Second Life for Education, a discussion part II

In part I of this discussion, we have seen the potential of SL for education in terms of its interactivity and openness in designing and building possible learning experiences, abeit with certain limitations in net safety, demographics and technical constraints. In this section, I'll offer my views for discussion on how SL can be leveraged upon for engaged learning experiences in a virtual environment.

Engagement in SL is a thoroughly multimodal activity involving manipulation of texts, audio, visual, gestural (see Video 1) and spatial modes for meaning making and achieving particular ends. These modes of meaning constitute the metalanguage for the design elements in multiliteracies (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000). These design elements of multiliteracies can help users in SL to describe and explain social and cultural patterns of meaning in the increasingly pluralistic and globalized virtual community. In such a world, users will need the necessary skills for working within social networks, for negotiating across cultural differences that shape the governing assumptions in different communities, and for reconciling multimodal data to form a coherent picture of the world around them.

Video 1: Tutorial on creating and using gesture in SL

According to the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000, p. 239-248), there are four factors that need to be considered for literacy pedagogy. These are Situated Practice, Overt Instruction, Critical Framing and Transformed Practice. Ina learning context, Situated Practice means using available Designs of meaning, including students own lifeworld experiences to immerse in meaningful practices in a given context. The goal of Overt Instruction is to facilitate conscious awareness and systematic understanding of what is being learned. Critical Framing involves students reviewing the designs critcially in its social and cultural context of meaning. Finally, Transformed Practice means applying the available designs of meaning in a different context, or making a new design of meaning. The four elements of the multiliteracies can be used to provide the necessary ideas and angles with which to design multiliteracies learning experiences in SL.

In designing multiliteracies learning experiences for students in TSL educational land, one may consider situating learners as apprentice journalists, scientists, doctors, engineers or creative artists in real world problem solving contexts inside the virtual environment. For example, students can take on the roles of Crime Scene Investigators to work as a mixed race team (via schools tweening programmes that cross states, national boundaries). The team will go about the virtual crime scene piecing together traces of evidences planted all over the island and suspect character avartars. In the process of trying to solve the crime case, students will be employing and innovating upon their curriculum based scientific thinking and communication skills and concepts, resulting in socially and culturally mediated construction of group knowledge. The learning goals of such activities are twofold, one for students to develop an epistemic frame (Shaffer, 2006) to think, act, communicate, collaborate and innovate like professionals (this requires deep learning in situated practice); two for students to interact efficiently using multiple languages and communication patterns that cross cultural, community and national boundaries. These goals are essential in preparing our learners to face the challenges of the 21st century.

For such situated learning experiences in SL, one would need expertise in linden scripting languages to develop the designed learning environment. Unfortunately, Linden Lab in my opinion, has not provided sufficient technical support in this area. There is also not enough interests generated in the education industries to venture into SL learning packages business model. These are not helped by the lack of a critical mass of communities of practice in SL learning pedagogy. I'm still searching for solution to this, if anyone out there has some answers, will appreciate your comments.

For Mathematics educators, I think you will agree with me that SL offers so much potential in the teaching and learning of geometrical and vector concepts with the construction module (see Video 2 on the construction of a prism).

Video 2: Tutorial on creating a prism

References:

Cope, B. & M. Kalantzis (eds.) (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. London: Routledge.

Shaffer, D. W. (2006). Epistemic frames for epistemic games. Computers and Education, 46(3), 223-234.