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Investigation of the use of Second Life for education.
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FET8611 - Using Second Life in EducationFET8611 Project Proposal for Assignment 3[+]Assignment Table of Contents Table of contents
Authors
What is Second LifeSecond Life (SL) is a digital 3D online persistent space, which has been totally created by its users who numbers have grown to over 1,000,000 since opening in 2003. Within this environment, you can do, create or become just about anything you can 'virtually' imagine in your real life (RL), using built-in content creation tools in real time and in collaboration with others. A digital body called an 'Avatar' allows a rich and customisable identity.A powerful physics simulation running on a backbone of hundreds of connected computers and growing with the population, allows residents to be immersed in a visceral, interactive world that, as of April 2005, covers more than 12,000 acres and 20,000 owned plots of land. The ability to design and resell 3D content, combined with the ability to own and develop land and a virtual currency, which can be exchanged to real money means that you can build a real business entirely within Second Life. Hardware & Software RequirementsWe tested Second Life with eight different configurations with variations in hardware, operating systems, and Internet connection speeds. Our experience with SL indicates that the environment runs best with broadband speeds of 1.5 Mbps or better, a powerful video card that is no more than three years old, and a CPU running at 2.0 GHz or better. A powerful computer with a fast Internet connection creates a much more satisfying SL experience. Slower configurations produce a very slow, jerky and frustrating interface.PC Minimum System Requirements:(Second Life, 2006, System Requirements, ¶ 2)
Mac Minimum System Requirements:
Hardware Tests Performed
How to joinIn order to use Second Life a registration process is required and the testing performed for this assignment was done over two months using a free account, not the paid premium account.(Second Life Registration, 2006, Basic Details)
Navigation and InteractionThere are many ways to move around in this virtual environment. This is best learned while still on the Orientation Island and Help Island on the first arrival.Movement
Moving larger distances
Communication Many different methods of communication are being experimented with including:
So far the main means of communication is text chat for groups and IM (Instant Messaging) for private conversations. Tests performed with Skype and SL provided a simple and effective communication combination with the virtual reality, but requires excellent computer hardware and bandwidth. Object Creation Objects can be created, edited and kept in your inventory. You cannot create objects in areas unless the land owner permits it or you own the land.
EducationThe creators of Second Life are actively promoting the use of the environment for education. They have made number of resources available to encourage and support educators in creating and managing courses.Why use Second LifeSecond Life is often considered only a gaming environment, which for many residents it is the main purpose. However many areas, some requiring registration to enter, are designated as for education use.Second Life provides a unique and flexible environment for educators interested in distance learning, computer-supported cooperative work, simulation, new media studies, and corporate training. Second Life provides an opportunity to use simulation in a safe environment to enhance experiential learning, allowing individuals to practice skills, try new ideas, and learn from their mistakes. The ability to prepare for similar real-world experiences by using Second Life as a simulation has unlimited potential! Students and educators can work together in Second Life from anywhere in the world as part of a globally networked virtual classroom environment. Using Second Life as a supplement to traditional classroom environments also provides new opportunities for enriching existing curricula. (SimTeach Wiki, 2006) Universities offer online courses in most programs using conventional text based LMS systems such as WebCT, Moodle and a range of wiki and blog environments. All these provide limited interaction and community building during the course. In FET8611 the addition of using VoIP greatly increased student interaction and community building. This was experienced with our group, the Early Birds Group having regular Skype calls to interact verbally. SL and Moodle have been combined to provide a LMS system called SLoodle  . SLoodle provides an integrated virtual LMS within the 3D world of Second Life. Moodle resources can now be used by lecturers and students in a virtual world. Consider doing USQ courses in SL with SLoodle rather than using WebCT? Well it is technically possible. A Whitepaper has been produced on the use of SLoodle.Recently successful video conferences have been held and recorded with members of the course. The next transition could be to hold meetings within Second Life and combining with Skype to provide a virtual discussion to enhance the community experience. What is a community? (Siemens, 2006)
A community is the clustering of similar areas of interest that allows for interaction, sharing, dialoguing, and thinking together. Virtual and physical communities share many similar traits:
Second Life meets the needs defined by Siemens for a virtual community or more accurately, communities, as SL is made up of many diverse communities. By using Second Life in selected courses, ones that require exploration of digital media, graphics, student interaction or community building, being able to interact 3 dimensionally adds a new dimension, freedom and creativity to a course. This was a common response to questions asked to teachers and students within Second Life. Interaction, freedom, asynchronous, flexibility, adaptability, hands-on learning, experiential, collaboration with others across the globe, were some of the concepts expressed about SL as a learning environment. In this virtual reality imagination is the key. Ideas of holding classes in the air, under water, creating 3D objects, having virtual group discussions with anyone from around the world, provides creative environments for the adventurous lecturer. Traditional lectures can be held with videos and audio, PowerPoint presentations to complete the learning experience if required. Coming up with ways to realistically present content, in ways that are not the same as in real life is the challenge of using this virtual environment, otherwise why use this environment? How to use Second LifeEducational institutions are being offered many incentives to begin using Second Life as a virtual LMS or a learning environment, such as specially priced islands, SL Educators discussion groups known as SLED and trial areas for holding one course.One of the founders of Second Life, John Lester, known as Pathfinder states:I am currently a Community Manager at Linden Lab, where I focus primarily on working with educators interested in using Second Life for teaching and academic research. I also work to advance the use of Second Life as a platform for "serious" applications such as healthcare training, patient support groups, simulation, and scientific visualization. (Lester 2006) Some of the uses for Second Life environment in education that are being currently experimented with are:
Second Life provides a unique and flexible environment for Community Education for educators interested in distance learning, computer supported cooperative work, simulation, new media studies, and corporate training.Technology as an enabler of learning... and of creating connections. The Internet has revealed that large fields of knowledge are given value when connected. Technology in communities is essentially just a means of creating fluidity between knowledge segments... and connecting people. (Siemens 2006) One Educator's Resources(Carter, 2006)An educator named C. Carter has created excellent resources to introduce students to Second Life. Some examples are:
Establishing New Courses in Second LifeCourses need to be held in locations where the land is owned. Special offers are available for a one-time course or for land purchases where the land will be used for an education focus.One-time Course An example of how education can be used is Campus in Second Life . The Campus Second Life program will give you the use of 1 acre of land in Second Life completely free for the duration of your class. This allows you to try out Second Life with your class for the first time at no cost.If you are planning to teach a class where you think the students might benefit from spending time in Second Life, please email to let us know you're interested. We'll ask you to tell us something about yourself and your class and to share a syllabus and schedule. We'll also ask you for the full names and email addresses of the students in your class so we can set up accounts for each of them. Campus in Second Life Ongoing Courses If an institution decides on continuing to use Second Life to deliver courses after the one-time course, dedicated land, ideally an island for privacy, must be purchased. You can do this by purchasing a Private Island! Private Islands provide the ability to create secure "intranet" spaces with restricted membership, or you can open up access to allow educators and students to interact with all the residents of Second Life. Educators receive a substantial discount on 16-acre private island purchases ($980 one-time setup fee and $150/month maintenance), so please contact mailto:education@lindenlab.com for more details. Education ConsiderationsTechnical and social considerations will affect how an educator sets up and manages their courses in Second Life.
Universities and Training in Second LifeSecond Life is already being used extensively with over 40 Universities with campuses in SL. In November 2006 SL has over 1,200,000 residents, which is an increase of over 500,000 in 2 months since our research first began.
Education LinksSecond Life features hundreds of fascinating locations for learning and teaching. The top 20 educational locations.
Feedback and ObservationsSecond Life has some interesting capabilities that assist in the use in education.
Questions answered by Jase "Snowbell Tiger" Teoh (ABD)(Reproduced with written permission)Questions for Teachers/Lecturers: Why are you using SL in education or what can you do in SL that rather than in RL (Real Life)? Some good features and usability of SL are: asynchronous, flexibility, adaptability, hands-on learning, experiential, collaboration with others across the globe. You can expand SL beyond the constraints of space and time. And you learn by doing. How do you present information to students? As teachers, we have to re-assess our role in online environments. Our role as teachers should be re-define. We are no longer experts of a content area teaching in traditional roles, rather, we should think of ourselves as guide, mentors, facilitator - pushing students beyond their developmental level by assigning challenging assignments. For now, with the limitations of chat/IM, I have been typing my responses to students and waiting for their Q & A response. But personally, this is an area that could be expanded in the near future with programs like Skype and Ventrilo. Should we be replicating first life experiences into SL eg lecture theatre or are there new ways of using a virtual world? No, we should not. The reason why we teach using SL as a platform is to stretch what traditional classrooms cannot do. That learning should never be confined within the four walls when much of the information presented are accessible with a click of a mouse. We know that much of the learning occurs outside of classroom, at students' own time and the challenge is to transform our multi-tasking generation to learn in ways that they know best - the E-generation; that learning can be a fun and experiential mode of learning as well. Some of the ways we could use the Virtual World is to utilize SL library for resources. Instead of being producers of information, we should learn and teach students how to use and find those information and transform them into meaningful lessons, useful for them when they graduate in RL. Currently, I am still learning effective ways on how to teach in Virtual World but as of now, what I do is to touch base with students, put together note cards, send them landmarks, and give them semi-structured guidance to proceed in SL. What is the student reaction to SL, positive or negative? As we know, not all learners learn the same way. That is why teaching is both a moral and educational enterprise. What works for one may not for the other. But the challenge is to find a medium in which most students benefit and that is how I justify my usage of SL, from the utilitarian perspective - the most good that can come out of it for all students. So, in short, SL has for the most part been a positive experience for most of my students in the environment this semester, but less so for others. Since my data collection phase is still evolving, I cannot comment further. E-mail me at the end of this semester :-) What learning is involved and how do you handle this? Learning is a case-by-case individual basis. They all learn at their own pace and at their own time, at their own different levels. I always enjoy quoting Vygotsky's ZPD - in that they are really learning how to stretch themselves this semester. Like I said, I facilitate the discussions, but they explore at their own pace. And I have seen their progress as reflected by their journal entries - more so for some and not the others. What benefit is there for the student in this environment over other online formats? For one, there is an overwhelming sense of social presence. There is something to be said about having an avatar and typing versus chat rooms such as IM or AOL Instant Messenger. Even though my primary study/focus is not in this area, I believe others who are studying the effect of avatar presence will be better able to comment about what they have found or are finding. Questions for Students: What do you like about Second Life for education? Most of the responses I have gotten is the ability to connect, to attend classes, to build 3D objects, and the freedom. What problems have you had and how were they rectified? Most have voice concerns over 'the dark side of SL' namely the parties. And they are concern that if this is use as a platform for future teaching, how can they ban students from participating in those 'dark' environments. ''So far, I've had several educators ask me the same question and the response I always give them are the same: to set rules/guidelines just as you do in your classroom - proper behavior etiquettes. I always tell them in our first meeting in SL that "every action has a consequence" and if they choose to participate in activities outside of educational assignments, they can do so, but at their own risk. And I also always remind them that: whatever they do in SL does carry over in RL along with all its consequences. I remind them to be smart about the choices they make and what they choose to do with the freedom. I always quote the movie Spiderman 2: "with much freedom comes much responsibility" and since they are all college students, I assume that they would behave as responsible adults (altho' it's not always the case ;-)." Has it improved your learning experience? It has improved my learning experience in tremendous ways. For example, I started SL last year mid-November and although I have not systematically document my learning experience, I have change in several ways: from not being able to technologically navigate and present information to meeting with others across the globe, to basic 3D building, to rotating 3-D environments, to digital photography and etc... Above all, it has stretch my mind to embrace what the future of such platform could be like. Also, the connection with other educators - has by far been the most enriching experience for me as a student, teacher, and researcher. In what ways, positive or negative aspects? From my perspective thus far, it's all been a very positive experience. Jase "Snowbell Tiger" Teoh (ABD) Graduate Teaching Assistant Illinois State University Department of Curriculum & Instruction Elementary/Early Education Program Campus Box 5330 Normal IL 61790 Questions answered by Person 2(Reproduced with written permission, but to remain anonymous)Questions for Students: What do you like about Second Life for education? This is a pretty neat question for me to answer because I'm not an enrolled student in the class. Rather I'm participating as an at-large interested individual. The CyberOne class is designed to be OpenSource, so anyone who wants to participate can do so to the extent that they are interested. And I think besides the fact that I have access to the materials of the course, SL is wonderful as the forum, the meeting place, the designated area for ideas to be exchanged and topics discussed. SL has, in a way, created the rhetorical forum where ideas are traded. Now, I should say that SL is not the only place for this to happen. Any chat-based software can contribute the same effect. So SL does not have exclusive purchase of dialogue. What SL adds is a visual element and a multi-media component. We have, for example, congregated to watch a video. And when the video was done, we discussed the contents. I view SL as the next step in long-distance communication. What will come next? Probably voice capabilities (which can help take care of pesky typos). What problems have you had and how were they rectified? One of the problems I've encountered as an at-Large participant is the initial lack of structure. Quite reasonably, we at-large participants are left to our own devices. This results in an initial cacophony of interests, comments, suggestions for directions to move the discussion. But, at the same time, the openness of the software, coupled with Wiki and blog technology, allows for the specialization of interests--and a structure emerges whereby those students who are interested in, say, the issues of virtual economies can plan a discussion just on that topic, and others interested in the potential for political movements in cyberspace and organize another discussion. Has it improved your learning experience? You bet! Education in physical space is constrained to the physical environment. I have been speaking with fellow participants from around the globe--you are a fine example of how collaboration can be created with just a few keystrokes. In what ways, positive or negative aspects? Hmmm, negative aspects--I'd rather be spending time on CyberOne projects than on my regular Ph.D. coursework! A slight negative also comes from the initial phase wherein the participants have to wade through the comments looking for valuable ideas, whereas a regular educational environment is hierarchically structured to focus on the professor. Questions answered by Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D.(Reproduced with written permission)Questions for Teachers/Lecturers Why are you using SL in education or what can you do in SL that rather than in RL?
How do you present information to students?
Should we be replicating first life experiences into SL eg lecture theatre or are there new ways of using a virtual world? Some. Really depends. The "new ways" are more accessible to coders and builders than to concept teachers. What is the student reaction to SL, positive or negative? January 2007 class. Early excitement and will be easy to get 8. What learning is involved and how do you handle this? huh? What benefit is there for the student in this environment over other online formats? Co-presence without extensive gear in the distant format. Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Multimedia Program and Department of Communication Co-Director, New Media Center 1501 W. Bradley Bradley University Peoria IL 61625 309-677-2378 http://slane.bradley.edu/com/faculty/lamoureux/website2/index.html http://gcc.bradley.edu/mm/ AIM/IM & skype: dredleelam Second Life: Professor Beliveau Concerns on SupportFrom Educators Digest, Volume 149, Issue 1 23/10/2006 Raises issues of lack or support from Linden and the major crashes that occurred preventing classes to be held for 2 days when a grid attack occurred . SLED: I'm posting the editorial I wrote for the Picayune last week. There was no reaction to it as far as I could tell and I thought "hmmm either folks didn't read it or they disagree with it" and I'd really like to know which it is. If the state of educators in SL isn't as bad as my editorial makes it sound then I'll stop being the squeeky wheel. If it is, then a bit more discussion might allow us to get something done. So, here by popular demand, is the editorial. Thanks, Sarah/Intellagirl Frustrated Intellects and Lost Opportunities: the State of SLED USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, MSNBC and many more...major news media who all find education in SL worth talking about. Hundreds of instructors from all levels of education from middle school to graduate school and professional training find SL worth their effort and time. Dozens of universities are investing thousands of dollars into virtual real estate for campuses. But what are we really getting for our time and money? Imagine approaching the administration at your campus and saying "I'd like to invest $5000 in software for my class. I should tell you that this software will crash often, will not run on most of our computers, and that the company that runs it offers little to no support for its use." How enthusiastic would their response be? But many SLEDers feel they are doing just that, asking for a leap of faith when they ask their administration to support their SL projects. Does it have to be this way? In the last week I've received over a dozen emails from SLED members with confidential complaints regarding the overt lack of customer service, support, and communication from Linden Labs. From the lack of response to research proposals to the total lack of support in technical problems, some SLEDers are desperate for help and getting more discouraged by the day. In the last month there have been twice as many media reports about education in SL as any other SL topic; national and regional academic conferences are featuring SL panels; book chapters and dissertations are being written about the effectiveness of SL as an education tool. There is a ground swell of support, confidence, and enthusiasm from educators interested in SL. Why isn't this spirit shared at Linden? Need evidence? In the emails I, alone, received in the last week: 10 SLEDers complained of unanswered LL email, 9 cited that their administration had questions that only LL could answer but doesn't respond to, 6 had failed SL presentations to administration due to technical difficulties in SL, 3 had cancelled a class due to SL down time, and 1 secretly admitted to having sadly given up all hope in using SL in any serious educational way. Education is just one of many communities in SL. I know this. I know we aren't the biggest moneymaker. I know we don't bring in thousands of users. I know that we aren't a bright and shiny world-changing movement. However, I also know that our efforts are some of the most powerfully encouraging serious applications of the platform. I know that we buy land for long-term use (dozens of education islands totalling more than $50,000 in land sales in the last year by my estimate). Yet big issues on the SLED list are met with cursory or dismissing (yet friendly) responses from LL. Desperate emails go unanswered for weeks. Billing snafus persist month after month. I know I do not speak for ever SLED member. I know that not all SLED members have had negative experiences with LL. Instead, I'm speaking up for those who have tried to make their voice heard to LL and failed. I'm speaking for the educators who need a little more help, who haven't been able to find the answers they need from the great community we've built. Linden: you've built a wonderful platform that education should be grateful for. We appreciate your efforts in its creation. We support Linden Lab. It's your turn to support us. "I'm Intellagirl Tully, and I approved this message" (The views expressed in this editorial are those of Intellagirl Tully only) Second Life HelpAssorted links to help and tutorials on Second Life:
ConclusionsAndrewSecond Life is an exciting and potentially addictive environment that offers enormous scope for creative educational interaction. The recent growth demonstrates that the environment is a perfect example of a growing learning ecology on the leading edge of the technology adoption S-Curve. Whether the environment can cope with this growth is yet be seen as less than 1% of residents have been in world at one time. SL has the potential of growth that could be compared to the Internet several years ago. Using SL requires state of the art computer equipment and Internet connection speed. Navigation in SL can be slow due to the rapid growth of the population, large numbers of residents in the one place, and its graphical nature, if a resident has insufficient hardware requiements as discussed earlier. Once the problems of reliability and speed of access, that are required to comfortably navigate the environment, are addressed the potential for this type of environment in education is enormous. It adds another dimension to the emerging technologies that could potential be used in education for online and external courses in universities. I could see using SL for courses such as FET8611 to explore virtual interaction, guides who could walk, fly, teleport classmates to interesting areas, create and exchange information and 3D objects and use SLoodle as the LMS. A consideration would be needed at the start of the course for the amount of learning required, to navigate and interact within the virtual world, just as it was necessary in the FET8661 course to learn and navigate in knowledgeGarden. Whether used as a total course environment or an optional area to explore and use for meetings, as was performed with video meetings, would be worth exploring as an emerging technology. The concept of a virtual classroom being adopted in learning environments is being considered by a many universities and education institutions around the world and will certainly be debated more intensely in the future. The reality is that this type of environment is already being used in many training courses, and with the increase of power of computer hardware, could be as revolutionary in education as the Internet has been in accessing information and learning. I for one would be extremely interested in being enrolled in a course using SL as its learning environment. Provided sufficient information was made available for new students to learn to navigate and use the environment, a virtual environment would add an interesting dimension to learning for those willing to explore its potential. Randy Historically, one of the greatest shortcomings of distance education has been a lack of community. The social dimension of a physical classroom filled with students is very difficult to reproduce or even approximate in an online course. Even if a Learning Management System is in place that provides real-time information about classmates currently online, students can still feel that they are learning on their own without the benefit of peer interaction and support. The Second Life environment overcomes this shortcoming almost completely. In fact, one of Second Life's greatest strengths is its social dimension. When you log in to Second Life you immediately see your own avatar as well as any others in the vicinity. You see them as male or female, see how they are dressed, how they move, and even whether their behaviour is socially appropriate. The social aspects of Second Life are very enjoyable and alluring, and in my view, the reason for its staggering growth in recent months. The weaknesses of Second Life are: substantial computer hardware requirements (see above), the technical fragility of the overall environment (SL has been down at least ten percent of the time I have tried to use it), the learning curve required for each participant (to learn to sit, stand, teleport, look around, etc.). For a course that is already being recorded for audio and video, adding in a Second Life component may be a practical extension. These audio and video files could be made available in SL in both real-time streamed versions at preset times as well as archive forms. Students could then view and review lectures on their own schedules. Overall, given the experiences of Andrew and myself in Second Life I am cautiously optimistic about its potential for education. Certainly in a year or so when computers and Internet speeds are faster we'll be in a better position to form an opinion. ReferencesBransford, J. (2006). Community: Events. Retrieved October 17, 2006, from Second Life Web site: http://secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=303311&date=1159815600 Carter, C. A. (2006). Second Life. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from CCarter :: Knowledge Sharing Web site: http://www.cxknowledge.com/index.html Lester J (2006), Pathfinder of Second Life. Retrieved October 21, 2006 from Pathfinder website: http://zero.hastypastry.net/pathfinder/ Neeson, C. (2006). Course description. Retrieved October 17, 2006, from CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion Web site: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cyberone/administration/course-description/ Second Life, (2006). System requirements. Retrieved September 29, 2006, from Second Life Web site: http://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php Second Life Registration, (2006). Basic details. Retrieved October 1, 2006, from Second Life Web site: https://secondlife.com/join/ Second Life, (2006). Lindex: Currency exchange. Retrieved October 1, 2006, from Second Life Web site: https://secondlife.com/currency/ Second Life, (2006). Community: Education. Retrieved October 17, 2006, from Second Life Web site: http://secondlife.com/community/education.php Siemens G (2006), Learning Ecology, Communities, and Networks: Extending the classroom. Viewed on 17 September 2006, from: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/learning_communities.htm Simteach Campus (2006). Retrieved October 17, 2006, from Campus:Second Life Web site: http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Campus:Second_Life SimTeach Wiki, (2006) Second Life Education Wiki. Retrieved October 21, 2006 from SimTeach website: http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki
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