Week 12: INTERACTIVITY 2B: EXPLORING SECOND LIFE
(ADVANCED EXERCISE)
Post your journal entry about your experience exploring Second Life here and any ideas about how this landscape may lend itself to teaching, now or in the future. If you are a teacher, please give specific examples of how you would consider incorporating SL into your curriculum.
Posted in: General, Week 12:
kstackhouse 9:25 am on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I spent some time walking, running, flying, driving, and teleporting around SL. I even made a couple of friends. I was pleased with the ease of navigating and moving around…although I didn’t figure out how to dance at one of the welcome centres. I found that by using the top picks for destinations I was able to see some interesting places. I enjoyed going into the art gallery and actually going into one of the paintings. It was interesting to see on the wall my username as Artist in Residence. (I have never held that title before 🙂 ).
While moving around and seeing how much detail has been added to some landmarks and the various museums available I could see using this as a makeshift field trip option. I will not be taking my students to The Globe in real life, but allowing them to explore the stage and wander around would be interesting. I am still a little unsure of how I would set this up. I could see some issues related to content, students being approached by other users, and maintaining a sense of control that I would want to ensure that my students were safe and protected. Are there ways to do this?
teacherben 6:46 pm on November 22, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
There are quite a few places in SecondLife that have replicas of monuments in there that you can use for a virtual field trip. Here are some links to a couple museums and things:
https://sites.google.com/site/secondlifeu/field-trip-assignment
Just Google it and you will see more. There is also an ‘international schools island’ that I think is still active where you can meet teachers and students and find out more.
On a different note, I once write a research paper on social presence theory and non-verbal cues in 3D virtual worlds. I got a lot of good stuff from a paper called ‘A microethnographic analysis of non-verbal cues in Second Life. The author just teleported to random locations in Second Life and would observe people’s behaviour. Interestingly enough, while most of the built-in gestures were ignored by more sophisticated users, positional or proxemic cues were pretty much the same as in real life. So, for example, two people (avatars) might be talking to one another with bodies slightly out-turned to encourage others to come in and join the conversation. Others might be closed, turned away to block others from joining in the conversation. Incidentally, this area of research is called ‘proxemics’ and it’s pretty interesting. Here’s the microethnography paper:
http://gradworks.umi.com/33/11/3311458.html
Eva Ziemsen 2:34 pm on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you for your very thoughtful (and funny) response. I’m glad you had the chance to truly experience SL. I also saw your avatar picture (and your CAR!), which were great.
Second Life used to provide Teen Second Life, which was for certain age groups, however, it seems this no longer exists.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/second-life
However, you can buy or rent land that is for your class only. In other words, other users would not have access to this area. I completely understand that you would hesitate setting this up if you thought they would be exposed to anyone out there. Believe me, I have seen some scantly dressed avatars and would not feel comfortable letting anyone (of any age in a class) see.
Furthermore, SL has a classification system:
“Land in SL is marked either general or moderate or adult. Those ratings are something like the ratings used by the movie and television industries to denote the age-appropriateness of behavior, language and creations.”
Please read more here:
http://www.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/NewMedia/SecondLife/PGvsMatureSL.html
For example (as stated on the website above),
“General areas are free from sexually explicit language or behavior, swearing and other forms of aggressive language, violent behavior and imagery, and horrific materials.
General regions are areas where you’re free to say and do things that you would feel comfortable doing in front of your grandmother or a grade school class.
There are thousands of general areas in Second Life because adults often seek an experience free of moderate or adult content.
A region of Second Life may be general if it does not have content or activity that’s sexually explicit, violent or depicts nudity. Sexually-oriented objects may not be located or sold in general regions. ”
http://www.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/NewMedia/SecondLife/PGvsMatureSL.html
kstackhouse 6:01 am on November 21, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the reply. I was not aware that you good buy “land” or space for your classroom. Are users then invited in once it is established? I did read a notice when I entered one of the rooms for new SL members. It posted a general disclaimer about what type of behaviour and dress was expected in that area.
Eva Ziemsen 10:08 am on November 21, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Yes, you provide invitations. Some areas will simply not allow you, if there are those types of restrictions.
jenbarker 1:15 pm on November 21, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Eva – I am pleased to hear that you can limit access to areas for students. As an elementary school teacher those were my initial thoughts. I found the avatar choices to be somewhat sexual in nature. They reminded me of Barbie dolls with tiny waists, large chests, and long hair. I had hoped to be able to shorten my avatar’s hair but was unable to make this work. I did spend some time walking around and found this relatively easy to do but unlike Ken who found the space easy to use, I found myself quite confused and unsure of where I was and what I was supposed to do while in that space. This was a real turn off for me. I am an A-type personality who likes to know everything up front. I think I may have enjoyed this experience better had I watched the video on how to navigate in the space. I know that some students prefer to learn through exploring but I am not that type of learner. Given that when I teach in the classroom, I teach students under age seven, I don’t see myself incorporating this into my practice. Thinking of older students, I like Ken’s suggestion to use the program for a virtual classroom. I also think the program could be used to let students play and then use their experiences to spark a digital citizenship discussion. The topic of the freedom of anonymity could be a really interesting discussion.
jhodi 5:54 pm on November 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This is how I felt initially too. The avatar that I chose in the initial step kept flicking her hair are moving around in a very sexual nature. As a high school teacher, I feel that young teenage girls are already in a stage where they are trying to figure these things out for themselves, and perhaps they do not need this as a role model. It seemed like all of the initial avatars were very beautiful and skinny. This does encourage students to filter information and things they find on the Internet, but not something that I would necessarily love to deal with as a classroom teacher. It could potentially distract from the learning process as teenagers love to debate both sides of topics such as these.
manny 11:39 pm on November 21, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Just piggy backing on the current discussion…
I also found navigating around pretty straight forward. However, as I teleported around different places, the main thought going through my head was, “ok, this is cool, what do I do now?” Overall it was fun and engaging but I can’t see how I could use second life in its current state in my practice. If you are able to purchase separate rooms with restricted access, it may be possible to structure it in such a way that provides clarity and fluidity for student use. The question then becomes, how much time do we want to invest in the design phase of integrating this technology.
Eva Ziemsen 12:15 am on November 22, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Manny,
I think you are right, it is worth asking about how long it would take to design spaces. From our research of what others have done in SL and educuation, there is a significant time committment required for this type of work.
As for getting lost on your own after a while, it is true, it is critical to have a goal in SL for educational purposes. From our own learning experience as a group, SL was MUCH better to use when we were all together in a group. It was as if we met on campus and finally saw each other and could interact in real-time. It seemed much more gratifying than skype. In our case, we were collaborating on making a virtual film. However, if our teacher had instructed us to view different stations on the campus and discuss in Spanish (as one of the space was a Spanish course SIM), it would also have been very interesting and appropriate to learning Spanish. We wanted to create a time where people could all meet in the class, but decided against it, as we were afraid that the complexity of learning this in one week would work against the success.
Eva Ziemsen 11:51 pm on November 21, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jen, thanks for your reply and sharing your thoughts about using this with a younger audience. I can very much understand some of your reservations. A few things to keep in mind are, that it takes time to get used to SL. When I first used SL a few years ago, I was so frustrated that I stopped using it for a few years! Second, you can curate a highly structured experience for students within a space in SL. Did you get a chance to see the video of Sloodle? In no way are we suggesting that this would be easy to implement or even appropriate for all age groups, (likely better for more mature students), but from our research we felt that there were many professors doing some amazing work in SL to create rich experiences. I would say, similar to what one of the nursing students said in our Duke University video said, going to campus is still her #1 way to interact, but SL is the next best option. Other videos also make the case that one should use SL for things that are impossible in real life.
As for the look of your avatar – I do think you can completely change the look of your hair to shorter. Since you can have an avatar that is not even in a human form, rather in animal forms, I think you could eliminate the sexualized element of the avatars. if you noticed, our avatars in our intro video were dressed somewhat professionally. For example, Adriana’s avatar was wearing a blazer. In the Duke University video it also depicts the professor in a professional outfit. It is just a matter of customizing the avatar. I do agree, that the initial options are somewhat Barbie-like.
It is important to note that SL, as your feedback indicates, is used by a wide range of users, and perhaps a greater ‘protection’ of educational areas would be important in the evolution of education in SL.
Thanks for trying, despite the difficulties and also for sharing your thoughts.
tomwhyte1 2:42 pm on November 22, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
As I have explored Second Life in the past for my personal and potential classroom learning, I always struggled with where the technology was, and where our thinking the technology could take us.
I agree with others, that the potential for this environment is huge – be it science experiments – doing that which safety regulations no longer allow us to do, or are physically impossible, shrink down to the size cells or molecules, or travel the universe. In History/Social Studies – visit historic sites in their prime, or partake in famous battles, etc…
And because of these thoughts, I was reminded of the following book:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One
A reality where education is facilitated through a virtual environment, where education can happen regardless of budget concerns, or even safety. Where the technology facilitates any pedagogy, not limits it.
For me, when this day occurs, we will have truly created a virtual open learning environment, that could meet the needs of each kid, providing extensions and remedial work as necessary, quickly and easily.
Thoughts?
Eva Ziemsen 11:01 pm on November 22, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you, Tom, for your visionary response. I get the sense from your response that you see what virtual reality can bring to education. I like your descriptions of shrinking down to cell size. I know that this would impact scientific learning in a revolutionary way.
Thank you also for the book reference. I have not read it, but now I will. I read the synopsis and it is very much related to this topic. Perhaps how Blandrunner is realted to AI.
I am glad you bring up budget, as this is truly one of the most limiting factors in education these days. Furthermore, the physical boundaries that exist will be elimited to some degree. For example, my thesis work will research how we can teach film production online. This would normally be unheard of, however, through the process of Machinima (filming in Second Life), we can offer almost all lessons related to filmmaking, online for anyone at a distance, and for a fraction of the cost (essentially, almost free compared to thousands of dollars in the traditional form). There are of course cons to every new technology (such as access, broadband, risks of VR, etc), but I believe the potential of virtual worlds in the context of education far outweight the drawbacks.
I am interested in your last statement, about providing remedial work. This reminds me of the NYC school (school of one?) that we were introduced to a few weeks ago. Are you perhaps saying that whatever virtual schooling we conduct can be structured in a similar way?
Thansk for your excitment.
frank 11:45 pm on November 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Eva,
It’s been fun creating an Avatar and playing around in Second Life.
It might still be too early for me to speak of the learning potential of this OLE as the Noob that I am to SL. I agree with Tom and others that it shows promise for Research and other creative projects.
So far however, I do not see how it provides a significant advantage over something like Moodle on its own and other MOOCs projects. I’ve looked at the Sloodle presentation online for example, and there seem some interesting possibilities in scaffolded learning, role-play, and co-creation. But these also come with significant time commitments to this environment, and whether and how much there is to take away from the ultimate experience – anecdotes of meeting the love of your life on SL etc, not withstanding – remains to be seen. Lmk if you have any thoughts and cheers!
visramn 1:21 am on November 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I actually had a pretty hard time with this activity. Setting up my account and choosing and initial Avatar was fine but once I got into Second Life, I had lots of issues. It took me a very long time to change my avatar because the loading times were very slow. I was getting purple and pink shadow that were blocking out most of my screen. I tried teleporting to different areas but the shadows would not go away and this made it difficult for me to see what was in my surrounding.
While watching all the videos this week I started warming up to this type of virtual learning because I began to think about all the possibilities. I really liked that students could actually visit places and experience what they were like rather than just reading about them or seeing pictures. However, I have to say that there would be a lot of frustration and loss of interest if my students had to go through the same issues as I did.
Overall, this was an interesting experience and I really did learn a lot. I am sure it will get easier for me with more exploration and I may not have the shadows if I try using a different device.
I think I would use the exploration capabilities of this tool to help my Social Studies class to gain an in depth understanding of places we are studying. This way they can actually immerse themselves in the surrounds, artifacts and culture of the place they are studying.
Nureen
Eva Ziemsen 9:42 pm on November 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Nureen,
Thanks for your posting. As for the slow times of loading, this is a common issue with SL. It simply requires a fast connection and there is little way around it.
I’m glad, despite the issues, you were able to see the potential of SL. I think, as many have experienced technical issues, SL requires a very extensive introduction by any professor. However, once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless. I like your idea of using SL for a social studies lessons.It is important to remember that SL is for 18+ at this point. However, you could curate a tour and even have your own spaces that are limited, where other avatars (uninvited) cannot enter. Once you have this set up, it would be a very engaging way to navigate spaces that you are referring to in your class (even if it is you at the front of the class or allow other students to take over).
Thanks for your point of view.
lullings 2:20 pm on November 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Exploring second life is not natural with the mouse keyboard functionality – but then I saw the suggestion of the 3D mouse and that has opened up a whole new world for me. I would definitely think that using that interaction would be more natural and become almost instinctive.
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