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This presentation was given at the CILASS Staff-Student Symposium, held on 2nd May 2008 in the Information Commons, Sheffield University. In it I describe use of Second Life, and the island funded by CILASS, for both undergraduate and Masters students. I include some reflections from those involved. It does not include an explanation of IBL (since thsi was an IBL conference), and a very brief introduction to SL, but has more detail and reflection on the interventions than some of the previous presentations.
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Sheila Webber, 2008
Inquiry in Second Life
Sheila Webber/ Sheila YoshikawaDepartment of Information StudiesUniversity of Sheffield, April 2008With Tim Zijlstra and Vicki Cormie; and acknowledgement to Lyn Parker, & BSc IM and Educational Informatics students
Sheila Webber, 2008
Outline• Introduction to Second Life• Overall aims• Inf104 Information Literacy• Inf6011 Educational Informatics• Final reflections
Sheila Webber, 2008
Second Life
Sheila Webber, 2008
Second Life• 3-D Online Digital world, owned by Linden Labs• Most things created by SL residents: SL fashion
designers, architects, bakers, animal makers ….• Avatars- 3D representation of yourself – free to
signup and can live on freebies, but need Linden dollars if want to own land, buy clothes etc.
• Communication through text chat, Voice and Instant Messaging
• Many educators in SL
Sheila Webber, 2008
Facts and figures• SL made up of Regions ( “mainland”) or islands, each
65,536 sqm• 3,952 regions on Mainland (slmaps.com) + 12,000 islands• 12million avatars (probably a lot less individual people):
about 40,000 inworld simultaneously • Currency is Linden dollars ( £1= c. L$450): 16,850,580
Linden exchanged in December; 28 Jan spent US$1,436,000
• 341,791 customers spent money inworld in December 2007; 50,000 users had positive Linden flow in Dechttp://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php
Sheila Webber, 2008
Issues of SL• Need broadband and good computer
with right graphics card• Have to upgrade SL software• Learning curve in basics of movement &
communication inworld• Privacy issues for some
“SL has been having a lot of issues over the last 2 days - they had to replace one of the inventory servers and I (like others) had to try getting in several times before succeeding. Also crashed out 5 times running just now”(my e-portfolio, Nov 2007)
Sheila Webber, 2008
CILASS - an inquiry frameworkHow this project fits in
• Exploring what IBL means in different contexts: in a virtual world
• Experimenting with new ideas and practice• Learning about ‘what works’ from students’ and tutors’
perspectives: interview/ reflection/ focus groups• Sharing ideas, critically examining what we do: like today!• Carrying out evaluation and research: see above• Building practice and theory: we are investigating a genuinely
new area in my field
Sheila Webber, 2008
Information Studies & IBL
Sheila Webber, 2008
Background• Aims for strengthening IBL approach in the UG
programme:– Help students deepen their engagement with, and
understanding of, Information Management (IM) as an academic discipline and professional practice
– Give students an opportunity to develop their research understanding and skills
• C. 20 students per year on our BSc IM course; Contested discipline not taught at A-level etc.
Sheila Webber, 2008
Departmental background• Blended learning: Use of MOLE for discussion
boards, student ppts, focus of class/lab exercises, class materials + other tools
• Team teaching• Research experts teaching at level 1• Already Problem-based and IBL
approaches • Department is research led; inc.
Educational Informatics research group
Sheila Webber, 2008
Infolit iSchool: our island• Initial cost and year 1 annual fee paid by CILASS• Landscaped and developed by me• Anyone can visit, only certain people can “build”• Places for discussion, living & building
Sheila Webber, 2008
Evidence for evaluation• Student work (including reflective work & material
generated in class; inc. blogs, mindmaps, captures), marks & attendance records
• Interviews with me & (to be completed) students• Tutors reflections (notes, blogs, emails, articles &
(me) e-portfolio)• Other evidence of various kinds (photos, transcripts
etc)
Sheila Webber, 2008
Inf104: Information Literacy (core, level 1, semester 1)
Sheila Webber, 2008
Inf104: Information literacy• Module aims
– to progress students' information literacy in key areas (workingtowards being an information literate citizen)
– to develop their understanding of information literacy & information behaviour theories and practice
• Assessment– Website/article/book review– Analysis of & reflection on research interviews in Second Life– Reflection on their progress in relation to the SCONUL 7 Pillars of
Information Literacy
Sheila Webber, 2008
Specific project aims (changes to module for 2007/8)
• Investigating SL as learning space• Focus in more depth on specific parts of research
process (data collection & analysis)• Strengthen theoretical element of module with
genuinely novel investigation• CILASS funded cost of SL island for 1 year and
provided support in evaluating use of SL
Sheila Webber, 2008
Inquiry in SL• Students undertook critical incident interviews with SL residents
(a time when they had an information need relating to a SL activity) in SL itself
• Assessment: Students analysed transcripts in relation to models of RL information behaviour + audited interview technique
• Class activity over 3 weeks – group research/ presentations on whether SL was dangerous
• Induction to basics of SL over several weeks• Practice interviewing in real life & SL Group 5 BSc IM 2007
Sheila Webber, 2008
*
* Photo Vicki Cormie, others by
Sheila Webber, 2008
My reflections on changed elements of Inf104
• SL a learning (and play) space – more like a classroom space than a website –
• New possibilities – haven’t used them all in this class – lots of examples elsewhere
• People won’t automatically be engaged with SL: need to have a reason to do with the course
• There is a learning curve (but does have fun factor)
Sheila Webber, 2008
My reflections on changed elements of Inf104
• Wider range of interviewees than possible in Real Life (students in Canada, educators/librarians in various parts of world)
• Reasonable to excellent analyses of interview transcripts
• Some insightful comments on interviewing in SL; richer than for previous year’s (RL) exercise
• For me: exhaustion; anxiety; excitement; enjoyment (as recorded in e-portfolio)
Sheila Webber, 2008
“I'd like to take this opportunity to say I *really* enjoyed doing the interview task
- I'd say it made a great use of the advantages of Second Life, connecting to people who might be geographically
far, far away, and giving a more personal element to the interaction that
plain chat would not have had.”(student email, April 2008)
Sheila Webber, 2008
My view of things that need changing• Computers that can deal with SL
better
• Better on campus access to SL (i.e. some! Only currently in our limited-access lab)
• Start introduction to SL earlier
• Have more variety of induction activities
“Me: yes, it's been really frustrating
how it's been bogged down with technical issuesStudent 1: yeah
thats been the main problem”
(inworld chat transcript, 10 April)
Sheila Webber, 2008
My view of things that need changing“Actually there are problems with the TORONTO students not responding” (my e-portfolio, Dec 2007)
• Start the “serious” work earlier, more time to do interviews
• More interviewees in European time zones (e.g. other UK UG students)
• Introduce Vicki and Lyn more formally & involve them more in planning
• More co-creation of SL material
Sheila Webber, 2008
Reflections from Vicki and Lyn• Vicki librarian at St Andrews, Lyn at Sheffield• Were SL team supporting students in induction
sessions• Took observer role & provided feedback on practice
interviews in SL• Briefing/ debriefing sessions• Work together on SL outside
class
Sheila Webber, 2008
Vicki (Ishbel)• See statement on sheet & CrucIBL article• “I have been helping students find their feet in SL and
acting as an observer in some of their tasks. It can seem a strange when you never meet your students in RL, but only know them as avatars and getting to know only the personas that they want to project. It is also fascinating watching the different ways in which they react to the world … I think that Second Life has great potential for as an interactive learning environment and it is exciting to be involved in it as it develops.”
Me and Ishbel at 11pm last night
Sheila Webber, 2008
Lyn (Maggie)• See Aliss article referenced at the end & CrucIBL article• Further article forthcoming in Program• “I see the CILASS project as an opportunity to explore Second Life
more fully, particularly in its application to learning and teaching and to test different library models of support with ‘real students’. I am interested in what assistance students need in using a virtual 3D world, around the technology itself and information literacy” (Parker, 2008).
• “SL provides opportunities for collaboration and networking on a global scale. It offers an added dimension to learning situations that is not matched by other technologies.” (Parker, 2008 – in press)
Sheila Webber, 2008
Inf6011: Educational Informatics
(Sem 2 option, Masters
programme )
Sheila Webber, 2008
Inf6011: Educational Informatics• Module aims
– “to introduce students to key principles, methods and issues associated with the use and impact of ICT in learning and education. It aims to enable students to understand the scope of current practice and aspects of research in the field of educational informatics,particularly within higher education but also in other contexts, and to engage critically with relevant issues and debates.”
• Assessment– 50% an individual evaluative report – 50% a practical learning design group project: “Each group
will produce an integrated learning experience making use of LAMS, MOLE and Second Life, on a topic of relevance to the EducationalInformatics module”
Sheila Webber, 2008
SL components• Induction sessions in lab week 2• 2 people took up residence • Discussion and amble session week 6,
on use of SL for education• Other individual interactions e.g.
– one student helping support workshop on SL at the LILAC conference;
– Educators/librarians discussion session on 1st May geared to question onestudent group wished to address
Sheila Webber, 2008
My reflections• Same problems as for UGs in terms of technical
barriers• Would benefit from further timetabled sessions (e.g.
focus on specific skills; group visits) to help develop fluency in SL
• Would like to explore SL issues more (e.g. ethical, cultural) with students
Sheila Webber, 2008
Tim’s reflections• Second Life offers and extra option for education,
but needs a lot of creativity (in course design) and dedication (in implementation)
• We need a Third Life, one that addresses the connection and stability problems
Sheila Webber, 2008
Infolit iSchool Present & future• Holding regular discussion sessions – attended by
people from UK, US and other parts of Europe –since last July
• SL-based track of LTEA conference• Other people using the island • Hoping to use for research supervision
“Sheila has been hosting a series of discussions in the Centre for Information Literacy Research within Second Life and I have been able to lead in-world seminars focusing on my questions”(Parker, 2008)
“It is fascinating being able to hear the experiences of colleagues from different sectors from all round the world talk about their experiences of information literacy” (Vicki Cormie)
Sheila Webber, 2008
Sheila Webber, 2008
Conclusions
Sheila Webber, 2008
Final thoughts• Requires thought and energy to use effectively –
like any learning space/tool• Growth in UK use means more people to interact
with in own time zone• Develop base of expertise amongst students and
staff• Growth in Sheffield depends on access on Sheffield
computers, on funding for next year & some keen educators/ learners
Sheila Webber, 2008
Sheila Webber [email protected] http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/
http://adventuresofyoshikawa.blogspot.com/
Sheila Yoshikawa
Powerpoint will be at: http://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/
Sheila Webber, 2008
Other material• Parker, Lyn (2008) “More questions than answers: the
reflections of Maggie Kohime, a virtual librarian in Second Life” Aliss Quarterly, 3 (2). pp. 13-17. http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/3624/
• Transcripts of discussion sessions are e.g. at http://sleeds.org/chatlog/?c=286 (Role of libraries in reaching everyday SL users, 24th April)
• Flickr set on Infolit iSchool: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23396182@N00/collections/72157604063164433/
• Contributions from Webber about Infolit iSchool & education in SL in reports to the Eduserv Foundation by John Kirriemuir: see http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/studies/slsnapshots:
