Okay, maybe I’ve had too many cups of coffee, but I’m really excited about a session I just attended on the use of Second Life in education. (See the Wikipedia article if you don’t know what Second Life is!)

Titled “Second Life: The Educational Possibilities of a Massively Multiplayer Virtual World (MMVW)“was presented by David M.Antonacci and Nellie Modaress from the University of Kansas Medical Center, USA or “Pietro Maracas” and “Sophia Gilman”, as they are known in Second Life.

You can view a copy of David and Nellie’s presentation here. It includes some great WMVs that demonstrate how users can create objects and build environments within Second Life. I particuarly liked the Role-Playing example.

This presentation really got me thinking about how we could use virtual worlds for use in a range of areas in VTE. I’m bubbling with ideas about how we might use some of these techniques in trade areas, as I’m about to start work on some elearning resources for use in Metal Fabrication and Welding, particularly in some of the core modules like OHS.

My list so far….

• A virtual Fire Drill, where students take on various roles in an emergency situation – eg. Fire Warden, First Aid Officer, Worker with a mobility disability, Visitor to the workplace.
• Role-playing situations to practice communications in the workplace. Eg. Students could role-play situations to learn more about sexual harassment policies or anti-discrimination polies, also great for conflict resolution type scenarios
• Students involved in creating a ‘virtual workplace’ (could be an office or workshop) that meets OHS safety standards. Their peers could then be involved assessing as virtual building and safety inspectors.

Got any other suggestions? 😉