As was written about in last month’s issue
of FORUM, associations are making their
way into SL, and one of the most exciting
uses for SL is education. It seems only
logical. Think about it: Education is people coming together with colleagues to
learn, network, connect and interact. SL
is avatars coming together to do the exact
same thing. SL can breathe new life into
your association’s education with unique
opportunities and events that stand apart
— a world apart — from your competition.
WHO GOES THERE?
Currently, there are more than 100
regions, or islands, within SL that are used
for educational purposes. While many are
universities and traditional learning institutions, one association that ventured in
early is the International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE first rented
space on another organization’s island to
spare costs and ascertain member interest.
“Renting land at first was a great incubator,” says Jennifer Ragan-Fore, director
of new media and member communities
for ISTE. “I would highly recommend this
approach for any association wanting to
experiment with a new or untested tool.
When you’re doing something so cutting-edge, it’s best to start small and see how
members react.”
Another benefit upfront was that the
association was able to share experiences
with other renters and learn from them. “We
had been hearing buzz about SL and felt
we should check it out,” Ragan-Fore says.
“We surveyed our members and discovered
that several were interested in exploring
Second Life. So we knew we could at least
have small group meetings and perhaps
focus groups, with the added benefit of getting our name out there more. However, once
in SL, we had an overwhelming response!”
Initially, ISTE’s goals with SL were to
support members with new professional
networks, reach a more diverse demographic and showcase its programs. It got
much more.“We now have peer-to-peer
professional development, group collaboration, a way to open a dialogue on important issues and another mechanism for
volunteering,” Ragan-Fore says.
It was so successful that in early 2007,
ISTE purchased its own island, which
now has four interconnecting islands. It
hosts weekly networking socials and topical events and sponsors a weekly speaker
series. ISTE is committed to holding at
least two events every week.
Once on the ISTE island, avatars are
greeted by “docents,” who are ISTE volunteers. They are there to answer questions and welcome visitors. Volunteer
docents have names like Snowflake and
Lavendar. Snowflake is an instructional
designer in SL and, when asked about
SL education, she echoes Ragan-Fore’s
sentiments, “Take a slow approach, perhaps with a small group or one-on-one.
Trying to acclimate large groups will be
overwhelming.”
THE PERFECT COMPLEMENT
Some fears about SL revolve around the
notion that it could become addictive or
distracting because it somehow replaces
real-life interaction (think BlackBerry or
Facebook). For professional associations,
SL education can and should serve to
enhance the education they already have
in place, which is no different from any
other type of new education program an
association implements.
“Second Life does not replace our in-person programs at all,” Ragan-Fore says.
“In fact, from the first year we were in SL,
we’ve seen Second Life generate interest
in our real-life events. Members wanted to
meet all these new people that they had
met in SL.” Because of that, at its annual
conference (the real-life one), ISTE had
a lounge and playground dedicated to SL;
they provided SL demos and answered questions surrounding SL. The lounge is complete with expert volunteers who lead discussions and a place for peers to connect.
She also shares this interesting statistic: “At first, about 25 percent of our SL
group were members, while 75 percent
were nonmembers. Now, that statistic is
reversed either because nonmembers converted after learning more about ISTE in
SL or current members became involved.”
Bill Freese, an educator and ISTE
member, says, “I learned that the long
dreamed-of virtual classroom was already
here, and I’ve engaged with my peers in
a way I never have before. I’ve been more
active in this past year with my profes-
sional development in SL than in the previous 20 in real life.”
The number of islands dealing with
education in SL has increased greatly since
its launch. Two years ago, John Lester,
community and education manager for
Linden Labs (the creators and owners of
SL) was quoted in the Christian Science
Monitor as saying, “Education is actually
growing to become a very significant part
of how SL is used.”
This year, SL acknowledged that
growing community by hosting the first
Education Support Faire, complete with
presentations, booths, advertisers and
sponsors.
“Over the years, Second Life has provided ways for the world of academia to
put to use creativity lending to immersive
education, distance learning, knowledge
sharing, faculty networking, and many
other ways to enhance the collective educational community’s efforts in the real
world,” says SL’s news release about the
Faire. “The success of projects surrounding these efforts within Second Life can
be attributed to the many innovative
educators, academics and students who
have chosen to utilize Second Life for
these purposes.” Basically, the Faire was
designed to bring together people interested in SL education as a means to
enhance real-world educational efforts.
Ragan-Fore feels the Faire is “
representative of the kinds of projects the SL
educational community does. Educators,
by nature, understand you have to have
regular opportunities for engagement
and be able to create events in which
participants can learn and experience.”
