Secondlife in Education?

My initial reaction to Secondlife started off quite hesitant. I'm not used to chatting on the internet, so when a stranger (avatar) came up to me and asked to be my friend, I didn't know what to do. Do I acknowledge the individual and accept the offer of friendship, or do I decline? I didn't know what to do, and felt uncomfortable being approached by a complete stranger, so I ignored the request.

Learning how to use the virtual world was difficult for me. It took me a while to figure out how to navigate around the different worlds, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty interesting. While strolling around the virtual worlds, I found that there were different ways that the worlds could be used. There were virtual worlds that you could go into and interact with displays, participate in discussions and lectures and also view different locations around the world. I can see how it could be useful in both a classroom environment and in distance learning. Having limited experience with Secondlife, I'm looking forward to exploring it more and searching for places my students can visit together in a “virtual field trip”.

With the capabilities of technology,"there now exist enhanced and expanded learning opportunities with an environment to relate to."(Wright, Theodore, http://www.dokimos.org/secondlife/education/) Thus allowing them to explore in an interactive manner. It allows students to go into a virtual "new" world without leaving the classroom.