Inquiring in Second Life

Inquiring in Second Life Sheila Webber Department of Information Studies University of Sheffield December 2007 Sheila Webber 2007

Outline • Second Life: introduction • IBL and SL • SL in the Dept of Info Studies • Use of Second Life in a 1st year undergraduate module: basics and team perspectives • Future uses of Infolit iSchool • Demonstration and exploration of Second Life (we hope ;-) Sheila Webber 2007

Second Life Sheila Webber 2007

Second Life • 3-D Online Digital world • Most things created by SL residents: SL fashion designers, architects, bakers, animal makers …. • Avatars- 3D representation of yourself – free to signup and can live on freebies, but need Linden dollars if want to own land, buy clothes etc. • Communication through text chat, Voice and Instant Messaging Sheila Webber 2007

Practical issues • Need broadband and good computer with right graphics card • Have to upgrade software about every 6 weeks • No access via managed desktop currently • Learning curve in basics of movement & communication inworld • Some people may have concerns about signing up for avatar or entering a dangerous space (but possibly more those not used to social software) • Max of about 40 avatars per region/island, and 45K on whole grid • Inclusion issues Sheila Webber 2007

Professional development & networking in SL • Opportunities to participate in events which would be too expensive/time consuming • A lot of educational events and discussions • Easier to meet/ bump into people from outside the UK • As usual, if proactive, then make more connections • Only networking with other people who are in SL… Sheila Webber 2007

IBL & SL …. “IBL is a term used to describe approaches to learning that are based on a process of self-directed inquiry or research. Students conduct small or large-scale inquiries that enable them to engage actively and creatively with the questions and problems of their discipline, often in collaboration with others. IBL approaches include case-study and problem-based learning (PBL) methods as well as research projects of different kinds. It is a key characteristic of IBL that inquiry tasks facilitate exploration and investigation of issues or scenarios that are open-ended enough for different responses and solutions to be possible (Khan and O´Rourke, 2005)” http://www.shef.ac.uk/cilass/ibl.html Khan, P. and O´Rourke, K. (2005). `Understanding Enquiry-based Learning´, In: Barrett, T., Mac Labhrainn, I., Fallon, H. (eds), Handbook of Enquiry and Problem Based Learning. Galway, CELT. Sheila Webber 2007

CILASS - an inquiry framework How this project fits in • Exploring what IBL means in different contexts: in a virtual world • Experimenting with new ideas and practice • Learning about ‘what works’ from students’ and tutors’ perspectives: interview/ reflection/ focus groups • Sharing ideas, critically examining what we do: like today! • Carrying out evaluation and research: see above • Building practice and theory: we are investigating a genuinely new area in my field Sheila Webber 2007

A vision of universities as… “Places where academics work collaboratively in partnership with students as members of inclusive scholarly knowledge-building communities; where teaching and research are integrated, and where both students and academics are engaged in the challenging process of coming to understand the world through systematic investigation and collaborative decision-making in the light of evidence” (Brew 2006) • In this case – a virtual world! Sheila Webber 2007

My Department in SL • July onwards lent office by Eduserv for Centre for Information Literacy Research: started discussion series (every week or 2 – continued on island) • Successful bid to CILASS to fund island for a year • Island delivered early October: Infolit iSchool • Started teaching on 22 October (!) Sheila Webber 2007

Infolit iSchool • Venues for discussion, reflection, chilling: aim to create a relaxing/ welcoming environment • Some food/play areas • “Build” area left empty (or with temporary stuff) to allow practice/ exhibition/ experimentation • Not suitable for “high prim” activities • Everything can change – but want to keep basic landmarks stable for the moment Sheila Webber 2007

Student context • Compulsory activity (feeding into assignment) for 1st year BSc Information Management students in (core) Information Literacy class (21 students) • In terms of IBL, links through to Sem 2 core module introduced last year (Inquiry in Information Management: see slide at end of sequence) • No student had used virtual world before (nb SL main grid is 18+ only) • Work with 2 librarians: in Sheffield (Lyn Parker) & St Andrews (Vickie Cormie) Sheila Webber 2007

Inquiry in SL • Aim to deepen engagement with subject & class & part of induction into research: in Sem 2 they undertake their own IM mini-projects • Students undertaking critical incident interviews with SL residents (a time when they had an information need relating to a SL activity) in SL itself • Currently (I hope!) Carrying out interviews after email to SL Educators list – good response - international • Students will analyse transcripts in relation to models of RL information behaviour + audit interview technique for assessment (about 40% of a 20 credit module) Sheila Webber 2007

Sheila Webber 2007

Lyn’s observations Vicki’s observations: ask her in SL! Sheila Webber 2007

Sheila’s Observations • SL a learning (and play) space – more like a classroom space than a website – with new possibilities • Has to be pedagogic rationale with students or they may see it as just faffing about in SL • Students won’t automatically be engaged & there is a learning curve, even for gamers (but does have fun factor) • When not so rushed – organise more quests etc. as part of intro to improve engagement & hopefully student helpers too • Valuable as staff/professional development environment • Transmissive approaches even duller in SL than in Real Life – need activity rather than content Sheila Webber 2007

Next semester? • Discussion series /conference at professional level • Educational Informatics class • Possibly other projects/activities • Other information literacy- related activities • Other people in TUoS? Sheila Webber 2007

Sheila Webber s.webber@shef.ac.uk http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/ Sheila Yoshikawa http://adventuresofyoshikawa.blogspot.com/ Sheila Webber 2007

Resources • Kay, J and Fitzgerald, S. (2007) Second Life in Education http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/ (wiki with useful information for educators and students, and information on the authors’ own projects – they are Australian educators) • Kemp, J (Ed) (2007) Second Life Education Wiki: SimTeach http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_E ducation_Wiki • Second Life Educators List (SLED). https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators (Very high volume discussion list, but is an invaluable resource) • There are further resources linked from these e.g. at http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/secondliferesources Sheila Webber 2007

Inquiry in IM • First-years generating their own research questions Does Facebook support • Working together and with tutors on students’ small-scale research projects personal information • Interacting with researchers and management? practitioners • Using technologies – blogs, WebCT MOLE What does mobile phone user behaviour contribute to • Accessing info resources in class detrimental environmental effects and how can these • Collecting and analysing data be reduced? • Presenting posters at research ‘conference’ • Assessment: reflection+ blog + poster Sheila Webber 2007

http://cilass.group.shef.ac.uk	35
http://virtualworldwatch.net	4
http://thegridlive.com	2
http://lifelonglearnermusings.blogspot.com	2

Inquiring in Second Life

by Sheila Webber on Dec 11, 2007

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