Teachers / pre-service teachers who had worked in Second Life during a graduate course make recommendations for better usage and improvements in the future

1. Infusing SL into the Empire State College MAT program Suggestions from teachers & pre-service teachers in the Master of Arts in Teaching program at Empire State College , fall 2009

2. How can we use SL? Small group Discussions- 5 person group Seems optimal Presentations or Power Points of class Projects or Orientation Materials Office Hours For Faculty In place of or in addition to face-to-face meetings In connection with discussion boards as a Flex option – attend 5 out of 10 per semester perhaps Attend educational Lecture events At education islands

3. Difficulties with SL Large Group Activities are Difficult to organize Trying too much too soon is frustrating. Spend more time orienting Must be at home to log on. Lose flexibility of distance learning at your convenience. Vertigo issues with the format

5. Making Technical Entry into SL Smoother Gradually work up from the beginning and give student sufficient time to complete SL orientation Students should be given SL orientation at beginning of MAT program Give students a couple assignments in SL throughout the semester By second year students will be ready to go! On-site introduction could be useful for initial introduction

6. SL and the MAT program Mini course or tutorial for credit could possibly be useful Use of SL for new student orientation may be too much too soon, meeting in large groups especially for first time there is a lot of bugs to work out Could be used in concert with or in place of face-to-face sessions. This would be helpful for those who have to travel significant distances to get to their regional center. Mentored teaching would be great course for SL. Possible options for SL include peer to peer mentoring, use of SL could take place of discussion board. For discussions to work on SL, possibility of two different meeting places with different discussion questions which can be organized by interest and content.

7. Second Life Conclusion SL could be a component to any course. Its great for discussions and PowerPoint presentations as we learned throughout this semester.