Higher Education and Virtual Worlds

I definitely believe that the virtual world will eventually become incorporated into higher education. After playing with the secondlife virtual world, I can better visualize how higher education could use that format. However, I had problem with navigating and working with the program because the speed of my computer was way too slow. As a result, there was a constant jerking when I was moving around. In time technology will improve this so that any processor can handle this type of software.

In my own position at Texas A&M University-Commerce, I have started to push for the university to acquire Eluminate. I believe that this will allow students to interact with instructors from home from any computer regardless of their connection and machine speed. This would also allow lecture style format for classes in an online environment. This environment would allow students to clarify concepts in real time as the course is conducted. One problem with asynchronous education is that students often do not want to ask questions because they are afraid that they will look stupid in front of their peers. As a result, whole concepts are not learned.

One of the problems that I see with online courses today is that they do not address my learning style. I recognize that I am a left brain learner. As a result, I prefer a more traditional education in learning. The asynchronous postings and discussions do not fully allow me to learn course concepts. These exercises seems more like busy work to me and not real learning. I prefer to listen to lectures and take notes. In my opinion, I learn the best that way. As a result, I have not gotten much out of online courses. If faculty incorporated pod casts in their online courses, I feel like I would get more out of the online courses.