Confessions of an elearning skeptic

In my researching this week I came across an interesting paper by Nick Bostrom, the Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University.  The paper, entitled “Are you living in a computer simulation“, puts forward the argument that there is a good possibility that we are already living in a matrix-like computer simulated reality! So forget Second Life, you’re already living it!  There is a wealth of other thought-provoking reading on Nick’s web site, www.nickbostrom.com.  Enjoy, though it might freak you out a bit!

I feel like I am making some progress here. Having read both Horizon reports I now know what I don’t know.  My plan now is to begin to understand what I don’t know about emerging technologies by immersing myself within each of them (I think that makes sense!!).  Coming from a very ‘conventional’ adult learning background I’d thought I’d start with a technology that is about as unconventional as it gets, Second Life. In preparation for my journey I looked around for some quick information about learning in Second Life and I come up with some very good, and short, YouTube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFU9oUF2HA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJTzNSV8pb0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuNFRie8wA 

(Hey, I’m learning from Grassroots Video, maybe I’m not such a skeptic after all!!)

After watching the above videos I was ready to get my avatar’s feet wet inside Second Life so, after a brief registration and set-up process, I was off and running through the wonders of Orientation Island.My initial thoughts:

• The learning curve is a little step at first, but it gets easier fairly quickly (though I still can’t figure out why my avatar keeps veering to the left!!)
• Second Life offers some great possibilities for learning such as:
  • a unique combination of fun and learning
  • the ability to observe others as well as be an active participant
  • the ability to interact with a vast array of other people
  • the ability to create a unique learning environment tailored to the needs of the student; and
  • the ability to link into formal tertiary pathways though TAFE and university

Within my learning context, I see the key benefit of Second Life is its capacity for rich simulation.  Many of the skills that my organisation deals with are hard to teach in the real environment and we often rely on simulation to assist us, but these never give us the full range of experience.  Second Life offers the potential to simulate a range of scenarios with real-life consequences but in a safe and supportive manner.  The use of simulation in Second Life will now become the focus of my further explorations. I will give you a full update in the coming week or so.  In the mean time if you are interested in further reading I recommend the Second Life Education Wiki “SimTeach” as a good starting point for a study of learning in Second Life.