Symposium for Teaching and Learning with Technology

Hi Folks!

Time for a little live-blogging of a panel on Second Life in education!

Dr. Bixler is here to introduce the presenters: Alexia Hudson and Jungwoo Ryoo. They've come to talk about two very different projects which both involve the virtual world known as "Second Life".

Alexia is a Reference and Instruction Librarian, who also serves as the project leader of the Second Life pilot at Great Valley. (Within Second Life, though, she is known as Donna Upshaw!)

Alexia and her group have been creating business courses using Second Life! Though their students (adult learners who work full time) showed some resistance at first, they quickly grew to value the Second Life experience. Alexia found that SL encouraged peer learning and more engagement among students.

Students were asked to interview business owners within SL and to compare SL businesses with real-world businesses.