BLC09: Peggy Sheehy - Second Life for Education

Peggy works at Suffern Middle School in New York state.

No amount of computers and other technologies can ever replace a good teacher. What does 'Shift Happens' mean for today's teachers? She is not going to get into the literacy argument because it detracts from moving forward.

Peggy has been influenced by the writing of Daniel Pink and David Warlick in terms of defining what literacy and learning look like.

She gives us the light bulb problem. We have to train our students to think along these lines to solve problems.

To make the shift...

• What will teachers let go?
• When will administrators start trusting their teachers?

Give education a Second Life! Multi user virtual environment supporting constructivist learning.

• You can customise your avatar and make yourself look as you wish.
• Thriving online economy conducting millions USD in transactions per month.
• You maintain the owner rights in Second Life - you can build something and sell it for Lindens! People in Second Life are making their living buying and selling pixels - they watch the LindeX index for current status!
• Simple building tools to create [even for the non ICT literate]. There can be programming and mathematics involved, but mostly the tools are easy to use.

Second Life can provide ...

• A supplement to traditional classrooms environments
• Extend learning
• Introduce and explore concepts
• Demonstrate mastery and create new meaning

You can purchase 'islands' offering ..

• 16 acres of 'virtual space'
• Secure intranet space
• Or open and public
• $700 + $147.50 monthly - http://seconlife.com/land/privatepricing.php

Linden Labs [Second Life creators] have tuned into concerns expressed in the media and by educators. Adult X-rated content has been moved to its own islands! Main grid is for 18s and over >> teen grid for children aged between 13 and 17. The age boundaries cause a problem for educators and Linden Labs are working on this. And there is no provision for under 13s.

Safey and security on Ramapo Islands

• Private islands
• Adults have rigorous background checks
• No access to TH residents or contents
• Constant adult supervision

But private islands also means that students are prevented from contact with other students across the teen grids from other countries.

Dress codes upheld. Respect between the students. Zero tolerance.

Peggy knew which teachers she was going to trial this with ... mostly those that had shown interest in what she was doing with Second Life! After the first couple of training sessions, they were up and running on their own.

Children with learning issues chosen to trial the software. They had just finished a unit on inventions. So the children recreated things like the telephone, the aeroplane. Then the children set up a weather centre on their island and looked at catastrophic events. They had ecology debates. NASA rocket studies.

Now, there are courses on personal finances and entrepreneurship ... they started up their own business ... business plan >> Board >> Linden currency >> plot of land >> resumes >> interviews for staff >> >>> cooking, jewellery, car business etc.

In Maths, children started to build problems in geometry and then to sell the solutions! Fleamarket Math project - children had to buy 10 items and stay within budget so they had to choose the most economical from a range of items! If they did stay within budget, they were rewarded! If the children went over budget, they developed strategies [like selling and bartering] to overcome the problem.

Social studies - Ellis Island immigration became great opportunity to explore issues and develop empathy.

English - held a mock trial for Of Mice and Men!

Health and wellness - this was a 10-week block for 8th grade students. Body image issues also dealt with. Girls first asked to design media-beautiful women and boys asked to design media-handsome chaps ... then they were asked to switch gender! Then they were asked to finish the unit of work by returning to the avatar they preferred. Lots of useful indepth discussion around beauty, media, issues. Lots of press and media coverage about the success of this.

Multimedia island - music studio

Foreign Language island ...

Digital storytelling project ...

Discussion pods ...

Students are helping to design the curriculum

Adolescents need a place to explore their personality in a non-confrontational environment ... and to explore alternate identities without repercussions. Supports Erikson's theory that teens need to try on different roles with minimum consequences.