All hail Captain Gallais!
Captain started out his journey a little slow due to a humble internet connection. After stubbling around a bit, I was able to take Captain to a few places in Second Life. As I was exploring the vast Second Life world, I tried to picture one of my third grade students using this application for learning. It took me about five minutes to run into an avatar that completely took me by surprise. The Avatar was not wearing any pants and the clothes she did have on gave reference to a rather provocative style. Moments later, a chat window opened up and the contents was offensive and vulgar. My mind was made up. In no way would I allow any of my students to use Second Life in my classroom...for now. I'm sure there are ways to filter unwanted content but with 28 different variable in my classroom, I'm going to play it safe and wait till I learn more about this virtual world before introducing it to my classroom.
High school teachers and students would have an easier time utilizing some of the SL attributes like virtual museums, finance (Lindon dollars), and History. I spent a good amount of time attempting to search for areas of interest and possibilities that might help me become a better teacher. Second Life offers virtual classes through universities such as Stanford. I can join teacher groups to collaborate lessons and share helpful tips.
In conclusion, Second Life is useful for secondary and higher education by allowing virtual collaboration and exploration but does not offer content any better than traditional online resources for elementary students. As I become more fluent within Second Life, I am sure I will find more possibilities. As I learn how to control my avatar to better maneuver through the virtual world, I will be able to open up new ways to use this for learning.
