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Intellagirl
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 7
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 Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:53 am Post subject: Teaching Roles - Conflicts and Changes? |
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Hello all! Can I pick your brains for a bit? (I'm posting this to SLED list too since not many people seem to use these forums)
I'd like to know if any of you have experienced or thought about ways that your role as an instructor change when you teach in SL.
Do you feel you have less authority? more?
How do you change the typical conventions of authority in SL? (example standing in the front of a class = what in SL?)
Have you done anything special with your avatar to make you "look" more like the teacher? Do you choose clothing etc. with teaching in mind?
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Audio
SLED HEAD
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:36 am Post subject: Re: Teaching Roles - Conflicts and Changes? |
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| Intellagirl wrote: | Hello all! Can I pick your brains for a bit? (I'm posting this to SLED list too since not many people seem to use these forums)
I'd like to know if any of you have experienced or thought about ways that your role as an instructor change when you teach in SL.
Do you feel you have less authority? more?
How do you change the typical conventions of authority in SL? (example standing in the front of a class = what in SL?)
Have you done anything special with your avatar to make you "look" more like the teacher? Do you choose clothing etc. with teaching in mind?
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This is actually a facinating topic and we should try to get it underway.
Personally I go out of my way not to appear as the authority in SL and to in fact make the sessions in SL very from removed from a tradiional "lesson' (not that I have those much anymore in RL anyway).
Typically my SL sessions will be very social, a social gathering were dialogue takes place in a very friendly and informal manner to create social constructing of the students knowledge.
I also can fully appreciate this shift in dynamic would be very hard for many "traditional" teachers who feel they must maintain authority, the fact is they do no have to, even in RL teaching.
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MariAsturias
SLED HEAD
Joined: 08 Jun 2006
Posts: 5
Location: NorCal
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| Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:56 pm Post subject: Re: Teaching Roles - Conflicts and Changes? |
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| Intellagirl wrote: | Hello all! Can I pick your brains for a bit? (I'm posting this to SLED list too since not many people seem to use these forums)
I'd like to know if any of you have experienced or thought about ways that your role as an instructor change when you teach in SL.
Do you feel you have less authority? more?
How do you change the typical conventions of authority in SL? (example standing in the front of a class = what in SL?)
Have you done anything special with your avatar to make you "look" more like the teacher? Do you choose clothing etc. with teaching in mind?
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It may depend on a few things.
1. Do you have a relationship with the students outside of SL? If they've never seen you in RL, they may very well pay closer attention to your AV appearance to gain clues as to who you are. (I know of one professor who's had his professional AV modeled after his RL appearance so that he's more easily recognizable in game. ) Or, perhaps, if they see you around campus all the time, the fact that you choose to be a cigar smoking bunny might not be a big deal at all..
2. As more and more educators go for the "guide on the side" philosophy of teaching in general, I think many conventions, such as standing in front, end up being just ways of more clearly communicating in SL, rather than a show of authority. There are fewer audio/visual clues to facilitate group discussion for example. Sitting anims that bypass the usual typing motion can actually become confusing in a group discussion. I just picked up a few "raise your hand to speak" chairs from AngryBeth Shortbread's place and plan to try them out as a vehicle to aid clear communication.
My opinion: SL doesn't in and of itself, create instructional authority. I think face2face, email and website communication with clearly spelled out goals, expectations and instructor/student roles really do much of that work. If that piece of the puzzle is done well, you can put on your SL angel wings and army boots with no loss of authority. |
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SecondLifeEnglish
SLED HEAD
Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Posts: 3
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:29 am Post subject: |
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I personally like the fact that a sense of 'authority' cannot be easily attained in Second Life. Educators are forced back into the realization that we are ultimately all learners. This is largely due to the learning curve one confronts in SL, especially when first joining. It is my hope that such a 'reduced status' will compel educators to pose questions about the purpose of authority and hierarchy in distance education and education in general. This world (SL & RL) is teeming with a wide variety of interesting people and I suspect most of them have something interesting to 'teach' or share. Having said that, I can recall having fallen into the 'sage on the stage' trap on several occasions (easy to do in SL) and am now more interested in approaches which might leave the learner with a sense of 'facilitated empowerment'.
Thanks for the great question. 
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