Virtual worlds may present real concerns

Generally, I stay away from discussions about the virtual worlds, such as Second Life, because I don't really understand them or why someone would want to create an avatar. David Warlick, however, recently addressed the utility of virtual worlds in a recent post regarding literacy development, and this immediately piqued my interests.

Second Life has been described to me as many things, but I think it simply comes down to the fact that it is a virtual place where internet users can create a virtual "self" in order to participate in a virtual world and interact with other avatars. In fact, NPR reported that last week's worldwide stock market roller coaster ride even managed to ripple through the virtual world as well. Whether or not the creation of alter egos in a virtual world is beneficial or harmful to the well-being of students, I am still unsure, but this issue of literacy development should concern us all.

Warlick notes that students learn the skills of navigation, interaction, presentation, and communication, and while I agree that all of these skills are important to the success of students, I wonder if Second Life is the best arena for this type of learning. A virtual world probably innately includes a different collection of literacies, but I question whether there exists a point at which we should be trying to teach some of these skills in more tangible settings. I believe many of these literacy skills can be sharpened via blogs, but will the allure of blogging among adolescents someday fade and be replaced with virtual worlds where participants can create virtual selves? I guess I worry that students may invest themselves in a virtual world so much that they will begin to lose touch with the real world and the fundamentals of "real" person-to-person interaction.

However, I must admit that I am a little intrigued to hear more about Second Life's potential creation of an educational world. Aren't you?

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Image Citations:

Remeta. (2007 December 29). Second Life logo. Remeta's Photostream. Retrieved on January 27, 2008, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/remeta/2146826566/

Lamar, N. (2007 February 27). Second Life avatars in world literature. North Lamar's Photostream. Retrieved on January 27, 2008, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/blazingdaze/404848910/