Journal 2

Journal 2

The article “Real Life Migrants on the MUVE” by Ross A. Perkins and Cathy Arreguin explores the worlds of possibilities and opportunities for learning in MUVEs, or, Multi-User Virtual Environments. Explored for entertainment value in massive-multiplayer online role-playing games where users can create virtual identities for themselves and interact with others in mythical worlds and slay dragons, now educators are catching on and beginning to embrace this technology in the classroom.

Some see this technology as an invaluable tool that could allow students to learn in more abstract ways and could allow teachers to present students with learning situations and environments where they could be studying multiple subjects or ideas simultaneously. The article focuses on a specific program called “Second Life” from Linden Labs in San Francisco whose technology has been implemented in the 8^th grade curricula at Suffern Middle School. While many call it a novelty, the fact remains that many educators are endorsing MUVEs as learning environments of the future where the possibilities are truly endless.

Questions

1. Why would teachers go through the trouble of paying a subscription to a service, buying computers and programs, then learning the software and going through the trouble of creating a digital bulb and a digital socket, just to teach kids how to screw in a light bulb when they could be learning how to do this in real live? Is this technology really that convenient or does it foster creativity at the expense of practicality?

Teachers would use these environments not just to teach kids simple things, but to provide them with diverse and unique opportunities for learning that they otherwise would not have been exposed to. The technology is by no means convenient, but the lingering hope is that the work put into developing a lesson plan in these environments will pay off in the learning experiences, progress, and understanding of students.

2. What are the estimated costs for the sustained use of this program in education?

The Second Life website says membership is free.