Virtual Classroom

Walk, Fly, Teleport to Learning, by Maureen Brown Yoder.

This article discusses how a virtual world works, and how you can integrate it into the classroom. I want to start off by saying that there are virtual worlds out there meant for adults only, so be cautious. 8.2 million children are already using some sort of virtual world, and it keeps growing. MUVE is a technology created to help enforce creative teaching and learning. It is full of content, and teaches social, technical and practical life skills. It is a great technology to keep students engaged and playful through their learning, collaboration and goals. For teachers these world's can provide a place to share resources and learn new skills.

Yoder gives a few great examples of virtual networks that are great and safe for the classroom. Teen Second life is a private network with background checks that are only accessible to teens invited by their teachers or school systems. Global Kids is another network that focuses on communit and global issues. This is a great way to engage the students on how to mix a virtual world with our world, and the real issues that comes along with it. There are also great educational games that can be used for any subject in the classroom.

This is a great assortment of learning opportunities and Yoder said, and I think will be a great attribute to the classroom. I would use this for exploring not only the students capabilities but their social and life skills as well. I could easily incorporate this into my classroom by having the students collaborate and use as a group project, and awareness. A great idea would be to create a world together that is safe, friendly, and helpful to the environment, and use it to help make it a reality. I would love to use this in my classroom to help teach the safety awareness of the internet as well. There are so many virtual world's and games out there today, and many not appropriate for students, and I would like to use this opportunity to teach them how to be safe and stay away for certain sites.