Reflections

Due in part to my development of The Second Life Planetarium, I have found myself continually being asked to advise colleagues, both at Elon and within Second Life, on how best to make use of this new medium. The truth is this is still so new and changing so quickly that any list of best educational practices has little but anecdotal evidence to support it. While Second Life abounds with informal educational opportunities, the number of formal classes that include Second Life is still comparatively low.

Many of my colleagues incorrectly assume that college-aged students are universally proficient with new technologies. The majority of my students struggled, but ultimately became proficient, with the Second Life user interface. Only a handful had enough experience to find it intuitive. Another handful never mastered its operation to the point of being comfortable. Even for students that found Second Life to be a positive experience, it still served as a barrier rather than a bridge to understanding the astronomy.

It has become my opinion that astronomy education in Second Life works best for those who find the program itself transparent. While most students enjoyed dressing up and playing around with their virtual selves, this novel aspect of Second Life served more to distract from the material rather than to enhance it. This playfulness contrasted sharply with the attitude of students that already had some limited programming experience. One group in my astronomy class, a second group in my math methods class, and a student working on a research project with math professor, Todd Lee, all were able to use Second Life as a serious tool for learning and communication.

Based on my experience so far, I would encourage other instructors to explore Second Life on their own and to consider having experienced students use Second Life as part of a research or outreach project.