1. For Education Part 1 DSU Faculty Development November 14, 2008 Risë L. Smith, Karl E. Mundt Library Dakota State University

2. What is Second Life?  3-d virtual world (began 2003)  Has tools to communicate, collaborate, create  World is created by members  Members are represented by their avatars  Members participate in social, educational, business, etc. activities  Not a game  Login with free account (or pay for premium account)

3. WOW vs. SL Game virtual worlds– e.g., World of Warcraft (WOW), City of Heroes, etc. – pre-scripted; specific game objectives and goals; often focused on warfare; unsuited as general learning environment Open virtual worlds – e.g., Second Life – created by its users, who build and create content. It’s an environment more suited to educational use, because educators can create and insert instructional material

4. Why bother with Second Life? “Eighty percent of Internet users are expected to engage in some form of virtual world activity by 2011 (Gartner Research Group), and librarians and educators are already there.” M 2 : Metaverse Messenger, 26 Aug 2008, http://www.metaversemessenger.com /pdf/2008/08/MM20080826.pdf

5. How SL Is Being Used for Education Second Life in Education wiki: Educational Uses of Second Life http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses Scan this list to get an overview of the variety of ways SL is being used for education. 101 Uses for Second Life in the College Classroom - Dr. Megan S. Conklin, Elon University, Dept of Computing Sciences. Last updated: February 25, 2007 http://trumpy.cs.elon.edu/metaverse/gst364Win2005/handout.pdf Conklin describes key elements of teaching in Second Life and provides examples from various disciplines. Second Life Education Wiki http://simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki Simteach information about Second Life includes: Getting Started: Frequently Asked Questions and Guidelines; Programs for Educators; Institutions and Organizations in SL; Competitions; Press, Blogs & Presentations; Second Life Mailing Lists, Blogs and Forums; In-World Groups; Educational Pricing on Private Islands; Academic Research; Classroom Management, Lesson Plans; Teaching Resources; Educational Locations in Second Life http://simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki Continued… Look here first

6. How SL Is Being Used for Education Texas State Tech – delivering in Second Life a Digital Media certificate program focused on virtual world technology in fall 2008; associate degree in spring 2009. Campus Technology, 7/30/2008 Campus Technology, 7/30/2008 ”California Bar Association Approves Credit Gained using Second Life”, SLED Blog, Jul 18, 2008Jul 18, 2008 Seriously Engaging: The Story of NMC Campus in Second Life (July 2006) Seriously Engaging Ohio University Second Life promotional video Ohio University Second Life

7. Advantages Engages students. Provides multiple communication methods. text-based chat, VOIP talk, and gestures Decreases social distance of online communication. Having a physical representation as avatar and ability to move spatially makes connections among students working digitally feel more “real” – “create a sense of class community…tied…to the ability to create and interact….” [Ritzema & Harris] Provides global experience. Interact with individuals from all around the RW (real world), making international connections

8. global… “During one recent lecture, people from all over the world came to hear a scientist from Royal Holloway, University of London, talk about climate change. …[These] ‘mixed world’ events, gatherings that take place simultaneously in SL and real life, remove many of the long-standing barriers in science communication. ‘Chances are, the scientist would never have traveled all over the world to talk about his work, and nobody from South Carolina would have traveled such a great distance to listen to him,’ Scott says.” [Questi 2008]

9. Advantages – cont’d Faculty and students create. Have modeling tools to build objects and scripting language for building interactive features into objects (e.g., doors that open) -- can create simulations of RL (real life) locations, events, and processes -- “Robert Amme, a physicist at the University of Denver, has a laboratory in Second Life…. There his avatar double, Dr. Bob Vandeverre, is building a virtual nuclear reactor to help train the next generation of environmental engineers on how to deal with nuclear waste.” Science News, 4/24/2008 Learn by “being there.” -- walking within simulations of the real world or real world events. Walk inside a weather map; Land of Lincoln, Renaissance Island, city of Dublin

10. Advantages – cont’d Have new individual abilities. Avatars fly and teleport; can change appearance. Create real businesses. The in-world (that is, Second Life) currency of “lindens” or “linden dollars” have real-world value. --SLExchange takes payment in Lindens or US dollars, delivers goods to person’s avatar, and pays vendor who is selling the goods. --Real world companies are marketing in Second Life with storefronts for SL communities --Established businesses like IBM have firewalled campuses for employee training, meetings, mixers

11. Advantages – cont’d Create valuable services/organizations. e.g., support groups for chronic diseases; established organizations like American Cancer Society are present; Virtual Ability Island M 2 : Metaverse Messenger, 26 Aug 2008, http://www.metaversemessenger.com/pdf/2008/08/MM20080826.pdf

12. Challenges Learning curve for participating, for creating content Lacking or weak integration with course management systems Technical issues: graphics card - hardware requirements for handling 3d rendering; bandwidth Safety & security -- gambling, nudity, violence, griefing, phishing, money laundering, pyramid schemes [Elliot]

13. See 50 virtual worlds in 7 minutes 2008 Metaverse Tour Video: The Social Virtual World’s A Stage By Gary Hayes, PersonalizeMedia http://www.personalizemedia.com/2008-metaverse-tour-video-the-social-virtual-worlds-a-stage

14. Terminology Avatar: a 2- or 3-D graphical representation of a person that is used when the person is “inhabiting” a simulated (i.e., virtual) environment MUVEs (Multi-User Virtual Environments) or CVEs (Collaborative Virtual Environments): multiple users with their avatars interacting (e.g., Second Life; World of Warcraft) MMOs or MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online games), and MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games): MUVEs with game rules and goals (e.g., World of Warcraft; Everquest) Virtual world – “a synchronous, persistent network of people, represented as avatars, facilitated by networked computers.” [Bell] Metaverse – another term for “virtual world” (first? used in 1992 novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson) 3D3C – 3D environment that exhibits characteristics of community, creation, and commerce (e.g., Second Life)

15. SL Resources Second Life in Education wiki: Educational Uses of Second Life http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses Scan this list to get an overview of the variety of ways SL is being used for education. 101 Uses for Second Life in the College Classroom - Dr. Megan S. Conklin, Elon University, Dept of Computing Sciences. Last updated: February 25, 2007 http://trumpy.cs.elon.edu/metaverse/gst364Win2005/handout.pdf Conklin describes key elements of teaching in Second Life and provides examples from various disciplines. Second Life Education Wiki http://simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki Simteach information about Second Life includes: Getting Started: Frequently Asked Questions and Guidelines; Programs for Educators; Institutions and Organizations in SL; Competitions; Press, Blogs & Presentations; Second Life Mailing Lists, Blogs and Forums; In-World Groups; Educational Pricing on Private Islands; Academic Research; Classroom Management, Lesson Plans; Teaching Resources; Educational Locations in Second Life http://simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki Top 20 Educational Locations in SL http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Top_20_Educational_Locations_in_Second _Life ….continued….

16. SL Resources …continued SLED Blog: K-20 Education Using the Second Life World http://www.sl-educationblog.org/ Provides wide range of information, including technical tips (e.g., how to use a YouTube video within SL)http://www.sl-educationblog.org/ RezEd: The Hub for Learning and Virtual Worlds http://www.rezed.org/ The virtual world hub of Global Kids. See, for example RezEd (virtual worlds hub of Global Kids) blog post “What research question would you fund to generate data on learning and virtual worlds? http://www.rezed.org/profiles/blog/show?id=2047896%3ABlogPost%3A7520http://www.rezed.org/ http://www.rezed.org/profiles/blog/show?id=2047896%3ABlogPost%3A7520 Second Life Grid: Education Programs http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education Information provided by Linden Labshttp://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education CTER Port at UIUC http://cterport.ed.uiuc.edu/technologies_folder/SL Provides tutorials for creating things in Second Life. Scripts http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Scripts Education tools and where to get them ICT NOTE: SLURLS are web addresses that take you into Second Life to a specific location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/54/202/37 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/54/202/37 Explore teaching tools.

18. Attend courses/presentations Make presentations

19. Meet in Virtual Spaces with Instructors or Peers

20. Attend events

21. Participate in and create simulations

22. Do research