Immersive 3d in learning

I'm not yet a convert to the use of immersive technologies (notably Second Life) in learning. There are too many problems as yet - accessibility, even straightforward access to kit and internet, clunkiness, the learning curve both for teachers and learners and (certainly in UK Further Education) the availability of funding, time and enthusiasm amongst college managers.

There's also a particular problem for FE in that Second Life only allows 18 year olds or over to join (and you need tobe aware that there are "adult" places there, so it's a sensible rule) while under 18s can join Teen Grid - an embarassing name with redolence of Barbie and U.S. teen culture. So full-time FE, dealing particularly with 16-19 year olds, falls between the two.

But I'm an occasional visitor to Second Life, and I'm beginning to learn how to move around better and meet some interesting people. My initial guide has introduced me to a number of places where elearning is being extended, and she's shown me the basics. Now I have to spend more time wandering around and meeting people - because it does seem to me that chance encounters in Second Life areone of its major pluses. Where else would I have met the developers of Sloodle (a mash up of SL and the Moodle learning platform or VLE), a mathematician happy to explain the calculus in a way I could actually understand and a classful of people learning about Maslow's heirarchy of needs? If you're in SL and want to chat, my avatar name is Goodmaster Tomsen.

I've also ventured into the much less complex "3B" system - really just a new immersive way to present websites which enables people to wander around my websites - and the sites they link to - and find stuff of interest in a serendipitous way rather than by hopeful link-clicking.

But a chance discovery of a video by Karl Kapp and his learners has given me some new thinking to do. It's worth a look:



I've no doubt I'll come back to this topic in the future. Meanwhile, I think I'll just pop over to the UK Tech island....