Virtual Possibilities: A Virtual Possibilities: A ConstructivistConstructivist

Examination of the Examination of the Educational Applications of Educational Applications of

Second LifeSecond Life

Jeff NeelyWest Bowers

Matt Ragas

University of Florida

August 6, 2009

This study surveyed post-secondary instructors (n = 162) in 20 countries regarding their experiences using the virtual world Second Life as a teaching tool.

Specifically, the purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine Second Life’s positive and negative attributes as identified by instructors who had already used the technology in their curricula.

Study findings were based on a qualitative analysis of free-text responses to five open-ended questions from an online survey conducted between May-August 2008.

This study was guided by the educational theory of constructivism, which is based on the idea that experiences provide the best mode of learning.

In particular, this study was guided by Grabinger, Dunlap and Duffield’s (1997) five critical principles of a “rich environment for active learning” that support a constructivist educational view:

1. Student responsibility and initiative

2. Generative learning

3. Authentic learning context

4. Authentic assessment

5. Co-operative support

Authentic Assessment

- Least prominent theme: Appeared 7 times

- Limited discussion of how students were assessed

- an instructor who planned to have business students set up a real business as a form of assessment, “dynamic interactive quizzes”

Student Responsibility and Inititave

- Appeared 92 times

- Puts the learning process in the students’ hands

- “development of decision-making skills”, “role-play”, “engagement”, “new way of thinking”, and “creative thinking”

Generative Learning Strategies

- Appeared 49 times

- Referenced creation of a virtual artifact

- “build”, “create”, “designing ‘thematic’ environments”, “we will make movies inworld”, and “exhibition of art”

Authentic Learning Contexts

- Appeared 234 times

- Mostly referenced simulation of real environment

- “the tool that mostly is near a Real Life experience”, “visually engaging, far more than a text-based distance learning class/environment”

Co-operative Support

- Appeared 48 times

- Opportunities for collaboration

- “team building exercises”, “group projects”, “co-creation”, “collaborative enterprises”, and “students helping each other”

Technology

- Most prominent theme: Appeared 243 times

- #1 obstacle to implementing in education

- “steep learning curve,” “technical instability,” “service outages,” “constant updates.”

Professional support

- Appeared 45 times

- Professional networking, in-world resources for students & teachers, support from fellow faculty & administrators

- “SL Educators list is invaluable,” “meeting like-minded people,” VS. “ongoing ridicule from colleagues,” “bureaucratic hurdles”

Cost

- Second least prevalent theme: Appeared 25 times

- Mostly negative – “ridiculously expensive land costs,” cost for students to upload work product, lack of funding from department

- Positive points: “the fact that it can be explored for free,” ability to do/create things that would be cost prohibitive in real life ,”

Hyperreality/fantasy

- Appeared 38 times

- Ability to do things physically impossible in real world: fly, teleport, “visualise imagined places”

- “build larger than life items to teach complex topics,” “create an environment without typical real world boundaries like gravity.”

Convenience and Control

- Appeared 154 times

- Ability to control online learning environment and pedagogical flexibility

- Virtual guest speakers, save discussion logs, “build what you need,” VS. “griefing,” “nudity,” “Linden Lab seeks to impose its definitions of education and student life on our virtual campus”

Fun and Attractiveness

- Appeared 78 times

- “novelty,” “informal atmosphere,” “student enthusiasm,” “creative interest” VS. “not compelling,” “lame,” “won’t be impressed unless our builds can come closer to the quality they experience in WOW [World of Warcraft] or Grand Theft Auto.”

Diversity

- Appeared 58 times

- Mostly positive: human diversity and diversity of concepts

- “global exposure,” “international perspective,” “transcending prejudices based on appearance.”

Results suggest a great deal of promise in realizing the constructivist potential of Second Life as a teaching tool.

Second Life presents some novel and useful technological opportunities for teachers, but these opportunities will not be fully realized until the technology becomes more stable and schools provide the necessary resources and support.

Future research should use other qualitative tools, such as depth-interviews and focus groups, to probe educator perceptions about virtual worlds in more detail.