2. Is there life out there in the virtual worlds? A quest to find the answer Goals of this project Not too much in the way of real results Some studies done, both qualitative and quantitative – mostly in education Is no news old news? Blending some of the ideas with what the current literature shows.
4. Second Life – an overview Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVE) Launched in June 2003 Free download Residents for 18 and older Residents for 13 – 17 Created by Philip Rosedale “Snow Crash” – Neal Stephenson’s
7. More Hype ”One way to measure the impact of the hype cycle is to look at how outsiders have valued the company. Two years ago, a blog post on TechCrunch disclosed some numbers that suggested Linden Lab was being valued at $5 billion or more. A couple of months ago, a report by NeXtUp Research estimated the value at $658 million to 700 million” (O’Brien, 2009).
8. Rogers Model for Adoption and Diffusion of Innovations http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_rogers_innovation_adoption_curve.html
9. Education New Media Consortium Started in 2006 Goal was to create a 3-D virtual environment for education and museum professionals. (http://sl.nmc.org) “Finally, let me emphasize that exploration is a delight and a privilege that not everyone can pursue…but it is also your duty. Exploration is a social good. Explore to the extent your opportunity costs allow. We’re counting on you to help pull us out of troubled times, and give us new ways when we get to the other side.” (sl.nmc.org)
10. Education Moodle to Sloodle Universities Used for collaboration, pedagogy, and hands on learning Early adopters and currently strong in Second Life Included in Education – Library and the adoption of Library
11. Medical Currently used in education and training for medicine Simulations of patients 3D graphics Used for collaboration, globally
12. Social Learning Theory Bandura The social learning theory of Bandura emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Principles: 1. The highest level of observational learning is achieved by first organizing and rehearsing the modeled behavior symbolically and then enacting it overtly. Coding modeled behavior into words, labels or images results in better retention than simply observing. 2. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if it results in outcomes they value. 3. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if the model is similar to the observer and has admired status and the behavior has functional value. (TIP.psychology)
13. Experiential Learning Kolb Building upon earlier work by John Dewey and Kurt Levin, American educational theorist David A. Kolb believes “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (1984, p. 38).
14. Business Over 250 companies currently using SL IBM, Intel and Northrop Grumman Currently used for collaboration, training, meeting, conferences and role playing. Cut costs of meetings and conferences Competitive market drives change in the external forces Amazon Job Fair – July 2009 served as first interviews
16. (the So What) Society in the US Pew Internet 2009 charts
17. Why is this important Number of people in education Number of people in business Digital Natives Alternatives to current educational offerings
18. In a short time……. Students in our classes…to teach Employee’s in our Business…..to train Customers in our Industry…to buy Patients in facilities….to fix
19. Thoughts? For a Multi Media Presentation, join me at: http://one11eye.ning.com/
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_rogers_innovation_adoption_curve.htmlJennings, N. , Collins, C. (2008). Virtual or Virtually U: Educational Institutions in Second Life. IJSS. Vol 2, 3. 180-186. Early Adopters (“visionaries”): Educators as early adoptersexplore technologies to expand on cutting-edge instructionalmethods for teaching effectiveness. They are risk-takers, andapply an interdisciplinary approach to teaching, learning, andresearch. They are often skilled in use of technology,although not to the same extent as the innovators.Early Majority (“pragmatists”): These educators arelooking for tools to solve the day-to-day problems of teachingand research. Based on success stories from colleagues intheir department or field, they would consider implementing atechnology. They tend to be more risk-averse, and theircommunity tends to be less expansive across disciplineboundaries than the two previous groups.Late Majority (“skeptical”): Educators in the late majorityare more likely to adopt a technology that comes as acomplete package and is well-established. They are not astechnologically savvy as the previous groups and tend to stayclose to home in their community groups.Laggards: These educators are not likely to adopttechnology as a pedagogical tool. They may even beconfrontational to those who do use instructional technology.Moore [8] articulates a “chasm” between early adopters andthe early majority which may influence whether or not atechnology becomes mainstreamed. While both see value ininstructional technology, the striking differences betweenthese two groups as seen in Table 1 has important implicationson the use and acceptance of new innovations.TABLE I CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY ADOPTERS AND THE EARLYMAJORITY [9]Early Adopter Early MajorityFavor revolutionary change Favor evolutionary changeVisionary PragmaticProject oriented Process orientedRisk takers Risk averseWilling to experiment Want proven applicationsGenerally self-sufficient May need significantsupportHorizontally connected Vertically connectedWith the projected adoption of virtual worlds within a 3