Second Life - Day 2

Introduction

Today I'm exploring a new area and looking at the educational possibilities there. Every day I hope to get a little more proficient at navigating Second Life.

EduNation Island

Today I visited EduNation, which is a bit different from Learn It Town. The spaces seem to be designed for group discussions. There are a handful of universities that have buildings on EduNation Island, where students can meet in a virtual classroom or conference room. Take a look at what I found:

 ^^ An aerial view of EduNation. ^^

 ^^ EduNation Resource Center. Also a place for students to gather. ^^

 ^^These boxes were interesting. When you interacted with them, you received a notecard or sound file associated with each box.^^

 ^^By clicking on one of the posters, I was instantly transported to that location on the island.^^

 ^^ I'm not sure how I got here, but there were giant math stations on the island. EduNation (and Second Life in general) isn't limited to just language learning!^^

 ^^ Students can learn about Mary Guggenheim on the walls, then meet and talk about their findings.^^

 ^^ It's not all work and no play on EduNation. I rezzed a jet ski and cruised around for a bit. ^^

 ^^Another comfortable place to meet with classmates.^^

^^ There's a giant Scrabble board on the island. It looks like so much fun! ^^

Apparently I didn't take pictures of any of the university buildings. And I didn't take screen shots of every gathering place, but trust me, there were a lot! Students could gather in a garden, or by a tropical bar, or even underwater! This island seems less about situational learning and more about meeting and collaborating with classmates.

I haven't really shown any of the conference rooms in Second Life, but basically they look and function like they would in the real world. I'll try to get screen shots of them in a future session.

I guess there are a lot of strange places in Second Life, so it's important for students to have a safe, distraction-free learning environment. You don't want to be worrying about interacting with random strangers who may or may not have the best intentions, so EduNation is a great refuge for people who are serious about learning.