CNM is considering using Second Life to teach their BA1131 Business Interpersonal Skills course online. Second Life could provide an immersive virtual environment where students can develop skills through role playing scenarios. However, courses need to be designed specifically for Second Life rather than just adapting existing material. Students also need training to navigate Second Life. If implemented properly with a focus on collaborative activities and social learning, Second Life could help students develop real-world business skills through virtual simulations.

1. BA1131 BUSINESS
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS AT
CNM
Complex Problem Nora Nevera

2. Background
❖ BA1131, Business Interpersonal Skills focuses on developing
interpersonal skills appropriate for the business environment. Topics
include: attitude/perception, diversity, ethics, communication skills,
teamwork/team building, business etiquette, group problem solving,
conflict resolution skills and presentation skills.

3. Background
❖ BA1131 is a Business Interpersonal Skills class offered as a distance
learning course through CNM
❖ CNM plans to purchase and set up an island in the immersive virtual
world of Second Life (SL).
❖ Their goal is to utilize SL to develop skills applicable to a business
environment.
❖ Students will learn real world problem solving skills in an immersive,
virtual world.

4. Background
Using Second Life and creating a virtual world holds
promise for CNM
❖ CNM to set up island in Second Life
❖ Students create avatars
❖ Avatars can be used to model attitudes and behaviors
being discussed in class
❖ Cause and effect easier to see in a virtual world
❖ Various learning scenarios can be taught
❖ Class topics can be taught and learned in a “real world”
simulation

5. Potential Problems
❖ Second Life can be tough to navigate
❖ A tutorial would have to be implemented at the
beginning of the course
❖ Buildings would need to be clearly marked for ease of
navigation
❖ Virtual campus should be easy to navigate
❖ Students often see Second Life as “games” technology
❖ Students and instructors could have connectivity
problems

6. Hypothesis
❖ If CNM is to use Second Life as a teaching tool, then
each topic taught in an immersive, virtual world must
be defined and real-world scenarios must be
implemented in order for the students to gain better
knowledge and insight into a business environment.
Assessments should be based on how well the
students dealt with each topic.

7. Insights
❖ F2F courses cannot simply be adapted for Second Life
❖ Courses taught in SL must be designed for SL
❖ Extensive course preparation is essential
❖ This results in a heavier workload for the instructor
❖ Initial instruction should focus on creating an avatar
❖ Controlling the avatar
❖ Using the avatar to successfully navigate SL
❖ Social events and assignments help build familiarity
❖ Students and faculty must remain flexible
❖ Clear cut rules on behavior and peer interaction are critical
❖ Lack of embedded assessment tools remains a problem

8. DE Faculty Development
❖ Many students report that SL is tough to navigate and learn.
Initial assignments should center on creating, controlling, and
using the avatar. Regular social events and learning
activities help build social presence
❖ Courses must be designed specifically for Second Life
DE faculty should be trained in the development of courses in an
immersive virtual world such as Second Life
❖ Connectivity problems remain
Students and instructors must be flexible in case of a technology
failure
❖ Students don’t know proper etiquette
Clear-cut rules, roles, and expectations are crucial for students to
learn.

9. DE Theories
❖ Distance education by nature has a higher transactional distance that
traditional F2F courses. Meaning that the communication gap
between learners and instructors caused by geographic separation
must somehow be bridged
❖ This gap can be bridged through the concept of Presence Pedagogy. It
is teaching and learning based on social constructivist theory used at
Appalachian State University
❖ Educators at Appalachian State University created a 3D immersive
virtual world called the AET Zone.
❖ AET Zone is a virtual world where teaching and learning happen as
students interact with whomever is present at the time

10. DE Learner
Investigating User Experience in Second Life For Collaborative
Learning. Alrayes, A. , & Sutcliff, A.
❖ Researchers found the SL played a positive role in the overall student
learning experience.
❖ It was stimulating in relation to user presence and engagement
❖ However, SL may work better in more physical tasks and less in
regards to abstract, logic based problem solving.
❖ Thorough training is necessary in order to reap benefits
❖ Usability problems must be addressed
❖ Social awareness must be established
❖ Collaborative and learning objectives need to be considered when
designing a course in Second Life

11. DE Media & Technology
❖ The immersive, virtual world of Second Life is appealing to students
because while students initially found that it took a lot of time to learn,
they saw the benefits of connecting, and SL gave them a more
intimate learning experience which they did not find in a more
traditional DE setting. Hay, L. & Pymm, B. ( 2010/2011).
❖ It’s biggest challenge is the lack of an embedded assessment tool. To
date there is no way to properly assess student achievement in Second
Life.
❖ This can be addressed with the addition of an LMS such as
Blackboard
❖ Communication between avatars can be difficult and possibly
addressed through the use of chat boxes and social media

12. DE System & Administration
❖ An island in Second Life can cost $20,000
❖ Administrators and faculty must address these questions:
Is the cost worth it?
How can we recoup our investment?
Can we or should we partner with another institution to help defray
the costs?
Do we have a capable support staff?
Do we hire faculty trained in online pedagogy?
Or do we train existing faculty to implement the program?
Is the course designed for Second Life or simply a F2F course
adapted for SL?
How much will the course cost?
Who will own the intellectual rights to the course?

13. DE System & Administration
❖ The recent economic uncertainty has brought about funding
changes at CNM.
❖ CNM now funds their programs based on the number of
graduates and not the number of students enrolled.
❖ The change in program funding has forced CNM to drop well-
attended programs.
❖ DE Administrators, instructors, and course designers should be
mindful of this when developing their course in Second Life

14. DE Evaluation
❖ Evaluation could be a key element in the success of programs
in Second Life
❖ Real-Time Evaluation
❖Carried out during the semester
❖Key findings fed back to key decision makers
❖Iterative process
❖ Real-Time Evaluation could help course designers improve
course, keep students engaged, and help ensure the future
success of the program

15. Summary
❖ As with any new online distance education program, Second Life is
still attempting to find its place. As an immersive virtual educational
setting it has the potential to give the students a more complete,
realistic educational experience.
❖ Through the use of avatars students can experience a 3D “campus”
environment. Their avatars attend class, learn in a “real world”
simulation, and get real-time feedback.
❖ Students may also have an easier time developing interpersonal
business skills in an immersive world as opposed to traditional DE
programs

16. Conclusion
❖ The importance of creating course content specifically for SL cannot
be overstated. Too often, faculty and administration alike believe that
they can adapt existing courses to SL
This leads to faculty overload, and high failure rate.
Reintroducing a program is costly and leads to poor quality
❖ A common theme throughout all the articles was the need for
students to be taught how to create and control their avatars. For
successful navigation in SL, assignments designed to build their social
presence were deemed necessary.
Hay, L., & Pymm, B. (2010/2011) felt that regular social events
as well as learning activities were recommended in order to build
familiarity within SL to help students undertake more advanced tasks
later in the program.

17. Conclusion
❖ Student feedback indicated that Second Life was fun but if often felt
more like a “games” technology rather than a learning environment.
Alrayes, A., & Sutcliff, A. (2012).
Introduction and implementation of Presence Pedagogy may be a
way to overcome that perception. Presence Pedagogy is teaching
and learning based on the social constructivist theory. Bronack,
S., et al. (2008) . The authors of this study felt that the P2
immersive world encouraged continual learning that cannot be
duplicated in a F2F environment. In an immersive world,
students and teachers interact randomly outside class time. Any
time students and instructors are online, learning can be achieved.

18. Conclusion
❖ Both Keskitalo, T., et al and Drake-Bridges, E., et al stated that
considerations should be made for technology failures and that clear-
cut rules, roles, and expectations were crucial for students to learn.
❖ Drake-Bridges, E., et al also discovered that assignments needed to be
communicated, implemented, and designed effectively in order to
reduce the learning curve and reduce stress levels.

19. Conclusion
❖ Second Life may work better in courses where physical task are
required and less so in a collaborative, team building course. Alrayes,
A., et al (2012).
❖ In Virtual Retail Simulations in Second Life, Drake-Bridges, E., et al,
the students were able to have real-time interactions in virtual
scenarios that would have been too costly in a traditional classroom
setting. Instead of using collaborative virtual environments to help
students apply textbook knowledge, the students were divided into
two courses. One course “developed” a retail clothing line, and the
second “purchased” the merchandise.

20. Conclusion
❖ BA1131, Business Interpersonal Skills at CNM is a course designed
for a collaborative learning environment.
❖ After integrating all of the previous topics discussed, CNM should
look into modeling its BA1131 course after the virtual retail
simulation course. Rather than adapting textbook knowledge to an
immersive virtual world, students could be expected to role play real
world scenarios that would happen in any given business setting.
❖ The students could collaborate in groups to create business situations
to apply their interpersonal skills and then role play them for the rest
of the class.
❖ Teachers could assign students to different roles in an office, and then
they would have to navigate the situation in a virtual simulation

21. Readings
Cool, K. (2011). Teaching in Second Life: Opportunities and
Challenges for Post-Secondary Undergraduate Education.
Journal of Applied Learning Technology, v.1 (3), 15-19.
Hay, L., & Pymm, B. (2010/2011). Real Learning in a Virtual
World: A Case Study of the School of Information Studies’
Learning Centre in Second Life. Education for Information, 28,
187-202. doi: 10.3233/EFI-2010-0901.
Tuulikki Keskitalo, Elli Pyykko and Heli Ruokamo (2011).
Exploring the Meaningful Learning of Students in Second Life.
Educational Technology & Society, 14(1), 16-26.

22. Readings
Drake-Bridges, E., Strelzoff, A., & Sulbaran, T. (2011). Virtual
Retail Simulations in Second Life. Marketing Education Review,
21(2), 125-138. doi: 10.2753/MER1052-8008210203.
Alrayes, A., & Sutcliff, A. (2012) Investigating User Experience in
Second Life for Collaborative Learning. SciVerse ScienceDirect,
70, 508-525. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2012.01.005.
Bronack, S., Cheney,A., Matzen, N., Riedl. R., Sanders, R., &
Tashner, J. (2008). Presence Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning in
3D Virtual Immersive World. International Journal of Teaching
and Learning in Higher Education, 20(1), 59-69. Retrieved from
http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe.