Second Life Presentation Feb. 21, 2008 Charles Gluck / Lama Hamdan / Tom Sakell EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 / George Mason University

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Agenda  Purpose  Introduction  Environment  Members  Capabilities  Culture  Interaction  Learning experiences  Demonstration  Conclusion

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Purpose Second Life is an extremely popular virtual reality environment. Despite the struggles and frustrations of an application in its infancy, can Second Life really be a practical learning environment?

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Overview  3-D virtual environment  Online World  Persistent (never stops)  Communication independent of physical distance

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Environment (Cont’d)  Movement  Communication  Sensory

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Environment (Cont’d)  Structure –Economy  Goods and Services  Spiritual  Education

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Environment (Cont’d)  Free  Avatar representation  Organized by island

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Avatars In Hindu philosophy, an avatar is the incarnation or bodily manifestation of a higher being, or the Supreme Being (God) onto Earth. 8  Definition: Incarnation of a higher being  Sanskrit word “avatāra” means "descent“  Implies descent into lower realms of existence  On the web, 3-D representations, human or fantastic  Term popularized by Snow Crash, a 1992 science fiction novel

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Members 9  Avatars range from humans to humanoids, robots, animals and mythical creatures.  Average users: Women, age in 30s  Business flocking to SL  Over 80 universities now involved

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Members  Second Life first appeared in  In 2006, the avatar population reached 3 million.  In March 2007, SL population was 4.6 million  By March 2008, the population will reach 25 million “residents.”

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring What do people do?  Socialize  Meet people  Shopping  Concerts  Education  Meetings  Interest groups

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Seven Sensibilities of Learning  Sense of Self  Death of Distance  Power of Presence  Sense of Space  Capability to Co-Create  Pervasiveness of Practice  Enrichment of Experience Credit: By Bryan Chapman /

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Capabilities of Learning  Social process via the web  Learning group concept  Events distributed time/place  Multiple forms of interaction  Internet/web bases technology

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Capabilities of Learning (Cont’d)  Virtual Classroom  Communication  Community/Collaboration  Building tools

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Capabilities of Learning (Cont’d)  Authentic immersive experiences  Experiential learning  Simulation and role-play  Data visualization  Collaboration and co-creation

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Capabilities of Learning (Cont’d) Pedagogical Model  Community of Practice  Situated Learning  Micro worlds, Simulations  Virtual Learning Environments

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Culture / Social values 17  Mask your identity  Be anyone  Impress  Express Communication  All countries, all languages, all the time  Have a large, harmonious existence

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Culture / Skills 18 Traits most valued in Second Life  Building  Scripting  Marketing  Applying knowledge  Collaboration

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Culture / Constant learning 19  Constantly adapting to new functions, applications  SLURLs adapt a “new” media (the Internet) to a brand new media (virtual reality)  / / /

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Culture / Learning 20  Informal adult learning  International collaboration  Building trust

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Interaction experience: Positives 21  Arrange pleasant meeting areas  Novel environment to energize groups  Meeting participants as physical representations, not just voices  Entertaining side activities

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Interaction Experiences: Negatives 22  Meetings are limited by member’s navigation abilities  Practical meeting tools are better in web-conferencing tools  No obvious advantage if meeting is information sharing and discussion

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Learning Experience  Sky is no longer the limit  Fly. Anything is possible  Who can be the most intriguing  Who can make the most island, design the coolest clothes.  Same consumer problems exist:  trends  competitors  exposure  Business can build brands

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Companies Adidas AOL SunSony

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring My Visit to American Apparel 25

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Demonstration

Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring Conclusion  Metaverse allows unprecedented freedom  Understand new digital roles  Build through trust, collaboration and community.  In Second Life, learning goes both ways.