Presented at SITE, South Carolina, 2009 Zijdemans Boudreau, A., Headley, S., Ashford, R. (2009). Do Educators Need a Second Life? Exploring Possibilities for Enriched Technology-Based Distance Learning. In I. Gibson et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2009 (pp. 1617-1622). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. http://commons.pacificu.edu/edufac/15/

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Do Educators Need
A Second Life?
exploring
possibilities for
technology-based
distance learning
Anita Zijdemans Boudreau, PhD, Pacific University USA
Scot Headley, PhD, George Fox University USA
Robin Ashford, MLIS, George Fox University USA
SITE 2009 Brief Paper Presentation

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Theoretical Underpinning
Action Research : a focus on the effects of the researchers’
actions within a community of practice with the goal of
improving the performance of the individual practitioner or
community, often addressing a particular area of concern.
(Dick, 2002; McNiff & Whitehead, 2006).
Virtual Community: Dawson’s characteristics of virtual
community – interactivity; stability of membership; fixed
identity; netizenship; personal concern; and communal space
(Klein, 2008).
Experiential Learning: the richness of learning that occurs
when one is emotionally involved in meaningful, authentic
experiences. Otherwise stated, a direct encounter with the
phenomena being studied rather than merely thinking about
the encounter, or only considering the possibility of doing
something about it (Smith, 2001).

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Research Questions
 How well did the students learn to be a successful
resident of SL?
 In what ways did students’ and researchers’
observations and in-world meeting discussions
reflect the themes of community and experiential
learning?
 How did students evaluate their experience and
the educational potential of Second Life?

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Study Details
 GFU Doctoral program in Educational Leadership
 Summer 2008 Distance Ed Course: Exploring
Community in Second Life
 N = 10 [3 ‘seasoned’ & 7 ‘newbies”]
 Course Requirements:
 To join a religious SL community [Anglicans, Religious
Society of Friends, ALM Truth, and Jesus House] and
spend time with this group as a member
 To explore other communities in Second Life
 To share learning about their community group, self,
and experiences in SL – wiki & in-world meetings

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Data & Analysis
Data sources
 Participant observations [wiki]
 in-world sessions
Discourse analysis based on themes
 SL Residency-Technology Uptake
 Community
 Experiential Learning
 Educational Viability
 Other emergent themes?

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In-world Class Session on Cedar Island

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 Steep Learning Curve: the most common cause of
participant frustration. SL is a complex environment
with many features. Significant support/mentoring
were required to get participants set up and
functioning in SL. Numerous postings, spoke to how
important it was to have facilitators at hand.
 Basic Competence Achieved: the majority mastered
the ability to walk, fly, communicate via chat, voice &
notecards, change their appearance, and teleport to
different locations in SL using Sloog or landmarks in
their inventory folder.
“I have been impressed to say the least,& once the skills required
to operate in SL are mastered (i.e.sitting,communicating in audio
& text) this type of meeting has unlimited potential.”
Summary – SL Residency

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Summary – Community
 Religious Communities: Characteristics found
included: the ability to make personal connections, the
feeling that the communities were legitimate, the
interactive nature of the activities & communications,
and a sense of communal place.
“…The leaders are very skilled and they take this ministry very
seriously.It is very easy to get connected to this group”
 Additional Exploration: over a dozen various groups
or places were visited. Activities included: role play;
listening to music; dancing; shopping; attending social
activist gatherings; sitting in on educational sessions;
sightseeing; and taking trips to museums. Mix of
informal class outings & individual exploration.

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Summary – Experiential Learning
 Identity/ RL vs. SL: creating an avatar for one’s
existence in-world creates an immediate palpable
sense of direct first person experience. Many postings
related to issues of identity, self awareness, emotion or
feelings and the issue of RL vs. SL.Though it was
agreed that SL is not a substitute for the presence of a
real human being, emotions experienced during in-
world encounters were considered to be real:
“Time spent with friends in RL or SL is still time and an investment in
lives…SL allows us to connect and makes the world very small.It is
interesting to see RL social norms being acted on in the SL meeting.I
felt we acted the same in SL as we do in RL.I like SL and see the
potential in this tool.”

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Summary: Educational Viability
 Great Possibilities: based on the participants’
comments, activities, and experiences the following
were summarized as possible applications of SL in
education:
o virtual field trips & multimedia experiences;
o sending students out to engage with others and be
honest about what they have learned [experiential
learning];
o conferences & professional/personal development.
“SL can support different learning styles as it allows for
creative expression and experiences.”

11. +ParticipantVoices

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Lessons Learned
 Learning to be a successful resident in Second Life
takes time and requires patience both with the
learning curve and acceptance of technology
glitches that inevitably occur.
 Participants enjoy in-world meetings and socials
and both valued and needed the mentorship and
guidance of the more experienced SL’ers in the
group.
 The timeline of the course only allowed for a
preliminary exploration of community, basic skills
development, and limited meaningful connections
to others.

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Action Plan
 Set Realistic Expectations:
 Scale down to constraints of the course time/credit
 preliminary course on successfully navigating in SL.
 Hold Regular Events: help newbies socialize & make
meaningful connections [tours to different sites,
museums etc, & other events in a safe environment].
 Create Authentic Activities to support Experiential
Learning.
 Reflection Journals and in-world Class Meetings
 Sharing and making sense of experiences in SL is an
important part of the learning process.

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Next Steps?
Spring 2009: Introduction to Second Life for Educators
 Course focus is on creating a Second Life (SL)
account and learning how to navigate,
communicate and perform other basic SL skills
necessary for exploring and investigating this
virtual world.
 An emphasis is being placed on introducing
students to examples of educational applications
(via SL tours) as well as opportunities for
networking and professional development.

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Some References
 Dawson, L (2004) Religion and the quest for virtual community. In (eds. Dawson &
Lorne) Religion online: Finding faith on the internet. NewYork: Rutledge. 75-91.
 Dick, B. (2002) Action research: action and research. See http://www.scu.edu.au/
schools/gcm/ar/arp/aandr.html
 Klein, A (2008) Christian Communities in the Virtual World of Second Life.Thesis:
University of Amsterdam.
 McNiff, J. & Whitehead, J. (2006) All you need to know about Action Research.
London: Sage Publications
 Smith, M. K. (2001) 'David A. Kolb on experiential learning', the encyclopedia of
informal education, http://www.infed.org/b-explrn.htm
 Second Life Education Wiki
http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki
 Second Life Grid http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education
 Second Life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life
 Anita’s site http://sites.google.com/site/anitazboudreau/Home/second-life