Second Life

Linden Lab, an American Internet company, began developing its online virtual world in 1999, which culminated in its primary product - Second Life – launched in June 2003. This sophisticated, 3-dimensional interactive environment emerged from primitive beginnings in an attempt to engage in a 360° degree virtual experience.^[1] Unlike other online environments, where chat is the sole interactive activity, Second Life also contains a three-dimensional world, one to be explored, shared and used as a creative tool kit for building virtual, interactive objects. Put simply, Second Life is a large digital sandbox where real experiences are simulated.

Defining Second Life is a frequent question for debate, whether it should be understood as a virtual world, a computer game, or a Chat Room. The product has no designated objective or traditional game plan. Moreover, it has no beginning or end, and is not designed to foster competition. Yet, it tends to have the appearance of a game and is often assumed to be one. As such, it lends itself as a template for a motivating learning platform, and is rapidly being adopted as an educative tool. It has the capacity to be used as part of an e-Learning based classroom or as a space to meet, communicate and collaborate.

Second Life’s capacity to offer immediate presence in its virtual environment is compelling. The education community is now the fastest growing in Second Life, particularly in the groups: Second Life Education (SLED), Healthcare Educators and Non-Profit Educators^[2] are leveraging their profiles and aims, sourcing collaborative partnerships, and mapping new connections for support. These sectors see Second Life as a cost effective way-forward in distance learning, with 143 accredited educational institutions, representing 19 countries, already participating in its vibrant, active, and dynamic community.^[3]

There are a number of possibilities to adopt Second Life aspects for strategic engagement in the virtual world, for the benefit of adult learners and non-profit organisations. Whether this is to network, socialise, promote, occupy, facilitate e-Learning, or other activity. The diversity of its activities has the potential to reach people not normally connected to the activities of non-profit organisations, but who come across an event or reference to it embedded in Second Life whilst being virtually interactive.

Evidence suggests that academic engagement, with software created for e-Learning platforms, have begun to merge open-source project tools with Second Life’s virtual environment capabilities. Together they are transforming teaching pedagogies, methodologies and traditional learning environments, presenting a contemporary shift in knowledge exchange and experience.

The following gateways are exploring these opportunities, and provide examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of Second Life’s virtual environment for non-profit organisations, and educationalists in adult learning.

Implementation for Non-Profits

One way in which Non Profits can benefit from Second Life in their context is by considering a campaign or project that has a definite beginning, middle and end. Aspects that may need to be considered could include:

• What a particular profiling campaign might look like in a virtual community.
• How the success of the project should be measured in a virtual environment.
• What the deliverables would be at the end of the project cycle.

Areas of non-profit activity where Second Life tools might be implemented to an advantage, include:

• Education – introducing peer to peer and sandbox learning (see models below).
• Outreach – holding regular events (discussions, classes, support group meetings, conferences, and workshops); identifying interesting groups and networks; staffing the office; installation of scripted objects informing staff, and volunteers, when their virtual space is visited.
• Collaboration – encourage volunteering and leadership; instigating contests and competition as a way to get people involved in creating content and working together.
• Fundraising – adopting multi-model strategies – letting the community respond with their ideas and then implement; event fundraising – hosting high profile events that offer some form of entertainment to capture the interest of donors and others.

Education: e-Learning Utilising the virtual environment of Second Life, as an instructional tool for e-Learning, provides people with a lived experience of a radically different model of education. Implementation requires that goals, activities, feedback, and consequences be aligned to desired learning outcomes. With sufficient structure and guidance learners can reach instructional goals managed in ways that minimize distractions and extraneous mental load.

Some models include:

Sloodle (A Simulation Linked Object Orientated Learning Environment) This is a free open source community project, which integrates the multi-user virtual environments of Second Life and/or OpenSim with Moodle Learning Management System.

In 2006 The Open University (OU) began carving a virtual environment in Teen Second Life, entitled Schome Park, for its students and staff who do not have access to a real campus. In conjunction with a wiki and a forum, it has given its participants a ‘lived experience’ of radically different approaches to education.^[4]

Currently, the OU occupies several regions in Second Life:

• OU island, the main arrival point with teaching and learning spaces.
• OUtopia, a virtual village inhabited with a community of OU people.
• Deep Think, a virtual campus for an online part-time MPhil in Computing.
• Open University 2, for hosting one-off events for large numbers of participants.
• Open University HRD, human resources training, role play and conference hosting.
• OU Ocean, a buffer zone between the formal learning regions and OUtopia village.

In parallel the University of Leicester (UoL) UK developed a Learning Innovation Strategy in Second Life manifest as Media Zoo - a research dissemination forum, and a supportive, experimental environment.