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By: Kristen Medley Second life: Cyber Space Expression

Kristen Medley

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Page 1: Kristen Medley

By: Kristen Medley

Second life: Cyber Space Expression

Page 2: Kristen Medley

‘Art education qualitative studies on cyberspace are emerging.’ (Stockrocki, 2007a)

This cannot be truer than our own Digital Ethnography in Virtual Worlds online course.

With the growing dependency on internet and media, online classes are becoming more common, if not essential.

Cyberspace allows students and teachers from various parts of the world to communicate and learn from each other

Teaching in CyberSpace

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I enrolled in this class as my first online course and I was nervous seeing as I was more comfortable with a more hands on learning environment.

I’ve come to find from this course that cyberspace learning is not only convenient to both student and teacher, but allows students a much larger opportunity to communicate and learn outside of the ‘classroom’ with other Second Life users.

Second Life (SL) is a virtual world created by Linden Labs in 2003 that allows users to create avatars and form communities.

In my experience, while tricky at first to use, Second Life was a wonderful learning tool

Second Life

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‘Ethnography is a process and product of everyday documentation of an event, and a picture of a group’s way of life’ (Wolcott, 1988, pg.188)

Digital Ethnography then is immersive research that exclusively uses online qualitative research techniques. (Qualitative Research Glossary)

Digital Ethnography has three stages; Data Collection, Content Analysis, and Comparative Analysis.

Digital Ethnography

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Data Collection is simply as it says, collecting data, though there are many ways to go about doing so.

Some of the many ways are through surveys, online or otherwise, interviews, and various blogging sites such as Flickr or BlogSpot.

Internet has allowed us to increase our intake of data collection as well as organize it better, and with worldwide access via Cyber Space we are able to collect more diverse data for more definite results.

Data Collection

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Content Analysis is the refinement, or cleaning up, of data collected into patterns or themes. (Stockrocki)

Analyzing data is much easier with the easy organization methods online.

For example, in a social experiment done to find the basic motivation for joining Second Life, Content Analysis proved three basic trends; utilitarian needs, hedonic needs, and social needs. (Zhongyun, Xiao-Ling, Vogel, Xitong, and Xiaojian ,1-10)

Content Analysis

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This is a method of analysis that compares a certain organization to another similar organization in order to answer research questions.

Second Life is a prime choice for comparative analysis based on the hundreds if not thousands of communities and organizations that are available to study.

Comparative Analysis

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Cyber Space is the notional environment in which communication over computer network occurs.

With the new age of online learning cyber space is become increasingly popular as a method to teach.

Second Life is one such cyber space that allows access to students from all over to meet, hang out, and learn together.

Cyber Space

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As a music student I wanted to explore the music communities on SL

What kind of music is performed?Why do the musicians use SL?Has SL helped with their music or production

of said music?

3 Research Questions

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Sea Turtle Island or Music Island

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In searching SL I was able to find this place. Sea Turtle Island, also called Music Island is a small circularly built island that host live music events from other users from all around the world.

The area is a large ocean with several islands including Sea Turtle Island. The elevation is slightly hilly but easily traversable. Using your avatar’s flight ability, this area is easy and fun to explore.

Sea Turtle (Music) Island

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Sea Turtle Island, while small had a lot to offer including a performance area for musicians, CDS available that other users could buy, pamphlets of information regarding upcoming performances, and even a relaxing ferry boat ride to show you the area around Sea Turtle Island.

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A quick look at the information section

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And the ring of national flags. This shows the diversity of the area and the musicians available.

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Sea Turtle Island was not the only place to go! This area expanded into other islands that were an easy flight away such as Cedar Island. There were art galleries available for viewing, a drumming circle open to public use as well as performance dates, a Quaker meeting hall as well as an SL Resident meeting hall that is open to public sittings.

Needless to say, this area had a lot of diversity in it as well as several learning opportunities.

Other perks of this area

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Cedar Island

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http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sea%20Turtle%20Island/49/9/26

I chose this place looking for a music event and was pleasantly surprised by the layout. It’s very easy to navigate and the area is organized and very neat. The islands give a very interesting travel touch to the area as opposed to just walking several streets. I felt this place would be an excellent learning environment not only for it’s friendly atmosphere but the several options available to learn from.

Sea Turtle Island

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The music events give students a hands on experience in seeing the organization and demonstration of live events in SL. The pamphlets and CDs as well help to not only give more information but also to market the music musicians perform on SL.

The art galleries on Cedar Island are very diverse and interesting, perfect for a class like ours in exploration and discussion.

The community is very diverse and friendly, approximately middle class.

There were also several interaction devices that are entertaining to use, such as the drum circle, that helps students to explore their SL capabilities.

Overall, the aesthetically pleasing, multifunctional environment would serve as an excellent teaching location.

Page 19: Kristen Medley

Avatar Interview

[14:09] putri Solo: but you can write your question

[14:09] putri Solo: i will answer it

[14:10] kreakymeds: alright, my first question is how long have you been doing music on Second Life?

[14:16] putri Solo: since sept 2009

[14:17] kreakymeds: cool, how did you discover second life and decide to use it for music?

[14:18] putri Solo: my ex husband introduce sl tome... well he wasstill my husband when i came here.. so i was duo with him..

[14:19] kreakymeds: wow, are you a singeror musician in real life as well?

[14:20] putri Solo: yes dear

[14:20] kreakymeds: interesting

[14:21] kreakymeds: in some of your songs tonight I heard a few extra singers, do you collaborate with other musicians?

[14:22] putri Solo: no .. it's just coming from the backtrack

[14:22] kreakymeds: i see, well besides your ex-husband have you sung with anyone else? or just solo?

[14:23] putri Solo: solo

[14:24] putri Solo: i come from indonesia.. so very difficult for me to collaborate

[14:24] kreakymeds: that's cool. How do you pick what songs you are going to sing? Is it personal preference?

[14:25] putri Solo: yes

[14:25] putri Solo: most of my fav song is rock song

[14:25] putri Solo: sometimes i show for rock song only

[14:25] putri Solo: heheh

[14:25] kreakymeds: they're all very good songs C:

[14:25] kreakymeds: rock is some of my favorite as well

[14:26] kreakymeds: What are the benefits of you performing on Second Life?

[14:27] putri Solo: well singing is my greatest hobby :)

Page 20: Kristen Medley

For my primary interview I talked with a woman from Indonesia who does singing events in various places on SL.

She told me how not only is she a singer in real life, but she sings for charity events on SL.

Her main purpose for singing on SL was personal expression and enjoyment, she sang covers of songs she enjoyed and stated that singing was ‘her greatest hobby’.

I interviewed her at another good music event location

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Templemore%20of%20DreamSeeker/84/107/34

Interviewed Avatar: putri Solo (white clad figure)

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The Silver Lounge where the interview took place

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Sales

Hedonic NeedsSocial NeedsUtilitarian Needs

3 Needs of Second Life

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The pie chart was based on various SL music related users I talked with and asked what their purpose of doing music on SL was.

Based on the people I talked to, the majority of musicians told me they joined SL for hedonic purposes in music, which basically means self expression.

A popular idea that I saw several times was the concept of being able to perform and share music without the anxiety of a real live audience.

As we can see…

Page 24: Kristen Medley

In my three research questions, I was able to find some answers. For the kind of music that was performed, it was very diverse and specific depending on the musician. (Though rock and pop were very popular genres)

Being able to freely chose the kind of music performed displays the freedom SL gives to its users

As previously stated many musicians in SL chose to do so for the freedom of expression

Revisiting the Research Questions

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In Sanchez’s reading, one common theme that was found among the students studied was that they had to ‘think outside the box’ given the little instructions they had.

‘Remarks from students show an appreciation for the visual creative outlet afforded by the virtual world environment.’ (Sanchez, J. 2007)

Creativity is vital to music so being forced into adapting to the Second Life environment and being able to virtually see the events put on by other people is a huge opportunity for growth as a musician.

The ‘thinking outside the box’ as well as SL interaction with other musicians can help one to expand their genre and style and better their skills.

With all the events and people, it’s easy to see why SL has helped many musicians improve the production and quality of their music.

Page 26: Kristen Medley

Sanchez also noted how even the simple act of creating an avatar made the experience more ‘real’ to the students.

Many musicians on SL perform as such due to the anxiety of a live audience but this avatar function still gives the reality of performance and sharing music.

‘To some students, avatars were the only difference between the use of a virtual world and instant messaging.’ (Sanchez, J. 2007)

Even this simple dynamic of SL greatly affects the learning experience.

Page 27: Kristen Medley

Second Life is a wonderful cyber space location where people from very diverse backgrounds can come and share their expressions, whether art, music, etc. It’s large versatile spaces and events serve as an ideal place to teach students online while still making the experience ‘real’ in a sense and very enjoyable.

Many musicians on SL were able to express themselves in their music and share it in events with other users.

While difficult at first, Second Life has proven to be a vital tool in Cyber Space learning.

Conclusion

Page 28: Kristen Medley

Thank you! Kreakymeds (Kristen Medley)

Page 29: Kristen Medley

  Stokrocki, M. (2007a). Art education avatars in cyberspace: Research in

computer-based technology and visual arts education, In Bresler, Liora. (Ed.). International Handbook for Research in Technology and the Arts, Part II (pp. 1861-1380). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Stockrocki, M. Art Education Qualitative Research in Cyber Space. In Miraga, C., & Smilan, C. (In Press). Inquiry in Action: Paradigms, Methodologies and Perspectives in Art Education Research. Reston, VA: NAEA

Wolcott, H. (1988). Ethnographic research in education. In R. Jaegger (Ed.). Complementary methods for research in art education (pp. 187-206). Washington, DC: American Education Research Association.

. "Qualitative Research Glossary." 2020Research. 2020 Research Inc., n.d. Web. 9 Aug 2012. <http://www.2020research.com/qualitative-research-glossary/>.

Zhongyun, Zhou, Jin Xiao-Ling, D Vogel, Guo Xitong, and Chen Xiaojian. "Individual Motivations for Using Social Virtual Worlds: An Exploratory Investigation in Second Life." System Sciences. (2010): 1-10. Print.

References

Page 30: Kristen Medley

Sanchez, J. (2007). Second Life: An Interactive Qualitative Analysis. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2007 (pp.1240-1243). Chesapeake, VA: AACE