EDT+674+Assignments

Web 2.0 how-to for educators Chapter 7 Summary: Virtual Environments
 * ASSIGNMENT 1**

Chapter seven asserts that virtual environments offer students and teachers an exciting new way to learn and teach with Web 2.0s. Virtual environments are online interactive tools used to create, collaborate, and communicate. Effectiveness of using multiuser virtual environments (MUVEs) for professional development and academic activities is being evaluated. These types of learning tools should be used at the teacher’s discretion and only when they can aid in meeting the educational goals set forth.

MUVEs allow students to invent lives, play, build, interact and explore.Teachers use them to engage minds, support inquiry, and encourage exploratory thinking. Without setting foot outside their homes or schools, teachers from all over have the ability to visit the Alamo in San Antonio, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, and the Louvre in France in the span of a few hours without spending cent. They also can meet in treehouses to share tips with other teachers. Just as the Internet was not readily accepted in schools, virtual environments are not being received well by everyone either. These environments could lead to limited face-to-face learning.

Although MUVEs is marketed to those 18 and older. There used to be a version for teens age 13-17. The teen version was controlled, safe, and only available to students. Before using virtual environments with students, teachers should get familiar and visit Orientation Island. Virtual learning environments are not games, however they are engaging and foster learning. Environments like Second Life provide the experience for students to think like scientists and journalists to solve real world problems. Just like other Web 2.0s and technology tools, virtual environments are most effective when embedded in instruction used to support learning. Teachers and students should not rely exclusively on them. The chapter presents a series of ways that educators are integrating virtual environments into their daily lessons.

Furthermore, the author states that virtual environments are becoming more attractive for teacher professional development. They provide teachers with the opportunity to improve their practice, reflect on activities, and learn from others. Many districts have set up educational locations in Second Life. The chapter concludes with a section for teachers on how to get started with MVUEs and a list of sites with further information.

Chapter seven asserts that virtual environments will foster creativity, collaboration, and communication which are vital 21st Century Skills. Some believe that virtual environments such as Second Life will one day replace the Web.

[|"The End of the Virtual World"] "Next Stop: OpenSim!"- could possibly replace the teen only grid in Second Life that was shut down. "As more people get familiar with hypergrid and having their own mini-world, they are beginning to migrate to that concept," says Kyle Gomboy, CEO of OpenSim host ReactionGrid. "I would say that 80 [percent] to 90 percent, right out of the gate, are asking about hypergridding to other areas." "After Frustrations in Second Life, Colleges Look to New Virtual Worlds" " **Moving Your Kindergarten into Web 2.0 with 5 Different Tools"**
 * More information can be found here: **
 * [|Second Life]- become a part of Second Life - an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab
 * ** Welcome Island **
 * ** Discovery Island **
 * ** Second Life Travel Guide **
 * ** Second Life Bloggers **
 * ** [|Best Practices inUsing Virtual Worlds] **
 * ** Genome Project **
 * ** Quest Atlantis ** - for ages 9-16: QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. It allows users to travel to virtual places to perform educational activities (known as Quests), talk with other users and mentors, and build virtual personae. What is a Quest? A Quest is an engaging curricular task designed to be educational and entertaining. In completing Quests, students are required to participate in simulated and real world activities that are socially and academically meaningful, such as environmental studies, researching other cultures, interviewing community members, and developing action plans.
 * ** ISTE Island **
 * ** How to walk, fly, land, sit & search **
 * ** Reaction Grids **
 * Recently in the News: **
 * Education Week: "Second Life Struggles to Catch on With Educators" **
 * The Journal: **
 * [|"] **[|K-12 Groups Stranded in Second Life Teen Grid Shutdown"]
 * The Chronicle of Higher Education: **