Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment
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Plan instructional activities incorporating Second Life as you would plan for any course: establish objectives, create activities anchored in the context of the course, and assess students’ learning.
In Second Life, special consideration needs to be taken to ensure that the Second Life student activities are anchored in the context of the class. How does what students do in Second Life relate to what they are studying in class? What benefit do they receive from using Second Life?
Consideration must also be given to how challenging and how much time it will take for the students to complete the activity. Is the activity overly time consuming or require students to learn new skills just to complete the activity?
Assessing students work in Second Life can be tricky. Students are going to have very different levels of technology sophistication. Some might consider themselves to be “gamers” while others might be scared of using technology. Thus, it is a good idea to have students use Second Life as an extension or a supplement to what is being discussed in class. Low stakes activities that evaluate student work with grades such as extra credit or credit/no credit may be a more fair means of assessing student work in Second Life than by assigning a grade to their work at least at the beginning of adopting Second Life.
Finally, Second Life requires a fairly advanced or modern computer, thus, consideration should be given to where and how students will use Second Life for the class.
Student Collaboration
Second Life can be used as a real-time meeting environment eliminating the
need for students to physically meet on campus. Students instead would
be “in-world” to discuss, plan, and collaborate on group projects. Many
areas exist on the Mainland as well as on the UT Island that will enable
student groups to meet in Second Life.
Role Playing
Avatars in Second Life are a great medium from which students can role play. Students
can alter their avatar and choose characters to play. Instructors can
create anchored instruction, case-based instruction or simulated exercises
for students to interact in.
Example
Business communication
Create a fictional organization with CEOs all the way down to mailroom clerks. Students can participate in anchored activities in character. For more involvement, an instructor can create two or three competing companies and have them meet in-world for debates, corporate meetings, or company presentations.
An example of anchored instruction within Second Life.
Distance Learning
Use Second Life as a classroom in a distance-learning environment. In Second Life, you can stream audio, set up PowerPoint-like presentations and even create areas for small group work. Combing synchronous activities in Second Life mixed with asynchronous activities in Blackboard can allow an instructor to create a very “real,” student-centered learning environment.