This new article in the Educause Quarterly http://tinyurl.com/c3ug6e,
Virtual World Learning Spaces: Developing a Second Life Operating Room Simulation by Stephanie Gerald and David Antonacci from the Univ. of Kansas illustrates how SL can be used in medical education. They’ve created some really fantastic simulations for students. My favorite part is that the students’ interactions with the simulator are emailed to the instructor. With these virtual world simulations, students can practice at home on their computers—simulations are no longer confined to the lab at school. They can also work together in teams in a virtual world and talk to one another while interacting with the simulation.

What I double love about this article is that its gives a detailed description of what SL is and how to use it and chronicles the entire journey of these educators getting up and running in SL. I wholeheartedly agree with the authors’ point about using SL for focused, identified instructional needs instead of trying to make the instruction fit into the medium. Not everything can be taught better in 3-D, though stuff like real-time data visualization is on its way to virtual worlds. That said, you cannot know what is possible until the medium is thoroughly explored. I really believe that faculty and instructional designers getting in a virtual world, playing around and experimenting, is totally necessary. It is exactly like learning a new software, except its a lot more fun.

I also LOVE how the article is written and designed–Text, video and audio. This is the new face of the academic paper, people! EQ v.32 2009