Second Life: more than just a game

Summary of this page

This page has been created by Natasha Adnams as part of undertaking study in FET8611 Emerging Environments for Learning. It will examine the use of the virtual world, Second Life, for educational puroposes and gather comments and informaiton from other knowledgeGarden users on the topic.

What is Second Life?

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by millions of Residents from around the globe.

In Second Life the users are known as ‘Residents’ and they create an avatar, a virtual representation of themselves, to be able to ‘live’ and interact in the virtual world. The residents create the world in which they live, things they create can then be bought, sold and traded to other residents Wikipedia – Second Life.

From the moment you enter the World you discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online Linden Dollar exchanges.

Second Life consists of two ‘grids’ – the main grid and the teen grid. Teen Second Life was developed to allow underage users, 13-17 year olds, to participate in Second Life without entering false details Wikipedia – Second Life and to provide protection from mature content.

Although Second Life has a largely American customer base (approximately 30% of total users as of September 2007), it also has a wide variety of non-U.S. and non-English-speaking customers, and localized versions of the Second Life viewer are available for several languages. 70% of Second Life's active users (as measured by avatar count or active hours) are thus from outside the USA, with Germany, Japan, the UK, France, and Italy (and also Brazil when measured by avatar count only) being the origins of the next band of most active users with between 5% and 10% of total users and activity each. (1)

In 2007, Brazil became the first country to have its own independently run portal to Second Life, operated by an intermediary—although the actual Second Life grid accessed through the Brazilian portal is the same as that used by the rest of the worldwide customer base. The portal, called "Mainland Brazil", is run by Kaizen Games, making Kaizen the first partner in Linden's "Global Provider Program". (2) Previously, starting in late 2005, Linden Lab had opened and run their own welcome area portals and regions for German, Korean and Japanese language speakers. (3)

You can find Second Life at www.secondlife.com

Second Life - just a game or an educational tool?

Second Life promotes itself as providing 'a unique and flexible platform for educators interested in distance learning, computer supported cooperative work, simulation, new media studies, and corporate training'.

You can create a safe environment to enhance experiential learning, allowing individuals to practice skills, try new ideas, and learn from their mistakes. Prepare students or employees for real-world experiences by using Second Life as a simulation!

Students and educators can work together on the Second Life Grid from anywhere in the world as part of a globally networked virtual classroom environment. Using the Second Life Grid as a supplement to traditional classroom environments also provides new opportunities for enriching an existing curriculum. Many universities and educational institutions are already using the Second Life Grid.

The Second Life in Education website suggests that the ‘key features of Second Life are:

• Completely user-generated content - it’s an open world that gives users creative control.
• Relatively easy-to-use built-in building and scripting tools allow users to create almost any object or any experience they can imagine.
• Customisable avatars - users can create highly individualised ‘virtual selves’.
• Users own the intellectual property for their creations.
• A real in-world economy with real money transfer makes it easy to buy and sell creations (and profit from them). More than $5 million USD is transacted between users every month.
• Audio and video can be streamed from the web and played in-world.
• Linden Labs allows residents to self-govern (although residents are expected to abide by the Terms of Service and Community Standards)’.

Education in Second Life - definitely not just a game

The unique qualities of a 3D virtual worlds can provide opportunities for rich sensory immersive experiences, authentic contexts and activities for experiential learning, simulation and role-play, modelling of complex scenarios, a platform for data visualisation and opportunities for collaboration and co-creation that can not be easily experienced using other platforms.

Second Life is completely user-generated 3D environment that comes with relatively easy-to-use building and scripting tools that anyone can learn. This makes it an ideal platform for engaging students in creating their own learning activities, experiences and environments, and not just be passive consumers of learning.Educational Uses of Second Life

Second Life has recently become one of the cutting-edge virtual classrooms for major colleges and universities, including Princeton, the Open University (UK), Harvard, Australian Film Television and Radio School, Stanford, Delft University of Technology and AFEKA Tel-Aviv Academic College of Engineering.

Second Life fosters a welcoming atmosphere for administrators to host lectures and projects online, selling more than 100 islands for educational purposes, according to a New York Times article. (4) The article quoted Rebecca Nesson, an instructor at Harvard who brought her Legal Studies class to Second Life in the second half of 2006. "Normally, no matter how good a distance-learning class is, an inherent distance does still exist between you and your students," she says. "Second Life has really bridged that gap. There is just more unofficial time that we spend together outside of the typical class session." Joe Sanchez, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin evaluated the use of Second Life in education in an interactive qualitative analysis, finding that once students overcome the technical and interface difficulties with Second Life, they "indicate a preference to social learning activities and find it enjoyable to interact with other avatars while learning in this space". (5)

In 2007, the International Society for Technology in Education ISTE became the first non-profit educational organization to purchase and build on its own virtual island. Since that time, ISTE has hosted educational webinar events, presentations, social events, book talks and more.

There are now many universities, colleges, schools and other educational institutions researching the use of Second Life as an environment for teaching and learning which offers a community of practice and situated constructivist learning. Among the institutions bringing the use of Second Life into the provision for distance learners is the Open University in the UK which already offers a range of teaching and learning provision on two islands in the metaverse (CETLment and SchomeBase) and is gradually developing a range of tools and resources which support learners and offer a sense of presence and engagement to distance learners who can otherwise feel isolated and alone.

In 2007 Second Life started to be used for foreign language tuition. (6) Both Second Life and real life language educators have begun to use the virtual world for language tuition. English (as a foreign language) has gained a presence through several schools, including the British Council, which has focused on the Teen Grid. Spain’s language and cultural institute “Instituto Cervantes” has an island on Second Life. Wikipedia – Second Life

Educational Uses

Within Second Life itself, many educational projects are underway. They can be classified as follows:

• Virtual Field Trips, Museums, and Replicas of Real-life Places – The NASA Space museum is one example. Real-life places may be exact or augmented in some way. The Glidden Campus in Second Life is an example of an augmented copy of a real campus. Gold Rush! Is a replication of a small 1850's mining town where participants can experience both the physicality and sociality of that time and place. Many of these use active and collaborative learning processes as part of the educational experience.
• Simulations of Real-life Experiences – Virtual medical clinics are one example of this.
• Experimental ecologies – The Svarga is a functional ecosystem with a simulated weather system.
• Information Repositories – The Information and Communication Library, a storehouse of educational happenings in Second Life.
• New Media Research – Using Second Life to explore our changing cultures and identities. Penn State University

• Please tell me about your experience

Nathalie Lefaivre says: For fun I decided to sign up for an account as part of my discussion here and to see what it is all about. A couple of thoughts that came to mind in regards to using this as an educational tool are the following. 1) There is a fair amount of set up that is required to get your avatar to the point where they can function within the SecondLife world. This would need to be taking into account when using it as a teaching tool. 2) For those who do not come from a gaming world the learning curve of simply walking around is enough to scare someone off. Being comfortable with the technology would be a requirement and possibly a pre-course statement for those interested in participating, or a formal tutorial may be an option to introduce people to this new world prior to the start of the class. All in all I still think it is a great tool and definitely has some amazing value but there would need to be certain considerations taken into account. PS - If you want to find me in Second Life my avatar is Katian Kanto!

Steve Pallett says: I've started to investigate SL at the Uni of Ballarat. I was quite amazed with it at first and had all sorts of possibilities running through my head, but the biggest drawback in our context is bandwidth and computer resources required (equity of access). However, Moore's law should ensure that this isn't such a problem in future...I remember the old days of 14k modems and bulletin boards (pre-WWW boom) and people were saying "nah, what's the point of that?". I think 3D worlds are only just beginning to take-off and a few years from now we might be having a very different conversation.

• Please tell me about your experience

Nicole Long says: I joined Second Life a few weeks ago. I quickly learned a few behaviors that made a huge difference in possible experiences. The first was my physical appearance. Dressing according to your purpose makes a difference. Wearing a short skirt got me a lot of unwanted attention while dressing in jeans and t-shirts allowed me to make contact with those members who were in education groups etc. I also made an effort to visit educational locations rather than social areas. You can find me as Rowan Lutrova on Second Life. To check out my page on this same topic, please visit Learning in a virtual 3D environment: SecondLife

Leanne (work colleague) says: Yes when doing some exploring for assignments and just trying to find out what might be possible and useful as a trainer/performance improvement specialist.

• Do you think that it offers a safe environment to learn?
  • Is it possible that students may adopt a different persona and feel more comfortable in making contributions?
  • How safe is it from people such internet predators?
  • What about the issue of intellectual property?
• What do you think the benefits may be from offering education courses on Second Life?

Nathalie says: I think that a virtual environment similar to that of SecondLife offers a world of opportunities for people all over the world to communicate and learn from one another. In my mind it is very similar to our experiences here in Moodle and KG. We are from all corners of the world yet are able to come together, communicate and learn about topics we share an interest in.

I believe that some people will find this a safe way to become involved with education as many people tend to be more open and direct in an online environment. Often when people can disguise themselves they feel more at ease and confident to take part in conversations and discussions. As with any online experience I feel there will always be a threat of predators - but this is not to say the same could not happen in a class room environment. With anything we do, we should do so with caution and remember that we must be aware of all factors involved.

I think another benefit of an environment such as SecondLife is that the instruction can come not only from the instructors or facilitators but also from your peers. Having the ability to learn with people from different cultures can be an education in itself and with such varying opinions and thoughts, we are bound to have a much fuller learning experience then sitting in a class full of likeminded people who have all had very similar experiences.

The University of Cincinatti has a large collection of white papers and research on SecondLife as an educational tool - if you have time to read some of these it may help with your page. I read a few and found them quite interesting. They can be found at: http://homepages.uc.edu/secondlife/index.php/Site/WhitePapersReportsAndPeerReviewedArticles

Nicole says: I met students in an ESL group in Second Life and spoke with them for awhile. Many stated that the unique experience of meeting international students and having their own identity kept a secret were some of the best qualities of studying a foreign language. They also said that they felt a real connection to the teachers and other students because their physcial representations of themselves revealed personality characteristics that language difficulties and RL appearance might have hampered. To watch a 2 minute move on education in SL go to: Ohio University Second Life Campus,

Joyce says: Until last year I hadn't heard of Second Life. Then I met Aaron Griffiths at eFest2006. Aaron is our expert kiwi when it comes to the educational uses of SL and he was so passionate about it that I worried. This sounded so good that I might get addicted (as had happened with Civilization and Warcraft). So I have stayed away but do try to stay up to speed.

• I think the power of SL lies in taking students to places or situations you could never ever take them on a field trip.

Here's a report of a first experience in SL by a group of academic staff members from Otago Polytechnic. They describe the power of a simulation built by UCDavis, which simulates a day in the life of a schizophreniac.
In September 2007 Aaron presented at MoodleMoot2007 in Hamilton and showed us a 'sim' of a weather station in which students could experiment with the instruments. You may do that in 'First Life' (har har) but only in a DO-NOT-TOUCH-ANYTHING mode. Just imagine the other out-there-possibilities. A field trip to NASA flight control, to the space shuttle, to the moon?

• One way of educating staff about SL is to take them on guided tours. There is a group of NZ academics who take SL tours together regularly. See Aaron Griffiths' blog for their 'holiday snaps'.

Phil_Marsh: says I found second life disappointing I'm afraid...... it's slow to load, non-intuitive to navigate and creating & personalizing your avator is tedious. Movements are jerky and there is often a time lag. Graphics are also poor (in my opinion)

As for safe:

• Several European Governments are upset that adult avatars are having sex with childlike ones
• US police are investigating child porn trading
• You buy virtual stuff with real money

Given the busy lifestyles and the little time we have (it crops up in the Moodle forums all the time :>)) using second life seems to be such an uneconomical use of time. In the words of Darren Barefoot "go outside, membership is free, get a first life!" http//:www.getafirstlife.com

PennyROK: saysI have read a lot of comments about how time consuming SL was , so I have decided not to sign up at this point, even though I am very interested in the cultural and social aspects. I can see though that in the East Asian context where most people live in very high density identical apartment buildings and where children are forced to go to school or institutes from 7am til midnight 6 days a week, (and are totally addicted to computer games as there is no space or time to play with your friends anyway) that Second LIfe could be a powerful educational tool. Not having a gaming background myself , I will have to leave it to others to follow that one up. I'd be interested to see if anyone has done research on this in Korea or Japan.

John Griffin says: Phil makes some very valid points about Second Life regarding usability, safety and “uneconomical use of time”. As things stand at the moment I would have to agree with all these points. However, in the future this could change.

Usability: Second Life is demanding on computers (see system requirements). It requires a powerful computer, graphics card and a fast broadband connection; otherwise the experience will be jerky and slow. My own computer failed to make the grade. Hopefully this situation will improve in time as the Internet gets faster and our equipment is upgraded. Also, there are other vitual environments to consider that have lower hardware requirements.

Safety: This is definitely a real problem. The relative anonymity of the Internet allows for more anti-social behaviour than in the real world, particularly pornography. For this reason, some institutions choose to use private virtual islands with restricted entry, perhaps shared with other educational establishments. These islands may also reassure institutions worried about being sued by the angry parents of young participants.

“Uneconomical use of time”: Definitely! No doubt there are large numbers of people wasting thousands of hours in virtual reality at the expense of their “first lives”. Nonetheless, it should be possible to design activities that actually assist learning effectively. I really don’t know much about how to do this – that’s what I want to explore as part of this course. Do we give learners tasks to complete in the virtual worlds or do we allow them to wander around just to experience another environment? How do we measure their achievements? What subject areas would benefit most from these environments?

I suspect the task of designing worthwhile courses/lessons in virtual worlds will be too time-consuming for the average educator. Perhaps this job will be increasingly undertaken by specialist departments or companies. The learning objects could then be adapted and reused many times by teachers and students around the world.

I believe virtual worlds do have potential in some areas of education, but we need to think hard how to use them intelligently.

Leanne (work colleague) says: I think that virtual worlds and also more structured simulations have an exciting aspect of safe play and test, the ability to converse with people across ranks and barriers that are there in organisations (both real and perceived) and to add some fun to the learning and working experience.

• In regards to a safe environment - If anonymity is available then yes they offer a particularly safe environment in terms of people being able to think and act in a way that has no impact on the perception of them in the classroom, workplace or society. It means you can say and do what you really want to without worrying about credibility, rank etc. However this can also make it difficult when everyone has the same level of potential say and input (much like the broader web) to discern who is talking garbage and who really knows. It can also make it easier for people to 'bluff' their way along depending on how the environment and boundaries are structured, the outcome that is desired and any rules of play in place. It also makes a safe environment for people in their own names and roles within and across organisations to test, discuss, rip apart and put back together concepts, processes, policies and existing and new ways of doing business.
• In regards to personas - For some learners, myself included just being online or in the written rather than oral or face to face mode immediately does this - part of this is because I'm a reflective learner and want to gather my facts and think things through and online communication allows for that. There will be learners who become far more involved and outspoken in this format than in a classroom or social situation. There are also learners who are your classic extraverts who will feel that they don't get the same buzz out of this format. So just like everything else - if the whole course or program was just about this format then it wouldn't cater for everyone’s needs/preferences.
• In regards to internet predators - Consider it like a building where you might work or learn. It is as safe as the security systems you put in place - do you lock the door after hours? do you lock it and give only those with a valid reason to be there access? do you have a protocol for allowing visitors or do you have someone monitoring the area? Do you just expect people to look after themselves but teach them what to look out for?
• In regards to intellectual property - I remember a particular presentation I went to about knowledge management. The international speaker talked about how we reward the wrong things in our work/lives. While being the source of ideas and knowledge are seen as power we can only move forward a certain distance. When our structures including organisations, pay, respect, recognition turn the focus to those who share ideas and knowledge freely then we can move worlds. IP in any learning space or collaborative effort is hard to quantify and track. Those truly interested in learning and sharing knowledge to everyone’s benefit are usually not worried in the least about IP. After all to know something or come up with an idea is only the beginning of the path - applying it is the rest.
• In regards to benefits - I suspect that virtual schools, universities, community courses etc could be run this way for the general public quite easily. The most likely target through are those already exploring this virtual world.

Jeanette (work colleague) says: I feel that users of the internet share to much personal information and you cannot be sure who is watching. From a work perspective I think if it was only on a secure environment within the work network it may have benefits for learning. There are many remote areas at work that cannot get access to learning when and where they need it, having said that work does not have the infrastructure to handle simple e-learning - the challenge of a Second Life style e-learning is probably beyond the realms of reality.

• In regards to students adopting different personas - How do you know if students are making their own contributions and do you know who really is on the other end of the keyboard and what their intentions are?
• In regards to intellectual property - The internet is uncontrollable - anything published on the internet is there for anyone and everyone.
• In regards to the benefits of a platform such as Second Life - Learners could interact from all over the world I am a believer in e-learning especially for courses that do not need any explanation or discussion e.g. data entry but I am starting to question if how much learning really takes place. I have completed many e-learning courses (although none on Second Life) and not matter how well they are developed there is still the human interaction missing - but having said that when learners are asleep in the classroom the human element is still missing.

Steve Pallett says:_

• Do you think that it offers a safe environment to learn?

Most of it seems to be open and dangerous although it is possible to create private islands for educational purposes, so students can be invited in. If it's for adult teaching then maybe it's just a case of pointing out the possibilities in advance?

• Is it possible that students may adopt a different persona and feel more comfortable in making contributions?

Yes I think this could be one of its main advantages. There may be many reasons why some students lack the self-esteem to speak up in more traditional learning environments but would be able to feel more comfortable in a virtual environment. I think this already happens in some distance learning courses. However, it may be counter-productive if someone is spending so long on their avatar that it's taking time away from learning...

• How safe is it from people such as internet predators?

If a course took the 'walled-garden' approach (like in this wiki, it's impossible for outsiders to view our user pages) then it shouldn't be a problem. But this could negate the networking effect of having so many users in the environment - the benefits of Metcalfe's law.

• What about the issue of intellectual property?

This is a big one. I don't think too many institutions who aren't already going down the Open Courseware path (like USQ) will feel comfortable with leaving IP on servers they don't have any control over. What about the time and money that may be invested in creating a SL educational environment if SL goes bust, gets bought out, changes policies etc? In this respect it would be great if there was an open-source SL that institutions could have better control over.

• What do you think the benefits may be from offering education courses on Second Life?

The feeling that you're actually 'there' is a big one for distance education. With voice over IP and 3D environments combined it's a pretty awesome environment. Virtual law courts, art galleries, hotel resorts, civil engineering projects, medical examinations (the list is probably endless) could provide valuable simulation before students get to the 'real' thing. This could have big prospects where normal practice is too expensive or potentially dangerous (flight simulators have offered this possibility for some time). Also, the ability to imagine and create things that aren't possible in reality (e.g. because of material restriction) could be a big turn-on.

Justyna says: There are a lot of great comments and excellent points made above about SL. Personally, I have very little experience with virtual environments, but I think that it's a fascinating technology.

• I’m not sure how I feel about safety in such environments. I think that definitely all users (regardless of age) could possibly be exposed to internet predators. I think that this is inevitable in this day and age. However, I’m sure that really popular environments such as SL must have certain safety nets set up. Also, I’m sure that educators could place certain of limitations (and censorship) on their students (in order to protect them further). Still, safety should be at the forefront of research in these environments.
• Is it possible that students may adopt a different persona and feel more comfortable in making contributions? Of course. Many students can feel rather intimidated, so a new persona might give them a boost of confidence. Also, a new persona could give some users a greater feeling of safety because their own identity is not at risk. Of course, that can have a negative side as well, and some users might behave in inappropriate ways simply because they think that they're protected by their new persona.
• I also think that virtual environments might be the logical step in countries like Korea, where gaming is a part of everyday life - they even have a TV channel here that shows Star Craft games all day long, and people actually watch it for hours. For my senior students virtual job interviews would be of great benefit - especially if the service was maintained by native speakers of English.
• Overall, I find that there are many benefits to these kinds of learning environments, if they can be controlled properly.

Justyna says: No, not really. Those universities, for one, have very large budgets for technological advancements and research. Also, like all other universities, they have to compete for students, and offering the widest range of possibilities can ensure that they will maintain their high status.

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Reference material

Contributors to this page

Name	Comment	Date
Natasha Adnams	Creation of page	27 November 2007
Nathalie Lefaivre	My 2 cents and a link to previous research	27 November 2007
Nicole Long	My observations of Second Life and a link to a short video	3 December 2007
Joyce Seitzinger	Thoughts/finds on educational uses & comment	4 December 2007
Phil_Marsh	2nd life... real world problems and reference	6 December 2007
John Griffin	Future of Second Life in education	7 December 2007
Leanne	Work colleague comments	12 December 2007
Jeanette	Work colleague comments	21 December 2007
Penelope Thompson	virtual worlds web address	26 December 2007
Steve Pallett (SL: Horace Blister)	My2Pence	9 January 2008
Justyna	some comments and impressions	21 January 2008
yourName	whatYouHaveContributed	todaysDate

Related pages in knowledgeGarden

• Our workgroup page: FET 8611 Workgroup : Exploring online virtual environments?
• Andrew Weppner's page: FET8611 - Using Second Life in Education
• Nicole Long's page: Learning in a virtual 3D environment: SecondLife
• Second Life
• John Griffin's page: Virtual Reality: Active Worlds in Education

References

• Second Life
• Second Life in Education
• Educational Uses in Second Life
• Wikipedia – Second Life
• Second Life Educational Possibilities and Considerations, Penn State University
• Australian Flexible Learning Network - Virtual Worlds

Articles

• http://news.smh.com.au/making-second-life-more-like-real-life/20071122-1c1k.html
• http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/28/1196036953557.html
• Kristina Dell 2007, Second Life's Real-World Problems online, Available from: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1651500,00.html

Notes

1. Second Life Economic Statistics - Key metrics. Linden Lab (2007-10-03). Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
2. Introducing the Second Life Grid - Official Linden Blog. Linden Lab (2007-09-04). Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
3. Ginsu Yoon (2005-06-16). 'Build Content for International SL' - Second Life Forum Archive (account required).
4. Lagorio, Christine. "The Ultimate Distance Learning", New York Times, 2007-01-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
5. Sanchez, Joe. "Second Life an Interactive Qualitative Analysis", 2007-03-07. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
6. Dorveaux, Xavier. "Apprendre une langue dans un monde virtuel", Le Monde, 2007-07-15. Retrieved on 2007-07-15

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