Second Life - Day 3

Introduction

Today was my third day exploring the virtual world of Second Life. Today I chose to a visit place that wasn't specifically designed for education in the same way as EduNation or Learn It Town, but still has the potential for learning and exploration.

Exploratorium

After testing out a few locations, I settled on the Exploratorium, which is a great island for educational discovery. Based on the museum in San Francisco, the island has several small exhibits that you can interact with. While I walked around the entire island, I only took screen shots of two exhibits. Here's what I found:

 ^^ Aerial view of Exploratorium. ^^

 ^^ They had an exhibit in honor of Pi Day, where you could learn all the mathematical properties of pi. ^^

^^ More of the displays for the Pi Day Exhibit. ^^ 

 ^^ There was a replica of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Reactor. ^^

 ^^ There were lots of explanatory posters about how the reactor works. You could interact with some objects and learn about their scientific makeup. ^^

^^ Because we can't fully understand what happened at Fukushima without talking about the earthquake, there were explanations about the earthquake that happened on 3.11 as well. ^^

 ^^ Lots of explanatory posters, maps, and a timeline. ^^

^^ The Exploratorium's blog announces when experts in various fields will be coming to give talks in Second Life. They also highlight new exhibits on the island. ^^

Thoughts

This is really different from the other places I've visited. I could see students coming here (or to a similar island that is rich with information) to research something. Students could break off into different groups, and each small group could explore a specific exhibit. Then, students could come together and report on their findings. Possible homework could be creating a notecard to give to their teacher or classmates (about their experience or what they learned), or it could be listening to a lecture by one of the guest speakers.

The trick in Second Life is to find locations that are education-focused and rich in information. I think students might learn better than in traditional classroom environments since they are immersed in the environment and have to set out to find the information themselves. The potential goes beyond just English. From history to math to science, there is much that can be learned about in a location such as this one.