Second Life in Education What is it? Why use it? What to do with it? Anything to worry about?

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 2/19 SL in numbers opened in June 2003 Almost 10 million registered users simultaneous registrations 54 % Europeans (Feb 2007) Average age 33 Women 41 % Approx. 1 million USD money transfer a day. 80 % of active Internet users will have an account by 2011 (Gartner research)

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 3/19 Give me one good reason to use it... 1.Enhanced motivation 2.Immersion 3.Much better feeling of community than in traditional e-learning 4.Threshold for asking questions considerably lower 5.Fun 6.Free

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 4/19...continued 7.Your world, your imagination 8.New tools 9.Networking 10.Cooperating with students and academics from other countries 11.Real enterprises, organisations and universities are there 12.Recruiting Actually, that was 12 good reasons!

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 5/19 But how does it work in reality?

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 6/19 Åbo Akademi University has tested it.  Much more fun  More convenient  Enhanced collaboration  Much better feeling of community (compared to traditional e-learning)  Much more fun  More collaborative  Easier to participate  Lower threshold for asking questions (compared to face-to- face teaching)

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 7/19 How to use it? 1.distance lectures 2.group work 3.visualisation 4.conferences, workshops, seminars 5.Åbo Akademi: used together with Moodle. Group work and discussion took place in SL. Let’s go and see…

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 8/19 Too good to be true? – Problems with the virtual world A limited number of people can be on the same island at the same time. Sometimes there are problems with the connection. SL is not (yet) very attractive (at least for people who play console games!)

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 9/19 Too good to be true? – Wrong target group it is a mistake to believe that this is a way to attract young students – SL is an adult thing. It could be like trying to attract kids by playing U2 to them and believing that they think it’s cool. Some companies have made this mistake and the success (or lack of it) has been a disappointment.

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 10/19 Too good to be true? - Weirdos SL, like real world, has its share of strange subcultures. A fashion phenomenon: groups of “terrorists” who are after a cheap laugh and disturb political debates or other serious events. –> Can be prevented with access limitations?

A self-evident conclusion: It is crucial to pay careful attention to the pedagogical quality here as well. There is always the danger of hype in new phenomena like this. A good idea and good-quality content are still the most important things. There should be added value.

15 December 2006 Hanna Torp 12/19 Sources: Kim Holmberg & Isto Huvila, Åbo Akademi; web.abo.fi/fc/opu/avoin/material/SecondLifeEsity s.pdf Second Life News: Janne Pyykkönen, Pelaaja Magazine Vol 66, March 2008.