Second Life

Not really sure about SL, its application to learning and teaching and the point, really, other than its usefulness in Distance Learning. However, this afternoon I'm chairing a SL session so thought I ought to brush up a bit.

1) Bioscience students get a Second Life @ UEL (Rose Heaney)

• Getting on the SL bandwagon - only one academic was interested initially
• Lab experiment set up in SL for Bioscience; 2 test groups for demos - 1 in a lab and 1 in SL demo. Students in the latter group asked better and fewer questions and seemed to acquire better understanding of the concept. The SL group liked the environment and would want to use it again.
• Does not replace real life experiment - unsure if SL is the best platform, Going to look at a Flash-based platform next year
• results have been published and are available
• The forensic lab is being used as a problem-based learning too with a crime-scene housel
• Now have 6 academics using the Health and Bioscience island. Sustainability is key to the future use of SL
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• Useful for the DL learning students who will be able to interact with virtual patients, as would not have the experience otherwise
• Evaluation - conducted by questionnaires, quizzes (for students during the course) and interviews
• Bought in a service to develop the island
• Induction to SL is vital fro take-up. Training for functions and controls - orientation area and f2f session for induction. Plus basic handouts.
  

2) Fusion of mobile technology and SL in a learning environment to support transition from school to university
(Universites of Glasgow, Stirling and Sheffield)

• Project is InterLife - developing tools to assist with transitions in life. This presentation focused on the transition between school and university in SL (other project is team life - 13-18 year olds
• Research aims to establish whether SL can support educational contexts
• From baseline research, they have identified the issues and challenges of students moving from school to university.
• InterLife is a private island in SL and contains a student union plus tools allowing students to reflect on the change in their life and their personal development: a "skybox" for every student.
  
• pilot activity - induction to movement; profiles to be presnted in a gallery

3) Dreams into (Virtual) Reality (Kate Boardman, Teeside)

• pre-evaluation design of SL use in learning. Kate has only seen three examples of good practice of SL in education
• Basic typology - providing space for students to collaborate - wikis/discussion boards use is not great, so why would"beach and cushions" use of SL work?
• Campus replicators? Not applicable to all
• Set up avator, now what (MY reason for not knowing what do to next...)
• Visual environments - what should it look like - cf turning your favourite books into films. Does it matter what it looks like? Kate went through examples of different venues used (available on her slides) - a French cafe, canteen, dwelling, office
  
• Analysing the type of building against the scenario it's for, whether the staff member cares what it looks like and whether it achieved the learning outcomes
• Same questions can be asked when developing a VLE
  
• http://tinyurl.com/klb-sl

Interesting presentations which have given me food for thought in terms of applicability. Some things I am still pondering... What happens once the novelty wears off? Really they need to be focussing on the learning outcome, otherwise we're JUST replicating the real world. Dont just join the bandwagon...have a real reason and purpose (like a VLE).