I am still new to Second Life and have not spent a lot of time exploring. I went into Second Life and searched for places of interest. I did not find many related to my specific field. I think if I spend more time looking through more general areas and searching out groups, I will find more useful educational resources.
The last time I was in Second Life, as a group, we had to find educational locations. I found one that was a great place for newbies to frequent and learn more about scripting. The College of Scripting, Music, and Science was very useful. The first time around, I went through every floor and searched through the cards for content. I noticed on one of the floors that there were cards describing the different logical fallacies and misconceptions in reasoning. Each card used the name of the errors for easy perusing and provided a definition and example. At the time I made a mental note that this would be a great way to discuss reasoning and fallacies as an introduction into persuasive strategies in public speaking. I wasn’t quite sure how I would go about it at the time. It seemed like a large feat to ask student to register for Second Life and locate the descriptions. I didn’t know if it would be easier in groups, if the students had enough knowledge, or if I could bridge this activity with an evaluation of their time in Second Life. I did consider simply logging in and having a kind of virtual fieldtrip in class using the projector.
I pretty much left it at that, knowing when that section came along, I would try to incorporate this new find. Instead, I am excited about the new prospect I have by incorporating this Second Life trip into a Webquest that is a smaller part of a much bigger lesson. I really feel that when the Webquest is complete it will be very beneficial as a way to introduce my students to Second Life, teach this course content on reasoning and fallacies, and encourage them to use Web 2.0 and digital media. From what I have gathered, I am the only speech teacher at my college that is having my students branch out and learn and apply these new skills. While some of my students may be having difficulty adjusting and would prefer to be doing speeches and worksheets, I feel these skills are necessary and I would not be doing my job as an instructor if I did not share these new technologies with my students. I want to encourage growth and knowledge exploration. It’s important to me.
I went back to the College of Scripting, Music, and Science and found the exact location again. On level 6, Logic, I found my fallacies again and read through them to make sure they were great examples that would help my students understand reasoning and persuasive strategies better. Just as I remembered, they were great and I joined the group. The group information is included in the link below. There are guidelines, but overall, the people I have met in Second Life within the group are very nice and helpful. The goal of this group is to help others learn how to really utilize all that Second Life has to offer. In addition to the communication you can have in-world, the College also has a YouTube site that has multiple videos to enjoy and learn more about scripting and 3D. I think this group is one of the best for those getting a feel for Second Life.
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/College_of_Scripting_Music_and_Science/Group_Guidelines
http://www.youtube.com/user/ScriptingCollege
Now I am excited about making a movie that helps my students begin this virtual trip into Second Life, and finding some tutorials to help acquaint them with this new world. I am sure that many of my students have never heard of Second Life, and hopefully some of them will continue to explore on their own after this assignment.
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