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NMC Publishes Results of Educators in Second Life Survey

Survey of educators associated with Second Life and the New Media Consortium. 100 percent of the respondents use Second Life (question 1) so this survey should be regarded in that light. That's why we see, for example, that 43 percent took a class in Second Life. And 33 percent of them own 'land' in the online environment. You need broadband to use Second Life; that's why only 1 percent use dial-up. But more interestingly, the most popular activity is 'wantering around' followed by 'meeting people'. So Second Life is still in the 'browsing' stage of use. Via Pete Johnston. Unattributed, New Media Consortium, October 8, 2007. [Link] [Tags: ] [Previous][Next]

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Re: NMC Publishes Results of Educators in Second Life Survey: Interaction Makes the In-World Go Round

, October 8, 2007

Greetings, Stephen,

Thanks for posting the remarks about the NMC SL Survey.

Who is using SL and what does the smart money tell us about where the authentic engagement is? The Virtual Realist Primer for Virtual World Design argues for a model that is driven by interaction which in turn define function and structure, a term he coins "interacture" (Jakobsson, p. 85). Identifying interaction as the defining element aligns with Moore's (1989) definitions of interactions in distance environments as student-faculty, student-student, student-content.

As you pointed out, the New Media Consortium report supports interaction as a key element in SL-so even though people wander they are interacting with the "content, " and they also add they are there to meet people. Other users added they were taking classes in SL. Also noted is the the fact that people also check out profiles of other users in SL, another form of interactivity Downes, 2007)

And while the critics are counting cast-off avatars,, there are several places in SL that are drawing educational crowds, again, through interaction: at EducationInSecondLife, you'll see examples that include the ability to modify items at OSMOSA, an open source site, a place where librarians meet to further explore use of library services in SL, and book clubs, among many other opportunities (http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses).


Sources:

Jakobsson, M. (n.d.) A virtual realist primer to virtual world design. Retrieved on October 5, 2007, from http://mheim.com/files/Virtual%20Realist%20Primer.pdf

Downes, S. (2007, October 8). NMC publishes results of educators in SL survey
OLD Daily. Retrieved on October 8, 2007, from http://www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm.

Moore, M. G. (1989) Editorial: Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance Education, 3 (2), 1-6.

Second Life in Education wiki. Retrieved on October 7, 2007, from
http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses#interactive.

Cheers to you, as always,

Alice
Alice Bedard-Voorhees [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

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