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 What is Second Life?
Second Life is a 3-D virtual community
imagined and created by its residents. It
has a real economy, property ownership,
and avatars (powered by people) that
engage in many interactions and
activities.
 What is Second Life?
As of April 2010 the site has grown to
more than 20 million accounts:
individuals, educational institutions,
corporations, government agencies and
non-profit organizations. At any given
time 50,000-85,000 residents are online.
 What is Second Life?

On
Line
Immersive
Virtual
Environment
What is Second Life?

Multi
User
Virtual
Environment
 What is Second Life?
• “Residents come to the world from over
100 countries with concentrations in North
America and the UK … 60% are men, 40%
are women and they span in age from 18 -
85.”

• Over 300 Universities and colleges have

a presence in Second Life

http://www.secondlife.com/whatis
 I, Avatar…

Changeable, customizable
representation of ones’ self,
image, dreams, or fantasy.
Avatars can be people, vampires,
literary representations, animals
(furries), robots, transformers, or
any other imaginary character.
 Is There Any Cost?
• Yes and No

• Free to create an Avatar and explore

(Basic Membership)

• Can spend nothing or a lot

• Lots of “freebies”
– Hair, skin, clothes
 Why OLIVEs???

3D virtual environments
allow for a “sense of
presence” between the participants…

Unlike “flat” virtual activity

(Blackboard/WebCT, e-mail, discussion
forums, web sites, wikis, blogs, etc) or
“cam” virtual activity (Wimba, WebEx,
Adobe Connect, etc)
Rethinking Education/Training
In Second Life, it never rains, the
temperature is always warm, and
crime virtually non-existent. So, do
you really need all those tables,
desks, and chairs?

In Second Life the entire learning

environment can be designed from
the traditional to the fantastic.
What fun!
Learning Methods in 2 nd Life:
1.Encouraging Specific Behaviors
2.Role Playing
3.Analytical (building)
4.Creativity/Design
5.Problem Solving
6.Changing Roles
7.Interacting with Fantasy
 Education?
Classes and workshops can be designed that
encourage collaboration and participation by
students in a global context.. Students can meet
and interact with students and teachers around
the world without ever having to travel.
 Implications…
•Appeal to today’s visual students
•Collaboration between campuses,
disciplines, students/nonstudents
•Distributed learning
•Authenticity
•Sense of Presence and Connectedness
•Social Networking w/ Global Reach
Is the Future This????
Or This????
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