Second Life Seminar Dean L Zeller dzellercs kent

Second Life Seminar Dean L. Zeller dzeller@cs. kent. edu Dr. Paul S. Wang (advisor) Department of Computer Science Kent State University

Outline • Demonstrate usefulness of Second Life in: – Computer Science – Education – Nurse training simulation • Motivation • Current research projects 2

Virtual World Interface • Gaming industry virtual worlds – World of Warcraft – Call of Duty – Matrix Online • Virtual worlds could be the next interface change for the WWW. • It will benefit the educational community to explore virtual worlds as an educational medium. • “Old school” web pages could become passé. 3

About Second Life • Based on an idea within Show Crash, by Neal Stephenson (1992). • 13, 000 unique accounts. • Business conducted through Linden Dollars (US$1 L$300). • Instant messaging and item sharing. • Virtual meetings and classrooms. • SL is not a game. 4

Second Life encourages… • • Creativity and imagination Collaboration (in real time) Experimentation Social networking Immersive learning environment Development of spatial cognitive skills Event driven programming • Negative aspects: – User interface problems – Addiction/escape from reality 5

Popular Culture References • • • Daily Show, with Jon Stewart. Segment on Avatar Heroes. ANIMA, by Dalian Hansen. First work of fiction based in SL The Last Testament, by Sam Bourne. SL plays part in story. Second Life song, by Sheldon Tarsha. British comedian Jimmy Carr performed a virtual show in SL on February 3, 2007. SL girls rated #95 on Maxim’s Top 100 Hottest Females of 2007. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode parodies SL in episode “Avatar”. CSI NY episode: used SL to locate suspect in episode “Down the Rabbit Hole” on October 24, 2007. The Office episode: Dwight Shrute creates a virtual world within SL, called Second Life in episode “Local Ad” on October 25, 2007. Beyond the Void, a rock group touring the SL grid. The Darkest Evening of the Year, by Dean Koontz, one of the antagonists is a private detective who lives vicariously through his SL avatar (released November 27, 2007). 6

Current SL research projects • Second Life workshop and curriculum – KSU Research Center for Educational Technology (RCET) – Expand workshop into semester-long special topics class • Mathematics education manipulatives – Web-based Mathematics Education team (WME), Department of Computer Science – 3 DLogo programming interface • Nurse training simulation – KSU College of Nursing (COL) – Welcome center – Training facility 7

Mathematics Manipulatives (WME) 8

Nurse Training Simulation (COL) • Movie from Tacoma Community College (John Miller RN) http: //www. metaversejournal. com/2008/05/11/nursing-education-in-second-life/ 9

Funding This research is Sponsored by the Research Center for Educational Technology (RCET), the Web-based Mathematics Education (WME) team, and the College of Nursing (COL) at Kent State University. 10

Questions? • Please contact me at dzeller@cs. kent. edu 11

Appendix • Second Life stats • Competitors 12

SL: Monthly User Hours 13

SL: Concurrent Users 14

SL: Productive Businesses PMLF: Positive Monthly Linden Flow 15

SL: Size of world • Currently at a billion square meters, or approximately 400 square miles (20 mi) 16

Google’s Lively • Released 07 -09 -08 • Web-based • Cartoony-feeling 17

Qwaq Forums • Focused on professional collaboration rather than entertainment • People can work on documents within forum. 18