This document discusses using the virtual world Second Life for educational purposes. It outlines how a group of librarians from various universities in the UK are using Second Life to provide library services, teach information literacy skills, and hold seminars and discussion groups. Examples of educational activities that can be done in Second Life include simulations, role-playing, building and design, and creative arts. The challenges and opportunities of using Second Life in education are also presented.

1. USING SECOND LIFE Vicki Cormie/ Ishbel Hartmann St Andrews University Lyn Parker/ Maggie Kohime University of Sheffield Sheila Webber/ Sheila Yoshikawa University of Sheffield

2. Outline Basic introduction to us and Second Life Our joint involvement Infolit iSchool Teaching Centre for Information Literacy Research Library services in Second Life Inworld activities

4. Structure for Workshop Divide into groups, according to amount of SL experience & preference Help with the basics or Discussion group Tour Goals for session vary depending on which group you are in: overall, to know more about SL and its possibilities/ constraints Base for activity will be Infolit iSchool

5. Second Life 3D online virtual world, also known as a MUVE ( multi-user virtual environments ) 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 is through Chat, Voice and/or Instant Messaging

6. Practical issues Time – operates on SL time which is 8 hours behind UK time Software revisions have been frequent, can cause problems Need broadband and good computer with right graphics card No access via managed desktop currently Learning curve in basics of movement, etiquette & 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 or gaming) Max of about 40 avatars per region/island, and 45K on whole grid Inclusion issues

7. Educational Possibilities of SL Movement in 3D space. Machinima - animated filmmaking within a real-time virtual 3D environment, tactics such as in an emergency response Appreciation of space - such as in the reproduction of Roma and the Globe Theatre. (Photo – Pixeltheatre, 2007) Interactions in a space - such as managing a hotel. 3D and scale - such as in the simulation of a heart murmur or molecules. (Photo - Daneel Ariantho, 2008 ) Role playing - avatars and interactions with different groups such as ageing, schizophrenia, patients or customers. Virtual psychology and sociology. (Tom Werner, 2008)

8. Building and design Clothing design. 3D exercises and testing. Constructivist activities. Role-play scenes from books. Building to illustrate a concept: 3D model of 7 Pillars Creative arts – writing, photography, music. Visualisation of data – weather, planes in flight, Standard and Poor’s 500 index, IBM Wimbledon tennis. Rapid prototyping and co-design - NASA CoLab http://slurl.com/secondlife/vassar/165/91/24

9. Infolit iSchool Successful bid to CILASS to fund island; now hosts School of Education as well as DIS Sheila does all the development work, setting up the island and different areas; different themes depending on time of year Provided a library and office space Hear her views on Second Life http://blip.tv/file/1375957/ http://blip.tv/file/739271

10. Student context Compulsory activity (feeding into assignment) for 1 st year BSc Information Management students in (core) Information Literacy class (21 students) No student had used virtual world before (nb SL main grid is 18+ only) Has to be a pedagogical rationale for using SL, not automatically engaged, learning curve puts some off Used to social networking; feels like a social area; behaviour may be more suitable to a social environment Need activity rather than content; suitable for IBL Postgraduates holding research discussions

11. IL Seminars in Second Life Appearance within Second Life; is it important and how does it affect how you behave? How should librarians therefore be presenting themselves in Second Life? Do we need to label ourselves and how do we ensure privacy and confidentiality as we start to develop an academic virtual world? What role should librarians be taking in Second Life? What library services do we need in the virtual world? Do we need to replicate the Real World or do things differently and if so, what and how? All discussion recorded as chatlogs

12. Library Services in Second Life

13. Designing a Second Life Library Blank design sheet Replicate campus buildings or open space? Expectations of our users – preference for talking to a real person Communication methods Technical expertise or buy products? Help with searching, security, copyright, evaluation of information

14. Strategies and roles 7 Faces of the Library Physical collection of books; Learning and social space; Website; University portal; Virtual learning environment; Web 2.0 technologies 3D virtual worlds Services Information literacy Information availability Personalisation Seamless access 24/7 delivery Student engagement Marketing

15. Sheila Webber s.webber@shef.ac.uk http://information-literacy.blogspot.com http://adventuresofyoshikawa.blogspot.com/ Sheila Yoshikawa Vicki Cormie [email_address] Lyn Parker l.parker@shef.ac.uk

16. Resources Adventures of Sheila Yoshikawa http://adventuresofyoshikawa.blogspot.com/ Sheila’s presentations on Slideshare e.g. http://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/using-first-and-second-life-to-develop-inquiry-skills-in-the-freshman-year-at-a-uk-university-a-happy-blend-presentation Facebook Groups – Second Life for Educators; UK Second Life Educators Parker, L. (2008), “More questions than answers: the reflections of Maggie Kohime, a virtual librarian in Second Life”, ALISS Quarterly, Vol. 3 No 2, pp13-17. Available at: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/3624/2/More_questions_than_answers-1.pdf Second Life Educators List (SLED) https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators