Unrealistic uses of Second Life:
The University of New Orleans plans to continue instruction in Second Life in the event of another Katrina-like disaster. I’m highly skeptical that this would work on such a large scale; I’ve never thought that Second Life or virtual worlds are the solution to learning, but they offer new methods of teaching. Teachers and students alike won’t have the skills to make this feasible, not to mention the fact that displacing such a large number of people would likely leave them at inaccessible workstations (the system requirements to use SL are rather high).
Promising uses of Second Life:
The article briefly mentions Jim Mokhiber, an assistant professor of history, who’s using Second Life to build authentic African villages for his students to explore. Add Jim to the list of history educators using simulations in their classrooms.
Thanks to Brett Bixler at the Penn State Virtual Worlds blog for pointing out this article.