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

2. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 2 Agenda  Purpose  Introduction  Environment  Members  Capabilities  Culture  Interaction  Learning experiences  Demonstration  Conclusion

3. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 3 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?

4. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 4 Overview  3-D virtual environment  Online World  Persistent (never stops)  Communication independent of physical distance

5. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 5 Environment (Cont’d)  Movement  Communication  Sensory

6. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 6 Environment (Cont’d)  Structure –Economy  Goods and Services  Spiritual  Education

7. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 7 Environment (Cont’d)  Free  Avatar representation  Organized by island

8. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 8 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

9. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 9 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

10. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 10 Members  Second Life first appeared in 2003.  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.”

11. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 11 What do people do?  Socialize  Meet people  Shopping  Concerts  Education  Meetings  Interest groups

12. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 12 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 / http://www.brandon-hall.com/bryanchapman/?p=32

13. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 13 Capabilities of Learning  Social process via the web  Learning group concept  Events distributed time/place  Multiple forms of interaction  Internet/web bases technology

14. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 14 Capabilities of Learning (Cont’d)  Virtual Classroom  Communication  Community/Collaboration  Building tools

15. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 15 Capabilities of Learning (Cont’d)  Authentic immersive experiences  Experiential learning  Simulation and role-play  Data visualization  Collaboration and co-creation

16. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 16 Capabilities of Learning (Cont’d) Pedagogical Model  Community of Practice  Situated Learning  Micro worlds, Simulations  Virtual Learning Environments

17. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 17 Culture / Social values 17  Mask your identity  Be anyone  Impress  Express Communication  All countries, all languages, all the time  Have a large, harmonious existence

18. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 18 Culture / Skills 18 Traits most valued in Second Life  Building  Scripting  Marketing  Applying knowledge  Collaboration

19. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 19 Culture / Constant learning 19  Constantly adapting to new functions, applications  SLURLs adapt a “new” media (the Internet) to a brand new media (virtual reality)  http://slurl.com/secondlife/ / / /

20. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 20 Culture / Learning 20  Informal adult learning  International collaboration  Building trust

21. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 21 Interaction experience: Positives 21  Arrange pleasant meeting areas  Novel environment to energize groups  Meeting participants as physical representations, not just voices  Entertaining side activities

22. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 22 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

23. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 23 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

24. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 24 Companies Adidas AOL SunSony

25. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 25 My Visit to American Apparel 25

26. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 26 Demonstration

27. Group A Second Life: Presentation Group A / EDIT 611 / Spring 2008 27 Conclusion  Metaverse allows unprecedented freedom  Understand new digital roles  Build through trust, collaboration and community.  In Second Life, learning goes both ways.