Unit 8 Article Reflection

1.  Reflection Teaching with Second Life by Kathleen Hulley - This was an interesting article and I thought that it was great that teachers were collaborating using Machinima and Second Life.  By working together, both teachers found out a few things about students in general as follows:

• By providing an atmosphere where Machinima students could work with other students, creativity improved and projects were completed on time.
• By providing an alternate atmosphere (such as Second Life) for the Machinima students, they were able to collaborate anytime online.
• Second Life provides students with another way that they can have group meetings.
• Students learn more when they are responsible for their own learning.

 2.  What Second Life Taught Me about Learning by Diane Murley - Diane has always loved learning and didn't quite realize how much she enjoyed it until she tried learning Second Life.  It took her several attempts before she learned that she had her own learning preferences and had to consider others preferences as well.  Through going through the process of learning in Second Life, it taught her that she was a multimodal learner, which is where someone learns more from material being presented in a variety of formats.

3.  Leveling the Educational Playing Field by A. Williams - this article talks about a teacher from Suffern Middle School named Peggy Sheehy, who has a teen virtual learning space in Second Life.  I think the best thing about this article is when Peggy states, "It seems that when students enter the virtual environment of Second Life they drop many of the inhibitions that might have otherwise have prevented them from participating fully in a real world classroom.  Teachers and students engage in a deeper level of discourse while many of the social and economic divides that often isolate students are set aside."  Peggy learned that by having this new learning space in Second Life, all students were now participating.  She also notes that the children in this class seem to feel more at ease as each student is on equal footing when in Second Life.

4.  Engaging the YouTube Google-Eyed Generation:  Strategies for Using Web 2.0 in Teaching and Learning - this article discusses Web 2.0 tools that teachers could use to incorporate into their everyday teaching.  Since students have grown up in a technology filled world, it is important to find tools that will meet them on their individual level to make them responsible for their education.  The tools mentioned in the article are Blogs, Wikis and YouTube.  Each has their own merit, and each can be implemented into an educational curriculum to enhance the learning experience of students.  I thought it was interesting that Web 2.0 has moved from just reading what is online to actually writing and posting items online to provide socialization, collaboration and networking.  I think that utilizing the tools described in this article as well as other Web 2.0 tools, will provide children with an endless amount of content, collaboration and overall better learning experience.  It will also better prepare them for the future.

5. SL Etiquette- This reading notes several definitions of etiquette while in Second Life.  While the majority of them were common sense to me, I couldn't believe that there are some people that actually do this.  I'm glad that there are reporting measures set in place through Linden Lab to stop violators in their tracks.  In the "Interactions with Others" where it says, "Find a private place to Change Your Appearance."  I was puzzled by this as I do not know what is considered a private place to change my avatar's appearance.  To date, my avatar has always changed out in public.  (Cheryl - If you know of a private place, please let me know.)