Week 5 Ji Yuan Article Review

Using Second Life in an English Course: Designing Class Activities to Address Learning Objectives

Research aims

Little information is available about effective instructional activities using virtual worlds, such as Second Life. While the instructional application of Second Life has grown significantly. The research aims of this paper focuses on the process of implementing Second Life in the classroom, conducting a formative evaluation of the student’s relevant experiences and modifying instructional activities. What’s more, how to adopt new technology more effectively in English course is another research aim of this paper.

Research methods

Data presented in this paper were collected by the following methods: surveys, interviews, and observations from students enrolled in a pilot course for two semesters.

The surveys were conducted online after each activity with students responding to them. Survey items addressed writing self-efficacy, confidence and feelings towards technology, attitudes towards use of Second Life for instructional purposes, ease of use of Second Life, flow experiences while using Second Life based on Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) eight components of Flow, and feelings about the building and role model activities.

The interview was conducted with five students after each activity (10 interviews in total). Two of the interviewed students led the class in their Second Life skills and three others were randomly selected from the remaining students in the class. Interview questions focused on student experiences using Second Life and completing the assigned activities. Interview responses were transcribed and analyzed for emerging themes.

Informal observations were conducted during the in-class training sessions and during the role model activity.

Research results

Collected data of first semester indicated that students experienced difficulties in SL activity. To be more specific, both surveyed and interviewed students indicated that SL building activity did not increase their engagement in course, and they also had difficulty connecting it to the course content.

What’s more, most students felt unprepared to complete the task of building complex structures in Second Life and this resulted in the waste of time because students spent large amounts of time trying to learn how to build.

The second semester activity was redesigned based on the first semester survey and interview findings. A complex robot making activity changed into a simpler role model activity. Data from the second semester suggested that students perceived the role model activity much more positively than building activity. On average, students reported that the role model activity was more enjoyable and engaging, more relevant to the course content, gave better learning experiences, and supported with clearer directions, than the building activity. Also, most students reported that they like avatar interaction with others better than building in Second Life, they like working in small groups in Second Life better than working on their own, and they had the skills to successfully complete the role model activity.

In summary, students’ feelings towards Second Life varied across both semesters depending upon five factors:

(1) How well Second Life activities were anchored in the instructional objectives and context

(2) If the Second Life activities were within the students’ skill levels and abilities

(3) Whether the activity was a competitive, high stakes assessment,

(4) If students perceived the effort required to complete the activity as reasonable

(5) If appropriate support, such as clear directions and training, was provided prior to the activity.

This study demonstrates the importance of combining ongoing evaluation with careful instructional design when adopting emerging technologies for instruction. The formative evaluation of students’ experiences was critical in helping with identify the needed changes in Second Life activities to enhance students’ learning experience. Students’ skill and learning needs in using Second Life should also be considered. While Second Life offers unlimited possibilities for instructional innovation by extending the real-world into the virtual world, the diligent planning of evaluation and instructional activities is necessary for a successful and engaging learning experience.

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.

Delwiche, A. (2006). Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in the new media classroom. Educational Technology & Society, 9 (3), 160-172.

Gee, J. P. (2003). What videogames have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Prensky, M. (2006). Don’t bother me, Mom, I’m learning! : How computer and video games are preparing your kids for 21^st century success and how you can help! St. Paul: Paragon House.

Week 5 Ji Yuan Journal Second Life

This week I visited a wonderful island named mountains of creta in Second Life. I found this island by chance and I was not expected to meet people there, but in fact I was not alone.

With golden sandy beach and green trees, this island is surrounded by sea.

Entertainment equipment such as deck chairs are available on the golden sandy beach

There is a bridge over the sea, I had a fantastic view of scenery when I stood on the bridge.

When I back to beach, I met a friend and she was hang out with her pet. I tried to talk with her but she ignored me.

I even found a snowman! To be more specific, this is a sandman with a Christmas hat and carrot nose.

At the halfway up the hill, I found black powder and cannon. I was shocked about this and I had no idea why they appeared here at a quiet and beautiful small island.

I jumped to the rocks and I noticed there are a round building in the sea. Because of the curiosity, I decided fly there to check out.

This place just like information center, people could get the basic information about this island here if they were new to the island.

I also found this one on the beach but I don’t know the function of it. Maybe just like advertising board.

I believe the scenery would be more charming at the top of the hill so I flied to there. I met that girl again and she talked with me in Spanish!

This island surprised me a lot because people lit Kongming lanterns and sent then into the sky! 

Second Life - Week 3 "The Road Trip Begins"

DISCLAIMER: This is a true story. Conversations have been edited to be more reader friendly, but the content remains the same. All names and usernames have been changed to protect those involved.

I ended last week's entry with the idea that I was going to do a road trip of the weird in Second Life. This week, I have developed that idea a bit further. When I began this year, it was with the intention of learning more about narrative storytelling in virtual worlds, and to develop my own writing craft. Discovering Second Life, I hoped to learn a bit about roleplaying. This week, I have set this in action, and created a character for which I am roleplaying with.

His name? Daniel Craye.

Daniel Craye, for a bit of background is a horror novelist in the vein of Stephen King. He writes what he terms pulp-horror books for the masses, and has been somewhat successful at doing it. Until lately, where he has encountered some terrible writers blockage. On the suggestion of a friend, Daniel has entered Second Life, to find the weird, the scary, the bizarre and the uncanny. He wants to hear the "ghost stories" players of second life has to offer, in hopes that he will find something that will truly scare him again.

He began his journey in the dark and mysterious town of Woodbury Falls.

Figuring his best chance of hearing a stranger talk would be over a strong cup of coffee, Daniel headed straight for the local diner in hopes of a burger, a drink and scary story.

The "Greasy Diner." Inside, was dark and dank, but the coffee was hot and strong, enough to keep him occupied for the time being, Daniel thought. Shortly after he sat down, a young black woman walked into the restaurant. As she wandered around, Daniel watched her out of the corner of his eyes, eventually he piped up and asked,

"What brings you here?"

The young woman seemed taken aback at first but quickly replied,

"Hello Daniel." before explaining her purpose in this backwater township: "I like to explore creepy sims."

At this, Daniel assumed she meant simulations.

"Any stories of creepy things?" he asked, then clarifying his intentions, explained: "I'm a horror writer. Have a bit of a writer's block and am interested in people's stories."

The young woman, Mable, her profile name displayed as, sat down next to Daniel. She ordered a drink.

The two got to talking, Daniel told her a bit about himself, how his latest novel "Dog Breath" was fairly popular, but had left him all dried out. How his publishers were up his arse over the first draft of his next book. A book he hadn't yet written.

Then, the conversation took a dark turn.

"Anyway, enough about me. What about you? Why do you like to explore these kinds of places?" Daniel asked.

"I'm an explorer of the bizarre side of SL." Mable replied.

"What's the strangest place you've ever visited?" he asked.

Mable thought for a moment and then replied:

"Terror in SL is in the perverted." she explained, "Not the supernatural, but the men with dark fantasies."

"What kind of fantasies?" Daniel asked.

Mable sighed and took a sip of her coffee, "The kind they can not do in real life, so they come to SL to enact their dreams."

"Do you think SL is an outlet for their twisted desires?" Daniel asked,

"Yes it is." she replied without hesitation.

"Because behind the avatar, you can see a real human being looking for fun in dark things."

Daniel ordered a burger, and thought about this before asking:

"What dark things have you heard of? What do they do?"

"Things that would be a crime in real life."

"Like rape?" Daniel asked, remembering some of the fetish servers he had seen when he first logged into the world.

"I'm talking about killers, sadists, misogynists, rapists, torturers and pedophiles." Mable replied under her breath. When Daniel didn't reply, she reminded him: "I told you I'm an investigator of the dark; I see a lot of disturbing stuff."

"Are these people dangerous?" Daniel asked.

"When you see someone find pleasure in those kinds of fantasies you realize that they could be dangerous in real life." she paused, "You know the deep web?" she asked.

"The place where you can supposedly hire assassins, buy child sex slaves, that whole thing?" he asked.

"Well, Second Life is like a mini deep web. Nobody controls what happens here. This is a space for dark things."

As he stood in front of a burning vehicle moments later, pondering his conversation with Mable, Daniel wondered what was out there in this virtual world. Mable had talked of dark spaces, of men with twisted fantasies. It all seemed rather unbelievable to him, but he had made himself a promise upon entering this virtual world. He would follow the trail of horror wherever it lead him, even down the Rabbit hole if need be. He knew what he had to do. He needed to find these dark places and see them for himself. He needed to know what exact kind of horrors the world of Second Life was capable of holding...

Dimitri - SL Week 5

Spring in Japan is most well known for the Sakura (or Cherry Blossom) festivals. I discovered that there is a sim in Second Life dedicated to the festival now the the cherry blossoms have started to bloom in Tokyo and the real life festivals have started, so I decided to check it out as the cherry blossom festivals are one of my favourite parts of being in Japan.

The map is set up with traditional Japanese style buildings around a park full of blooming cherry blossoms and small ponds. There are many shops, but also a few areas set up simply for sitting down and enjoying the scenery.

Things like festivals are one of my favourite places to take photos, and the sakura festival is my favourite festival to take photos (I have hundreds of photos from the festivals I've been to personally). Because of this, I figured this would be the best place to experiment more with the photo taking part of Second Life.

When I first started playing with the photo taking settings in week two, I found the lighting restrictive. However, when playing around today, I actually discovered that there were more presets than the four that were shortcutted in the World menu.

While the system to navigate these is time consuming and not the most intuitive for me, it has greatly increased my enjoyment of taking photos in Second Life and made the entire experience a lot more enjoyable. They are settings that one would probably use when just navigating in general, but from an artistic point of view, they make for a great variation in taking photos.

While exploring the festival, I came across this building which is much like the sort of building seen at a shrine or temple in terms of what is offered. This particular building offered what is called omikuji, or fortunes. Typically people will get these at the start of the year in the first few days of January when they make the first shrine trip of the year. These fortunes often cover every single aspect of ones life, including self, family, money, work, education and love. However, the omikuji I bought only had one line:

You will inherit a legacy from an ancestor.

Despite my previous aversion to taking avatar photos in week two, I decided to try a couple again with these new lighting presets I had found. I am still not entirely certain that avatar photos would be a way for me to go as opposed to landscape, etc., but the different lighting options does make it a more viable thing to pursue.

I discovered that the 'Foggy' preset is great for making something like haunted or out of a movie like Silent Hill, and I feel it would be really effective on certain maps.

Overall, with the discovery of these presets, I would like to revisit some of the earlier maps I visited, such as the Fairytale map and the sculpture garden, to experiment with these light settings and see what sort of photos I can create with combing everything together, as well as seeing what other settings there are that I can play with to achieve different effects.