4-20-07

We've had one class and I've gotten my books. I'm still trying to figure out what value VREs have for k-12 education. At least in the public school setting I don't see much. I read the Evidence Based Posting about dissecting animals online. That made some sense to me. But so far, mostly I see VREs taking away from more worthwhile things to be doing.

I've also been looking at Webquests and I don't see much value in them either. What I've seen so far could be done just as well without a computer if not better. At the very minimum, without a computer you don't need to worrry about the computer malfunctioning. Seems like it would also be easier to coordinate group work if you didn't have to deal with individuals looking at their computer screens.

I'm not sure exactly what I expected by the term "technology-enhanced instructional strategies." I have seen website programs where the students typed in answers to math problems and got immediate feedback. They did look boring to me, but no more so than a worksheet. I've also seen a "math worksheet" software program which was a fancy worksheet. However, when the student got the correct answer, a cowboy on a horse rode around shouting in circles. Kids really liked that one.

I was expecting the websites themselves to have more interaction that would enhance learning. There's certainly interaction on Second Life, but so far, most/all of the learning I've done enhances my life in Second Life. But I can't yet say it's enhanced my existence in First Life.

On a websearch, I did find that some group has been trying to educate people about Darfur. I haven't seen much of what they've done. But from what I have seen, I can't see that Second Life is a better medium than is television for this.

Maybe later I'll learn some answers that will address my skeptcism.