The article entitled, " A Second Life for Your Museum: 3D Multi-User Virtual Environments and Museums" was both informative and interesting. I don't have much background in virtual environments nor have I ever considered them usable tools for museums or historic artifacts. However, after doing independent research on the topic and reading this article, I was amazed at the intriguing and innovative ways that programs like Second Life are being utilized by museums around the world. Not only do virtual environments lend themselves to visual learners and a more interactive environment for visitors, it also allows for those who may not have the means to access various museums and their artifacts in real life to have virtual access to them.
In an article I read on the U.S news and world report by Lucia Graves it addresses the use of Second Life in varying fields of higher education. This virtual world not only allows for knowledge to extend beyond the classroom but it lends itself to interactive games, lectures, and tours which opens up a whole other median of learning for students. I think that programs like Second Life and teen second life are the future of interactive learning and museum participation. Places like the International Space Flight Museum and the Sci-Fi Museum have already seen great results with the program and their virtual museums allow visitors to truly experience their exhibits in ways that they can only experience in the virtual world.
As a member of the digital generation I feel that this new learning tool can not only allow visitors to experience a museum in a new fashion, it can also bring in an audience they may never have gone to that museum in real life had they not had the opportunity to visit it in the virtual world. I feel that museums should utilize this innovative technology in order to attract more visitors and make museum education more interactive and exciting for their visitors.
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