Archive for July, 2007

If quality instruction via Second Life is the ability to . . .

while maintaining proper focus on the desired learning outcomes, develop authentic learning projects that allow learners to engage learning content through interaction with communities and/or creation of content or products in a manner not possible through a physical or standard web-based learning environment.

What skills must one possess to develop and deliver quality instruction via Second Life?

Actually . . . As I started this post, it was titled “Skills Necessary to Develop and Deliver Quality Instruction via Second Life,” and my intent was to brainstorm the different skill sets necessary to build a quality learning experience in Second Life. However, asking that question raises an issue I’ve encountered previously with web-based distance learning.

The skill set necessary to develop a quality online learning experience (in Second Life or via the web) is not the same skill set required to facilitate a quality online learning experience.

Developing a quality learning experience requires one to be aware of, to understand and to be proficient with media development tools such as audio/video recording and editing tools, course building tools within learning management systems, fundamental principles of user interface, and a wide range of communication and web-based tools which may be integrated into the fabric of an online course. In contrast, facilitating a quality learning experience requires one to understand and be proficient with using online communication tools via the internet and within learning management systems (announcements, email, discussion boards, chat), the content subject matter, general classroom management strategies, assessment tools, and online time management skills.

Basically, as an instructional designer with some assistance from a subject matter expert, I can develop an excellent set of digital course materials for a course in Human Anatomy and Physiology. I believe the array of materials I’d include in that course, if my degree is worth more than just the paper on which it’s printed, will be better than the collection a subject matter expert would include if asked to develop the course without my assistance. However, I could not begin to fantasize about having the ability to actually teach the course.

Developing a course and facilitating/teaching a course are two different skill sets. Unfortunately, that distinction often gets lost in the shuffle in many institutions because, quite often, those asked to teach the course are the ones also developing the course. (To digress slightly, I do not think that’s a desirable situation but, until much of academia begins to better realize the value of instructional designers/developers, that situation will persist.) Any technology in the early stages of adoption will likely cause or require a blurring of the skill sets; after all, technology doesn’t come with prepackaged experts ready to help the early adopters – the early adopters become the experts.

With all of that said, however, as we begin to consider skills necessary for faculty to deliver quality instruction in Second Life, I believe it will be important to remember that we should, at some point, divorce the two skill sets. We should not, ideally, continue requiring faculty with a Ph.D. in Biology to learn 3D building tools within Second Life before they are able to teach in that environment.

If you have any questions – i.e. some of this is underexplained, please do not hesitate to comment – there are many issues rolled into this discussion; and I’m perhaps somewhat too close to the discussion to explain it clearly the first time around as I try to get many of the ideas on “paper.”