Second Life in Higher Education: Surveying Pros and Cons
Posted on February 5, 2008 by Valerie
Filed Under Events, Teaching, Web 2.0 tools
I have yet to fully immerse myself into experimenting with Second Life. After creating an account and entering in to begin basic avatar customization, I grew frustrated with the interface (not seeming very intuitive) and have not since entered it. (I have very little patience for design that does not allow me to figure things out easily without reading instructions.) After reading more about the different possibilities of its use for education however, I will have to get my feet wet again.
On March 20th, the EDC is teaming up with the Carleton library to host a webinar on Second Life Basics for Educators. In anticipation of this we had the opportunity to virtually attend an Educause presentation by Sarah “Intellagirl” Robins, a Ph.D candidate and instructor who uses Second Life for teaching and learning. It was a wonderful, dynamic demonstration that really showed the possibilities that Second Life offers. The presentation Virtual Worlds as Web 2.0 Learning Spaces is still available here, I highly recommend viewing it.
Some highlights I picked up from her talk:
- The avatars that students choose (their customized appearance in Second Life) can teach you things about that student and thereby allow you to connect to them.
- “[Today's generation] want to be treated as ‘creators and doers’ rather than receptacles to be filled with content.” – Prensky
- Acceptance of mistakes as important to education – ability to have “do-overs” like the multiple lives in Super Mario (Nintendo).
- Instead of just giving them the narrative, we are enabling them to create their own.
- A goal in teaching students is to help them become life-long learners – give them the tools to educate themselves.
- Pedagogy 1st > Technology 2nd. Students 1st > University 2nd.
I have been reading several online articles, attempting to get a sense of the pros and cons involved in using Second Life for education. So far:
Cons:
- Learning curve.
- Managing student behaviour (and outsider intrusions).
- There seems to be a monetary cost involved in some cases.
- Communication in SL is still not perfect (in this US News and World report they identify a possible inadequate quality of avatar facial expressions, inability to read body language as in a classroom, and also the possibility that the student is physically outside of the room while seeming present).
- More difficult to ensure that students take their work seriously
- If teaching students in public areas of SL, students may get exposure to some of the more “uncouth” or “raunchy” areas of the virtual world – it is not just a space for education, but one in which both bad and good exist
Pros:
- Many amazing and successful possibilities for learning through development of virtual activities.
- Things can be done in Second Life that are not possible in the world of physical limitations – enabling a diverse and creative set of activities. (Sharon Collingwood points out that in studying Gender Studies men can change their avatars to women, in some way ‘experiencing’ what it is like to be female.
- Greater connectivity and engagement in distance education classes.
- A tool used for entertainment becomes also one of education – meeting students where they are and making learning engaging and enjoyable for them.
- Ability to have access to a virtual classroom in cases when physical teaching is not possible
- If open course work, connection to the wider world of learners (could be pro or con).
- Highly adaptable, user created, and users retain intellectual property to their creations.
- Utilizes experiential learning and caters to different learning methods.
Here’s a great presentation introduction done by Jo Kay and Sean Fitzgerald who also maintain the great wiki resource site, Second Life in Education:
By rob
Other helpful links:
- Educational Uses of Second Life (Ongoing list maintained by Jo Kay and Sean Fitzgerald organized by discipline/based categories)
- Official Second Life Education page – official resources for Second Life in education complete with mailing list, information on special discounts, and ways in which to use SL privately and securely
- Second Life Official Education Wiki, blog, forum, etc.
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4 Responses to “Second Life in Higher Education: Surveying Pros and Cons”
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[...] edc Blog Second Life in Higher Education: Surveying Pros and Cons Quote from the site – I have yet to fully immerse myself into experimenting with Second Life. After [...]
[...] Education in Second Life: Students and the Unexpected February 8, 2008 — dusanwriter Educators at Carleton University attended a Second Life demonstration intended for teachers and came up with a list of pros and cons listed in a blog entry here. [...]
I really have a difficult time grabbing onto the idea that SL has a non-intuitive interface. All of the tools are laid right in front of the user and if a new resident spends only 45 min in the orientation area, 80% of those tools are addressed. Interface design can make or break a multi media game environment and the SL population continues to increase. I think this is terribly subjective. I found SL to be drastically intuitive and too simple in some respects.
Yes, I can see how managing student behavior might prove difficult. However I would be more worried about someone parking their avatar in the class room then moving about away from their computer or surfing the net instead of paying attention to any given lecture. I don’t know that this is any worse than a RL situation which a student could hide a novel in their note book or doodle instead of taking notes. As an accomplished slacker myself I say that there is not certain way to make a student pay attention if they don’t feel like it.
The monetary cost is a fallacy. There are a great many good freebies available so far as clothing and skins go. Those of us who spend a lot more time in SL do go shopping often and end up buying L$. But a little careful research will show that there are all manner of contests and promotions that will allow a new resident to realize some L$. Granted if they want to upload anything at all then there is a minimal fee. This is a relatively small sum when you consider it and much smaller than say lab fees at a junior college or even shop fees at a high school.
There are a few expressions AO (animation over riders) which actually monitor your chat and cause your avatar to respond appropriately. I recommend Live Expressions by Lilani Lowell. Once more the physicality of communication is an aspect that any resident can control and most do to the point of buying an AO to avoid the “newbie shuffle” which is the default walk and stance of any given avatar. You can set up gestures with a macro for quick use too.
As to teaching students in public areas, depending on the age group this is a common sense situation. If you are working with kids, legal minors then they cannot be on the adult grid so you really shouldn’t have much to worry about. If you are working with legal adults then they should be able to stay focused and with a little forethought and communication you can let the class know you will beheading into an area with adult oriented material. However, like planning any lesson you should be looking ahead. Go to the location, scout it out. That’s a no brainer. Require the class to stay in a given area, probably a PG area if you are worried about any one taking offense.
Many schools and even solitary educators invest in private locations to control the academic environment. That can be pricey for a single instructor but if several pool their resources and get creative with their grant writing then it really shouldn’t be an issue.
Mace Maverick (yeah that’s my SL name)
[...] There is so much potential teaching aspects in SL, it’s no wonder Universities, hospitals, government org., and private org., are moving into SL for a training purposes. Pros and Cons. [...]