Second Life for Administrators

Dr. Andrew Jones, Vice Chancellor for Educational Affairs Dallas County Community College District

Patti Jennings, Marketing ExecutiveDallas County Community College District

Erin Jennings, Instructional Design AssistantThe University of Texas at Dallas

eLearning – February 17-19, 2008 Landscape – Nighthawks24

OverviewOverview

1. What is Second Life?

2. Why explore virtual worlds?

3. Vocabulary

4. Administrative Issues

5. Content Delivery

6. Pedagogy

7. Virtual Field Trips

8. Resources

Capitol Hill Island – U2Katrina

What is Second Life?

• MUVE– Multi-User Virtual Environment

• www.secondlife.com– “Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and

owned by its residents.”– Second Life is NOT a game– Main grid is for adults only (18+)

Harvard’s Berkman Island – U2Katrina

The Horizon Report, 2007 Edition

• Campuses and businesses have established locations in these worlds• Much like websites a few years ago• Virtual locations will become more common and more mature as the trend continues.• Time to Adoption: Two to Three Years

Virtual Worlds

Ohio State – U2Katrina

Why Second Life/Virtual Worlds

• Stimulates the mind to consider others ways of doing and knowing

• Helps creates no boundaries mindsets; provides a practical way of doing outside the box

• Depicts visible models of possibilities

• Because students will expect it

NOAA’s Meteora Island – Sridgway

• Allows for explorations in a safe environment

• Second Life lets you build customized environments

• Places user in totally immersive learning environments

Second Health – Planet Video

Why Second Life/Virtual Worlds

Why Second Life/Virtual Worlds

• Can devise collaborative models through highly interactive sim-models

• Mirrors interactive experience for millennial students

• Has unlimited promotional potential (limited by imagination)

Virginia Tech Candlelight Vigil – U2Katrina

Why Second Life/Virtual Worlds

Avatar: a virtual representation of a real person. You can design your avatar’s appearance to be whatever you want!

Island: a virtual parcel of land in Second Life. Islands may be separated by many meters of ocean or grouped together to form larger areas.

Vocabulary

Sim (Simulation): a named region that makes up part of the Second Life world.

UTD SOM – U2Katrina

Prims (Primitives): simple objects used as building blocks in Second Life.

Sandbox: an area of a sim where all residents are given permission to build. Sandboxes can be set to return objects automatically after a specified period of time.

Vocabulary

UTD SOM - erinserenity

Griefing: the harassment of other Second Life residents through offensive actions, in violation of the SL community standards.

Vocabulary

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Procedures – Buying an Island

Pitfall: Who owns the official avatar?

Resource: Second Life: The Official Guide

• Set up a premium account and avatar• Pick a location for your island• Purchase the island

DCCCD - erinserenity

Real Costs – Buying an Island

• Premium account subscription: $10/month• Island: $980 (with educational discount)• Maintenance: $150/month (with discount)• First year total: $2,900• Subsequent years: $1,920

Pitfalls: terms of service, business procedures for monthly paymentsUTD SOM - erinserenity

Procedures - Development

Select:• steering committee• project manager• developer

Develop:• an island plan• the island• a project approval process

Promote the island!

UTD ArtTech – U2Katrina

Real Costs - Development

• Project manager• Developer fees • Pre-made objects

and scripts• Incidentals

Pitfalls: time, learning curveResource: Second Life Developers Group

UTD SOM - erinserenity

Procedures – Island Management

• Training• Administering

rights• Waivers and

disclaimers• Holding events• Collecting data

Pitfalls: security, hardware, griefingResource: Second Life Educators (SLED)

UTD SOM - erinserenity

Content Delivery – Don’ts

• Second Life is not an LMS• Text is clunky • No Flash• No embedded HTML

Pitfall: avatar limit (lag)

UTD SOM - erinserenity

Pitfalls: chat radius, image typesResource: Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content

Creation for Second Life

Content Delivery – Do’s

• Images and video• Lectures and audio• Text and voice chat• Presentation slides• Interactive simulations

Harvard’s Berkman Island – U2Katrina

Pedagogy

Constructivism and “discovery-based” learning:

• Active

• Facilitated

• Social

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Pedagogy

Discovery-based learning:

• Immersive

• Social

• Interactive

• Collaborative

Virtual world activities:

• Virtual field trips

• Chat, voice chat, animations, video

• Simulations and learning objects

• Projects

Morocco, Casablanca – U2Katrina

Virtual Field Trips: Science

Biology

• Genome Island

• Heart Murmur Sim

• Virtual Hallucinations

Chemistry

• Info Island

Earth Sciences

• NOAA (Meteora)

• Svarga

Technology

• Cisco

• Dell Island

• Spaceport Alpha InfoIsland – U2Katrina

Art

• UTD ArtTech

• Virtual Sistine ChapelSocial Studies

• Morocco (Casablanca)

• Rome (Roma)

Music

• Live concerts

Virtual Field Trips: Humanities

Sistine Chapel, Vassar – U2Katrina

Additional Resources

For more information about virtual worlds and higher education, and to download a copy of this presentation, please visit our blog: www.higherworlds.blogspot.com

And our wiki: www.higherworlds.wikispaces.com

More resources:

SimTeach wiki: www.simteach.org

Sloog HUD for educators: http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2007/10/30/salamander-sloog-arrives-for-educators/

SL Browser: http://slbrowser.com/

Spaceport Alpha – U2Katrina

Contact Information

Dr. Andrew Jones

Avatar: DrAndu JonesfordEmail: acjones@dcccd.edu

Patti Jennings

Avatars: Patti Lemuria / Patti JenningsEmail: pjennings@dcccd.edu

Erin Jennings

Avatars: Serinity Gaea / Brianne JenningsEmail: erin.jennings@utdallas.edu