Literacies and play in Second Life

Key ideas about literacy learning and play are highlighted here in this video introducing Project DIRECT of the Oregon Writing Project at the University of Oregon. A key piece of Project DIRECT is the use of virtual environments, in this case Second Life, to support rural teachers and their professional development work with new media and digital literacies.

Here we see a group of twenty educators convening in the Center for Learning in Virtual Environments (CLIVE) and learning new skills and literacies necessary to be successful in this environment such as navigating and communicating. They have the opportunity to practice through playing in the forum via the Virtual Safari and within an area constructed around an Alice in Wonderland metaphor. And then this “play” ultimately supports their real work together in this environment, ie. sharing effective practices and giving feedback to peers.