Virtual Worlds, Real People and Learning

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This session will begin with a brief history of the use of online technologies for creating communities and learning environments, explain how people have embraced new communication mediums in the past and leveraged them. There will be an introduction to Second Life and how educators are currently using it as a platform for collaborative and innovative learning. Finally, the presenter will discuss the future of virtual worlds like Second Life, presenting ideas for supporting and better engaging a new generation of students who have grown up in an immersive networked world.

About John Lester:

John Lester (also known as Pathfinder Linden) joined Linden Lab in 2005, bringing experience in online community development as well as a background in the fields of healthcare and education. Previously he was the Information Technology Director in the Neurology Service at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he pioneered the use of the web in 1993 to create online communities for supporting patients dealing with neurological disorders. John also held an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School, where he created online collaborative environments for professors and students to advance the case-based teaching method in medical education.

John is currently a Community and Education Manager at Linden Lab, where he works with educators interested in using Second Life for teaching and academic research. He also works to advance the use of Second Life as a platform for "serious" applications such as healthcare training, patient support groups, simulation, and scientific visualization. You can learn more about him at http://pathfinderlinden.com.