Second+Life

Jennifer Adelman Brown
 * Second Life **
 * ‍ **
 * Description and Uses of Technology[[image:tech4class/Snapshot_001.png align="right" caption="This screenshot of a medical educational simulation from POC-CENT’s virtual hospital intensive care unit was reproduced with POC-CENT’s explicit permission."]] **

[|SecondLife]  is a computer-generated three dimensional virtual “world” characterized by the ability to provide a vicarious experience that offers the user both the opportunity to try out novel activities as well as to practice previously acquired skills. Second Life and other MUVE’s (Multi-user Virtual Environment) enable students to partake in activities encumbered in real-life ("First Life"). For example virtual laboratory experiments using hazardous or expensive materials, or activities prohibited by risk in-vivo and rendered impossible in real-life, are made possible in Second Life. Engineering coursework is enhanced by virtual modeling and finite element analysis which comes to (virtual) life using this powerful educational tool. The manipulation of inanimate mass in-silica may not be Second Life’s greatest contribution in the academic arena. Rather the //social// aspect of Second Life offers an enriched collaborative environment when compared to the other real-time collaborative Web 2.0 tools in mimicking real-life experience benefitting educational aims. This challenges the stronghold of the conventional classroom on instructional design. Boulos et al report in fact, that “engagement in online collaborative learning environments has been observed to mirror engagement levels in traditional classrooms” (2007).

Second Life was launched in June of 2003 by Phillip Rosedale, and was originally configured with 16 computers. In two years that number had grown to 20,000 CPUs (Central Processing Units, according to its founder). In a 2005 TED Talk ( [] ), Rosedale credits his inspiration for creating Second Life as a “place” to experience and consume information “implicitly, inherently and socially” and where people of any walks of ‘first’ or real life could express their “fundamental freedom” to organize, create, and store data (like the web) but also to collaborate in real-time and to further organize information using “symbols of memory” essential in experiential learning. At that time Rosedale reported 250,000 people experiencing the virtual reality daily at that time and an “exponential” growth rate of 5% per month (measured in terms of new servers added). According to Wikipedia the 2011 number of Second Life users has grown to be about one million visitors daily.


 * ‍ ****Important Findings on Student Outcomes **

In his article “Second Life in higher education: Assessing the Potential for, and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching" author/researcher Steve Whartburton lists the following as characteristics of Second Life which “facilitate innovations in pedagogy”: “Extended or rich interactions, Visual and contextualization, Immersion, Simulation, Community presence, and Content production”. All of these contribute to what he considers to be the “three critical components of the virtual environment"(technical, immersive, and social). Like all emerging technologies (and real life for that matter) Second Life has logistic and pedagogic caveats, notwithstanding the possible applications of Second Life holds great promise in delivering educational opportunities to an expanding virtual demographic.

In World War II basic flight simulators were designed in order to train would-be pilots to fly without the risk of expensive aircraft and invaluable human life. To this day that aspect of virtual reality such as in Second Life to simulate real-life scenarios without the risks of precious resources (and the liabilities that go along with endangering precious resources) remains an asset to instructional design. This makes its application ideal for medical, military, engineering and other high stakes training. The photo at the beginning of this page is an example of a program currently being developed at POCCENT (The Point-of-Care Center for Emerging Neuro-Technologies) as a venture between the University of Cincinnati Colleges of Engineering and Medicine to develop a training scenario in Second Life for medical students. In their article “Patient safety and simulation-based medical education” authors Ziv, Small and Wolpe charge that “Deaths due to medical errors exceed the deaths from motor vehicle accidents”. Second Life benefits the high stakes field of medical education by creating a learning environment that is learner oriented (versus traditionally patient oriented) with the moral blessing of not risking human (patient) life for the sake of educating the doctor. It is of no surprise that following the military vanguard of simulation testing, medicine was a few steps behind with the creation of the “realistic patient simulator” (Sim-One) for anesthesiology in 1966. (Ziv et al, p492)

Another argument for the use of Second Life as an educational tool is that as with risk, it allows for creative construction that may not be an option for students in real-life. In the case of a architectural design a student could create in Second Life an exploreable three dimensional rendition of their proposed building and could use whatever materials he/she desired, regardless of price (although a cost/budget comparison would be another lesson effectively taught through the use of Second Life). As with any pedagogical tool or method, it is very important to keep in mind that instructional design in Second Life, is anything but one-size fits all. Although instructional simulations have benefitted education, the objectives of a lesson considering the use of virtual reality must validate using this tool over alternative options.
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 * Emerging Trends and Open Issues **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">With respect to educational applications other sources predict continued future expansion of Second Life for instructional purposes: “Eduserv virtual survey identified Second Life as the most popular educational MUVE” (Wharburton, 2009). Second Life is distinguished as a stable virtual environment endorsed by business as well. It is estimated that by 2012 “80% of active internet users” will have virtual “presence” through 3D social media such as Second Life. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">(Gartner, 2011) Second <span style="color: black; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';"> Life is a privately traded company so estimates of its market value vary from the low end at $383 million ( <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Ostrow, 2010) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';"> up to $658-700 million. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">(James, 2009) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';"> Today some of Second Life’s online social network competitors in that market include “ <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">[|Twinity] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">[|Smeet] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">[|Smallworlds] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">[|IMVU] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">[|Active Worlds] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">[|Onverse] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">[|Kaneva] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">[|Utherverse] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> and Blue Mars”.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">For all of its accolades Second Life retains significant barriers to use, including but not limited to a very sharp learning curve which can try the patience of students with little time, gaming skills or technological savvy. Developing Second Life (virtual) real-estate can also be challenging for the costs associated in buying “land” and either buying pre-designed “ressed” (objects) or designing and programming one’s own 3D property. Another challenge to using Second Life is its accessibility, specifically due to “technical burdens” of frequent software upgrades, high demand on bandwidth to support graphics as well as the need for newest generation computers for optimal ressing of the three-dimensional environment. In one case study involving college honors students 60% of respondents reported being unable to utilize Second Life from their homes due to some or all of those reasons. As Catheryn Cheal pointed out in her case study “Student Perceptions of a course taught in Second Life” some students may leave Second Life with negative perspectives on the experience due to both the intuitive issues with accessibility and the learning curve associated with navigating virtual life but perhaps more importantly if they have serious “concerns about the validity of learning in a game-like environment.”, in other words: “Why are we using this? Why is it any better than another option?” (Cheal, p4) Ziv et al concur with this important point concluding that “Simulation-based …education [such as Second Life] should validate its practices on a continuous basis”. (Ziv, p494)

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Nevertheless, with proper support and instructional design, Second Life takes the method of using simulations as a substitute for situational instruction in real-life to a new height. While conventional simulators such as those used for military flight training or Realistic Patient Simulators (RPS) in medical instruction, are still being used and do have their benefits, Second Life virtual simulations may be a cost-effective option, are easier to share electronically, allow for collaborative learning efforts across geographic distances and even enable previously novel learning scenarios. All of which may be obstacles in conventional education and in real-life. Accessibility remains Second Life's greatest barrier to use but as the half life of technology hastens, so too does the half life of solving their related barriers to use.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">**References**

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Boulos, Maged N. Kamel, Hetherington, L., Wheeler, S. (2007). Second Life: an overview of the potential of 3-D virtual worlds in medical and health education//.// //Journal compilation © 2007 Health Libraries Group. Health Information and Libraries Journal//. Vol.2. pp.233–245 Plymouth, UK © 2007 The authors

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Brown, J.S., Adler, R.P. (2008). Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0.//EDUCAUSE Review//, vol. 43, no. 1 (January/February 2008)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Cheal, C. (2009). Student perceptions of a course taught in Second Life. //Innovate// 5 (5). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=692 (accessed May 29, 2009)

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Gartner IT Research and Consulting Inc. (2011). Press release. []

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">James, W. (2009). Linden Lab Worth $658-700 Million, 2009 Revenues Forecast $100 Million - Analyst. //New World News//. http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/07/700-million-world.html

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Jarmon, L., Traphagan T., Mayrath M., Trivedi A. (2007). Virtual world teaching, experiential learning, and assessment: An interdisciplinary communication course in Second Life//. MEDICAL EDUCATION// 2007; 41: 495–501. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2007.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Kinshuk, Sampson, D.G., Patel, A., Oppermann, R., Reinhard (2005). //Journal of Educational Technology & Society//. Vol.8 No.1 ISSN: 1436-4522 P//ublished by International Forum of Educational Technology & Society// Endorsed by IEEE Technical Committee on Learning Technology January 2005. (Online) ISSN: 1176-3647 (print)

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Levinson, A.J., Weaver, B., Garside, S., McGinn, H., Norman, G.R. (2007). Virtual reality and brain anatomy: A randomized trial of e-learning instructional designs//.// //Medical Education// 2007: 41: pp 495–501doi:10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02694.x

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Livingstone, D., Kemp, J. (2006) Proceedings of the Second Life Education Workshop at the Second Life Community Convention San Francisco August 20th, 2006 ISBN: 1-903978-32-7 Published by The University of Paisley, UK online: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[]

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Mayer, Richard E., (2002) Multimedia Learning. //The psychology of Learning and Motivation//, Vol. 41 Elsevier Science, USA

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Ostrow, A. (2010) How Much are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn worth? //Mashable Business.// March 4,2010. //http://mashable.com/2010/03/04/facebook-twitter-valuations///

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Warburton Steven. (2009) //Second Life in higher education:// Assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching//.// //British Journal of Educational Technology//. Vol. 40. No 3. Pp414–426 doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00952.x

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Ziv, A., Small, S., Wolpe, P.R., (2000) Patient safety and simulation-based medical education. //Medical Teacher//, Vol. 22, No. 5, Pages 489-495 (doi:10.1080/01421590050110777) Read More: []

Reviewed By: (David Tippenhauer, Jacque Lowry)