second life

this was my first time exploring second life. i think it's really fun and the whole class practically enjoyed ourselves through the changing of the appearances of our avatars and etc. being an avid online gamer, i'm really surprised that i haven't heard about second life prior to this lesson. i shall sign up for an account soon and explore the educational benefits of second life.

as mentioned in the video, one educational benefit is for students to explore role playing in second life such as going back to a period in history to witness certain historical events. i think this is one area that is lacking in normal classroom lessons now and would certainly enhance the some current history lessons.

besides that, students could also participate in guided tours to replicas of famous locations in the world. however, as these areas are replicas of the actual locations, i think some of the details might not be as accurate as what we would see on actual ground. but second life would definitely bring the world into our classrooms! students can also explore, co-create objects and embark on experiments in the virtual world. this provides many opportunities for students to communicate and interact with one another. there are just many educational benefits from second life as listed in the video.

however, educators have to be prudent and helped students to understand what they are doing in the virtual world and guide them back to live in the current world. else, students in the future might be only able to survive in the virtual world and neglect their real world. but again, that's another issue that we might face in the world. for now, i'm for learning through second life!

can gaming be educational?

can gaming be educational? from young, parents have always told me not to play while i'm studying. so the first thought that struck me was... how can gaming be educational? if it could, surely my parents wouldn't stop me from playing games all these while. however, this happened many years ago.

today, gaming has become a language. according to Social Impact Games, gaming has become an avenue where ideas are expressed. in fact, many game designers are looking to maximise the social impact of their work. so back to the question, can gaming be educational? what are some of the factors to consider for making gaming educational?

i learnt that parents and educators are to adopt positive attitudes about video gaming. with the change in attitudes, we would be able to introduce games and simulations to learning. educators, in general, are skeptical that gaming could be educational. i think all of us would be more convinced if we could back up the claim that gaming is educational with experimental data. this would reassure all major stakeholders such as parents, students and educators that gaming could be educational.

with many educational games around, i have to train myself to use learning games and also incorporate gaming into my lessons when possible. gaming would provide me with an additional option of activity for lessons. till then, i'm back to my games to explore how i could include these games into my lessons!