I was fortunate enough to be in Vermont this week at Mt. Snow. We stayed in a great cottage that was adorned with framed Jig Saw puzzles. I connected those puzzles to what I was doing in Second life. Only the puzzle that I was putting together was one that I could be fully immersed and interactive. I was creating a picture, a momentary reality that helped to clear my mind and keep me in the present. I had to think about scale and space. I had to use knowledge that others had given me, and I had to learn to understand.
I kept thinking about the different ways that I could use this simple activity in a classroom. I thought about how students would have to follow directions, understand geometry and ratios. This knowledge could be applied to an understanding of what they were building. It could be an era, a city, a landmark to rebuild. The possibilities are endless and they sit at my fingertips.
I found myself trying to build a Pitts aircraft and my mind wandering to clear blue skies on a calm spring day. I found myself able to escape the two feet of snow that had just fallen into a virtual reality that I had created. It is my space and what I choose to do with that space is up to me. I just need to bring passion, imagination and willingness to learn.
I like the way you were able to imagine how you can use virtual worlds for instruction. You have become quite the builder. I was very impressed with your plane build. I am hoping that at some point you might help some of us build such a great piece. The possibilities are really limitless as we are all realizing. We can use a virtual world in many different ways to teach many different things. I am really enjoying my learning.
ReplyDeleteI took a snapshot of your plane but it seems I am unable to attach a pic in my comment. But I did attach this pic in my blog :)
Nice post (and plane too)! I found my first attempt at teaching in a virtual world to be both frustrating and exhilarating. I was also struck by the possibilities while I was building. It's like a sandbox for the world. This context is conducive to a certain kind of deep analysis, where it's both necessary and fun to understand an object or a process in the real world in order to re-create it in the virtual world.
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