Evaluating the Pedagogical Significance of an Instructional Strategy on Second Life as a teaching and Learning Space for Students

Education has been steadily evolving and teaching methods are no longer limited to chalk on the blackboard or lectures. Educators now are trying to reach a different group of students. Today’s students have grown up with instant access to information via the internet, and a familiarity with technology that began at an early age. In order to reach this new generation of students, teachers and educators must find new and innovative ways to deliver the content they are trying to teach. Students today can download their notes from the school internet site or e-mail rather than copy them down with pen and paper. They can access their grades online rather than by the traditional method of getting a paper report card. They can take entire courses or degrees from home on their computer without ever setting foot into the school.

Two faculty members decided to explore the implications of virtual worlds and learning when a call came from the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Regina for innovative projects to be conducted by teaching and learning scholars. The co-investigators had an interest in determining if virtual worlds, such as Second Life, could enhance student learning and submitted a proposal for funding to assist with the development of an interprofessional project.

This interprofessional teaching and learning project was designed with the potential to engage education and nursing students and faculty in a variety of ways that are consistent with effective learning. Each co-investigator ensured that the Second Life project was congruent with learning outcomes of the specific course that they normally deliver to education and nursing students. After the construction of a “site” on University of Regina land on Second Life, students had the opportunity to experience interactions and instructional strategies in a simulation-based environment that built on or enhanced learning outcomes from traditional learning environments. Students had access to information and resources on this site that were consistent with the Second Life context. Second Life is an immersive environment where students can, among other activities, interact and construct knowledge that will impact their professional perspective. The purpose of the project was to promote learning experiences that were designed to provide a balance among experiential learning, guided mentoring, and collective reflection.

Literature Review

With the trend shifting towards offering more courses via distance or web-based learning, some new strategies have been explored around the use of virtual worlds and how they can be applied to enhance student learning. A virtual world that has started to get a lot of attention in the education world is Second Life (SL). Kelton (2008) credits SL with bringing three dimensional virtual worlds into the mainstream, pointing out that in 2007 SL had a population of about eight million people and just a year later that number had exploded to over fourteen million. He acknowledges that it is certainly not the only virtual world available, and the future direction in technology can turn on a dime, but for now SL remains the most popular and widely used of three dimensional worlds. Some educators have adopted

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SL into their teaching curriculum to deliver content in a novel way or simulate selected learning experiences (Skiba, 2007). The challenge is for the educators to become familiar enough with this teaching tool in order to use it effectively with students and offer them a quality educational experience.

What is Second Life?

Second Life is a three dimensional virtual world on the internet where people join up and make “avatars” or digital representations of themselves and then the avatars (or characters) can interact with one another. SL is an entire virtual world with its own virtual land and commerce; it was developed by a company called Linden Lab which was founded in 1999 and offers a unique platform in which its residents continuously add to the world and are part of the creative process. The residents of SL can buy land and develop that land however they want and they have access to entertainment, housing, shopping, and even education (www.secondlife.com, 2008). Hundreds of universities and schools around the world are already using the SL Grid as a successful addition to their educational curriculums. Linden Lab works collaboratively with educational institutions to offer them support while they transition into the virtual learning world. They offer a pilot program for educators who are interested in trialing SL as a teaching environment or tool. This pilot program allows them to join SL for free, meet other educators, and take part in tutorials that teach them how to use this virtual world for teaching. New educators joining up will find themselves with access to the International Society for Technology in Education (ITSE), one of the many education communities in SL. ITSE offers new members live assistance during “regular” hours, tours of the SL facilities, socials with other educators on SL for networking and learning how other educators incorporate SL into their teaching as well as what tools are available for using it as an educational platform.

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Advantages of Second Life

Networking

Second Life has been used by educators for classroom teaching, clinical or lab work, and research projects with their students. Students can practice new skills in a safe environment where they can learn from mistakes and prepare themselves for real life situations. It can enrich the learning experience when used as a supplement to traditional classroom settings, and students or educators can network on a global scale in the SL virtual world (www.secondlifegrid.net, 2008). Kelton (2008) says that one of the main advantages that SL can offer to educators and students is the unprecedented ability to network with other educational institutes around the world. He points out that Linden Lab keeps a current list of educational institutes that are using the SL world and this list is available to all of the other educational institutes, this provides all of its members with a type of collegial support that is just not possible in the real world yet. Imagine that you can visit other institutes, teachers, or students with a touch of a button! Skiba (2007) believes that it is extremely valuable due to its facilitation of shared knowledge or knowledge construction that comes from students interacting with one another. She also points out the potential for “global” classrooms, where students from all over the world could sit together in the same class, something that would be impossible in the real world. Physical boundaries that usually confine students are removed, and students are free to go anywhere nearly instantly. She envisions a global nursing community where students across the world can easily collaborate and work together to address issues that often are globally occurring issues. Students are no longer limited or confined by time, space; the traditional boundaries of program or course, school or location no longer apply and they are free to interact with one another without restriction (Bronack et al., 2008).

Accessibility

The use of virtual worlds has the potential to provide that sense of social interaction through the interactions of avatars, which is currently lacking in the more traditional distance education courses (Gorini et al., 2008). They state that it could also be a valuable platform to simulate interactions with patients in the clinical setting, especially important when it comes to health studies students in remote areas. Skiba (2007) agrees that students could use SL to practice clinical skills safely before getting out into the actual clinical environment. Elfine (2008) talks about the increased accessibility using an example of a support group made for patients afflicted with multiple sclerosis, a progressive medical condition that has left some of them unable to leave their homes. One of the patients interviewed said that if it was not for SL she would have no social interaction at all. Imagine the benefits to a student who is in a rural or remote area and normally would not be able to interact with the other students in his or her distance course.

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Challenges or Potential Barriers

Perception or Credibility

Skiba (2007) admits that when most people hear about virtual worlds, they are quick to envision dragon slaying and role playing games rather than a legitimate teaching opportunity. Kelton (2008) agrees saying that there is a pervasive belief that virtual worlds are all games, and though he admits that it can make education fun, it still serves a purpose as a valuable educational tool. The challenge he believes however, is for the mainstream population who may have a limited understanding of its capabilities to see it as so. Some people are left wondering if students will be more distracted by the use of the virtual world than anything, how much control would an educator have over what the students are actually doing when they are on SL?

Technical Difficulties

Virtual worlds such as SL need incredible amounts of bandwidth and memory to function and grow, and as with any technology there is bound to be kinks that need to be worked out (Kelton, 2008). Kelton also points out that there will inevitably be issues with server downtime, and not all students will have the high speed internet capabilities to support the SL graphics and function quickly. And he wonders about the differences in students’ abilities to learn and adapt to the technology, there might be a gap between students who are already familiar with the use of virtual worlds and those who are new to it and have to learn how to navigate through them and use all of the tools. And how do educators who may be new to this type of technology incorporate SL into their classroom? Another issue that has yet to be resolved is the ability to work on a project collaboratively in the SL world. Kelton (2008) says that there are still two major hurdles that SL needs to overcome with respect to its use in education. The first is the development or improvement of tools for student collaboration, as it stands right now students cannot synchronously work on a text document or power point presentation, and he points out that this ability to collaborate is essential in an educational setting. The second hurdle he identifies is the ability to operate between virtual worlds. Virtual worlds are almost like their own islands right now without the ability to share information between them, this becomes an issue because although SL is the most popular virtual world, it is not the only option and some educational institutions are using other virtual worlds. This means that knowledge exchange is currently not able to occur between certain educational institutions in the virtual world because they are not part of the same platform (Kelton, 2008).

Safety Issues

As with the real world, the SL world does not come without its own problems. There have been cases reported where people are being prosecuted for misbehavior in the virtual world and in fact there have been divorce cases citing SL as the main issue of contention. There is a definite potential for people to use SL to misrepresent themselves which could lead to dangerous situations, however unlike the real world there is often a permanent record of everything that has transpired (Mulgrew, 2008). When addressing the issue of the dangers of adults and youth interacting on the internet, the makers of SL are

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quick to point out that there is a separate virtual world for teens that adults are not allowed into, and vice versa (www.secondlifegrid.net, 2008). However this brings with it some unique challenges; Kelton (2008) wonders what happens to those students who are in high-school but turn 18 halfway through the year, they are suddenly unable to enter the teen SL. He also points out that some college students who have yet to turn 18 will be excluded and unable to enter the adult SL to attend classes or courses with their peers. Adults who want to teach youth in SL can be allowed to do so within the teen SL in their own educational institution or land, but they cannot leave that specific place and venture into the main teen SL world (www.secondlifegrid.net, 2008). This makes one wonder how these educators who will be working within teen SL are being screened.

Pedagogical Soundness

Bronack et al., (2008) point out that while technology can be a wonderful addition to the educational field, it must be implemented carefully in order to be effective. Learning environments must be set up to facilitate student learning and be somewhat analogous to the traditional face to face learning environment. They maintain that proper guidance must be in place so that learners are free to focus on the content and learning rather than working out how to use the delivery method. They state that as with any teaching tool, if implemented properly with the student in mind SL can be a powerful space in which effective learning can take place. They also remind us that even in the virtual world, the presence of the educator or teacher still remain necessary for facilitating the learning experience. The virtual environment is simply a tool and it does not replace the role of the educator. Forrest (2008) is quick to agree that while virtual worlds like SL do have a place in education, it is important not to dismiss the value of “real world” learning experiences

Overall, the literature indicates that further use and evaluation of virtual worlds is needed to support its use as an instructional strategy. The co-investigators decided to explore the pedagogical significance of delivering an interprofessional project to education and nursing students.

Evaluation Question:

What is the pedagogical significance of using an instructional strategy in a virtual world, such as Second Life, as a teaching and learning space for students and faculty?

Project Description

The proposed interprofessional teaching and learning project was designed with the potential to engage education and nursing students and faculty in a variety of ways that were consistent with effective learning. Each co-investigator ensured that the Second Life project was congruent with learning outcomes of the specific course that they or other faculty members deliver to education and nursing students. Students and faculty had an opportunity to experience interactions and an instructional strategy in a simulation-based environment that built on or enhanced learning outcomes from traditional or blended learning environments. For example, a virtual classroom was developed on SL to

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illustrate the need for an optimal classroom environment for students with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID).

The purpose of the virtual classroom was to provide the student-participants with an opportunity to plan, in an interprofessional manner, an optimal classroom environment for students with SID, as well as promoting sensory self-regulation for all children. The theoretical framework for the self-regulation virtual classroom was based on Jean Ayres theory of sensory integration(***). Schaff and Miller (2005) describe sensory integration based on principles from neuroscience, developmental psychology, occupational therapy, and education. Fundamental to this theory is the understanding that 1) sensorimotor development is an important substrate for learning 2) the interaction of the individual with the environment shapes brains development 3) the nervous system is capable of change (plasticity) and 4) meaningful sensory motor activity is a powerful mediator of plasticity.

If a school aged child’s sensory needs are not being meet it may significantly impede a child’s ability to learn or function in the classroom environment (Aldrich and Shelly, 2006). Classrooms that decrease distraction and over stimulation may use muted colours, draping and zones of low visual stimulation to facilitate self-regulation. Using bean bag chairs, swivel or rocker chairs or exercise balls for student seating can promote regulation in both hyper and hypo stimulated students. In the virtual SL classroom participants were able to adjust the classroom environment with the click of the mouse.

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Students also had access to information resources that had the potential to create and support a dynamic interaction between learning outcome, faculty member, and themselves. The research team created a number of ideas for this project such as a larger than life brain that responded to participant questions, a library of resources, a powerpoint on sensory needs content, and a quiz for participant to check their comprehension about Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Participants could choose to do all or some of the activities when online in the virtual setting. Although the team originally planned on having education and nursing students come together in the Board Room for discussion and team planning, this did not materialize due to a number of challenges related to student schedules and project timing.

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Specific Objectives of Project

Objective #1: Students and faculty will have an opportunity to experience interactions and an instructional strategy in a simulation-based environment that builds on or enhances learning outcomes from traditional or blended learning environments and is consistent with theory of constructivist learning. Objective #2: This project will provide the evaluation of an instructional strategy designed specifically for use on Second Life. The co-investigators will have an opportunity to determine if there are differences in results from feedback from education and nursing students and faculty. Objective #3: To evaluate and demonstrate the advantages of designing and implementing inter-professional education sites on Second Life. Objective #4: To share information and exchange knowledge and add to the current body of knowledge about the educational value of virtual worlds.

Formation of Team

The two co-investigators hired a computer programmer with expertise in designing and developing sites on Second Life. In addition, the investigators hired a Masters of Nursing student to assist with the literature review and with orientation for students. The team participated actively on all aspects of the project and communicated by phone, electronically, and in person over the duration of the program.

Participants

The study sample included students and faculty from the education and nursing programs at the University of Regina (Education) and University of Saskatchewan (Nursing). Students from the education and nursing programs were recruited as volunteers for the project. All aspects of recruitment and contact with potential participants were the role and responsibility of the research team. An initial two hour ‘information’ session by the research team will be held at two sites (University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan –Regina site). This session was designed to inform students about the project’s components, objectives, commitments, and organizational aspects. Participants were made aware that their commitment was approximately four months in duration. Students from both programs were asked to sign the consents regarding participation. During these sessions, the research team provided students with the information letter and informed the students that they could decline participation without any consequences to their educational status. Students were provided with headsets in order to participate online in Second Life.

Second Life Themes/Analysis Section:

Since educators around the world are integrating SL into their educational curricula, using SL as a means to incorporate technology, support neo-millennial learning styles and enhance interprofessional education appeared to be a feasible idea to achieve learning outcomes in both nursing and teacher education. Existing literature and research, while pointing out the barriers of virtual worlds as an instructional strategy, boasted many favourable attributes, offering guidance and optimism that SL might indeed offer a unique approach to teaching and learning on-line. Analysis of the data suggests that deeper examination of the merits of SL as an instructional strategy is warranted but not until

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appropriate “pedagogical nesting” has been achieved. Overall, the participants enjoyed the accessibility of SL and were enamoured with the potential for learning but did not report significant knowledge or skill growth. Interprofessional communication was impeded by several factors which is illuminated with the general findings in the following section.

“Pedagogical Nesting”

Early indications in this study suggested that the participants involved with the project, “enjoyed” learning on SL but there was a mixed response related to meaningful learning. As participants began to drop out of the study and the ones remaining struggled to find an enhanced purpose for learning in this way, inadequacies in “pedagogical nesting” began to emerge. While part of the appeal of SL is the potential for constructivist learning and the space for co-designing and learning to occur, the context and the circumstances need to be readied in such a way that learning can be meaningful and efficient. Attentive to Kelton’s (2008) concern that there might be a gap between students who are already familiar with the use of virtual worlds and those that are new to the experience, an orientation process was developed to meet the needs of the participants who were largely technically savvy, but not users of SL, nor familiar with virtual worlds for educational purposes. Even though the participants found the orientation valuable and precise, it was inadequate in terms of fully preparing them for the challenges that lay ahead. One student said, “I had never been on Second Life before and I spent at least 12 hours trying to orientate it to myself. It would have been helpful to have more of an orientation. I thought Lindenlab was some ESL (English as a Second Language) person trying to talk to me and I deleted all his messages.” Unfortunately, the participants found the start-up stage difficult and time consuming which mirrored the experience of the researchers who were also new to SL.

Although the project hired a highly-skilled technical expert for the team, some of the nesting difficulties may have been avoided if the researchers had greater insight into the operation of SL. For example, one of the participants described how she became distracted by the need to clothe her avatar. After several minutes and failed attempts she remained bald, partially clad and missing a limb. Had the researchers been more competent in SL, they may have had the insight to create default settings (ie for clothes) that would have focused the participant’s time on the primiary learning objectives.

Technology Reverence

Even though 3 out of 4 participants said they personally would not want more educational opportunities on SL, the novelty and affinity to “learning through technology” clearly appealed to them. It appeared Education students were drawn to the concept of virtual world learning because, as one participant said, “I think technology is the future for education so I want to be prepared for the future.” Coupled with the inclination that, “kids are really into technology I think it would be a great way to learn, since they already know about technology” it is clear that the participants saw learning potential in SL. At the same time, there is a bit of a contradiction between what the participants say about the quality of learning in their experience and their projection that students/children would benefit with SL. Perhaps it was this attraction, if not reverence, to technology that helped participants keep an open-mind about the

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potential for teaching and learning in virtual worlds, despite their own personal frustration. Notably, most participants defended SL as an effective way to learn but qualified that SL might be best used as an adjunct or complementary teaching strategy. It is possible that specific weakness in this particular project ie) the orientation and the activities resulted in this outcome.

While particular to Education students, one of the main disadvantages of investing the time and effort to learn SL is the likelihood that they would not be able to transfer this instructional strategy into a school. Due to the nature of some of the **locations and the people students could meet on SL, it may not be a school board approved site. Therefore, investing significant amount of learning time in such a site does not reap adequate benefits for pre-service teachers.

Access and Interest

After the initial start-up difficulties, participants found certain aspects of SL particularly advantageous. The most commonly noted benefit of SL was the high accessibility factor, which is a benefit consistent with other on-line learning opportunities (reference needed). Also, there were a number of learning activities available for the participants on the site but clear preferences for particular activities were cited. Most participants found the “brain” and the “transformable classroom” to be the most educational. Even though they couldn’t move the classroom furniture exactly the way they wanted it, nor were they sure about the credibility of the brain they perceived these two activities as meeting the learning objectives in interesting and interactive ways.

Communicating and Collaborating On-line

Due to the low number of participants and the wide range of accessible hours it was difficult for the students to serendipitously collaborate with each other on-line. Some students reported that they did not make any effort to communicate with other avatars, while others were not in SL when other participants were present. One participant stated that she communicated with someone for a short time because “it was inappropriate – the way they were talking to me.” Significant communication and collaboration between participants, therefore, did not occur even though it was a primary objective of the research. Since SL does not have the capacity for synchronous work opportunities such as editing power points, the participants struggled to find meaningful ways to interact with each other. **One of the assigned tasks was to work with each other to co-construct a model classroom conducive to a wide variety of health and learning needs, but they were not able to connect on-line. There was also a level of discomfort described when the participants discussed the prospect of talking to unknown identities. One participant said, “some people were helpful but some people were creepy”. Another participant adds:

I found communicating with others a little bizarre, though. I first wanted to verify who I’m talking to, not that you can really do that when you’re in environments like this. Secondly, I either want to see the real person or I don’t want to see them at all. I would prefer to make up my own mental image of them. SL was a strange middle ground between both of my extreme preferences.

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Another student commented that “there is a whole world of non-verbal communication that is missing from the interactions”. Perhaps, for human service providers where traditional education has emphasized non-verbal communication, this aspect of SL might be a particular challenge. Also, the participants did not network with other institutions on SL and it appears that even though the physical boundaries were removed, they were replaced by psychological barriers that impeded actively seeking interaction with others. Without this low level of communication, more sophisticated levels of interdependent collaboration was not possible.

In the future, it may be helpful to build in prescribed tasks that facilitate interactions with other avatars as interprofessional collaboration did not naturally occur in this project. In retrospect, the learning activities could too easily be completed without networking or interaction with other participants, even though the intention was for the participants to communicate with each similar and other professions.

Limitations for Learning

Except for the luxury of accessibility, the participants struggled to identify improved learning opportunities offered through SL. One student stated, “I found it too time consuming with little reward or knowledge gain. I would prefer other delivery models”. In some cases the limitations of the program may have actually impeded optimal learning. This participant stated, “With the power-point presentation, I wanted to have the option to print it. Before going through it slide by slide, I wanted to be able to do a quick visual can of it to get the overall big picture. I wanted to be able to highlight major subtitles.”

Summary

The purpose of the evaluation project was to determine the pedagogical significance of a virtual classroom for providing the student-participants with an opportunity to plan and interact within an interprofessional context. After the construction of a “site” on University of Regina land on Second Life, students had the opportunity to experience interactions and instructional strategies in a simulation-based environment that built on or enhanced learning outcomes from traditional learning environments. Students had access to information and resources on this site that were consistent with the Second Life context. The purpose of the project was to promote learning experiences that were designed to provide a balance among experiential learning, guided mentoring, and collective reflection.

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References

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