Learning to Teach in Second Life

1. Learning to
Teach in Second QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
Life: are needed to see this picture.
A Hands-On
Workshop
Lisa Dawley & Chris Haskell
Dept. of Educational Technology

2. Audience
 How many have been in a virtual world of any kind?
 How many have created an account, an avatar in
Second Life?
 How many are inworld more than 1 hour per week?
 How many are inworld more than 3 hours per week?
 How many currently teach in SL?

3. Overview of Today’s Session
 Short overview on
Second Life & Teen SL
 Split into two groups &
rotate
 Hands-on learning centers
on EDTECH Island
 Discussion group on
pedagogical techniques
 Questions & Next Steps

4. Web 2.0 Tools
 Explore social networking technologies…
Virtual Worlds - online 3D,
immersive environments
 Blogs - web journal ActiveWorlds
www.blogger.com Second Life
There
 Wikis - collaborative online Hipihi
space, editable by community TeenSecond Life
www.pbwiki.com Habbo
3B
 Photo & Video Sharing Gogofrog
www.flickr.com WhyVille
photobucket.com ToonTown
www.youtube.com Club Penguin

5. Why Virtual Worlds?
 The Internet is Going 3D
 In 2007, 24%, or 8.2 million children, visited
QuickTime™ and a
virtual worlds. TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
 By 2011, the estimate is 53% or 20 million.
• Over 100 virtual worlds are in use or
planned for release this year.
•By the end of the year, Club Penguin will
be the largest with over 50 million kids.
•By 2011, 80% of internet users will use
3DLearn Interactive Academy virtual worlds.
http://www.3dlearn.com/

6. EDTECH Island
 What is EDTECH Island?
 EDTECH Island is located on the main grid of Second Life (18 and over)
 Began in January 2007 offering graduate courses in educational technology
 Over 1,000 educators in our EDTECH community group (please join us!)

7. EDTECH Island
Designed in response
to students’ needs:
• Building skills
• Information
• Meeting place
• Social area
• Living areas
• Amphitheater

8. Handling Griefers
• Close Second Life
• Turn off your computer
• Ignore them
• Teleport or fly away
• Mute them (right click on their avatar & mute)
• Report them using the “Abuse” feature
• Ban or eject them

9. EDTECH Island Wiki
http://edtechisland.wetpaint.com/

10. Activities in Second
Life
 What can you do in Second Life?
 Because SL is a simulation, possibilities are
endless
 Build & Script: the entire world is designed and
built by users
 Role play: human, alien, animal, mermaid…
 Activities: fly, run, roller skate, swim, surf, race
boats, dance, parachute, play music, sing, write
books, visit a famous city, explore museums,
meet historical figures, date, ski, attend classes,
create a living ecosystem, stage and film a
movie, meditate, attend church, participate in
charitable events, start a real business that
generates revenues

11. Pedagogy in Second
Life
 What teaching approaches and techniques are used in
Second Life?
 Lecture
 Whole group discussion
 Small group discussion
 Collaborative projects
 Scavenger hunts
 Peer observation and feedback
 Surveys, tests
 Note-taking
 Field trips
 Simulations
 Guest speakers
 Design & building
 Commerce-based learning
 Interviews
 And more….

12. K-12 Education in
Second Life
 Examples of Second Life in K-12 Education
 Camp Global Kids 2006 was the first virtual summer camp.
 Global Kids Island in the teen grid is a place for teen
residents to learn about important social and world issues.
 Kids Connect is a series of workshops for young people in
multiple locations, teaching them to connect and work together
via performance, storytelling
and collaboration by both physical and digital means.
 Exploratorium in San Francisco, the museum of science,
art, and human perception, mixed real- and virtual-world
experiences when they presented a live Webcast of a solar
eclipse from Side, Turkey, in three virtual SL amphitheaters.

13. Diversity & Culture
 Choose Your Appearance
 SL has many diverse
cultures, sub-cultures,
and social networking
groups.
SL provides teachers and
students the opportunity to
engage in experiential
learning opportunities with
diversity, in a non-threatening
environment. Avatars can
take on any physical shape
including human, animal,
robots, and objects such as
the KoolAid man.

14. Socialization
 Students can socialize
beyond the classroom
 Back-to-school party
 Social events, like this
back-to-school party on
EDTECH Island, provide
students and other
educators a way to
socialize and build
relationships beyond the
classroom.

15. Sciences
 International Space Flight
Museum
 Experiential learning in space
 Life size replicas of actual rockets,
NASA video, and interactive
exhibits. Ride a rocket into space,
land and walk on a space station,
see the Hubble Telescope, and QuickTime™ and a
teleports to planets in the solar
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
system created from actual space
photography.

16. Music & Theater
 Live Music, Theater & Poetry
 Hundreds of Artists Play Live
Everyday
 SL streams live audio. Musicians,
singers, and actors find a willing
audience any time of day.
•Suzanne Vega
•Sting
•U2

17. Literacy
 The Edgar Allen Poe House
 Immersive Education in the Literature Alive! Project
Visit scenes
recreated from
Edgar Allen
Poe’s novels.
Explore activities
designed to engage
you with the text.

18. Impact of Social
Networking
 Why Use Social Networking?
 Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way we communicate. Communication
influences how people think and learn.
 Historically, mass communication has involved transmission from a main source to
many users. Note the same is basically true for all levels of education since the
Industrial Age.
Student
Teacher,
TV,
advertiser Student
Student

19. Teacher’s Role in
Social Networks
 Why Use Social Networking?
 Social networking promotes mass
communication among all users, thus
Teacher Student
supporting constructivist approaches to
teaching. Student
 Examples of influence of social networks:
political campaign blogs, YouTube,
MySpace Student
 Role of teacher: facilitator of the network Teacher
 In an era of social networking, those Student
participating WITHIN the network are most
credible. Parent

20. SL’s Social Network
SL’s intersection with the social
network is vast, and takes many
forms:
 SL currently interfaces with blogs,
email, web pages, audio, video
streams
 Sloodle: Moodle and SL mashup
 GeoGlobe: brings Google Earth into
SL
 Salamander: Merlot database project
 Inworld groups and ads
 Slurls
 SLExchange: The “ebay” for SL
 Anything on the internet can
be brought into Second Life.
SL is the “web plus.”

21. Educator
Networks
In Second Life

22. Educator
Networks
Around Second
Life

23. Educator
Networks
In and Around
Second Life

24. Challenges &
Concerns
 Some Challenges and Concerns
with Second Life
 Mature content on the main grid
 TOS and community standards
 Access for all students
 Faculty training, learning curve
 Costs & management
 Griefers

25. Videos on Second
Life
 Watch These Videos to See What SL is All About…
 New Media Consortium Second Life Video www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8wm_1TIHGA
 Global Kids in Second Life (3 videos)
http://secondlife.com/businesseducation/education.php
 NOAA's Virtual Island www.youtube.com/watch?
 Architecture in Second Life Machinima www.youtube.com/watch?v=KruzH82Z2qQ
 The Making of Suzanne Vega's Second Life Guitar
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQL8_HB1HtQ

26. Getting Started in SL
 Getting Started in Second Life…
 Second Life Education Wiki - everything you need to know about SL.
http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/
 Introducing your Real Life Students to Second Life - provides overview
of things to consider when using SL with your students.
www.cxknowledge.com
 Rez Ed: The Hub for Learning & Virtual Worlds
http://www.rezed.org/
 Second Life Education Grid http://secondlifegrid.net/slfe/education-use-
virtual-world

27. How do I teach in
Second Life?
1. First, be a learner, not a teacher. Spend time on the main grid.
2. Take as many free classes as you can!
3. Understand the basics of the interface (Torley’s YouTube videos!)
4. Get involved in virtual educator groups:
 Second Life (listserv)
 Teen Second Life (listserv)
 Rez Ed (website)
5. Learn where to find information:
 SL Education wiki
 SimTeach wiki
6. Learn to build
7. Carefully plan your Teen SL project
8. Stock up your avatar before you move over
9. Keep it fun! Allow you and your kids to be creative