Exploring Second Life

January 21, 2009 & January 23, 2009 - 1:00 to 2:30 pm EST

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Overview

One of the most exciting developments for educators is the recent emergence in popularity and affordability of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) to facilitate collaboration, simulation, and experientially-based learning. Of the leading platforms, Second Life has gained early popularity among educators, researchers, and institutions. Second Life offers many opportunities for educators to develop and lead experiences in virtual environments. However, mastering Second Life can be a challenge.

This two-part on-demand webcast will help you learn Second Life basics and how to incorporate Second Life to your educational setting. You will gain a broad understanding of the educational potential of Second Life and be offered a streamlined approach for gaining sufficient mastery of virtual worlds to designing effective learning experiences.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Faculty, learning designers, and multimedia specialists new to Second Life will learn to:

Define multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) and understand their importance to the learning domain
Identify strengths and weaknesses of popular emerging MUVE platforms
MUVEs in the greater context of the developing 3D Web
Identify appropriate contexts for different learning architectures that work in Second Life
Identify planning points for initiating learning delivery in Second Life

Before Viewing the On-Demand Webcast

In order to benefit most from the topics presented in this on-demand webcast, Second Life novices are encouraged to create a free account in Second Life (www.secondlife.com) before the event. You can also sign up through the New Media Consortium, which offers a very accessible orientation (http://sl.nmc.org/join/) or review the Cheat Sheet for Dazzle at http://www.secondblogger.com/index.php/2008/06/13/new-cheat-sheet-for-dazzle/). You are encouraged, but not required, to gain a basic familiarity with how to move, communicate, create, and collaborate in Second Life prior to viewing the on-demand webcast. Doing so will allow you to gain the most value from the presentation topics.

Agenda

Session 1: Recorded On Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Overview of Second Life

What is a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) and why is it important?
- Identification of popular MUVE platforms along with strengths and weaknesses
- Second Life as a MUVE
- Rapid growth in Second Life's popularity among educators
- Challenges and opportunities in Second Life
- Movement toward MUVE interoperability and ultimate 3D web
- Digital natives and the future of education
Getting started in Second Life
- Orientation and brief overview of controls
- Second Life culture 101
Second Life activities
- Collaboration and community building
- Symposiums, conferences, and research
- Marketing and recruitment
- Immersive learning experiences
  - Games, simulations, and role plays
  - Blend it-don't do everything in Second Life
We want to deliver learning in Second Life, where do we start?
- What are my options and costs?
- Planning-right team, right time, right design, right experience
- Support, documentation, follow-up
Case studies of successes
- Ohio University
- Loyalist College
- Kelley Executive Partners-Indiana University
Recommendations and take-aways

Session 2: Recorded On Friday, January 23, 2009

Applying The Basic Concepts into an Educational Context

Asking the right questions
- What are the learning outcomes?
- Who are your students? Adult learners? Undergrads? Grads? Distance/distributed learners? How many, etc?
- What is the current pedagogy/learning architecture being utilized?
- What are the existing course resources?
- Making the hard decision: will SL truly add value to my course?
Build the Blend on a foundation of strengths
- Know the strengths and weaknesses of learning in a Virtual World
- Know your strengths as an instructor
- Know the strengths in your content
- Structure delivery around these strengths
- Capacity of students—are they ready for SL?
Delivery planning
- What development, delivery, and support resources are at your disposal?
- Student hardware requirements? On campus labs?
- Contingencies—What if a lab goes down, students don’t have proper hardware, SL goes down?
- SL space requirement planning—diagram/document what must be in the space to support learning objectives
Making it happen
Security & management
Support considerations
Launching your course in SL
- 3 months before—are there any tech requirement for students?
- 1 month before prepping labs and tech—final touches on space
- 2 weeks before announcements group formation
- 1 week before notice to participants
- Day before—reminder notice
- 1st Class—Registration, orientation, communicating parameters, guidelines, and expectations

Want more information about this event?

Contact Tunde Brimah, Senior Conference Director if you'd like additional information about the program agenda.

Instructors

Ken Hudson

Managing Director

Virtual Worlds Design Centre

Ken is an expert in the uses and applications of social media in educational contexts. He established the Second Life program at Loyalist College which received the college's Ontario award for innovation for 2008. At Loyalist, Ken designs applied learning experiences using Second Life, including a recent Canadian border-crossing simulation. He is a regular speaker at conferences and online seminars. The Virtual World Design Centre at Loyalist works with educators and organizations to develop integrated virtual environments that support instructional outcomes. Ken is a Senior Fellow at the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity, Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto.

Christopher Keesey

Project Manager

Ohio University Without Boundaries

Christopher has been building and managing the development of technologically mediated learning experiences for nearly a decade. He specializes in integrating highly engaging animated simulations, virtual environments, and games into educational experiences that can either stand alone or support blended delivery formats. Christopher also consults with teams in industry and higher education on appropriate utilization of technology for learning and leads the development and deployment of these technologies.

Registration

CD Recording of Live Webcast

$350.00

Session 1: Overview of Second Life CD Recording

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