Also see our articles about other races and full figured avatars in the same blog.

Licentious Maladay
co-CEO
MODA Modeling School
http://MODAFashionSL.blogspot.com

As for no-alts – I think I’ve hinted at the answer to that. If I make an alt I’m playing a role rather than being me.

I may have lost credibility to a small number of giggling students, but I’ve used SL to teach a large number successfully, both other educators and SL residents, losing a few along the way… well we all do that.

Whilst I think the original entry is well written, and certainly reflects a point of view that needs to be considered, I think there are an ever increasing number of people learning successfully in SL, and learning for college/university courses. I follow activities on the teen-grid less, but they are learning there from what I do read. I refuse to believe they’re all teaching others their epiphanies, I know from experience that not all are in fact. Perhaps those that manage this are brilliant educators and can teach regardless of the obstacles you see. It seems much more likely they use SL to teach in different ways to the ways you’ve experienced, and there are ways to teach in SL which can be generally successful, at least as generally successful as any other approach in a RL classroom, usually moreso, although the dataset is still a bit small for that.

Stopping to think is always a good thing, and reading contrary points of view is even more useful so thanks for the thoughts!

I do think people should be who they want to be. But if the world of SL is just filled with those who are young and beautiful, I just think it is a sad message to send to our children and students. I’m a little conservative about this, but as a mother, I want my child to grow up with many different images of beauty. In RL and otherwise.

When asked after my last presentation on SL whether someone should use it for teaching X or Y, I had to answer honestly that I wasnt there to sell SL. Happy to say what features of SL I think are useful for teaching – but I don’t see any need to push it onto anyone who doesnt want it. Its not for everyone. Not all staff like it. Not all students like it. It would be silly to pretend otherwise.

My own experience in SL is that most educators do not ‘take “fantasy” to mean “lack of judgement” ‘. Most either simply do not have virtual sex-lives or keep such activity private and on seperate accounts. Eloise I know, and it has been her decision not to hide her sexuality – I can’t speak for her as to why she made this conscious decision.

I also have experience of more diversity and less 34DD avatars amongst the avatars I’ve met in educational settings. Enough to confirm that there are avatars of advanced years and of a rich variety of hues. On the other hand, if a user of advanced years wants an avatar that is young and beautiful, I don’t see why they shouldnt be allowed to…

In my own presentations on SL, I don’t try to evangelize. I think its an interesting technology, its one I like personally, but it isnt a magical educational panacea. One of the main distinctions between SL and other virtual worlds (including text based MUDs and MOOs) is the ease with which any user can create and share their own content. This, I think, makes SL a very good platform for constructionist approaches to learning. It is the unique selling point of the platform.

Very thoughtful, unique take on Second Life – I look forward to the next installment.

As a technology coordinator who attended NECC this year, I felt shunned in my community for not having the life-changing, life altering epiphany in Second Life. I find myself swatting away the evangelists like I would the born again Christians and radical right and any Mormon at my door. Why? I really do not think the educational environment in Second Life is revolutionary. I have intentionally tried to explore SL. However, I am horrified at the lack of diversity in SL and how I think it sets us back back in terms of what it says about our society in terms of gender roles and sexual identity. What the die hard educators in SL don’t realize, they are like religious zealots who wind up isolating those who simply don’t agree with them, acting like you just aren’t enlightened if you extremely isolating being surrounded by “religious” zealots in the field, who act like you aren’t enlightened if you don’t completely buy into Second Life as an educator.

My issue? Educators (or many of them) seem to take “fantasy” to mean “lack of judgement” when they are in Second Life. I just think it’s a scary statement that progressive minded people must create selves where they look more like Carmen Electra with 34DD’s than what is real.

I think it’s a sad statement that teachers/librarians/educators feel the need to create lives where they must represent themselves as 34DD Carmen Electra look-alikes. I went to a course co-led by Eloise Pasteur, a leading figure in Second Life. The students were snickering and told me about a site she ran in Second Life, that was quite explict.This totally ruined her creditability as a teacher. See any “photo book” of librarians, teachers in Second Life. Are we trying to tell students to aspire to fantasy figures that don’t represent any form of reality?

Is this really creating a revolution for people or just creating a network where like minded people from the same background and same culture are meeting? Are we just creating an exclusive environment where students learn that middle aged people are very sad about their external appearance and really would pay money to look like a stripper/pole dancer/any one else but themselves? Are we teaching students that there cannot be old people in SL? That being themselves and proud of their flaws is just not OK? Is there aging in SL? Black people in SL? Go to any of the groups in SL with libraries, teachers, ed tech, NMC. As educated and enlightened as these people are, you won’t find fat avatars, aging avatars, black avatars, the latino avatars. You’ll find people who are well, dressed like pole dancers. Second Life? I would like to educate my students in a world where there are people of all different sizes, ages, and races. Students will greet a Second Life that is white, sexualized, and youth-oriented, and white. Great. Not revolutionary in my book.

I will just add that there are people working on the age separation issue (through one of the ELVEN Institute’s working groups, contact me–Dewey Jung–in SL for details), but the obstacles to turning SL into a true educational environment (where learning rather than sexual identity is the primary outcome) are enormous.