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The Secret Second Life of Education – a Case Study

Chew-Goh Swee Wah1, John Yap Yin Gwee2

1Computer Centre, National University of Singapore, 2Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, National University of Singapore

ccegohsw@nus.edu.sg, fasyapyg@nus.edu.sg

AbstractAs more and more students or today’s GEN Y

trade real-life activities for pixilated ones, be it love found, roaming endless cityscapes, chat with friends, attend events, or flying around the 3-D in worlds in an avatar - a digital representation of oneself, and con-duct academic activities or lessons in the virtual world with mixed reality is nothing but exhilarating.

In late 2007, a team of students and the staff of Computer Centre passionately conceptualized a 3D online virtual campus in Second Life to convene, con-nect, and create a collaborative learning community where creativity thrives beyond imagination and pos-sibilities. The project was co-designed, co-built and co-owned entirely by the students, faculties and staff. As we immerse our learning environments with tech-nology, we start to challenge our views what mode of learning should take place, and where. This paper explores what will equip the 21st Century literacy – one that integrates core subject knowledge with learn-ing and innovation skills; information, media, and technology skills. Some reflections on the pedagogi-cal approaches and processes will be discussed.

Introduction

In January 2008, a pilot project of an online 3-D virtual campus of the National University of Singapore (NUS) – NUS Second Life was launched,

aimed to enable real time cross-border interaction, collaboration, playing and learning amongst the stu-dents, staff and the researchers anytime anywhere without boundaries . NUS Second Life was co-designed, co-built and co-owned entirely by the students, faculties and the staff of Computer Centre. It is to be an open learning space that meets today’s dig-ital learners’ multi-tasking & multimedia learning styles and behaviors, online social networking, online info-searching, online gaming, simulations and cre-ative expressions only limited by one’s own imagina-tion.

The project was explored, brainstormed, and imagined by a team of passionate students and the staff of Computer Centre, coming together and armed with bountiful enthusiasm and desire to conceptualize the NUS Second Life (NUS SL). The project was developed based on a phased approach to construct the in-world buildings that enable academic and col-laborative learning, playing and social interaction activities and events. NUS SL comprises the follow-ing environments:

a) University Hall - Façade of the University Hall building, an Auditorium, Cafeteria, Amphitheatre etc.

b) HangOut! - Shout-Out Corner, Dormitories, Dance Floor, Shuttle Bus, Market Place, Beach etc.

c) Teaching & learning Centre - Meeting Rooms, Project Rooms & Laboratories.

d) Student & Alumni Club House - Celebration Hall, Lounge, Slot Machine

e) Education Resource Centre - DIY Centre, Test Bed Platform, Information Board etc.

f) Research Centre - Research Labs, Meeting & Project Rooms, Message Board etc.

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1 ObjectivesThe objectives of creating an online 3-D virtual

campus can be broadly classified as follows:

• To inspire students to think, connect, create, and share; using technology to help fulfill individual potential, dissolve boundaries, and create a better learning environment.

• To nurture and develop Learning & Innovation Skills:- Creativity & Innovation- Critical Thinking & Problem Solving- Communication & Collaboration- Cross-cultural Understanding- Communication & Media Fluency- Computing & ICT Fluency

2 Benefi tsNUS Second Life allows any member of the NUS

community, staff or students, ability to create or attend tutorials, make friends and widen his/her social network, design the interactive 3-D facilities; build-ings & gadgets in the Sandbox area, attend official or public lectures, take part in social events or parties, hang out at cool joints, be an entrepreneur to con-struct building objects/structures and make Linden dollars (convertible to USD) or meet international vis-itors visiting the island.

3 Success Drivers3.1 Logins

Since its soft launch in January 2008, there are a total of close to 3000 visitor logins, with 1300 unique visitors, and an average of 65 visitor logins per day.

3.2 Academics ActivitiesA total of four (4) academic modules have been

officially conducted in NUS Second Life using virtual teaching facilities that comprises modules on Introduction to Computing, Information Systems Development Project and Principles of Communication Management by the School of Computing and the Centre for Communication & New Media of the University. Additional three (3) modules have been scheduled to be delivered are on Cyber Crime and Society. In summary, a combined total of 1,200 stu-dents participated actively in the academic delivery through the online 3-D in-world.

Table 1: Tutorial in Action

Table 2: Tutorial Schedule

4 A Better Balance

20th Century Learning Approach

21st Century Learning Approach

Teacher-directed Learner-centered Direct Instruction Collaborative Construction Knowledge Skills Content Process Basic Skills Higher-order Thinking Theory Practice Curriculum Life Skills Individual Team Work Classroom Community Summative Assessment Formative Evaluations Learning for School Learning for Life

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The Differentiators for 21st Century Learning Approach

• Learning with understanding• Prior knowledge counts• Self direction matters• Collaboration• Multimodal learning through media• Critical thinking / authenticity where the design of

instruction is in a situated learning environment, utilizing constructivist tenets and a self-directed inquiry based approach leads to higher order cog-nitive skills and applicable, transferable learning.

Our primary goal is to activate students’ thinking in multiple ways, using the media best suited to the student and the subject matter at hand, and where teaching materials can be presented through multiple modes and media rather than in just a single mode. Some published data have shown that students of all ages retain more verbal information -- textual or oral -- when lecturers supplement it with visual examples.

5 Refl ectionsOn the Pedagogical Approach and Processes involved:

• Innovation that will drive student centeredness:- Increases interactivity and the effectiveness of

communication- Offers extensive opportunities to significantly

address learner diversity and increase learner adaptability. It gives us a platform to better understand teaching effectiveness and what personalization can offer to learners.

- Promotes new dimensions of pedagogical innovation that increases shared visualiza-tions, and increase experiential learning.

- Challenges us to look for more appropriate and effective means of assessment, including embedded assessment.

• Gain greater learning satisfaction and motiva-tion- Students are more participative and contribute

more actively during the tutorial sessions, espe-cially for students who tend to be quiet in class are now more vocal in the in-world discussions.

• Preparatory IT training for lecturers & Students- Adopt an interdisciplinary approach where

Computer Centre could lend support in areas like preparatory IT training for lecturers.

• For moderate to complex learning where coopera-tion triumphs competition, and competition tri-umphs individual learning. Some cooperative learning successes are:- Balance of formal & informal- Commitment to purpose- Mutually beneficial- Shared workspace

• Learning in a virtual world allow us to explore new directions and more challenging and rigorous con-cepts to determine which content is rooted in a medium of the past, and how that can be translated to a more relevant and authentic learning experi-ence appropriate to the students of Generation Y.

• Assists in creating collaborative learning commu-nities connected in unique and exciting ways where learning becomes gaming, and gaming becomes learning.

Table 3: Shout-Out-Corner

Table 4: Message Board

NUS Second Life project is a marathon and not a sprint, and we are glad that students, faculties and staff are coming together for this race. It is a place where you are only limited by your own imagination.

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