Abstract:

Having grown up in a global and digital networked landscape, students are entering an accelerating world of change in every aspect of life. In order for students to thrive in the new eras, educators must frequently re-evaluate the goals of education, seek new ways of learning and teaching and most importantly, inculcate values and 21st century skills among students through various learning platforms. The paper describes how Ngee Ann Secondary School harnesses the 3D virtual environment – Second Life to complement the inculcation of values and Social Emotional learning through Project V@LITE 2.0 by creating a fun and immersive learning environment.

Teaching and learning is no longer constrained by the physical environment with the use of a virtual environment that can take students beyond the classroom where they can role-play and experience learning in various simulated environment. Anchoring on the Ethical mind and Respectful mind, by Professor Howard Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future, and harnessing the rich multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), V@LITE 2.0 aims to inculcate social emotional competencies through authentic simulated scenarios based on broad themes covered in the school’s values and life-skills syllabus which include youth empowerment, enhancing interpersonal skills and developing problem solving and critical thinking skills.

Keywords:

Second Life, Social Emothional Learning, virtual environment.