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Digitale Bibliotheek No. 2, 2009 http://digbib.nl

Education and Teaching in Second Life

The hype of Second Life (SL), the virtual world where everything’s possible, seems over for
some time. Companies and organizations are pulling back when they find that it is not directly
benefit what they had expected. The publicity value is not very large anymore, if not zero.
Furthermore, in this crisis time expenditure is limited.
But in two sectors, SL has grown both in numbers and hours spent. For example, the 'Second
Life Library' project grew from an island into an archipelago of more than fifty islands related
information around Info Island International including museums, universities, colleges,
libraries, knowledge and ICT companies. Central point is a reference desk with employees
who come from all over the world. It is an excellent center for information about SL and all of
the participating parties. On the topics of education, training, simulation and training Second
Life has been accepted by many, and reached the phase of implementation in the hype curve.
A special project is Kamimo (Kalmar, Missouri and Molde). The University of Kalmar
(Sweden), the Molde University College (Norway) and the University of Central Missouri
(United States) work together here in the field of education, research and training. The project
provides, inter alia, the Talking Business course entirely in SL.
A virtual world brings education to another level of perception and awareness. Even libraries
for developing collaborative learning a lot of experience with the project Kamimo in Second
Life.
By Guus van den Brekel
Education
Second Life
Students have the sense of really meeting each other.

Primary purpose of Kamimo was experimenting with the development and testing of an
educational platform for life-long learning in the virtual world on two islands: Kamimo
Education Island2 and Virtual Montmartre. About the project, several peer-reviewed articles
published and four months after completion of the project is the book Learning and Teaching
in the Virtual World of Second Life appeared, written by Judith Molka-Danielsen and Mats
Deutsch Mann (Tapir Academic Press, 2009) 3 .
An increasing number of participants comes to education and courses off. The project
involves not only language, but also detailed analysis and reporting of the entire process of
design, implementation and execution.
Especially the mix of stakeholders. Coincidence plays a major role in shaping the project, you
know Alistair Creelman, Coordinator Distance Learning at the Swedish University of
Kalmar4. The right people did just happen to meet at the right time and tell each other the
right things . Creelman met at a conference in Romania Björn Jäger of Molde University
College in Norway, he was excited for SL as a possible learning platform. As a local
representative of the Norwegian Open Universities (public organization promotion projects
financed) Jäger knew that a grant possibility, but that project proposals within a week within
should be. Alistair, in his turn, knew that his colleague David Richardson, English teacher,
also at the University of Kalmar, all worked with someone in the United States: Bryan Carter,
assistant professor of literature at the University of Central Missouri, as an expert in his field
and is already widely known in SL.
Alistair has an organizing role in the project. He brings people together, regulates and
provides PR. At home and abroad, he has given various lectures and demonstrations on
Kamimo. The grant is also awarded because nobody in Scandinavia had experience in this
field before. The project started in 2007 and was extended with additional funding until 2008.

For Alistair there are two elements important for the choice for education in a virtual world
instead of video-conferencing. The added value lies firstly in the fact that students a greater
sense of reality experienced. The social dimension of space and people is not comparable with
other platforms. Students describe it as "a shared sense of one another to have actually met.
The second element is the ability to role play and it feels less inhibited. The avatar offers
protection that talking in public, or through video-conferencing, does not give. Moreover, SL
offfers participants in distance learning - often a solitary activity - the ability to work in a
group.
The final design of the course Business Talking arose after adaptation and expansion of a
number of pilot courses (Oral Production). The six to eight week course is a form of 'active
learning' in which students from three universities may participate. Students of the University
of Central Missouri will follow the course Composition (How do I write an essay?) And
examine aspects of the Afro-American history and literature under the guidance of Carter. He
specializes in Afro-American literature of the 20th century with a focus on the Harlem
Renaissance. He is also an innovator in the field of ICT in education and working with video-
conferencing, podcasting, blogging, internet sessions and SL.
Carters students take new participants in their care and are in the first meeting forming buddy
teams to SL to get to know. In other sessions will be presentations on popular places and
special events in SL. RPG part of the course the students conclude with group presentations.
Participants learn the English language while they work in a social form of cultural aspects of
each other's worlds exchange. The American students learn about cultural differences through
contact with participants from all parts of the world. This cross-cultural aspect5 for all
subjects important advantages over tradionelere forms of language. A virtual world brings, is
Carter, learning to another level of perception and awareness and can be an excellent
complement to existing methods because the involvement, encourages communication and
interaction.
The avatar of Guus van den Brekel did some interviews for Digital Library (see cap) in
Second Life. Thus he spoke with Judith Molkenthin-Danielsen.

On Virtual Mont Marte is partly the famous Parisian district reconstructed including theaters
and cafes where after the First World War, jazz has been introduced in France. This finding
shows and performances take place in full historical perspective as part of educational and
cultural programs. The grant made it possible for Kamimo Virtual Mont Marte building to
complement the existing Virtual Harlem I and II that visualises the neighborhood in New York
around 1920.
On the Virtual Harlem examines Carter, in addition to the art of performance in SL, including
the use of artificial intelligence in the form of so-called bots that look and move like avatars.
Their conversations, behaviour and movements are programmable and their learning capacity
he hopes that the impact in the future organization of the meetings fully account for them.
Where Carter SL used as an object of study, Richardson, a lecturer at the Swedish
Univsersiteit of Kalmar, considers it as a place of study. Richardson works as a teacher of
English in the Department Flexible Courses English for years and he uses all ICT applications
in its class. The introduction of voice chat in SL in August 2007 was a major impetus to the
courses in this form in SL to develop.
To him the lack of non-verbal expression, facial expressions, is no loss, but in fact contributes
as positive in that language education. "Many students have explicitly mentioned that the
environment of SL takes away a sense of shame and frustration about a possible low level of
English fluency as compared to video conferencing. They feel freer because the avatar is
speaking, not themselves. They have no guidance on these non-verbal assistance or support in
SL and, as demonstrated by this project, offset by an even greater focus on the actual language
exchange in the communication. "SL offers a safe learning environment ', a term coined by
Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California and an expert in
the area of second languages acquisition.
Specific problems
A complete course in SL brings specific problems, such as identification and administration.
How can you be sure who is behind the avatar is? Can there be fraud in any form whatsoever?
Or how can a student ask for a second opinion?
Judith Molka-Danielsen of Molde University College (Norway) played an important role in
addressing these problems and evaluate the project. She has done research on the design and
development of the educational concept. Also, she was responsible for the technical design
and coordination while building Kamimo Education Island. Moreover, the 3D Design course
in Second Life.
Many activities of project members, teachers and participants are given in a single blog. Two
PhD students to use data as a basis for their thesis component of this project. Molka-
Danielsen indicates that a structural embedding of SL in other parts of school curricula has
not yet occurred, but slowly more people are doing. Kamimo has not caused a breakthrough
by the participating universities or a drastic increase in use of SL, but it does have a number
of spin-off of projects.
Particular the project is that participants can shape themselves so as they would like to be, or
aspects of themselves to show they have in themselves, but not always dare to show. With a
smile sets it ideal images of men and women in SL called the Angelic self-image.
Even though the envelope of traditional education with the support of ICT and Web 2.0
education in the virtual world gradual, the Kamimo project in any event proved that SL can be
a good complement to existing methods. It encourages involvement, communication and
interaction. It is also a major incentive for research into the effects of virtual worlds for
education and communication. Libraries can learn from the many practical experiences for the
development of cooperation projects and activities in virtual worlds.
Talking Business The course is offered twice a year with a maximum of 24 participants. There
are plans for the course in a broader perspective so as to frequency and number of participants
can be extended.
Several universities, including those of Lund and Jönköping (Sweden), set up their own
projects in SL. Jäger of Molde University College uses SL as a platform for role-play in the
course Purchase Management and Carter of the University of Central Missouri developed the
course Managing a Class in SL6.
As a direct spin-off of Kamimo are two new projects in a start-up phase. It is a fully
Norwegian project for 2009 and 2010 with the name Using ICT to promote flexible life long
learning in communication, health and disability and a larger European project entitled Access
to Virtual Learning and Action Live Online (AVALON). The University of Manchester is
working in this project together with Molde University College and several other European
institutes. Certainly two years (2009 and 2010) is language learning in virtual worlds, and
facilitated. AVALON The island lies in SL next Kamimo. dib
- Guus van den Brekel, information specialist of the Central Medical Library of the University
Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Notes
1 Info Island International & Alliance Virtual Library:
http://infoisland.org
2 blog Kamimo Islands offers much information about educational projects in SL and the
work of the project members:
http://kamimo-islands.blogspot.com
3 See also the section Digi-Reviews in this issue
4 The interviews with project members Kamimo have been made in SL using Voice Chat or
Skype with webcam
5 Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Virtual Space:
http://mats-crosscultural.blogspot.com
6 Information on Managing a Class in SL:
http://slclassmanagement.blogspot.com