Archive for February, 2008
Happy, Productive Returns from Second Life?
Feb 9th
I’ve been away for a while and am just now getting back into blogs and feeds; I’ve been wrestling with a question and taking my time to reflect and evaluate. As I started diving back into a few blogs and posts I wanted to be sure to read, I noticed this comment by Scott Merrick in reaction to a post by Kevin Jerrett at Story of My Second Life:
I’m also continually wrestling :) with the question about the viability of Second Life as an educational tool. I can say that it’s been remarkably important as a personal learning platform for me, and that it’s enriched my life by connecting me to other real human beings with whom I likely would never have come into contact without it. Maybe that’s enough, though I don’t see an end in sight. The big limiting factor, of course is the Big T, “Time.”
This is the same question I have: What are the gains associated with using Second Life in a learning space as compared to the resources invested necessary to produce those gains? Or, in other words, does the “Time” put into Second Life experiences justify the things we learn or gain from those experiences – the personal learning platform and connections Scott mentions. And, I’m not just talking about from an individual’s personal or professional development perspective either. What about the gains for learners in our virtual learning experiences? What sort of time are they having to put in focused on Second Life technology? Do they benefit enough to justify the time investment?
I believe those questions are particularly important given that Phillip Rosedale indicated in an interview with Speigel Online that one of the two most important issues Second Life needs to accomplish is, “Making it more usable. The user interface is still difficult, we need to make that better.” If the founder and CEO of the platform acknowledges the user interface is difficult, what costs are we enduring in virtual learning spaces within Second Life? I know educators are overcoming the obstacles and providing the necessary scaffolding for learners to be successful. BUT, do the ends justify the means? Are we getting enough out of it to justify the time invested by faculty, staff and students?
Additionally, the December 2007 issue of the Sloan-C View includes a brief article, “Second Life: A Viable Teaching Solution, or NOT?” From a workshop to introduce educators to Second Life, feedback was solicited regarding the pros, cons and concerns regarding the impact of Second Life on: Student Satisfaction, Faculty Satisfaction, Learning Effectiveness, Cost Effectiveness and Access. In short, the pros are what you might expect – constructivist environment, student-centered, simulation capabilities etc. And, the Cons and Concerns, for me, raise the question as to whether the benefits are worth the costs of: steep learning curves (listed 3+ times), time/effort, technology in foreground, training, system efficiency, technical resources etc.
Of course, I can’t just ask the question, “Is it worth the effort?” and stop. Go one step further, what are some ways in which the effort required and benefits received could be measured? And, what constitutes a sufficient return-on-investment for learning in Second Life?
I believe Joop van Schie at Aggiornamento II is conducting research that will begin to help answer that question. Joop has been interviewing educators in Second Life; at least a portion of each interview focuses on the educator’s professional opinion of (a) SL’s potential to be effective, (b) the perceived costs of achieving that potential, and the (c) perceived rewards or fringe benefits in applying that effort to achieve the potential. The results Joop will produce will provide an analysis of professional educator opinions regarding the power of Second Life as an educational tool which – according to Bernie Dodge’s formula (Power = Attention * Depth * Efficiency) – includes consideration of the efficiency of the system.
ROI image from RetailMarketingBlog.com
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Loading ...Spiegel Online’s Interview with Rosedale
Feb 8th
Second Life and Education is a new blog recently launched by Sarah “Intellagirl” Robbins; the blog is “dedicated to the ins and outs of K-20 education using Second Life . . . is written by educators and for educators, for those who are seasoned Second Life veterans and for those just starting out, for those who are dye-hards and those who are skeptics.“
A recent post by Jeremy Kemp in that space Linden Gaze Strengthens on Education called attention to an interview Phillip Rosedale did with Spiegel Online. I won’t recount the interview or Jeremy’s comments – both are worth the visit and read.
Jeremy referred to part of what I believe to be the most notable portion of the interview, and I wanted to highlight a little more of the context around the portion Jeremy quoted.
Spiegel Online commented,
The growth of Second Life, though, has subsided dramatically. Firms are pulling out…
Of course, the focus of the comment is on the post-hype/backlash downswing of the hype curve occurring for most businesses interested in extending their marketing to the virtual world. Did Rosedale explain why firms are pulling out? Did he suggest firms are not vacating Second Life? He didn’t do either…
Rosedale : The real business use of Second Life centers around collaboration and that is continuing to grow quite rapidly. There are more than 400 universities in Second Life and there are more than 4,000 teachers on our education mailing list. There might have been more enthusiasm and stronger growth in the first two quarters of 2007, but I think that the core growth in utility and in applications is still very strong. There’s been a media focus on marketing …
Jeremy quoted the first two sentences, but I think it’s significant that this comment was in response to the notion that firms are pulling out. For Rosedale’s response to that comment to fcous on the quantity of institutions and educators in Second Life is significant. “Firms are pulling out? Not really… The real business use of Second Life is growing quite rapidly – 400 universities and 4000 educators….”
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Feb 6th
I took a few minutes to track down Ann Enigma (SL) and discuss an Internet Entrepreneurship course for which she’s providing Second Life support; they’re planning a Second Life component for the course during this Spring term. The notion is to teach “fundamental business concepts by having students start business[es] in SL,” and they’re inviting any interested educators or entrepreneurs to participate by offering guest lectures and/or professional critiques of learner work. Ann and I had discussed assessment strategy in the past, so this conversation was a follow-up to see where the project is headed.
Learners are going to engage a custom, in-house registration and orientation portal; the orientation will be facilitated face-to-face in a campus computer lab, and learners will have had a 2-3 week overview of fundamental entrepreneurial concepts. For the Second Life component, they’re going to be issued “starter kits” and then choose a business location on “Rhode Island (more space) or Casablanca (less space, more traffic).” Learners will get a “store space, and examples of vendors and products . . . Each group of 3-4 students – mixed majors – will have to devise a product or service, create a business plan for it, and actually start that business.” With the land, prefabricated resources and small L$ grant, learners can do whatever they like within the scope of the assignment and the PG restriction ;-). Ultimately, “they are expected to write a business plan, attempt to implement the plan, and reflect on the result.”
Several thoughts from my instructional design perspective.
Scaffolding/Support. The approach to orientation Ann described is a good example of the type of pre-learning support students need before engaging SL for instructional purposes. Most faculty engaging learners via SL are providing orientations and support, but this course offers learners a SL orientation and solid introduction to the course concepts as well. Also, the prefabs, workspace and L$ offered to learners are invaluable as well; that support will get learners past much of the SL distractions not essential to the course.
Simulation. Ann described, “The hope is that analyzing the SL market will provide the same type of experience as analyzing an RL industry.” Second Life should definitely provide a more authentic opportunity for learners to engage the market experience, particularly when learners are going to be able to follow up that research experience with the process of actually starting the business in Second Life.
Assessment. Currently, the plan for deliverables learners will produce include the business plan and a reflective presentation at the end. The Second Life component will definitely add a layer of authenticity to the exercise and certainly opens the potential for more than a few learners to truly amaze and astonish those teaching the course. However, Ann indicated they’re still debating how best to grade the businesses given that the limited time and new experience with Second Life may make it difficult for the businesses to flourish or develop fully.
While using SL as the market in which to develop a product and business plan (a) adds authenticity to the exercise, (b) is certainly pertinent to the content of a course titled “Internet Entrepreneurship,” and (c) creates unique insights and revelations for learners as they reflect, I think SL may create an additional opportunity in this instance.
In a typical, more traditional learning environment, learners often don’t have the opportunity to engage potential investors or to self-finance/bootstrap in an effort to actually start a business, so learners read texts, listen to lectures, and perhaps watch videos and other media describing the different sections of a business plan before write a business plan for an imaginary business. Thus, developing AND presenting a business plan via SL and/or working to finance a start-up business presents an opportunity to accomplish goals and tasks not easily performed in a non-SL environment; to me, SL makes the “punchline of the course” – actually starting a business based upon a business plan and market research – obtainable.
Imagine . . . As a learner, I don’t just develop a product or service and a business plan for it; the work to research the market, estimate financial gains and expenses, and determine resource needs is only the beginning – just as it is in the physical world. I have to prepare a precise, persuasive oral presentation to potential investors or loan providers (or experienced entrepreneurs or other business educators lending a helping hand); I might have to complete a loan application or endure an interview with a small business development agent for a bank. No matter the situation, I have a limited opportunity to get what I need to get my dream off the ground. My life as an entrepreneur can be nerve wracking, and Second Life makes learning and coping with that anxiety possible along with everything else to be learned in an “Internet Entrepreneurship” course.
Looking forward to learning how this project turns out for Ann Enigma and colleagues.
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