Second+Life

= Second Life =  Description History Impact on Teaching and Learning Practical Applications Examples or Demonstrations References External Links

** Description ** Second Life (SL) is a 3D interactive virtual world created by [|Linden Lab] and inhabited by ‘residents’ or avatars. Individuals register for free to create an avatar or a virtual representation of their self, and then they can travel to any location in the virtual world. The fact that Second Life is a virtual world makes all the difference in how individuals are able to interact in their virtual environment. Students can tour the inside of a dell computer, see the inside of a human genome, look at 3D representations of human cells, visit the Louvre Museum, visit the Sistine Chapel, fly without boarding an airplane or using other flying apparatus, breathe under water without scuba gear or gills, and experience a tsunami without physical injury or death.

Many educational institutions have taken to using Second life as a venue for learning. Colleges, universities, libraries, governments and companies have set up locations where individuals can participate in training, receive instruction, conduct research, receive professional development and network with colleagues around the world. MIT, Stanford, Princeton and Harvard are among the prestigious universities to have campuses to spring up in Second Life. Organizations including the US Air Force, NASA, NOAA, NIH, JPL, NPR and the International Spaceflight Museum have all taken root as well. Businesses such as Adobe, CIsco Systems, Comcast Corp., IBM and Dell have set up virtual classrooms and meeting rooms to train their employees or hold virtual meetings.

Although age restrictions limit the applications for Second Life in K-12 education, K-12 educators can use it for the purposes of professional development, networking and curriculum development. Despite the age limitations for Second Life, Linden Lab has set up a Teen Second Life (TSL) specifically for teenagers and educators of teens. This allows teenagers aged 13-17 to participate in learning in a virtual world without having to worry about the prevalence of adult content or possible harassment in Second Life.  Top

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History
 Philip Rosedale founded Linden Lab in 1999. The virtual world of Second Life became open to the general public June 23, 2003. As of 2008, there were 15 million avatars registered, though the average number of users actively logged in at any given time is estimated to be approximately 38,000.  Top  

Impact on Teaching and Learning
 Second Life's has a huge impact on teaching and learning since it allows students to meet teachers from around the world not just those in their specific town/city or real world location. Second Life is even accessible to those with disabilities that can limit the individual's ability to interact in the physical world. Second life allows socially isolated individuals to overcome their inhibitions and develop confidence that branches out into their real lives. Students can learn through virtual experiences of things that in the real world might be too expensive or even dangerous. In Second Life, students can among other activities: participate in theater, go on educational scavenger hunts, view art exhibits, use self-paced tutorials, role play, design costumes or unique fashions, design 3D virtual objects, listen to live music or concerts, start a virtual business without risking real capitol, and build architecturally unique structures. Furthermore students can become the teacher themselves by guiding their own learning and collaborating with their peers in cooperative learning situations. Teachers also benefit by joining groups based on their areas of expertise and can participate in professional development with their colleagues from around the world not just in their local workplace or community.

The youth of today can transition smoothly into the immersed learning environment of Second Life because many of them have grown up around technology including gaming with such first person RPGs as World of Warcraft. Second life instills in students such skills as visual/information literacy, the ability to manage complex situations simultaneously with other tasks, curiosity, creativity, risk-taking, higher order thinking/reasoning with problem solving and collaboration and interpersonal skills. The characteristics of Second Life that make it a successful medium for learning are that it is "highly interactive, allows for instant feedback, immerses students in collaborative environments and allows for rapid decision-making...  Studies of the brain have pointed to data suggesting that repeated exposure to video games reinforces the ability to create mental maps, inductive discovery such as formulating hypotheses, and the ability to focus on several things at once and respond faster to unexpected stimu li <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(Devany, 2008)." <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> Top <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

Practical Applications
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Second life's practical applications include conferences when meeting face to face would be impractical due to cost or other reasons. Teachers and students can meet on virtual campuses when the physical campus is inaccessible, one example of this was the University of New Orleans conducting classes online after the hurricane Katrina catastrophe. The New Media Consortium, is an international grouping of more than 200 educational organizations, provides a place for educators to work on professional development, network, hold seminars, workshops, and conferences on creativity and learning and curriculum development. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> Top <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

Examples or Demonstrations
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> What is Second Life? media type="custom" key="4485892"

Educational Uses of Second Life Video <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> media type="youtube" key="qOFU9oUF2HA" height="344" width="425" <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> Top <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">References
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wikipedia [|Virtual campus could aid in emergency] [|'Second Life' develops education following] [|Instructors get help teaching in Second Life] [|Virtual Schooling/eLearning] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-style: normal;">Devany, L. (2008). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-style: normal;">[|Gaming helps students hone 21st-century skills] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-style: normal;">, eSchool News. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

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**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">External Links **
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Second Life [|SL educational uses by Linden Lab] Educational Uses of SL [|SL educational blog] SL in Education Resources -1 SL in Education Resources -2

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**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author **
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> LeeAnna Kobayashi, Master student in Educational Technology Department at University of Hawaii at Manoa. This wiki was developed for an assignment in University of Hawaii at Manoa's ETEC 602 taught by Dr. Curtis P. Ho. For more information, contact __leeannak@hawaii.edu__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

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