1. SECOND LIFE AS A LEARNING
PLATFORM
is in most cases better than a
real classroom
Pyy
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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 .
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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!
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12. Second Life is:
Motivational Collective
Enjoyable Surprising
Inspirational Astonishing
Experiential Stunning
Communal
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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18. Successful teaching practices
• Avoid long lectures - organize
activities (workshop)
• Use chat effectively
(instructions)
• Use Notecard to
administrations, tasks and
program lists
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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
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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.)
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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
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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
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