PunkAssBlog.com

Here at punkassblog, we fully endorse the virtualization of your identity. As the state of the country and the condition of the world worsens, why not jack into the matrix and live out the life of which you always dreamed in a land unBushed by war and misery?

Or better yet, why not use the matrix to improve on our real planet? Instead of hiding from what’s wrong in 3Dville, maybe we should use the virtual world to make things better for the fleshies.

Turns out some educators are doing just that via Second Life, a popular virtual reality community mentioned previously in this space as a booming den of hot, buttery cybersex.

But these folks aren’t teaching underage children how to get it on. No sir.

According to the NYT (still sort of dead to me but in limbo for the present moment), it’s all the rage amongst accredited institutions of higher learning:

Scores of colleges and universities have set up campuses on islands, where classes meet and students interact in real time. They can hold chat discussions and create multimedia presentations from virtual building blocks called prims. The laws of physics don’t necessarily apply.

SecondLife has ideal educational appeal for students learning long distance, as it provides a comforting veneer of (virtual) reality over what would otherwise feel like less of an education sans corporeal interaction:

Instructors say the Second Life class experience is particularly enhanced for distance learners. In Second Life, classmates and instructor don’t just communicate in chat rooms; they can actually see one another — or, at least, digital alter egos — on screen.

Lest you think this is just for the online whipper-snappers like the University of Phoenix and The Art Institutes, though, you should know even Harvard’s getting in on the game:

Rebecca Nesson, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science, brought her class at Harvard Extension School to Second Life last semester. “Normally, no matter how good a distance-learning class is, an inherent distance does still exist between you and your students,” she says. “Second Life has really bridged that gap. There is just more unofficial time that we spend together outside of the typical class session.”

As someone who works in university IT, I’m all for the advancement of virtual classrooms, particularly for students who must learn across long distances or would otherwise lack access to quality teaching.

Of course, it occurs to me that the collegiate experience isn’t the only place we find students with a desire to learn and little to no access to excellent education. It probably isn’t even our most troubled educational community.

I’m sure it’s no surprise to most of you to hear we have a notable teacher shortage at all grade levels in this country, as noted by the NEA:

This teacher recruitment problem, which has reached crisis proportions in some areas, is most acute in urban and rural schools; for high-need subject areas such as special education, math and science, and for teachers of color.

While this may be a bit of an oversimplification, one can generally say that in poorer areas, children usually lack access to a quality education and qualified educators. There are many admirable exceptions, but good teachers often want more money or nicer facilities or safer environments than they find in many places in America. No matter what we do, distance and economical imbalance may always be a problem.

But what if we got kids online to learn? What if we created online teaching communities that gave children access to unique learning opportunities and meaningful interactions with teachers from all over the country? What if areas lacking certain teaching specializations banded together to participate in online teaching and learning?

Imagine if we put Second Life to use solving some of the educational woes of our public school system.

First you’d need children to have computers. For that we could turn to the One Laptop Per Child initiative. While still in the early stages, the machine is currently expected to cost about $140, though they believe the cost may drop to $100 in 2008. And it isn’t so crazy to think we might be able to provide one for every student — Massachusetts explored the idea.

Internet access would be the next problem. Cities like Austin are working to light up the whole town for free, even starting in poorer areas first. Though this is less likely to occur in more sparsely populated areas, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to provide funds for every public library and school in this country to go wireless over the next 10 years. For kids way out in the boonies, subsidized satellite broadband may also be a possibility.

The bottom line is that if we were committed to getting every kid a basic laptop and internet access, I bet we could do it by 2020.

Then we’d need a robust online teaching community in an easily accessible virtual community. While I recognize the logistical difficulties of this problem, the trillion dollar (and rising) cost of the Iraq war alone could’ve funded 20,000 teaching years at $50k/teacher. Quality teachers of science, math, english, social studies, and more could be located anywhere in the world hosting online classes to supplement public education for kids all over America. They could even do it via Second Life, which is already proving to be an effective teaching medium.

This may be a laughable notion, but if so, it’s because our country pays only lip service to providing all its kids with a decent education. If we were serious about righting the ship, connecting good teachers with interested kids would be a lot easier in the matrix than in the flesh.