Rob Stein from the Washington Post writes about how Virtual Worlds such as Second Life has been helping people cope with illness, disabilities or phobias. Members of the online “virtual world” have found ways to reclaim their lives by using avatars or computer-generated alter egos and health organizations are investigating the medical advantages of creating online “virtual worlds” for public health education.
“Still, an increasing number of major health organizations are trying to take advantage of virtual worlds for public health education, patient support and fund raising,” says Rob Stein. Some of the organizations consist of the National Science Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The American Cancer Society, and the March of Dimes.
“We’re at a major technical and social transition with this technology. It has very recently started to become a very big deal, and we haven’t by any means digested what the implications are,” said William Sims Bainbridge, a social scientist at the National Science Foundation.
References
Stein, Rob (2007). Real Hope in a Virtual World. Retrieved October, 8, 2007, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/05/AR2007100502391.html?sub=new.
You raise an important point about online environments – they do give people room for an alternate persona, and different forms of self-expression.
I have two doctoral students working in health-ed areas – Jamie Hurley on tobacco prevention curriculum, and Melissa Vance on helping former foster children transition into post-secondary education. Both of these issues could be helped, potentially, by some online exploratory environments where young people could assume a persona and interaction with others in a safe way.
Very cool, thanks for sharing!
One of my best friends in Second Life is a professor of social work at a university in the midwest. He’s on sabbatical this semester, and he’s spending a lot of time researching how he can use SL in his teaching.
Another entry about second life! Maybe I should start my second life and see where it leads?
It is interesting to see how important virtual world is in lots of people’s lives. It grabs people’s attention and achieves something that many people cannot achieve in their first life.
I admire those people who try to use virtual world to create a better and beneficial environment for other people. I wonder how soon it comes into the field of education to help students learn.
I myself have just recently started in SL and I can see limitless possibilities in this world. I had not even thought of healing the physical body through a virtual world. What will they come up with next?