Forget the fuzz of red hair on the head, this is me – in Second Life. My first experience in this virtual world was truly that, an experience. I was very impressed, although I must say also frustrated that i couldnt get my avatar to look like me (my own incompetence). Being shown around by Rita’s daughter was a great way to be introduced into this new world, a world that visually is very established. Walking around with the other members of our class already had me wondering why we dont run our online lectures through second life instead of how we do know.
The thing I found really daunting about Second Life and any virtual world is that the possibilities are truly endless and there is no limit on the scope that it can fill. World after world could be invented and explored. And its ability to be used as an educational tool is something that needs to be embraced. During our lecture before the excursion I was a little skeptical, and still probably am somewhat, as to the type of people who use virtual worlds. When the internet first became readily available to the average Joe, the idea of a chat forum was very exciting – talking to people from all over the world about a shared interest/topic. But chat forums slowly became seedy places full of people pretending to be someone they, at times with sinister motives. I was questioning if virtual worlds are going to suffer a similar fate. There is no doubt that virtual worlds are full of potential in terms of the possibilities they offer – especially for education, so I hope this is not the case.
