Discord in SecondLife as a Learning Mechanism
Call this post a mental brain dump.
My colleagues and I have been spending more and more time in SecondLife lately, and all the while I’ve been experiencing a growing sense of conflict between the potential of the environment and the traditional curriculum-based structures and expectation of higher education.
On the side of untapped, raw potential there are the immersive aspects of SecondLife. There is an incredible amount of creativity and diversity interwoven into the fabric of SecondLife, and it is truly inspiring to behold. Those who can enter the realm with an exploratory willingness experience a world of limitless potential. This translates quite strongly to incredible depth in learning opportunities; however at least based on my experiences so far, they seem to be of a different variety to the targeted, preplanned outcomes that are emphasised in higher education.
I would characterise the learning processed I’ve experienced in SecondLife so far as very holistic and multi-faceted. Yes there are specific tasks that I’ve learned to do and skills that I’ve acquired - most notably in terms of the construction of structures and landscapes on the island - but on a wider more fundamental level I can’t help but get the feeling my SL experiences thus far have resulted in a more esoteric knowledge that I can’t quite define yet. This seems to have arisen from the constant interaction with different perspectives, different approaches to the realm, and a social dynamic that is both familiar and exotic at the same time.
It’s not something that is easily defined - let alone assessed or evaluated. The latter puts it in immediate conflict with the traditional university culture. If you can’t assess something, how can you grade it; if you can’t grade it, how can you grant credit; if you can’t grant credit how can you award degrees? Is the inherently social constructivistic culture of SecondLife ultimately out of phase with higher education? I don’t know.
There are of course the technical issues and infamous learning curve to account for as well. However in my personal experience, if you can see the value in the process, and the learning that emerges amidst the process - you can recognise SecondLife as a learning journey, rather than a learning objective.
The problem once again though, is that university culture and structure is generally defined on the latter - in the assessment of performance focussed largely on the result, or the end product. It would almost seem then that - in an age of shrinking course periods - maximising outcomes is seen to take priority over promoting a holistic experience that affords learners the opportunity to follow their own interests throughout its organic development. How then can you tap the immersive potential in SecondLife without diluting it so far that it loses its potency and value?
August 15th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Have you considered that this may be part of issue around selecting appropriate tools? Whilst it won’t be true for all courses, it may be that the broader social context of Universities (their obligations to industry, their desire to market based on measurably student grades) makes SL inappropriate for a Uni context.
Learning happens outside of Universities. I, for one, am slightly concerned about the desire expressed by Universities to adopt more informal aspects of learning. I don’t think that everything from the informal world be should be taken to the formal, despite the popularity of the informal.
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Mike Bogle reply on August 15th, 2008 5:11 am:
“…it may be that the broader social context of Universities…makes SL inappropriate for a Uni context.”
That thought has definitely crossed my mind, and for a number of reasons I think - learning curve and current culture being amongst them. As our colleague said at the presentation the other day in the OMB (don’t think I should quote him by name in a public forum without permission), the ultimate choice of tool must depend on existing circumstances. I wonder to what degree - good or bad - this will have to consider the existing norms and culture in which the tool is embedded?
On the other hand, I also wonder the degree to which use of tools like SecondLife and others that devolve control, power and choice to the learner could in fact influence cultural change? I wonder if that’s what they mean by disruptive technology?
I’ll be interested in seeing how things go with my FOC course in that respect. There are students who have never been in SecondLife before and will have to get their sea legs within a very short period of time. The course is open enrollment though and can be taken without credit, so there is the notion of self-directed learning to a fair degree - but nonetheless it will be an interesting use case.
Now as far as the informal aspects you mentioned, how do you mean? Can you give an example?
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