Jul
13
I have researched and explored OpenCourseware (OCW), particularly the MIT site but also the Yale site, and SecondLife.
OpenCourseware is something that would be really helpful to me as a teacher, however, I’m not sure how directly helpful it would be for my students. It’s a great way for me to build my background knowledge about a particular subject, stay up to date on various topics, and learn interesting facts which can enrich my lessons. Many of the courses are much more in depth than early elementary students would need to know. Still, I think there are definitely bits that could be helpful and ways that it would strengthen my teaching. For example, many of the Writing courses can provide me with insight which will help me give better feedback and better advice to my young writers. Being a teacher is about being a lifelong learner. OCW is a great way to keep learning on a time-frame that works, without the cost.
SecondLife is more on the edge than OCW. I actually created a SecondLife “resident” and took the QuickStart tour. Honestly, I may delete because it seems to take a very long time to load and I feel like it’s going to slow my laptop down (you have to download their special SecondLife program files). It seems interested and I did enjoy exploring some of the Destinations. I don’t know how much it would enrich my knowledge, but I think it could make a positive impact on certain lessons. It’s exciting that you could take SecondLife field trips or set up a SecondLife recreation of an historical time/place like the Jamestown Colony. SecondLife seems like something that would capture the interest of students. Some of them may even use SecondLife in their personal time. I like that it can put the students in a real space to help them visualize a place we can’t actually go. However, creating a field trip location, like a Jamestown Colony, would be incredibly time consuming and somewhat expensive for me to pay out of pocket. I likely won’t use SecondLife in my early elementary classroom since there is an age requirement (13 is the youngest for Teen SecondLife). I may be able to serve as a tour guide for destinations but that doesn’t seem as engaging as letting the students explore for themselves. I’m interested in finding out more but I think SecondLife may be best for Middle or High School teachers.
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