June 2007 — News
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Second Life: Do You Need One? (Part 1)
" if you don't answer, and that's being polite. Expect anything. Some are quite helpful, as I found when I visited IBM, which had a help desk manned by an avatar willing to chat about IBM's presence in SL. When you or another avatar enter text for chatting, you actually hear the rat-a-tat of keys and see the avatar with arms raised as though typing on an invisible keyboard. Users concerned about the limitations of chat mode might be interested in the beta testing that SL is doing on their new "Voice First Look Viewer." It's available now for download (Nicole, 2007) so that users can have voice options in SL.Don't be too quick to judge the merits, or lack thereof, of a virtual world for education. It's a new alternative, by no means mature. Certainly, learning in SL or another virtual world would not be for everyone, but you do need to give it a try and examine its potential before you decide. Come back for part 2 and Amareal's adventure exploring learning opportunities in SL, and some concerns that have been voiced about virtual worlds.
References:
Age and identity verification in Second Life (2007, May 4).
Nicole, K. (2007, Jun. 14). Second Life adds voice to live grid for all users.
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About the author: Patricia Deubel has a Ph.D. in computing technology in education, and is currently an adjunct faculty member in the graduate School of Education at Capella University and an education consultant. She is also the developer of Computing Technology for Math Excellence at http://www.ct4me.net.
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