Pepperdine University’s
Malibu Island Project
Exploring the Use of a Virtual
World, Second Life, for higher
education teaching and learning
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Malibu Island Design Team
A team of GSEP cadre representatives
– CadreX (Vicki Suter)
– Cadre XI (Kai Dupe)
– Cadre XII (Lani Fraizier)
– OMET (Bill Moseley and Pam Rivers)
Faculty supervisors
– Linda Polin
– Paul Sparks
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Malibu Design Team Activities
Developed an initial design document, which
was piloted from September 2006 until May,
2007
Developed procedures, policies and
processes for proposals for use of Malibu
Island (now limited to faculty-sponsored
projects only) – effective May 15, 2007
Detailed design of public areas is underway.
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Multimedia Area
The current very informal
multimedia area in
Quadrant 1 will be
redesigned with a more
formal design, possibly an
open amphitheatre, and
will be moved back further
from the arrival point
(telehub)
The current screen has six
screens, and can display
static images, pre-
recorded video (with
sound), Flickr images, and
text.
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Malibu Island Coffeehouse
The coffeehouse was built as part of the original
design, and will likely remain as designed in its
current location in Quadrant 2, for informal
meetings
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Separate Areas for Cadres
GSEP EDET Doctoral Cadres X, XI, and XII built
their own informal meeting areas, but this is likely
to change (projects will require faculty
sponsorship, proposal and approval)
An engaging question that needs to be addressed:
what is the purpose of or need for a space of their
own (if any) for each cadre for teaching and
learning? What are the benefits and costs of this
use of scarce resources?
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The DissertationX Therapy Group
The purpose of this project is to
A treehouse was adapted by
explore informal learning and
Vicki Suter from a purchased
sense of connection in an
build for Cadre X, and is
environment that features a
currently being used for
sense of fun and playfulness
weekly meetings by the
DissertationX Therapy Group
(for continuing peer support
and encouragement after
completion of comps, and
during dissertation research
and completion).
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Cadre XI Hobbit House
Cadre XI has a hobbit-like
house in the hill country in
Quadrant 3B, designed to
determine the smallest footprint
for a structure that would include
a semi-public lounge area for
cadre members and their
guests, a place for the class
meetings, a private upstairs
area for storage of teams’
project material, and a private
faculty office.
Dirk Davis & Vicki Suter were
co-designers in the adaptation
of an existing build, and Davis
tested the structure with class
meetings
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Cadre XII
Cadre XII’s space was
designed as a castle in the
clouds (in Quadrant 3B)
The design represents a
fanciful approach to
learning space design
Lani Fraizier did the design
and build, in part to test
the use of vertical space in
SL, because it is a
valuable design resource
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ACM: Informal learning project
The Pepperdine
University chapter of
the Association for
Computing Machinery,
under the project
leadership of Lani
Fraizier, has been
exploring the use of
Malibu Island for
meetings and projects
in Quadrant 3A
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OMET’s Whole New Mind Project
As assigned by their
instructor, Bill Moseley, six
teams collaboratively built
interactive objects,
sculptures, or installations
that represented one of the
six right-brained aptitudes
from the book A Whole
New Mind
The teams then presented
their projects to the author,
Daniel Pink and discussed
the book with him in a
meeting in Second Life
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Proposed Island Design
Design team
members worked
together to develop
the revised zoning
plan pictured at the
left, which is
effective 5/16/07
The eastern half of
the island (labeled
Quadrants 3 and 4)
will be for faculty-
sponsored projects.
The western half
will be for public
and shared areas.
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Exhibit Hall Prototype
The Exhibit Hall will be located in Quadrant 1, and will
likely be one of the first things visitors see, so it should
have a formal design, and the design should be
harmonious with other structures on the island
Depending on the purpose of the area, and the aesthetics
and design of the island as a whole, the exhibit area might
ultimately take the form of a plaza, a floating gallery or
some other novel shape.
However, we can assume that many of the visitors will be
new to Second Life, so the Hall should be designed with
that in mind (no tricky navigation, etc.)
This prototype is being used to get an idea of necessary
scale, flow, and appropriateness for different uses
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Possible purposes of Exhibit Hall
As a public place to meet and greet visitors
to Malibu Island
For demonstrations of educational uses of
SL for faculty and students interested in
using it
As a location for formal events, presenting
and showcasing student work
As a meeting space for classes
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For more information
A display of of different teaching and
learning tools created for use in SL is under
development for initial completion 5/22
For more information about Malibu Island,
the Exhibit Hall, or a potential project
proposal, please contact Wendy Widget by
IM in-world, or vicki.suter@pepperdine.edu
by e-mail
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