Virtual Worlds
A world that lives parallel to reality that resides completely on the internet. It is a creation that is supported through different websites. These virtual worlds allow you to create and maintain virtual worlds that you can manipulate for different purposes. Some choose to use them for social purposes while educators are finding ways to incorporate them in to educational settings.
Is Virtual Reality effective in education?
Most discussions under Virtual Worlds pertained to one site in particular, called Second Life. It is a site that allows you to do all that the definition explains. It is also a free site. The information I learned from the threads is that there is a lot of debate to whether or not it is an effective use of educational time. Some people said that it is not and explained reasons varying from inappropriate for students to it doesn't offer what students need. The latter gave other options that were more self-contained sites that are tailored for education.
Access for Students with Disabilities
It was nice to see this post on special education, because technology is, in my opinion, one of the greatest tools for children with special needs. It was a great thread for information about how you can turn certain devices on that will help students with visual impairments and other disabilities greater access to the sites. There were a lot of resources in the thread that can be accessed to help educators.
It's pretty interesting that these "virtual worlds" exist and especially that they can be applied to education and students with disabilities. I am curious though about specific ways that these virtual worlds could be used to supplement traditional education. Have you thought of any particular ways you might use one in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI think it goes along with the idea of the Flat Classroom Virtual Worlds. It would be a collaborative effort from a team of teachers to create this world for their students to interact with each other. It's making the forum larger for them to learn from one another... Now traditional curriculum in these worlds. I have no clue how it would really work. I think I would need to, and I do want to eventually, look in to how its being implemented now... I see them as a huge benefit to children with special needs, because they miss out on so much due to their disabilities. Technology like this gives them a set of "new legs" to experience things they might not be able to experience otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI like how technology is being used to help children with special needs. If there are a group of people who need technology to make life a little easier, it is definitely students with disabilities. I would love it if they could create visual worlds to help children with autism -particularly those with sensory issues- function better in the real world.
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful that a thread pertained to the specific needs of special education children. I think that sometimes their needs are not given much consideration in education. A virtual world can very well place physically handicapped children on the same "playing field" equally with non-handicapped children.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is really improving lives specially for students with disabilites.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see how to use these educationally, besides drawing on students' creativity. I think I'll read more. Thanks, Ryan, for your insightful post.
ReplyDeleteI love that you chose the artcle on special education. You are right in stating that we need more tools to help students with disabilities and technology should be one of them. I like that it can help students with visual and hearing impairments as all teachers will encounter students with these disabilities in their careers.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how technology improves and how many things can be created to help students who have disabilities.
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