The crux of my educational philosophy is to have the students drive instruction through their needs and interests in a collaborative environment. A successful on line learning program provides students with the opportunity to choose courses that meet their needs and their interests and in its very nature is in a collaborative environment. I can see many applications in a high school curriculum. Enrolling students from around the country or possibly the world in literature, history, foreign language, and government classes and sharing different points of view would be such a wonderful learning experience. The lesson possibilities are endless. Of course like in any educational setting the teacher must be an active participant who guides the learning and pushes the students to think critically.
After learning about Second Life I went to our districts lead techies and asked them for some input. They had mixed views, but were happy to show everyone at our monthly meeting (including the asst. superintendent and superintendent) a you tube movie from teen Second Life showing a very dramatic scene where a 17 year old girl is turning 18 and having to leave the teen world. Their take was that it looks like a game, but it's not fun. I asked about the educational possibilities and they were luke warm. So I decided to look further and see what I could find. I found lots of blogs and information. Below are some links to movies from the blog Cool Cat showing how educational institutions are using Second Life. I was impressed and feel this medium is definitely something I want to explore more.
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