We had our second guided tour on the islands of Jokaydia in Second Life today. I think I enjoyed this trip more as seeing the Teachers without Borders space was inspiring. There was the exhibition of photographs of African children and it was as good as going to a gallery to view them. We then looked at an interactive presentation, Education Under Attack.
The material presented was based on a UNESCO report of attacks on students, teachers, teacher trade unionists and academics in many countries including Afghanistan, Burundi, India, Pakistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chad, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Nepal, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Myanmar, the Philippines, the occupied Palestinian territory, Sri Lanka and Venezuela. The attacks included very disturbing stories of murders, abductions, rape and incidents of sexual violence resulting from abduction or attacks at schools or education facilities, or on the journey to or from them, eg throwing acid on the faces of girls going to school in Muslim countries or voluntary or forced recruitment of children from school, or en route to or from school, by armed groups or security forces for combat or forced labour.
So the exhibition is intended as a professional development opportunity for teachers on the issues; for me it also provided learning about how school age students might use technology in powerful ways in virtual worlds. The information in the multimedia presentation included video clips (linked to YouTube), text based material with factual information and narratives, slideshows, images and a panel in which you could provide feedback. There was quite a lot of reading in the information panels so good ‘literacy’ moments too.
