This link has been bookmarked by 3 people . It was first bookmarked on 28 Jul 2008, by Suzan Brandt.
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29 Jul 08
Anne BubnicThis week, the Hoover Board of Education is holding a technology training seminar to help teachers get up to speed for the new school year. On the agenda - a powerful and somewhat controversial website called “Second Life”.
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Several local teachers and professors see Second Life as a tremendous opportunity. There are educational islands in Second Life where teachers can go to digitally swap ideas, conduct research or attend real life conferences.
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However, a teacher can take students on a virtual field trip in Second Life - using his or her own login - to places like the Alamo or the Louvre Museum, both of which have been impressively recreated in Second Life.
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The University of Alabama is using Second Life too.
In fact, Professor Rick Houser, Chairman of Educational Studies at the Capstone, is working on building an entire virtual University of Alabama campus in Second Life. -
But how healthy is it for kids, especially younger ones, to be spending time in a virtual world when there’s a real world they need to learn to navigate? What about on-line predators? Second Life does not verify the age a user enters.
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These students are growing up as digital natives. They want to use this, they want to be engaged in these types of technologies and it’s important for us to facilitate that learning,” she says.
Brandt also wants to teach students the dangers they need to be aware of when using Second Life or any type of social networking website. She calls it “good digital citizenship”.
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28 Jul 08
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Suzan BrandtAt least two local education systems will be using a high-tech and somewhat controversial website in class this fall.
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