Wednesday, April 18, 2007

New Rule: Second Life Discussions

If you say "it's not about the technology" in reference to educational computing, you can't get too excited about Second Life, because using Second Life in schools raises a whole host of technological problems that make it "about the technology." You need computers with processors and video cards that can handle the load and how much bandwidth has to come into a classroom where 25 kids are all in Second Life at one time? How much bandwidth do you need to have several classes in one school working in it?

If you are focused on learning, you can find less demanding and probably free ways of doing everything you do in Second Life, without rebuilding your school infrastructure.

A corollary to this rule is you can't emphasize the importance of inexpensive laptops for 1-to-1 initiatives and push Second Life at the same time.

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