Disruptive Power of Second Life

When I think of virtual worlds, I think of computer-based simulated programs which allow one to engage in seemingly real-life activity for fun or for socialization. I enjoyed programs like Sim City and Rollercoaster; because, I was responsible for the survival of the people, construction, and businesses. Then there is Whyville, the first virtual world program designed to allow students to talk about Science with other students and actual scientists. This site was created strictly as a virtual world educational site with the goal of strengthening the science skills of student through a virtual online learning environment. In Whyville world, students can create an image, talk and play games with their friends, or just hang out which describes SecondLife. The difference between the two is that Whyville is focused on the education of children.

It is my belief that SecondLife disrupted 3D simulations which allowed participants to role-play a concept, during the learning process. SecondLife expanded the concepts used to construct 3D simulations and created a near-real life environment where participants can enter, in the form of an avatar, to engage in various activities, socialization, and in some instances, participate in an online classes. Since its inception, colleges and universities have built online classrooms for use in SecondLife; however, they have encountered problems which may ultimately cause the demise of SecondLife for use in online learning. First of all, SecondLife does not have the ability to limit access of visitors to online classrooms, as well as, provide a direct path for enrolled students to assigned classrooms. I believe that if the use of SecondLife is to survive in education for online learning, colleges and universities will have to develop their own virtual world program which they can control the movement of users to the site. As for socialization, I believe that SecondLife is an excellent way to meet people in a non-threatening environment. In addition, SecondLife is ideal for individuals who would like to explore their fantasies about life.



It is my opinion that SecondLife will be around for a long time; however, it will not take the place of the tradional face-to-face classroom. One reason this may happen is that school districts may find this technology to be a threat to maintaining secure websites for student use. Hence, SecondLifes survival may depend on the millions of people who are currently using it for their personal entertainment.

Reference
Rosedale, P. (2008). Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html.