Second Life: What do we do with it?
Tanya Joosten, [email protected]
Interim Associate Director
Learning Technology Center
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Juice Gyoza
UWMSecondLife.wikispaces.com
http://tinyurl.com/UWMSecondLife
Who are you?
Are you teaching using Second Life already?
In which discipline do you teach?
Are you supporting teachers in using SL?
Are you still waiting to be convinced to use it?
Are you still trying to figure out what Second
Life is?
What is Second Life?
• Not a Game
• Online, Virtual World, 3-D
• Network through software to a virtual space
• Not just information
• People, Places
• User constructed
What is Second Life?
What is Second Life?
8
UWM & Second Life in 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7g6i3_OhFI
Why use Second Life?
What is Second Life?MediumAsynchronous Discussion Forums
Synchronous Collaboration Tools
Virtual Worlds
Technology Text-Only, Static Images, Tables
Text, Audio (VOIP), Static Images, Video
Text, Audio (VOIP), Static Images, Video, 3-D
Cues Written Verbal, Emoticons
Written Verbal, Emoticons, Oral Verbal, Nonverbal: Paralanguage, Kinesics
Written Verbal, Emoticons, Oral Verbal, Nonverbal: Paralanguage, Kinesics, Proxemics, Haptics, Objectics, Environmentics
Feedback Delayed Real Time Real TimeParticipants Limited to course
sizeLimited by task, invitees, and bandwidth,
Somewhat limited by bandwidth and task, open attendance
Capacity Lean Medium Rich
Increase characteristics for success
Engagement
Social Presence
Learning Community
Top 4 Considerations
Lean Rich
Didactic Experiential
Private Public
Recall Performance
Experiential
Didactic
RichLean
Pedagogical Task -- Medium Richness
SimulationsRole PlaysField WorkShowcase
Content
Pedagogical Activities for SL
Experiential
Simulation Role Playing
Field Work
Interviewing Native Speakers Virtual field trips
Showcase
Art Exhibition Presentations Architectural Build
When do we use??
Second Life
Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn
Content Delivery
Assessment
Administrative
Asynchronous Discussions
Purpose: When do we use??
Second Life
Desire2Learn
Pedagogical Activities for SL
Experiential
Simulation Role Playing
Field Work
Interviewing Native Speakers Virtual field trips
Showcase
Art Exhibition Presentations Architectural Build
Example: Virtual field trip
20 Presentation Author, 2006
Example: Presentations
Faculty development
Showcases of use
Second Life Workshop Part 1
•Basic Functions• Interacting w/People•Groups •Communicating•Navigating• Flying• Teleporting to other places
Second Life Workshop Part 2
• Advanced skills:– Inventory– Finding and building objects– Sending landmarks, objects,– Appearance– Rich media
• Best practices
Best practicesFor you or the faculty you support
Building not required
Create collaborative activities
Plan for meaningful and rich activities
Experiential
Simulation Role Playing
Field Work
Interviewing Native Speakers Virtual field trips
Showcase
Art Exhibition Presentations Architectural Build
Manage student expectations
Find a support network
Document your work
Evaluating the impact
Virtual Worlds
Student
Learning
Model for evaluating virtual worlds
Media Richness
Social Presence
Engagement
Learning Community
Learning
Performance
Satisfaction
Engagement
Media Capacity
Satisfaction
Learning
Student Comments
• “I really enjoyed the fact that we incorporated Second Life into the course. I also think it is very useful to work in virtual teams to complete a project(despite the fact the it can be a pain:])”
• “I would have liked to see more required participation within Second Life.
• “Overall, I think Second Life provides endless opportunities to explore and learn about an infinite number of subjects.”
Resources• UWM Student Orientation Materials, Pantherfile Repository of
Student Orientation docs: https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/groups/sa/ltc/SecondLife
• Video Tutorials: http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/sttaylor/SL-Tutorials/
• Finding Events: http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/SLED_Calender
• Sign up for the Second Life Educators (SLED) List: https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators
• Find Colleagues and Course Information, search SLED archives: http://tinyurl.com/y234ht
• Find objects (for free or a fee): http://www.xstreetsl.com/
• Search” Virtual Ability” island in SL for a good orientation to Second Life.
Questions?
Tanya Joosten
http://uwmsecondlife.wikispaces.com
http://professorjoosten.blogspot.com
http://tinyurl.com/UWMSecondLife
SL: Juice Gyoza
414.229.4319
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