Second Life as a Disruptive Technology in Education

Second Life and other virtual worlds are not yet widely used in K-12 education, although education pioneers like Peggy Sheehy (http://rampoislands.blogspot.com/) use Second Life in their classrooms and provide a model for other teachers in the future. However, even if teachers embrace Second Life as a way to enhance their students’ educational experience, convincing school district administrations to allow its use may not be easy or quick. Second Life, like other disruptive technologies, encounters resistance because they mess up the status quo. While many people thrive on change and progress, many people fear and avoid it, as demonstrated by the results of a survey I created entitled “Perceptions Of Change”.

Thornburg (2009) explained disruptive technologies as completely new tools that change how things are done, and are not gradual extensions of older technologies. The new, disruptive technologies suddenly appear without warning, making other technologies obsolete. Thornburg used the example of the transistor as a disruptive technology that replaced the vacuum tubes. Although this was a technological improvement that benefitted many people, it can be surmised that many people in the vacuum tube industry were not pleased. Many people may lose their jobs because of the disruptive effect of technologies that replace the ones they depended on for their livelihoods.

I believe that the use of virtual worlds in education may frighten many people because the concept is so unfamiliar and so dissimilar from traditional educational paradigms. It may threaten people who have taught or been administrators in schools for many years. Carmody (2008) reported that Christensen, Horn, and Johnson advocated disruptive innovation as a way to “move from a monolithic school structure where topics are taught in a one-fits-most way”. They pointed to standardization emphasized in schools as a deterrent to providing differentiated education that best meets the needs of all students, and disruptive innovation as a way to change the system and break through the barriers created by long-standing tradition. Toffler (1970) stated that the traditional, industrial-age school environment characterized by students sitting in rows, one-way direct instruction from teacher to student, and progression through grade levels in a repeated organizational pattern, prepares today’s students for a past age, rather than providing them with relevant skills and knowledge for their futures (p. 399). Instead of teacher-centered classrooms characterized by lectures, modeled after the “old top-down hierarchical structure of industry” (p.408), Toffler advocated using student-centered teaching strategies including role playing, simulations, discussions, and authentic learning experiences. Second Life may provide an excellent framework within which we can apply these teaching strategies.

Second Life is a disruptive technology in technology because, not only does it replace the physical teaching environment with a virtual one, it replaces the traditional, industrial-era educational paradigm with a student-centered, experience-based paradigm. I can’t predict how many years Second Life has before it is replaced by another disruptive technology, but I do agree with Rosedale (2008) that its influence will continue to increase, and that fear of this technology is futile because its increasing ubiquity is inevitable. While I don’t think that Second Life should replace all face-to-face or online instruction, I value the opportunity it provides for people to create things and experience things that would be impossible in the physical world, as Rosedale (2008) pointed out. Another social benefit of Second Life discussed by Rosedale was its immense diversity, and the ongoing communication and collaboration among people from many different countries and cultures, speaking many different languages.

Rosedale, P. (2008). Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html.

Thornburg, D. (2009). Evolutionary technology Vodcast: In Laureate Education, Inc. Emerging and future technology.

Toffler, A. (1970). Future shock. Random House: New York.