Is virtual reality the place where we can awaken our sleeping students? We know that they are enamored with their Guitar Hero and Wii game consoles, but is a platform like Second Life really going to arouse our sleeping beauties from their slumber and bring them in to full participation in the classroom? Could it be that simple?
I recently entered Second Life (SL) as a relative novice trying to discover if this virtual reality might offer anything for me and my students. The first thing I encountered was a very steep learning curve. While being able to customize my avatar was an interesting experience, figuring out which button did what and how to move efficiently in Second Life took some time. I could imagine using this with my students- it would be chaotic at best. While they probably have lots of experience with similar games and applications, allowing the time necessary for the students to become comfortable with the SL interface just isn’t feasible. It would take at least 2, if not 3, 55 minute sessions to ensure that they knew what they were doing. Even suggesting the idea that they play in SL on their own time is not possible because most of my students do not have online access at home.
As I continued my journey, the next difficulty I encountered was the pace of the simulation itself. Slow is a polite way to describe it. Things rezzed in at different times and sometimes made it difficult to navigate in the virtual world. Watching performances that featured avatar performers was laborious- hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait. My students just don’t have the patience required to view a performance at that pace. SL exhibits that offered in-grid video presentations were better, but I can access those types of media from sites like TeacherTube and Youtube , so SL doesn’t necessarily need to be a part of the presentation scheme.
Will I be using SL in the future in my classroom? My Special Education students won’t be using this tool until the interface is simplified and the graphics become faster .
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