Their last homework assignment was to think up an icebreaker and after guessing how many chocolates were in the box, and seeing how many pegs we could take off a clothes line one-handed, we had some photos taken and settled down to lunch and a discussion on learning in Second Life.
The outcome of this discussion gave us the information that students felt that the personal experience of face-to-face learning wasn't lacking in Second Life, although they eventually felt the need to meet.
Many students spoke of increased confidence in their "Real Life" and stated that they developed additional skills because of their involvement.
Comments like:
"Wish they had something like this when I was in High school"
"- they don't see you go red in the face when you get something wrong"
"You can fix everything by the click of a mouse"
and
"I feel like I can do anything electronically now - I'm not scared of going down that path"
indicate that our pilot project was hugely successful, and students were enthusiastic and keen to enroll in another course. All were impressed with their experience and delighted to meet each other.
Although initially learners struggled a bit with adapting at first they said that after they had got the hang of it their learning experience was enriched by the class environment and the experience of meeting others.
"I can work from class or home with others from around the state. WOW! Technology is awesome."
"I didn't expect the graphics ...so much better than a real classroom, casual setting,fun, stimulating and
I met new people"
We are offering 'Work Effectively with Others- Virtually Anywhere' again next year with resources now at our disposal.
Developing the learning tools was time consuming,sometimes frustrating and technology let us down down at times but we now have Second Life accessible in 4 Campuses, voice capability enabled, multiple registrations accepted with Linden Lab,
developed useful resources and successfully delivered a unit to students from all over the state.
The Powerpoint show for our Edayz presentation can be found here along with the first session plan instructions for Facebook, moodle, Skype and Second Life
http://www.box.net/tansecondlife
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