The next article, "Learning by Creating Historical Buildings" by Marco Bani et al, discusses the virtues of using Second Life for a multidisciplinary and international project between the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at King's College in London and InfoUma at the University of Pisa.
One of the most interesting quotes from this text admits that they "favored 'skills' over 'knowledge' -- in teaching History. But in the end, we also have reached good outcomes in the field of knowledge, because the remarkable engagement in building and discussing has pushed students to study hard and nearly spontaneously, increasing their attitude to criticize; SL makes them feel at ease in discussions and encourages them to clearly state their thoughts" (131). To me, that is impressive. Skill was favored over knowledge, but knowledge was spontaneously generated through research and discussion.
The project called for the recreation of the leaning tower of Pisa and Galileo's laboratory, complete with some of his tools. This is quite the undertaking, and they are dedicated to following the guidelines as set forth by the London Charter for the recreation of such historical sites.
The point here is that if you give students a project to complete in Second Life, it becomes a form of active learning. To get it right, they have to do the research and learn about what it is they are trying to recreate. The same with Bryan Carter's Harlem Renaissance. In order to give a legitimate representation, the students must learn what it is they are recreating. Not just how it looked either. They have to go deeper to find out the "why."
This article presents one of the most interesting projects I have read about in SL. This, along with Bryan Carter's, really shows the versatility of an environment like Second Life. It is rich in what can be accomplished in virtual worlds in general and SL specifically.
One of the most interesting quotes from this text admits that they "favored 'skills' over 'knowledge' -- in teaching History. But in the end, we also have reached good outcomes in the field of knowledge, because the remarkable engagement in building and discussing has pushed students to study hard and nearly spontaneously, increasing their attitude to criticize; SL makes them feel at ease in discussions and encourages them to clearly state their thoughts" (131). To me, that is impressive. Skill was favored over knowledge, but knowledge was spontaneously generated through research and discussion.
The project called for the recreation of the leaning tower of Pisa and Galileo's laboratory, complete with some of his tools. This is quite the undertaking, and they are dedicated to following the guidelines as set forth by the London Charter for the recreation of such historical sites.
The point here is that if you give students a project to complete in Second Life, it becomes a form of active learning. To get it right, they have to do the research and learn about what it is they are trying to recreate. The same with Bryan Carter's Harlem Renaissance. In order to give a legitimate representation, the students must learn what it is they are recreating. Not just how it looked either. They have to go deeper to find out the "why."
This article presents one of the most interesting projects I have read about in SL. This, along with Bryan Carter's, really shows the versatility of an environment like Second Life. It is rich in what can be accomplished in virtual worlds in general and SL specifically.
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