SL & Businesses – Should more well thought out precautions be in place to help transition to Education?
As a side note to Bernie’s entry about SL businesses, I want to find out what others think about the direction this kind of virtual world might take. I think there is both an amazing side and a disturbing side to the virtual business phenomenon that seems to be
growing out of Second Life and similar 3-D environments. The amazing side is that people can make real money by creating virtual clothing or pets, purchased by virtual people in a virtual world with virtual money. The disturbing side is some of the virtual creations I’ve seen. To me some of them lead to a place that maybe we shouldn’t go in a free online worldwide venue? Like for instance, Pixel Dolls, a virtual store in SL, sells clothing like the outfit pictured (not even the most provocative example).As someone who used to be a classroom teacher and currently still work with middle school students, I can see the potential for a platform like Second Life being completely integrated into our teaching tools. However, as this transitions over to educational use, educators need to be aware of the potentials, both good and bad. Yes, it can breed creativity, create a more intense learning experience, etc. But, on the other hand, are people thinking also about the safety guards that would need to be in place to make sure students have a safe and productive experience? SL’s teen site is a step in the right direction, but I also know that teens have a way of getting around being an “adult” to join something. And, if they manage to get into SL, it is far less likely that their parents will discover them in a virtual world.
Does anyone else have thoughts about this?
4 Comments:
I have to say that Pixel Dolls is a great name. Your thoughts are well put and there seem to be a lot of slippery slopes you can go down in a virtual world where behaviors may not mirror socially acceptable ones. I think great care should go into monitoring behaviors in games used for educational purposes.
About a week ago someone posted about having a conversation with this guy who turned out to be someone other than who they said they were in SL. It sounded like this person was less than comfortable with who they were in the "real world". The blog made it sound positive that you could be anyone and do anything in this imaginary world..but I thought of the opposite. If someone is unable to be comfortable with themselves in the real world, is is really of value to pretend to be someone else in a virtual world. Is this psychologically healthy..or is it a way to be in denial about your issues?
I have to say that Pixel Dolls is a great name. Your thoughts are well put and there seem to be a lot of slippery slopes you can go down in a virtual world where behaviors may not mirror socially acceptable ones. I think great care should go into monitoring behaviors in games used for educational purposes.
About a week ago someone posted about having a conversation with this guy who turned out to be someone other than who they said they were in SL. It sounded like this person was less than comfortable with who they were in the "real world". The blog made it sound positive that you could be anyone and do anything in this imaginary world..but I thought of the opposite. If someone is unable to be comfortable with themselves in the real world, is is really of value to pretend to be someone else in a virtual world. Is this psychologically healthy..or is it a way to be in denial about your issues?
I have to say that Pixel Dolls is a great name. Your thoughts are well put and there seem to be a lot of slippery slopes you can go down in a virtual world where behaviors may not mirror socially acceptable ones. I think great care should go into monitoring behaviors in games used for educational purposes.
About a week ago someone posted about having a conversation with this guy who turned out to be someone other than who they said they were in SL. It sounded like this person was less than comfortable with who they were in the "real world". The blog made it sound positive that you could be anyone and do anything in this imaginary world..but I thought of the opposite. If someone is unable to be comfortable with themselves in the real world, is is really of value to pretend to be someone else in a virtual world. Is this psychologically healthy..or is it a way to be in denial about your issues?
I was thinking the same thing. I'm not sure if this is the best route for educators to take. Maybe they should create a separate SL site for educators. I posted earlier about educators being able to get restricted land for educational purposes and I think that's great, but that doesn't stop students from being distracted by some things going on in the rest of SL. Just today while I was in SL a half dressed girl walked up to me and said hi. I didn't respond because I was practicing sitting and standing and trying to figure out how to take a screen shot. I just wanted her to leave so I could get the picture. So she called me a b%*ch and said she wanted to take my liver. I thought that was strange, but oh well.
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