Become a Producer:What is out thereErik Chocianowski

Unique Opportunities

Where can you ride a mechanical zebra, take a tour of the Starship Enterprise and DJ in a record store?

Second Life!Second life offers so much! It’s immersive environment gives users unique audio, visual and video experiences.

Everything is grounded in rules and adherence to the rules enables everyone to get along nicely.

I ran around in the Star Trek area and got kicked out! I ended up in Korea?! It didn’t say North or South but because I got out I assume South? (Don’t worry, I apologized to the owner and am allowed back)

I constantly either run around in Second Life or fly, clearly against the rules in the Star Trek island. I got scolded by the owner via text. Since then, me and Wabisabi Matahari have reconciled. Sorry Wabbi!

Inside Korea.

Star Trek MuseumSo, one of the values that I see in Second Life is the ability to create an environment that utilizes rule structures. Students can learn the purposes in creating rules to ensure that there is order in a society.

I’m thinking very Hammurabi’s Code. Break the rules and you will be punished.

Do you want to visit this amazing 3d environment?http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New%20Eridani/245/214/512

There is the obvious benefit of seeing modeling in an immersive environment to tell a story but I’ll get to that more later. Hope I don’t “ruin” anything!

This shuttle tour in the Star Trek world was gorgeous. A lot of stuff for Trekkies. Just be sure not to run.

Curator Anyone?Second Life has some amazing art spaces where art is gathered and presented in a museum! All from the comfort of your home… or classroom.

I visited the Degas Museum and marveled at the work.

Students can exercise cognitive skills found within Bloom’s Taxonomy. Collecting, analyzing and ordering are all things that he stressed.

Wanna visit?

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Linked%20Hearts/49/155/21/

Authentic museum environment, down to the exterior architecture. Did I mention that its always open?

Getting Down to Business

Students can even learn about business. I immediately thought of this when I saw all of the billboards and advertisements that were up in Bittr.End. What an experience in learning how to run a store!

This was echoed in the article about the Georgia school district that used virtual environments to teach about all sorts of things. Business, volcanoes, the Cold War. They are using this resource for different purposes.

Wanna visit Bittr.End?

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Phoenix%20Fantastic/219/107/21

The Bitter End? I don’t think so. Something reminded me of Times Square here. Maybe not.

Where’s Socrates?I visited ruins and immediately thought of a great artistic application. This can totally be used to teach set design. Students can see themselves in the ruins, notice subtle details and envision how they can make environments like this in theater or any other set design.

They can even use this as a design area and see how things fit together!

Making something authentic would make you expect to see Socrates or Plato!

Visiting ruins? Follow the link:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MIC/200/188/38

Sorry about the bad “ruin” joke in the Star Trek slide. I’m trying.

Authentic Learning

On a serious note, I visited the Holocaust Museum. There is some powerful stuff there. Again, Second Life is great for an immersive environment.

This was the best designed environment. Going beyond a textbook in the classroom, this environment was modeled to look like Jewish areas in the 1930’s that were subject to Nazi persecution.

To add another wrinkle to this, there is audio in areas that are cued to your arrival that explain from first hand witnesses what was happening.

Holocaust Museum

This is a street that shows the exterior of a synagogue that caught on fire. When you step into the burning building, you can see the destruction inside. Very moving. If you visit anywhere for a beautiful exhibit, visit this: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/US%20Holocaust%20Museum1/97/100/27

Conclusion

Second life can be home to some amazing experiences, some of which can be silly or solemn.

One thing is sure, the environment that this virtual reality can create is excellent for supplementing education.

As evidenced in the article about Forsythe Schools, it is the very useful and capable of entralling students. With this you can craft a new generation into thoughtful producers from passive consumers.