An Introduction to Second Life

1
An Introduction to Second Life

• Or
• "Second Life
• A Virtual World with Possibilities to Enhance
  Education"

2
Why Virtual Worlds?

• Let me talk about the life cycle of technology,
  having lived through it a few times. We usually
  start off with a new educational technology, and
  early adopters go out and endure a lot of pain to
  do what were already doing in some cases not
  as well, but eventually as well- with the new
  technology. Through their work, we then figure
  out how to do things that we never could do
  before.
• - Donald Welch on Second Life

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Why Virtual Worlds?

• This quote really sums up the reason why we
  should be looking into virtual technology. While
  it cant do everything we want, and while there
  are better programs out there for doing things
  like online meetings and presentations, it also
  has the potential to become much more. If we
  arent at least becoming used to the idea of
  using virtual worlds as a tool, we will be
  falling behind.
• However, this does not mean that everyone should
  be using Virtual Worlds such as Second Life. It
  just means we should not discount them.

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Why Second Life?

• Significant User Base
• 14 million users (though this number may be
  inflated due to people having multiple accounts)
• 37 percent are located in the USA
• 44 percent in Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan,
  France, Brazil, Italy, Canada, Spain and the
  Netherlands.
• Ages 18-24 make up 23 percent
• Ages 25-34 make up 35 percent
• Ages 35-44 make up 24 percent
• From AJ Kelton Virtual Worlds? Outlook Good
• This is a significant pool of potential college
  students

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What is Second Life?

• Linden Labs describe it as
• Second Life is a 3-D virtual world 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.
• You'll also be surrounded by the Creations of
  your fellow Residents. Because Residents retain
  intellectual property rights in their digital
  creations, they can buy, sell and trade with
  other Residents.
• The Marketplace currently supports millions of US
  dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is
  handled with the inworld unit of trade, the
  Linden dollar, which can be converted to US
  dollars at several thriving online Linden dollar
  exchanges.

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What is Second Life?

• Basically they are saying there are a large
  number of subscribers, accessing it through the
  internet from around the world and where the
  residents can create their own content which they
  can then buy, sell and trade with other
  residents.
• Doesnt that sound amazing?

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But what does that mean?

• For the individual it means freedom of expression
  they can become whoever or whatever they want.
  And there is a wide variety of choices for that.
  Everyone can be an individual.

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But what does that mean?

• For groups it means the ability to join together
  with people across the globe who have the same
  interests. Interested in architecture, visit
  places like the Sistine Chapel in Second Life.
  Into period re-enactment? Go to any number of
  time periods (dont forget to dress
  authentically). Do you like snow globes? They
  probably have a snow globe island and if they
  dont, create one and watch your fellow hobbyists
  flock to your site.

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But what does that mean?

• For institutions it means the ability to mold the
  environment to fit their needs and their message.
  Whether you are just creating a virtual copy of
  your site or creating something that goes beyond
  that you are only limited by your imagination
  and, of course, your funding and expertise.

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Now what does this mean for the College of
Nursing?

• ?

Thats a great question, and one that, really,
you folks will have to answer for yourself. What
I am going to try and do in this workshop is give
you some idea of what is available in Second
Life.
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The Islands of Second Life

• Next I am going to be showing you several
  different Islands in Second Life. Islands are
  sections of land owned by individuals. Within
  each island, different rules may apply. These
  include rules on how you interact with the
  environment, age ratings etc.
• At the start of each new island, I will include a
  link that, when clicked, will give you an option
  to teleport your avatar to that Island.
• If you want to create a Second Life Avatar,
  please refer to our reference manual under the
  College of Nursing Help-How to page at
  http//www.nursing.arizona.edu/Helphowto.htmsecon
  dlife

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UA Islandhttp//slurl.com/secondlife/University2
0of20Arizona/116/120/26

• The UA has purchased an island in Second Life and
  over this semester is has change dramatically.

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Part of it has become a re-creation of our actual
campus (Old Main, The Womens Plaza and A
mountain), while much of it is something new and
different.
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Meeting Places
Here, the campus has focused mainly on creating
spaces for meetings and classrooms (Top of A
Mountain, the Coliseum, The Womens Plaza),
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Community Buildings

• but there are already some areas created with
  more of a community building idea (Dance Floor,
  Nature Walk).

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Skyboxes

• Besides these readily visible areas, there are a
  number of classrooms (referred to as skyboxes
  because they are located in the sky) that can be
  reached through teleportation (or by flying if
  you own a flight feather).

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The College of Nursing
The College of Nursing has their own section of
UAs island The Womens Plaza of Honor
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College Of Nursing
and our own skybox which also has a number of
presentation boards. These are currently being
used by Carrie Merkles class for short poster
presentations. Hopefully during the winter break
we will create an advertisement section on the
main part of campus to get people to visit us.
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So? What can you do in Second Life

• There are the normal things most people think of
  when they think of Second Life, such as
• Change your appearance Part of why this is just
  a presentation, rather than a hands-on workshop
  is that, during RISE, the moment we first had
  everyone create an avatar we lost their
  attention. Everyone had to alter their appearance
  I dont like this hair, Im to short, I need a
  mustache. And that leads directly into the next
  item

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So? What can you do in Second Life

• Create and Buy clothes. Everyone want to create
  that outfit that shouts ME! Of course with 14
  million users, not only are there probably
  hundreds of mes, but fashion, just like in the
  real world, is constantly changing.
• Fly. Actually that stands on its own. Who
  wouldnt like to fly?
• Chat with people. Both in your area and
  privately. Theyve even created a program that
  will let you IM people in Second Life when you
  are not

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So? What can you do in Second Life

• These are pretty basic options and ones that you
  can find in any virtual program to one degree
  or another. What sets Second Life apart from many
  of these is its creation system. You can build
  objects, such as buildings and cars, but you can
  also create models of a heart, or medical
  equipment. Add Second Lifes scripting system and
  you can create a heart that pumps blood (in some
  type of fashion) or a giant model of a stomach
  that students can walk through.
• What Second Life does is provide a new platform
  on which students can interact with their
  environment and control the learning process.
  Like with internet and D2L, this takes the
  professor out of the role of sage on the stage
  and makes them the guide and mentor.

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So? What can you do in Second Life

• Building and scripting

These are samples of various things people have
created in Second Life. There are hundreds of
items, both objects, clothes and building
available for free in Second Life and at the
website Xstreet Second Life (http//www.xstreetsl.
com/index.php)
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Interactive Learning Environments

• Lets take a quick look at a few examples of how
  people have used Second Life to create an
  interactive learning environment.

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Palomar West Hospital http//slurl.com/secondlife
/PalomarWest20Hospital/128/128/35
The first one is Palomar West Hospital. Here they
have created a virtual version of the hospital
they are currently building. You get a virtual
tour of the facilities as a simulated patient.
When you first enter the hospital you are given
your id bracelet and given a rundown on what will
happen during your stay.
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In many ways your path is scripted, but you must
interact with your environment to move through
the different stages. Throughout the simulation,
you are prompted by videos and various devices
that explain the innovations within the hospital
and how to complete these different stages.
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• Here a remote controlled machine scans you while
  you lay in your bed. On the big screen, your
  doctor can observe and answer any questions you
  have.
• Much of the contact at Palomar is done through
  remote video.

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Even the operating room is run from a remote
location with options for specialists and interns
to observe.
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HealthInfo Islandhttp//slurl.com/secondlife/Heal
thinfo20Island/45/81/22
The next location is Health Island (incidentally
located right next door to the CDC Island).
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Here, they have a number of informational signs,
complete with note cards you can save to your
avatar, a word document or print out.
30
They also have a number of interactive rooms that
focus on various disabilities. You access each
level by flying and then either read about
different disabilities or play their various
activities. As in many websites, not all of the
activities or information are perfect.
31
Amongst everything else, it also includes a
stroke quiz. Here you have to view a powerpoint
presentation and then answer questions to get
through the vein. You get a question wrong and
you have to take the quiz again or teleport out.
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Genome Islandhttp//slurl.com/secondlife/Genome/1
30/130/48
Finally, the last place Im going to talk about
is Genome Island. This island has a number of
interactive sections on DNA, how works, how its
sequenced etc.
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They have designed part of the island as a series
of platforms, each level building upon the
information from the lower levels.
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It also has this real trippy tunnel you can walk
through. So thats pretty cool.
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Learning Archetypes

• http//msitsecondlife.wikispaces.com/LearningArch
  etypes
• Learning in 3D
• Classroom Emulation
• Recreating the classroom synchronous experience
  virtually. This is similar to what we do with
  things like Breeze
• Role-Plays
• In second life we can create a virtual
  environment to fit your needs, such as a
  emergency room or some other health care facility
  then you can assign different roles to students
  and see what they do. This is an area that Second
  Life could excel at.

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Learning Archetypes

• http//msitsecondlife.wikispaces.com/LearningArch
  etypes
• Learning in 3D
• Treasure or Scavenger Hunts
• Make the hunt for clues or search for different
  objects. Bring me back a Spleen! And a Shrubbery
• Guided Tours
• This is what we saw at Palomar west, where the
  site guided us through what it would be like to
  be a patient at Palomar West

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Learning Archetypes

• http//msitsecondlife.wikispaces.com/LearningArch
  etypes
• Learning in 3D
• Conceptual Orienteering
• Teaching concepts involves providing the learner
  with examples and non-examples of the concept and
  then allowing the learner to determine the
  attributes that describe the concept
• Operational Application
• In an Operational Application the learner is
  challenged to apply rules to specific situations.
  This is learning by doing in the virtual
  environment.

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Learning Archetypes

• Learning in 3D
• Co-Creation
• This is where two or more people work on creating
  something within the 3D world. This process can
  teach teamwork, cooperation and the benefits and
  potential pitfalls of trying to work within a
  group.
• Critical Incident
• The critical incident archetype is when the
  learner is placed into an environment or
  situation similar to the real event in which they
  must use their prior knowledge to solve a
  problem.
• The CDC does this to practice emergency response
  without needing to organize the physical space.
  This way they can practice more often, with less
  wasted time or space. Then, when they do it for
  real, a number of the bugs have been fixed or at
  least recognized.

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From AJ Kelton Virtual Worlds? Outlook Good

• Challenges
• Technical such as Internet bandwidth and
  Computer speed
• Boundaries between different virtual worlds no
  interaction
• Steep learning curves
• Time

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From AJ Kelton Virtual Worlds? Outlook Good

• What it provides
• More opportunities for students to take an active
  role in their education
• People become acclimated to the idea of
  interacting in a virtual world. The idea is no
  longer fearful.
• Provides another modality for learning

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What Can We Do?

• The Relationship between IT and Education
• This is where you come up with ideas, problems
  and dreams and we work on ways to make them
  feasible.
• Keep us informed in changes in education
  standards (such as the Nursing Essentials).
• We need to keep you informed about programs (such
  as Second Life), videos etc.

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Additional Links

• UC Davis Virtual Hallucinations
• http//slurl.com/secondlife/Sedig/21/42/21
• Ohio University
• http//slurl.com/secondlife/ohio20university/48/1
  22/33
• Duke Universitys College of Nursing
• http//cit.duke.edu/ideas/projects/2008/06/30/nurs
  ing_sl/
• You Tube Educational Uses of Second Life
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vqOFU9oUF2HAfeature
  related