a snapshot of ... in second life
DESCRIPTION
A brief look at Second Life in the context of Web 2.0.TRANSCRIPT
Nov 2
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Andy Powell, Eduserv [email protected]
www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation
A snapshot of … in Second Life
UKSG Meeting – Caught up in Web 2.0
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Second what?
• 3-D virtual world
• MUVE
• run by Linden Lab
• ‘proprietary’, but public commitment to open standards and OSS
• populated by avatars, aka residents
www.secondlife.com
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
So it’s just a game right?
• can use SL to build games – including shoot ‘em ups
• but such activities frowned on in public spaces
• looks and feels like a gaming environment
• but no purpose as such
– use it to buy / sell, entertain, learn, collaborate, …
• do not approach it simply as a game – you’ll be disappointed!
image by J0@nn@ @ flickr.com
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Joining SL
• two steps– register
– install client software
• note technical requirements
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
What does it cost?
• basic accounts are free
• need to pay monthly subscription ($10) to own land
• land can be quite expensive
• ‘land use fees’ for owning more than smallest plot
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Naming / identity
• every avatar has a name
• chosen at registration
• can’t be changed
• though can have ‘Alt’s
• mine is Art Fossett - not an anagram!
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Identity / appearance
• on the Internet no one knows you’re a dog
• in SL no one knows you’re a bloke
• appearance can be changed instantly
• wings and tails (‘furries’) seem oddly popular!
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Communication
• chat
• IM
• group IM
• IM <-> email
• voice – however support for voice fairly recent and not clear what impact it is having
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Building and selling stuff
• anyone can build
• objects made out of basic building blocks – prims (cubes, spheres, …)
• objects can be textured for realism – but uploading costs L$10
• objects can be scripted
• in-world currency enables buying and selling of goods
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
SL and Web 2.0?
• prosumer
• remote apps
• social
• API
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
SL APIs
• scripting language can issue HTTP GET and POST requests
• can integrate with Web 2.0 services
• but significant limitations currently
• no built-in HTML, XML or JSON parsers so need to parse externally
• SLURLs can be bookmarked in del.icio.us
• some good examples – Second Talk, SLoodle, SLtwitter, BlogHUD, RSS readers, Facebook
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Hype
• SL very over-hyped
• significant complaints that stats are misleading
• i.e. worse than Web stats
• LL have improved the way they report usage but…
• SL also (inappropriately) touted as Web 3.0
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Usage statistics
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Uptake in UK
• July 2007 snapshot of use of SL in UK HE and FE
• undertaken by John Kirriemuir
• funded by Eduserv
• fragmented and somewhat cloudy picture
• activity happening at multiple levels – sometime within same institution – not always visible, even within the institution
• series of snapshots planned over next 12 months
http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/sl
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Major findings
• some SL activity at 43 institutions
• 15 of those building an institutional presence
• what are they doing?– small-scale activities…
– hosting exhibitions of students’ work
– researching possibilities
– building tools
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
SL and learning
• widespread interest in use of SL in education
• explicitly encouraged by Linden Lab
• not clear that people really know how to use SL yet
• but some interesting examples of use
• arts, social sciences, law, psychology, archaeology, languages, …
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
SL and research
• even less clear what is possible here
• but note that Nature Publishing have an 2 islands (‘Second Nature’)
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
SL and libraries
• strong library community in SL
• centred around Info Island
• reference desk
• information literacy
• book-related activities
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
SL in context
• SL is one of many virtual worlds
• there.com, World of Warcraft, Entropia Universe, Active Worlds, Croquet, Metaverse, …
• not clear that SL is the answer
• SL client now released as open source
• clear demand for server to made OSS also
• some commitment to this by LL (partly because people are reverse-engineering the server anyway)
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Finding out more
• SLED list – run by Linden Lab, US-centric but is the main forum for learning-related SL issues
• [email protected] (UK)
• [email protected] (libraries)
• in-world UK Educators group (open and free to join)
• lots of Second Life Facebook groups
• pointers to other resources on the Linden Lab Second Life Grid education page
http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Conclusions…
• too much hype
• no clear best-practice (or even much practice) around e-learning
• high technical requirements
• impact of voice not clear
• but… useful experimental environment
• building and scripting environment very powerful
• seems likely that 3-D virtual worlds of some kind will be part of the future
?
Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
Conclusions…
• sustainability, ownership and privacy issues around use of and reliance on US-based commercial-run, externally hosted service
• unclear what student perceptions and attitudes are
• but generally accepted that SL is a minority sport at the moment and is likely to remain so
• SL appears to be most suitable for active, constructive learning styles
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Nov 2007UKSG Web 2.0 event
questions…