SECOND LIFE IN HIGHER

EDUCATIONSarah “Intellagirl” Robbins

Presentation forHoughton Mifflin

July 24, 2007

A Little About Me

•97: BA in Literature•‘99-’02: Macmillan/Que•‘03: MA in Literature•Now: PhD Candidate in Rhetoric and Writing•Director of Emerging Technologies at MediaSauce.com

MediaSauce.com

Internal and External DigitalCommunication and Marketing

Strategist

Understanding Virtual Environment Communication

Mechanics: A Developing Taxonomy of Digital Spaces

10 Qualities of Virtual Environments that Impact Communication

Access and Relationship to Others

Limited Access Freer Access

Limited Relationships

Freer Relationships

THE CURRENT SITUATION

Who are our STUDENTS?

Where do they LIVE?

How do they LEARN outside

the classroom?

89%USE EMAIL

67%GET NEWSONLINE

70%RESEARCH FOR SCHOOL ONLINE

64%SEND IMs

74%WATCH VIDEOSONLINE

43%PLAY ONLINE GAMES

56%DOWNLOAD MUSIC

91%INTERNET SEARCH FOR

ANSWERS

52%READ BLOGS

60%SEND/RECEIVETEXT MESSAGES

57%SEARCHED FORINFO ABOUT

COLLEGE

Wikipedia Traditional Encyclopedia

WHERE WE TEACH THEM

HOW WE DELIVER INFORMATION

LET’S COMPARE

VS.

VS.

A POSSIBLE SOLUTION

What is Second Life?

MultiUserVirtualEnvironment

History of Second Life

April ‘03: Second Life founded by Linden Lab, SF CAJune ‘03: Second Life goes liveMarch ‘06: Intellagirl Tully is bornOctober ‘06: Second Life reaches 1 millionJanuary ‘06: Second Life reaches 2 million

Gartner’s Hype Cycle changes when applied to Second Life education

Start here?

Start here?

Start here?

Components of Second Life

Infinitely Adjustable Avatars

The Map

Chat

Instant Messaging

Inventory

FriendsList

MiniMap

Motion Controls

Camera Controls

Building ToolsChat Window

MediaControls

LEARNING METHODS

IN SECOND LIFE

ENCOURAGING SPECIFICBEHAVIORS

PLAYING A ROLE

CHANGING ROLES IN DRAMATIC WAYS

DISORIENTATION

INTERACTING WITH FANTASY

CRITIQUE AND PARODY

WHAT SUBJECTS

ARE SUITABLE TO

SECOND LIFE?

Art

Biology

UK National Physics Lab – Color Blindness

Business

Architecture

Communication

CMCVerbal and NonVerbalSmall GroupInterpersonal

Education

GlobalKids.org

English

Apparel Design

Geography: Climatology,

Tourism

History

Roma

Journalism

Modern Languages

Physics

Political Science

PsychologyUC Davis Schizophrenia Simulator

Sociology

Theatre/Literature

New Globe Theatre

Literature

Literature Alive’s Inferno

Implications

• Appeal to today’s student• Collaboration between

campuses, disciplines, students/nonstudents

• Distributed learning• Authenticity• Seamless integration from school

to work

What SL Educators Need

• Reliable content• A trusted guide• Safe spaces• Understanding of SL in context of

other technologies