1. SECOND LIFE AS A LEARNING
PLATFORM
is in most cases better than a
real classroom
Pyy
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 1

2. 2012-01-30
SL in practice
• Screen sharing in SL table
• Sharing the real-world lecture globally
(broadcasting)
• Sharing web camera in SL tables
• Videoconferencing in SL
• White board sharing SL
• PowerPoint presentation in SL table
• Video sharing via SL
• Voice in SL
• Building and programming in SL
Pauli Pyy
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 2

3. • 3-D virtual world –
“a mirror of a real-world “
• The users create their own virtual
character, avatar, through which they
communicate with other avatars
• With more than 20 million users
• Basic usage is free
• The system developer, Linden Lab
Research Inc., rents Second Life land
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 3

4. A virtual environment has no borders.
 It is a safe and
prejudice-free
environment
 It encourages
equality for all.
 It promotes
equality for all.
 no geographical
borders
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 4

5. It is cost effective.
 Once the course is
created it can be
shared and used over
and over again
 The material costs are
limited since they only
exist in the virtual
environment and can
easily be shared and
re-used.
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 5

6. It offers unlimited possibilities for
vocational educators and students
 SL brings along possibilities
to wide range of teaching
technics + implementations
in a virtual environment: a
creative way of teaching and
learning
 Students (and teachers) can
learn design skills and
programming skills whilst
developing and creating
activities in a virtual
environment .
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 6

7. It offers unlimited possibilities for
vocational educators and students
 Students enjoy playing
various roles as avatars (a
representative of a real
person in a virtual
environment).
 A real life simulation and
configuration can be
performed in a virtual
environment.
 The same goes for planning,
establishing and marketing
new enterprises!
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 7

8. E-VIWO
Education in a Virtual World
 International Fair is one of the work package
tasks.
 The project of five schools
 Finland
 Finnish
 Swedish
 England
 Scotland
 Turkey
 The fair will be implemented in spring 2012
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 8

9. What kind of education is SL suitable
for?
• Simulation of Spaces
and places - the
potential for
constructing
• Drama and role
playing
• Distance meetings and
group discussions
• Lectures
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 9

10. What kind of education is SL suitable
for?
• Languages- authentic
speakers available
• Use of experts as a part of
teaching
• Simulating Social
situations - customer
support
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 10

11. What is needed, when developing
education in SL?
• Pioneering spirit
• Activity
• Courage
• Critical check on what
does and what does not
work?
• People, networking!
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 11

12. Second Life is:
Motivational Collective
Enjoyable Surprising
Inspirational Astonishing
Experiential Stunning
Communal
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 12

13. Second Life brings:
• Creativity
• Feeling of presence
• Has unlimited opportunities
to develop different kind of
learning environments
• Provides opportunities for
different types of learners
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 13

14. Successful teaching practices
• Pair Work (Auxiliary
instructors or teachers)
• Find out in advance the
infrastructure of the
participant’s equipment
• Guidelines for the creation of
an Image (Avatar)
• Guidelines for Second Life
installation and settings
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 14

15. Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 15

16. Successful teaching practices
• Provide social etiquette
instructions (the people are
behind avatar)
• Group Guidance must be
carefully planned in
advance
• Novice users in SL should
be invited to training site
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 16

17.  The fair was a pilot project, in which we
tested SL in an exhibition environment.
 The project was carried out with
students.
 Included were
IJKK
(FPD Järvenpää Training Centre),
SLK
(Helsinki Business College).
 The fair was
in spring 2011.
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 17

18. Successful teaching practices
• Avoid long lectures - organize
activities (workshop)
• Use chat effectively
(instructions)
• Use Notecard to
administrations, tasks and
program lists
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 18

19. Successful teaching practices
• Be Prepared to
Technical Problems
(back up)
• SL requires bold
attitude and ability to
tolerate failure
• Learning new all the
time
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 19

20. Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 20

21.  LSL =Linden Scripting Language
 We have studied the C programming
language in the SL (Second Life)
 Elementary Building and scripts
 Deeper access to scripts
 The development of own objects
 Fair (exhibition stand and further
development of the objects.)
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 21

22. Second Life dangers
• Students' freedom to move
disturbs learning?
• Will the group stay together ?
• Video and image upload costs
• Side-effects and disruptive
behavior are possible
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 22

23. Second Life technically
• Requires much capacity from
computer and the network
• Parameter settings can be difficult at
the beginning
• Construction of the learning
environment requires special skills
and can, at least at the beginning,
be laborious and time consuming
• Technical problems are still common
• Requires rights to install and know-
how
Invalidiliiton Järvenpään koulutuskeskus 23