As I try to figure out Second Life and its impact on education, I came upon this book: Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World by David D. Friedman.  The premise of the book is that the future is unbelievably uncertain and that we should start to think about the possibilities and how to deal with them now rather than later. He talks about privacy and the Web and how your online presence makes it possible to have an identity and also be anonymous - all at once.  Spending time in Second Life is that exact thing.  I have an identity but yet no one really knows who I am.  There are endless possibilities, both good and bad, with this scenario.  As the semester goes on, I will continue to keep an open mind on how Second Life can have a positive impact on students.

I recently found this article about virtual worlds and education entitled "The Power of Virtual Worlds in Education" by The ANGEL Learning Isle Steering Committee.  The article basically reiterates what we have been learning in this course.  The primary features of the article are the ability it allows users for social interaction, which is a basis for collaborative education and the ability to carry out tasks that could be difficult in the real world because of prohibitive cost, scheduling. or location.   

Adventures is Second Life ...

I am still a beginner in Second Life and still can not say I enjoy one minute of my time there.  I would much rather be in the kitchen cooking or spending time with my niece's new baby .  I am trying to meet up with people in SL, but have yet to run into anyone in the last few days.  Over the last couple of visits I have managed to build a box and a cylinder, fly, get new outfits (both with the box and without).  I know this is all very elementary, but still I am making some progress.  I tried to make a media board - but was not successful.  I have found that I can only spend a short amount of time in SL, because my laptop overheats - graphics are a killer.