Virtual Worlds; An Emerging Educational Tool

Week 6

             The articles discussed this week intertwined with topics that are being discussed in my other classes.  The article by Sherbine and Boldt discussed how teachers should be taking risks and become nomadic thinkers. The article discussed how teachers need to start breaking out of the old style classroom and start incorporating new technologies in their class. Sherbine discussed how Poptropica was used in her classroom and what positive results she observed in her class from students using this game. Students seemed to be excited to play this game and it also encouraged them to plan out what they were  going to do once they had a chance to play with it. In a way, this game was encouraging them to imagine and create how they were going to play. I see this game as an educational tool meant to challenge students to expand creatively. 
             From an educator's point of view, more teachers should start exploring these types of computer games. Times are changing and so are student's way of thinking and interests. We may no longer be able to grasp a student's attention with only a marker and board. Instead, we should start exploring new ways of teaching them our subjects' core values. I think the use of games such as Poptropica that offer a virtual world for students to communicate in are a great example of an emerging educational tool. As I mentioned before, the topics discussed this week also related to other classes I am currently taking. I've been learning in ARE 469 different ways of utilizing the virtual world called Second Life as a tool educators can use to teach students from all over the world. It seems like a great tool to connect people of similar interests together so we can learn together and promote discussion. I believe this type of tool can be adapted to different age groups so it can make teaching unique and engaging. In class we discussed the addition of a ket aesthetic to this type of game if we are to use it as an educational tool. I believe there should be an involvement of ket depending on the age group you are targeting the virtual world to. 

                 As of now, I've been exploring the potential benefits of including this type of educational tool in the classroom. It seems to me that it is still far from perfect and teachers should get together and start exploring it more often. Depending on the age group I decide to teach, I do plan to incorporate a tool similar to Poptropica as long as I have determined goals and objectives for my students to complete. I wonder how this type of educational tool might affect an ELL school setting in relation to the arts. I think this type of tool can do way more than just help students expand creatively; they can also practice other subjects in it as well. The above image is a screen shot of the virtual world Second Life. I've been reading how many college professors have been conducting experimental classes via this virtual world. In comparison with Poptropica, Second Life seems to be adapted for older students. Using these types of tools is still experimental and there are many challenges present if we do decide to use it. Hopefully, this type of tool will catch on and we'll see more innovation in our nations' classrooms.