Few Teachers Using Second Life For Professional Development

Education Week (6/16, Ash) reports on the potential for teachers to learn from and collaborate with each other via the online virtual world Second Life. When the immersive environment was created in 2003, "there was a lot of excitement about the possibilities of using Second Life as a professional-development tool for educators," with the International Society for Technology in Education establishing a presence there. However, "those expectations have largely fallen short, offering cautionary lessons about using technology for professional development. To begin with, a lack of time, money, and up-to-date technology posed significant challenges. Plus, the amount of training required to become proficient in Second Life discouraged many teachers from thinking of it as a useful and efficient professional-development tool."