Second Life

I have heard that some people are learning and teaching through Second Life. But, I hadn't paid much attention to Second Life until I found a blog entry that showed me a picture of Second Life's Globe Theatre and its Leaky Cauldron. Wow! Wow! WOW!! So, I considered trying to determine how I might take my students there on a virtual field trip.

I signed up for a Second Life account and installed the software. Then, I spent the next hour trying to learn how to make my SL avatar look like me in real life and then debating whether or not she needed to look like me. Then I wandered around for an hour trying to learn how to fly and get myself off of orientation island. I don't think I have enough time to learn how to live in a foreign country with no money, no guidebook, and no friends!

Instantly I ruled OUT Second Life as a viable learning tool for my students. Until I know more about it, I am not taking anyone there on a virtual field trip. There were lots of strangers walking and flying around. What if one of those folks flashed me or said something lewd? Maybe I expected to type in "Globe Theater," to appear there instantly, and to visit it as I pleased without having to interract with others. I am pretty sure that experience is called, "Watch a Filmstrip!"

Over and over again I am coming back to the same basic safety concerns. I am reminded of Maslo's Hierarchy of Student Needs. My students and I won't feel comfortable with this new learning environment until our basic needs are met. So, I am stuck on the second tier. I don't feel that I know what to do to ensure student safety and security.

When I think about Web 2.0, I try to reference my questions against how I would handle those same situations in real life. I know how I will handle inappropriate language in blogs, the same way I do in other classroom writing. I know how I will handle plagiarism in wikis, the same way I do in research papers.

And, while I can't prevent a stranger walking into my classroom and saying or doing something horrible, we have all considered that possibility and have done our best to prevent it. We have School Resource Officers who monitor the entrances to our school. We have staff and students who are trained at spotting something unusual and reporting it. We have lock-down drills and evacuation drills. So something horrible might happen at my school in real life, but I have been taught how to respond, and I have even practiced doing so. And, my students' parents know that we are doing our best to keep their kids safe.

I need to know that we have all of this in place for our work online as well. We have a good acceptable use policy. I need to review that and see if it answers all of my questions. I need to think about how I can include parents in what we are doing so that they see the benefits for their kids. I need to know that I have been trained well in how to use these tools in my classroom.

It feels like everyone else in ed tech has moved beyond this. Is that accurate? I will go looking and report back!