Get a MUVE On: Using Second Life in Education

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Get a MUVE On Using Second Life in Education
Rodan Rodenberger aka Rhonda BergerCTD
Jellie Lane aka Janelle FernandezVirtual College
Conference Day 2008 Miami Dade College
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What is Second Life?

• Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely
  created by its Residents.
• Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown
  explosively and today is inhabited by millions of
  residents from around the globe.

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How is it used?

• Social Interaction Networking
• Businesses (Both in SL and real life)
• Government NASA, NOAA
• Entrepreneurial endeavors
• Creative Arts (live music, etc.)
• Education List of schools

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Second Life in Education

• Active Learning
• An ideal platform for engaging students in
  creating their own learning activities,
  experiences and environments, and not just be
  passive consumers of learning.

• 3D virtual worlds can provide
• opportunities for rich sensory immersive
  experiences.
• Authentic contexts and activities for
  experiential learning, simulation and role-play.

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Lets take a tour.

• Educational Use Video
• Ohio State University YouTube

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English Class

• English students at the University of
  Texas-Austin each picked a role model, created an
  avatar and assumed the role of the avatar for the
  activity. Among avatars Malcolm X, Oprah, Mother
  Teresa, Bill Gates and Teddy Roosevelt. The
  students conducted conversations in the personae
  of their avatars.

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Libraries

• What do Libraries do?
• Reference
• Desk is staffed
• Uses Questionpoint chat reference software
• Email a librarian service
• Outreach programs
• Writers talks
• Visit from historical figures
• Book discussions
• Collections
• External links
• Web tools accessed within SL
• Items specially made for SL
• Database Trials
• Classes and Seminars
• About using SL tools
• For Librarians

Slideshare Presentation
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Library

• Library of Congress Exhibit now open in Second
  Life
• Includes dioramas, streamed audio, text in the
  form of larger-than-life documents and SL note
  cards, information kiosks and even period
  furniture.

• Info Island
• Cleveland Public Library

 
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Language/Cultural Learning
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Business

• Thousands of residents are making part or all of
  their real life income from their Second Life
  Businesses.
• Linden Dollars
• Existing in-world companies also have Second Life
  presence
• Cisco
• Live presentations Product Demonstrations
• IBM
• Facilitates communication among IBM companies,
  internationally by holding meetings and
  discussions
• MTV
• Held a fashion show which they later showed on TV
• Starwood Hotels
• Premieres virtual constructions of their new
  hotels before theyre actually built
• Sun Microsystems
• Holds press conferences in their Sun Pavilion

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Nursing/Medicine

• NESIMOR is a 3-D simulator that uses the online
  virtual of Second Life to practice diagnosing and
  treating patients in a simulated emergency
  department environment. It is currently being
  used to instruct nursing students at Tacoma
  Community College.
• Nursing Field Trip

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Science

• NOAA
• NASA
• Genome Project
• Video Science Learning Opportunities

Dont let go!
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Science

• History of the Earth and Life on Earth Students
  in Chris Impeys astrobiology course at the
  University of Arizona contributed to his History
  of the Earth and Life on Earth exhibit.

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Psychology/Sociology

• UC Davies Schizophrenia
• Koolaid people - Creating Community/Exploring
  diversity
• Utopian Society
• Body Image
• Ethnic/Gender Studies

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ART Humanities

• 3D Modeling
• Galleries
• Contests
• The Louvre

SL Art Gallery List
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Reproduction of the Sistine Chapel

• Students can travel to historical sites right
  from their desks!

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Aeronautics, Space and beyond

• International Space Museum
• NASA

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Math a piece of cake
From 6th EDEN Open Classroom Conference,
Stockholm 2007
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Socialization

• Social Gatherings
• Parties
• Dance Clubs

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Virtual Concerts

• SL Users have the best seats in the house to
  these concerts

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Training

• Emergency Preparedness
• Companies are combining the use of Second Life
  and the (Nintendo) WiiMote to train employees on
  things such as
• Inspecting a house for moisture and heat sources
• Mixing chemicals and loading them onto a truck
• Power Plant training
• Driving simulations
• Using products like Google Maps and Google Earth,
  simulation can represent actual streets
  on-screen, so that not every trainee in America
  has to drive down the "same mythical Maple
  Street.
• Training modules include those intersections and
  locations where there is a history of accidents.

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Conferences

• SL provides online facilities for entire
  conferences to take place via the web
• Conferences sometimes held on SL and
  simultaneously in a live facility through Video
  Conferencing

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Educational Uses

• Training Skills Development
• Self-paced tutorials
• Displays and Exhibits
• Immersive Exhibits
• Role-plays and Simulations
• Data Visualizations and Simulations
• Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums
• Historical recreations and reenactments, Living
  and immersive archaeology
• Computer Programming
• Artificial Intelligence Projects
• Artificial Life Projects
• Multimedia and Games Design
• Art and Music Project
• Literature, composition and Creative Writing
• Theatre and Performance Art
• Photo stories and Photo Scenarios
• Machinima
• Treasure Hunts and Quests

• Virtual Tourism, Cultural Immersion and Cultural
  Exchange
• Language Teaching and Practice and Language
  Immersion
• Social Science and Anthropologic Research
• Awareness/Consciousness Raising Fund-raising
• Support and Opportunities for people with
  disabilities
• Politics, Governance, Civics and Legal Practice
• Business, Commerce, Financial Practice and
  Modeling
• Real Estate PracticeProduct Design, Prototyping,
  User-testing and Market Research
• Interior Design
• Urban Planning Design
• Architectural Design and Modeling

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Articles

• Educause article Discusses the types of
  learning best suited for SL - Empathic/Empathy-Bas
  ed - Encounter-Based Exploratory
• 101 Uses for SL in Education
• 13 Tips for Teaching in SL