Virtual worlds to educate real life to students

Reported by Ednar Tay

Some schools in Singapore have started using virtual worlds like Second Life as learning tools. Students can get a better knowledge of subjects ranging from art and married life to financial literacy.

In July 2009, lower secondary students from Ngee Ann Secondary School (NASS) will be commenting on art pieces found in gallery only in Second Life. They will be using Harvard University’s Artful Thinking syllabus, which develop the student’s art appreciation skills and their creative thinking. The school will also guide students through the issue of mercy-killing by having them to take the roles of vets and dog owners in a virtual animal clinic.

The MOE, which wants schools to “develop meaningful new ways of using technology for learning and teaching…that will lead to meaningful learning outcomes”, encourages the moves made by NASS and other schools. An MOE spokesman said that the ministry is also planning a study to explore the use of virtual worlds to improve learning and teaching.

At Innova Junior College (IJC), students will play as married couples, single people and divorcees on a future Mars colony troubled by the increasing birth rate and quarrelling over the costs and benefits of a scheme similar to the baby bonus. IJC’s infocomm technology head Tan Li Wee said that the students have limited life experience, so the exercise forces them to “experience issues from different perspectives”. Nowadays, students know very little about life, so the virtual worlds aid them in understanding and handling issues in life. Ms Tan is also hoping that they will build a better, more mature understanding of issues, and score better grades for their General Paper.

Schools like Beacon Primary and Ngee Ann Polytechnic have adopted information technology. In the meantime, the National Institute of Education’s Learning Science Lab is developing multi-online games on themes like active citizenry and national education. NASS principal Adrian Lim said that virtual worlds are a good fit for today’s students, who have grown up with the Internet. Natasha Emir, a Secondary 2 student, agrees. She said: “Many students are not that interested in art, but when they hear ‘virtual worlds’ and ‘IT’, they become more interested.” One good thing Mr Lim said about virtual worlds is that they are customisable, which gives the teacher tremendous flexibility in designing scenarios and allowing actions impossible for non-vets in reality, like putting a dog to sleep.

IJC’s Ms Tan mentioned another outcome of using virtual worlds from a teacher’s perspective: ‘because of their interactive nature, students become more involved and participate more often in classes. Natasha also said that she noticed shyer students opening up more than usual, likely because they are more comfortable using the virtual world’s online messaging system than speaking up. She said that initially, she was no fan of art, but her brush with virtual art has sparked an interest. She has since begun persuading her parents to organise family outings to visit the art galleries – real ones.

Virtual worlds are useful for students as we ourselves like computers so the virtual worlds will make students more interested and they can learn more through them. Here are 4 examples of learning in a simulated world. They are the ‘Youth Olympics Games virtual world’, ‘Financial literacy and accounting’, ‘NUS Second Life’ and ‘Statecraft X’.

Labels: reports

Virtual worlds to educate real life to students

Reported by Ednar Tay

Some schools in Singapore have started using virtual worlds like Second Life as learning tools. Students can get a better knowledge of subjects ranging from art and married life to financial literacy.

In July 2009, lower secondary students from Ngee Ann Secondary School (NASS) will be commenting on art pieces found in gallery only in Second Life. They will be using Harvard University’s Artful Thinking syllabus, which develop the student’s art appreciation skills and their creative thinking. The school will also guide students through the issue of mercy-killing by having them to take the roles of vets and dog owners in a virtual animal clinic.

The MOE, which wants schools to “develop meaningful new ways of using technology for learning and teaching…that will lead to meaningful learning outcomes”, encourages the moves made by NASS and other schools. An MOE spokesman said that the ministry is also planning a study to explore the use of virtual worlds to improve learning and teaching.

At Innova Junior College (IJC), students will play as married couples, single people and divorcees on a future Mars colony troubled by the increasing birth rate and quarrelling over the costs and benefits of a scheme similar to the baby bonus. IJC’s infocomm technology head Tan Li Wee said that the students have limited life experience, so the exercise forces them to “experience issues from different perspectives”. Nowadays, students know very little about life, so the virtual worlds aid them in understanding and handling issues in life. Ms Tan is also hoping that they will build a better, more mature understanding of issues, and score better grades for their General Paper.

Schools like Beacon Primary and Ngee Ann Polytechnic have adopted information technology. In the meantime, the National Institute of Education’s Learning Science Lab is developing multi-online games on themes like active citizenry and national education. NASS principal Adrian Lim said that virtual worlds are a good fit for today’s students, who have grown up with the Internet. Natasha Emir, a Secondary 2 student, agrees. She said: “Many students are not that interested in art, but when they hear ‘virtual worlds’ and ‘IT’, they become more interested.” One good thing Mr Lim said about virtual worlds is that they are customisable, which gives the teacher tremendous flexibility in designing scenarios and allowing actions impossible for non-vets in reality, like putting a dog to sleep.

IJC’s Ms Tan mentioned another outcome of using virtual worlds from a teacher’s perspective: ‘because of their interactive nature, students become more involved and participate more often in classes. Natasha also said that she noticed shyer students opening up more than usual, likely because they are more comfortable using the virtual world’s online messaging system than speaking up. She said that initially, she was no fan of art, but her brush with virtual art has sparked an interest. She has since begun persuading her parents to organise family outings to visit the art galleries – real ones.

Virtual worlds are useful for students as we ourselves like computers so the virtual worlds will make students more interested and they can learn more through them. Here are 4 examples of learning in a simulated world. They are the ‘Youth Olympics Games virtual world’, ‘Financial literacy and accounting’, ‘NUS Second Life’ and ‘Statecraft X’.

Labels: reports