Learning to Teach in Second Life: A Hands-On Workshop

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Lisa Dawley & Chris Haskell

Dept. of Educational Technology

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?

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

Web 2.0 Tools

Explore social networking technologies…

Blogs - web journalwww.blogger.com

Wikis - collaborative online space, editable by

communitywww.pbwiki.com

Photo & Video Sharingwww.flickr.comphotobucket.comwww.youtube.com

Virtual Worlds - online 3D, immersive environments

ActiveWorldsSecond LifeThereHipihiTeenSecond LifeHabbo 3BGogofrogWhyVilleToonTownClub Penguin

Why Virtual Worlds?

The Internet is Going 3D

In 2007, 24%, or 8.2 million children, visited

virtual worlds.

By 2011, the estimate is 53% or 20 million.

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3DLearn Interactive Academy http://www.3dlearn.com/

• 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 virtual worlds.

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!)

EDTECH Island

Designed in response to students’ needs:

• Building skills• Information• Meeting place• Social area• Living areas• Amphitheater

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

EDTECH Island Wiki

http://edtechisland.wetpaint.com/

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

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….

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.

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.

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.

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 teleports to planets in the solar system created from actual space photography.

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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

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.

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.

Teacher, TV, advertiser

Student

Student

Student

Teacher’s Role in Social Networks

Why Use Social Networking? Social networking promotes mass

communication among all users, thus

supporting constructivist approaches to

teaching.

Examples of influence of social networks:

political campaign blogs, YouTube,

MySpace

Role of teacher: facilitator of the network

In an era of social networking, those

participating WITHIN the network are most

credible.

Teacher

Parent

Student

Student

Student

Teacher Student

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.”

Educator Networks In Second Life

Educator Networks Around Second Life

Educator Networks In and Around Second Life

Challenges & Concerns

Some Challenges and Concernswith Second Life

Mature content on the main grid

TOS and community standards

Access for all students

Faculty training, learning curve

Costs & management

Griefers

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

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

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 build7. Carefully plan your Teen SL project 8. Stock up your avatar before you move over9. Keep it fun! Allow you and your kids to be creative