ALT Learning Technologist of the year : Team award 2009 European foundation for quality in e-learning Unique Award winner DUCKLING Second Life Beyond Distance Research Alliance University of Leicester

The Psychology oil rig activity 2. Guided tour 1. Activity briefing3. Group presentation 4. Live evacuation

Observing English classes at languagelab.com

The SL training Walk, Fly Stand up, Sit down Set up audio, voice Instant message Teleport, Landmark Camera control, Snapshot Inventory Environment settings

Benefits to learners Second Life: advantages and potential Examples Simulation and role-play Visiting LanguageLab classes enabled students to observe pedagogical and language teaching theories at work in a virtual environment. The Second Life oil rig activity enabled students to practise skills as occupational psychologists in a simulated, non-threatening working environment. Interaction and collaboration Collaborative tasks such as group presentation and oil rig evacuation in Second Life enabled opportunities for distance learning students to interact with their tutors and peers. Rich variety of near- authentic environments enables independent project work Second Life provides a myriad of possibilities for project-type work, in that it contains replicas of so many real-world locations, such as shops, theatres, parks and other public places. In DUCKLING, the Education course team made use of the existence of a virtual in-world language school, which enabled students to benefit from Second Life without having to meet synchronously in-world.

Challenges Barriers and limitationsKey points Access restricted by firewalls Access can be restricted by an organisation’s firewall. Some students studying at a distance experienced access problems if they tried to use SL from work-based computers. Connectivity and resources Second Life requires a broadband connection and relatively high-spec graphics card, which still makes it outside of the reach of many of our distance learners. Technical support and training required Using Second Life for learning and teaching purposes requires both staff and students to have some level of support, before they are able to function effectively in the environment. This support can be expensive and time-consuming to provide. Within the DUCKLING project, this support was provided by learning technologists. Technical competence and confidence required Staff and students need a basic level of technical competence and confidence to use Second Life effectively. Technical problems Technical problems experienced by students during Second Life sessions, e.g. audio system not working, avatars stuck, slow internet connection, sometimes interfered with the Second Life experience. Discomfort with Second Life features Students may give up using Second Life due to discomfort with its features, e.g. difficulty in orienting one’s avatar, feeling anxious or nervous. Time difference In the Psychology pilot, managing students in different time zones together for the collaborative task was a challenge. (In the Education pilot this challenge was avoided as there was no requirement for students to meet in real time.)