Slpp tfinal2003

PRESENTER SHAI OMARALI

SL NAMESHAI WIREFLY

TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SECONDLIFE

SECTION 1

INTRODUCTION

VIRTUAL REALITY

A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars.

VIRTUAL REALITY

The model world may simulate rules based on the real world:

• Gravity• Topography• Locomotion• Real-time actions• Communication

S E C O N D L I F E about.SL who uses SL how to use SL

WHAT IS SECONDLIFE?

{ brief information }


W H A T I S I T

An online virtual world created by Linden Lab in 2003

Proprietary, free and open source software

Its users, called Residents, create the majority of the world

The world is made up of grids that are both free or sold for development

Two worlds exist : Secondlife and Teen Second Life

The world has its own currency : Linden Dollars §

Residents explore, socialize, participate, create, trade within the world


SECONDLIFE ACTIVITIES

{ what residents do in SL }


A common sight in Secondlife where Residents socialize and communicate

S O C I A L I Z E


CNN News Coverage

N E W S C O V E R A G E


Nortel Bank

F I N A N C E S

Nortel UK | Customer Services in Financial Matters


BP Managing Projects graduation | Whitworth Room, Manchester Business School

G R A D U A T I O N


‘Sun in Secondlife’ team | Customer Engineering Conference 2008

C O N F E R E N C E S


A common classroom setting in Secondlife (Elementary level)

L E A R N I N G


SECONDLIFE IN EDUCATION

{ the stakeholders }


STUDENTS

EDUCATORS

SL CREATORS

SecondLifeLearning

Environment

S E C O N D L I F E about.SL who uses.SL how to use SL

S L I N S T I T U T I O N S

University of the Arts London University of Reading University of Wolverhampton University of Bedford University of Sheffield University of Sunderland University of East London Leeds Metropolitan University Coventry University London College of Fashion Scottish Further Education Unit University of the West of England Mid Cheshire College Liverpool Hope University University of Plymouth University of Ulster Magee Staffordshire University Leeds College of Art and Design

Bournemouth University King George V College University of Hull Bromley College University of Edinburgh City College Norwich Open University University of Portsmouth Newcastle University Myerscough College University of Derby Milton Broome Leicester University Warwick University University of Greenwich University of Exeter University of Sussex Heriot Watt University

Brunei University University of Brighton Queens University Belfast Huddersfield University Lancaster University University of Nottingham University of Manchester Liverpool John Moores University Oxford University Cambridge University

and many more

S E C O N D L I F E about.SL who uses SL how to use.SL

SECTION 02LITERATURE REVIEW


02.1 Associated teaching approaches

• Experiential learning• Collaborative learning• Socio constructivist learning


T E A C H I N G A P P R O A C H

Experiential LearningThe process of making meaning from direct experience.

Itin, C. M. (1999)



Experiential learning projects provide a “hands-on” opportunity for students to address real-world problems in a multidisciplinary, collaborative environment. This has been shown to increase student engagement and provide intrinsic motivation for authentic, relevant learning.

Bradford (2005)



Experiential learning in real life• Field trips• Practical tasks• No teacher learning (eg. trial and error)



Collaborative learningGroups of students work together in search of understanding, meaning or solutions or in creating an artifact of their learning such as a product.

Wikipedia definition



Collaborative learning in real life• Groupwork



“SecondLife has the potential to be a useful educational tool for teaching and learning by using a constructivist approach.”

Coffman & Klinger, p.30, 2007



“From a constructivist perspective, knowledge-building communities have the potential to build many collaborative strategies through mentors and peer role models, open classrooms, role reversals, and interactions with an audience”

Coffman & Klinger, p.30, 2007


02.2 Associated Affordances

• Real world imitation• Communication


A F F O R D A N C E S

{ Imitation of the real social world }

• Visualisation of physical elements• Real world concepts• Motion• Culture• Actions and gestures



{ Computer mediated communication }

• Text based communication• Synchronous Public chat• Synchronous IM Chat (personal chat)• Asynchronous E-mail messages• Readable presentations




• Audio based communication• Synchronous Public Voice Chat (distance affected)• Synchronous Private Voice Chat• Synchronous Private VoIP Calls• Preset Audio cues• Podcasts




• Visual based communication• Preset gestures• Movements and actions (imitating reality)• Visual presentations (pictures/ videos)• Physical structures• Video conferencing• Anything a computer screen can display


USING SECONDLIFE IN EDUCATION

{ the literature review }




MENU

FUNCTIONS

ME (AVATAR)

BASIC APPEARANCE

SL ENVIRONMENT

MINIMAP




IM CHAT / PHONE CALLING

VOICE CHAT


SECTION 03METHODOLOGY


Research questionWhat forms of real life teaching and learning are transferable into SL?

Research methodSmall scale SecondlifeQuest

Participants4 Secondlife Resident Learners/Educators


SECTION 04RESULTS


Volunteer 1

Learning Spanish language

Verdict:Very immersive, with Spanish speakers communicating via text and audio. Informal group collaboration.


Volunteer 2

Experience schizophrenism in a schizophrenic centre.

Verdict:Provides a new insight that is difficult to reproduce in real life.


Volunteer 3

Took a tour of historical places such as Ancient Rome and Venice

Verdict:Inexpensive. A great walk-through simulation that is not accessible in real life.


Volunteer 4

Build modern architecture with other Residents

Verdict:Teamwork and collaborative learning


SECTION 04FINDINGS


Volunteers 1 and 4 stated that:

Audio and visual communication in SL allows for approaches similar to real life.

Volunteers 2 and 3 stated that:

SL is capable of providing visual representations that are more enhanced than real life.

Case studies on SL Education correlates with theseopinions.


SECTION 05RECOMMENDATIONS


USING SECONDLIFE

{ for language learning }


LEARNING OBJECTIVE : LEARNING BAHASA MELAYU

STEPS01 CREATE OR JOIN A COMMUNITY FOR THIS OBJECTIVE02 USE COMMUNICATIVE AFFORDANCES

- AUDIO CHATS- TEXTUAL CHATS

03 USE SL ENVIRONMENTS - USE VISUAL ARTIFACTS IN SL TO TEACH VOCABULARY- USE ACTIONS AND MOTIONS TO TEACH VERBS- USE TARGET LANGUAGE INSTRUCTIONS TO PROMPT LEARNERS TO COMPLETE TASKS IN THE SL ENVIRONMENT

AN EXAMPLE


USING SECONDLIFE

{ for architecture }

sample


LEARNING OBJECTIVE : HOW ‘BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE’ ARE TREATED IN A COMMUNITY

STEPS01 CREATE A BEAUTIFUL AVATAR 02 MOLD THE AVATAR WITH CLOTHES AND BEHAVIOR ASSOCIATED WITH THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE DESIRED.03 MINGLE IN A CROWDED AREA04 OBSERVE AND RECORD INTERACTIONS AND REACTIONS

05 CREATE AN UNDESIRABLE AVATAR06 MINGLE IN A CROWDED AREA07 OBSERVE AND RECORD INTERACTIONS AND REACTIONS


USING SECONDLIFE

{ for architecture and engineering}


USING SECONDLIFE

{ for music }


LEARNING OBJECTIVE : COLLABORATIVE MUSIC RECITAL

STEPS01 GATHER MUSICIANS02 PLAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS THROUGH AUDIO TOOL IN SL03 BROADCAST IN SECONDLIFE


THE FUTURE OF SECONDLIFE

{ what is in the future }