Week 7- Assignment 2
and talking with an ELA teacher, I thought about how this could be used in an
ELA classroom. First and foremost, I think it is important to advise the students to get comfortable with the game before starting assignments and meetings. It is also imperative to warn students that this is a public site, and random people can interact with you. In Second Life, virtual classes can be held where the student's avatar's can be present and even participate and ask questions. When exploring second life, I thought this game would be most useful for online classes, to bring a sense of social presence for the students and teachers to communicate through. In regards to using Second Life in middle or highschool, ELA students can explore the game and write a paper on its each of its functions and how it can be an educational game. I think that this game does play a multimodal role because of all of the animations keeping things interactive and engaging.
I agree that it is very important to advise, monitor and guide students throughout this process. the internet can be a very dangerous place and we, as teachers, have to provide our students with the skills necessary to use the technology appropriately and safely.
ReplyDeleteHaley, I like how you mention that the Second Life platform would be beneficial for online classes to create a more "social presence" into the curriculum. I agree with this thought.
ReplyDeleteSL can help bring a greater understanding of the subject. It can help students experience and meet the needs of the learning styles. It helps bring out our creativity and the way we use technology.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree SL is active and engaging, but may be also distracting at the middle school level, I wouldn't recommend to try it. I also don't like that it is a public game. I fear for a lot of security reasons and for younger minds as well.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that it is a public site is a huge red flag for me when it comes to wanting to use this platform in my own teaching. That should definitely be the first thing that students are told when the site is introduced to them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that getting students comfortable with the game is at the upmost importance. Students will benefit greatly from this. I know I did!
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