Day 3 7/4/2012

Thoughts on Secondlife:

I hate to say this, but the whole concept is just depressing to me. I am such a down-to-earth , simplistic, and nature centered girl that the thought of interacting through a computer screen and building "hypothetical" environments makes me sad. Well, not to mention, I was already in a state of sadness this morning, so video programming and sitting in a walled-up room under fluorescent lights didn't help enhance my state of mind any.

Second Life Pros: Interaction with people from all over the world= wealth of knowledge
                            Makes meetings and  instruction possible from any location
                            Encourages creativity
                            May enhance learning through modality of environment and comfort level




                            Language Emmersion
                            Definitely an instructional tool (like the example of the psychology professor)

                          

Second Life Cons: Creates a alter identity and can encourage one to live vicariously through the virtual reality
                             Addictive
                             Spawning ground for people who are not happy with themselves, or maybe lost
                             Not really safe for anyone under the age of 18. Somewhat unsafe socially, because
                                  you  don't know what kind of person is behind the avitar

I think I would be more apt to use SecondLife strictly for learning purposes. I would be interested in joining lectures and "traveling" to another country to learn the language. The Liberty University area was neat and it made me feel safer knowing not just anyone could enter in that area.

Webquest:
I got a chance to look through other people's webquest and lunal accounts. It is just another neat way to format a lesson plan and use the internet to research. I'm excited to make a webquest that I can use in my classroom!

Browsing through the webquests was addicting and it reminded me (once again) how much internet has enhanced our ability to reach out and grasp new knowledge! If you have the desire to learn about something, all you have to do is get on the internet! I know that our students live in a tech savvy world, but I still think projects like webquests can help them make the connection between the internet and learning (not just the inetrnet and mode of social communication, shopping, and music)