Well, this week I spent a lot of time in WOW. Probably way too much, but I am a level 8 now, with all kinds of cool powers. Also, got to ride in a helicopter thing as the pictures will show. Unfortunately, there is a large chat caption in the middle of the second one. I died probably 12 or more times trying to do the quests, which I think were over 12. I have been doing 2-3 at a time. WOW seems to have more draw for older students with all the "violent" activities. But not for me to use with 4th or 5th graders. I also did some time in SL, talked with new friends Jos and Sax last night, Sax is a firefighter, Jos is a laser "physicist". We had a nice conversation about what we do for a living. We also went to a Botannical Garden of sorts in SL. Nice trees, etc for sale...expensive. I have been researching how to get into 3D for elementary students. Went to a Poptropica 3d site...kind of babyish though, would prefer to work in a more sertious environment where they would take it more seriously, but no adult content! Open Simulation, Reactive Grid have been discussed with various people, trying to connect to someone again about how to set up the Open Sim I downloaded...will see what happens. Lots of potential overall for teching and learning in virtual environments...just need safe environment without silly little bears and cutesy avatars....!
Hi, Gibson!
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying reading about your adventures as a WoWer and in SL! Your pictures are great.
I, too, am thinking about how to use VWs for elementary age students. I had heard about Poptropica but had not yet tried it out. I was thinking it might be too young for the 4th and 5th graders so it was interesting to get your perspective. My alternative is to try out the Quest Atlantis VW in the hopes that it might be more fun for that age group.