyone interested in using SL for education. They are very supportive at the ISTE educator's island. I asked someone there, what are the top 5 places I should visit while in SL. They offered several links to educator's sites, simulation islands, cultural events/places, and other islands that may prove to be interesting. One thing I noticed is that we communicated via text chat and not voice. I was wondering if that is considered proper etiquette to text when you first meet somebody? I didn't get a chance to ask, but I assume it might have something to do with having too many people trying to talk at once. It would probably be hard to moderate or keep up with several conversations. Then again, if it was happening in a class or we were all in a physical location together then there are ways to moderate and communicate-so I am not really sure why the text chat as opposed to voice. I assumed if a person is savvy enough to get on SL then they probably have the proper equipment (such as headset/mic) to use voice chat.....
If you are in SL, my name is Orgon Jishnu. Look forward to more experiences and finding new and creative ways to use SL in education.
Morgon,
ReplyDeleteCheck out the island called Macbeth as well... it is fascinating, and surreal
The places you visited are full of creativity. I need to explore SL more.
ReplyDeleteWonderful blog - lots of useful information - and I'm eager to check out the Genome island.
ReplyDeleteI, too, wondered about talk v. chat. I agree that with lots of people in an unstructured situation, written chat is easier to keep up with. For educational purposes, it has the advantage of being preservable, unlike spoken words. I also think that if one is a bit reserved, it's easier to write than talk. Finally, I think that many of the residents of SL are non-native English speakers and English does appear to be the dominant language - writing a foreign language (unless it's Chinese) tends to be easier than speaking it.
Thanks, again, for such an informative blog.
having to use chat more than voice out of necessity because two headsets were not working properly, I have to say I think chat is more engaging than voice because you can have several conversations going on at once. I had a great time hangin out with Orgon and Ms. Rain.
ReplyDelete