Worcester in Second Life: another update

Karen Johnson gives an update of more activities at the University of Worcester in Second Life. Karen is the creator of UKnme (Nurse and Midwife Education) in Second Life; her avatar is Bluesky Larkham.

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Amongst other things, we are running a project to support lecturers in getting to know and use SL (Second Life). We are using a number of approaches based on our knowledge of learning and teaching and my own research into pedagogy related to virtual learning. We are aiming to create a Community of Practice within SL so that lecturers will eventually feel confident enough to support one another. To that end, as well as creating some introductory machinima for the university, we are also providing:

• Individual “just-in-time” teaching.
• Face-to-face sessions, team-taught, with one member of staff in SL and one in the tutorial room.
• Academic and practical sessions undertaken in Second Life.
• Advice and tutorials for, and with, lecturers who are planning to take students into SL as an integral part of a module or course.

Individual “just-in-time” teaching is used in two different ways. Staff who are interested in SL are told how to join and create an avatar. They are advised that as soon as they have their avatars name they should email it to me. I then offer friendship, invite them to join the University of Worcester group, offer a tp (teleport) to the university island and arrange a time to meet the member of staff in SL. Once in SL the first thing I do is help the member of staff make the university island their home. I show the lecturer round the island and make an appointment to meet them again after they have tried out some of the activities available for them. I also offer them a face-to-face session to deal with any difficult problems they encounter.

The tutorial sessions with one person in SL and the other in the room with the students seems to work very well. There has always been a problem before with trying to demonstrate something in one way or another but this combination seems to solve that. We have only tried it with small numbers of learners at the moment and I think we will need more teaching teams with larger groups, which could create a challenge.

The academic and practical sessions undertaken in SL are just starting to get of the ground. They are open, and free to everyone (so do come along). This activity was created because, one I could not find taught sessions at a time that suited me in SL (they are mostly run for the American market) and two because I realised there was nowhere in SL that UK and European educationalists could gather and have an opportunity to socialise. I strongly believe that we need to share and support each other more in SL. I have had a lot of help from people in other countries but our British reserve seems to prevent us from even talking to one another.

Advice and tutorials for helping lecturers who are preparing to take students into SL with some of the practicalities is becoming increasingly important. Lecturers want help in creating a supportive environment in SL for their students and a taught session for students on what SL is and how to get started in it. I have a feeling that some more machinima are going to be needed here.