It's hard to believe that an article like the one written by Jeff Young for The Chronicle of Higher Education can get published, but published it was. The piece is especially annoying because the author was on the Uncle D Story Quest with a group of 12 students from Northwestern University. Not only couldn't he walk, sit, fly, or teleport, but Mr. Young was oblivious to the excitement, enthusiasm and praise being expressed by the students. Clearly they were learning and having a great time doing it. Why didn't Mr. Young notice?
Anyway, we, like so many other educators tried to post to the Chronicle's web site but got an error message, so decided to share our thoughts and comments with you here (see below).
We would also like to encourage you to send Mr. Young a personal invitation to attend the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference (www.vwbpe.org) being held this year on March 12 and 13. The conference has already received over 150 proposals and is expected to attract more than 5,000 avatars. Perhaps if Mr. Young gets enough invitations he might rethink his remarks ;-)
Mr. Young's E-mail: jeff.young@chronicle.com
Comment on Young's Piece
I am sitting here reading Mr. Young’s article with a mixture of amusement and dismay. Amusement because he obviously did not do his research, and dismay because it is clear that despite having been on the Uncle D Story Quest with 12 of Northwestern University’s brightest and most articulate students – all of whom were raving about the Quest and asking how they could contribute – he didn’t seem to notice the learning that was occurring right under his nose. Of course that might have had something to do with the fact that he couldn’t remember how to touch objects, teleport, turn on his music or media streams, or participate in group chat. This despite repeated offers of help from myself and the students. I mention this not to embarrass Mr. Young, but to point out what anyone who has tackled Second Life knows – you cannot fully appreciate or participate in the wonders of Second Life until you have some basic skills under your belt.
Frankly, it seems both unprofessional and disrespectful of Mr. Young to write a piece that is so patently inaccurate. Had he bothered to interview any of the dozens of educators or students who are using Second Life with great enthusiasm and success, he would know that there is remarkable, groundbreaking work being done there.
Finally, I would like to personally invite Mr. Young to attend The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference on March 12 and 13, 2010 (http://www.vwbpe.org/) where dozens of the world’s most highly respected educators (including Karl M. Kapp and Tony O’Driscoll, authors of “Learning in 3D, Adding a New Dimension to Enterprise Learning and Collaboration) will be sharing their thoughts, experiences, and projects in virtual reality. Perhaps this will give him a more realistic and informed view of what is really happening in education in Second Life. P.S. In order to participate in the conference you will no doubt want to brush up on your Second Life skills Mr. Young. If you would like some help, feel free to IM me (Jenaia Morane) or e-mail me at jenaia.morane@gmail.com. You will need to be able to sit down and type into chat at the conference ;-)
