Hello Mark, and others,

Thanks for your thoughts on the use of Second Life (SL) for adult  
literacy education. I hope you will share some of your group's  
research on "under what conditions and for what purposes 3DVR might  
be more appropriate or effective than other tools/environments for  
learning" and what you see as some of the opportunities and  
limitations of using Second Life. I would like to learn more about  
what  "we need to advocate *for* educators *to* vendors like Linden  
Labs, so they build in more education-appropriate features." What  
features on SL do you think are worthwhile? What other features  
should we be advocating for?

In case you were addressing your concerns to me, I am not a techie  
and I am not interested in hyping technology. I am not promoting  
"sending practitioners off into the 'brave virtual new world'". I am  
not advocating that adult literacy education practitioners use Second  
Life with their students.  I am not suggesting that Second Life, as  
it is, can meet needs of adult education teachers for professional  
development. (I don't know if it can.)

I am suggesting that online real time courses, while often useful for  
adult ed professional development, are only one kind of online  
resource, that there are blogs, wikis, podcasts, online simulations,  
online classroom videos, online study circles and more that can be  
used asynchronously. and that these resources could be gathered  
together in SL (or in another Virtual Reality environment) that may  
be very rewarding for adult ed teachers, especially those who can  
only access professional development online, never face-to-face,  but  
also for others who can do face-to-face, online and blended  
professional development.  I am not suggesting that SL has all the  
answers, or that it is the ideal environment in which to bring these  
resources together, but that it has _potential_ worth exploring.  I  
posted all that to _this_ discussion list because I view this forum  
as the place where adult education practitioners interested in  
technology gather together as a community of practice not only to  
look at evidence-based adult literacy education practices (sadly,  
very little in adult ed fits this category), and those supported by  
professional wisdom, but also this is where we can branch off and  
explore the potential of new -- unproven -- technologies and ideas.   
If this is not the right forum for promoting adult education and  
technology exploration groups, what is?

Given that there are experiments taking place all over SL by higher  
education, but -- as far as I know -- none yet by practitioners in  
adult literacy/basic education, I hoped that some folks from this  
forum might want to form a group to explore  -- learn more about --  
SL and its potential (including, of course, its limitations) for  
adult education professional development. As I guessed, there are. We  
have formed a wiki, Yahoo Group and an "in world" SL group.  It's too  
early to know where this is going.  It depends on who shows up at  
this action-oriented study circle and what together we decide we want  
to learn and do, but there are a dozen or so people interested, and  
some have already "signed up". Others are welcome to join.

The Second Life Adult Professional Development Explorers (SLAPDE)  
wiki is at:

http://slapde.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

To join the SLAPDE Yahoo Group:

1. Go to the group home page at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SLAPDE/

2. Click on the  "Join This Group" button on the right, under the  
word "Home" (in green).

3. Login in with your Yahoo ID and password (Note: If you do not have  
a free Yahoo account, you will have to sign up for one to generate  
the username and password.)

4. Follow the three easy steps to join the group.

5. Await an approval email from the moderator, Jennifer Rafferty.

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net


On Aug 13, 2007, at 12:51 PM, Mark Schlager wrote:


> David,

> SL really is an amazing environment. It heralds the coming-of-age  

> of immersive 3D environment technology, and more importantly its  

> acceptance as a legitimate "learning" environment.  In the not too  

> distant past, the forerunners of SL-- MUDs, MOOs, chat servers, IM,  

> and real-time graphical virtual gaming environments-- were either  

> ignored or rejected by the education establishment as places where  

> tech nerds, fantasy nuts, and deviates hung out.  Many were blocked  

> by school firewalls and ISPs.

>

> At the same time, I think it too soon to declare victory and settle  

> for what SL offers educators and students without some caution and  

> critical review. As a long-time researcher in this and other areas  

> of ed tech, I would caution against "over-the-top" advocacy that  

> can be interpretted as just more techie "hype."  Education has seen  

> tech trends and fads come and go, and as a result, many educators  

> and policy makers look skeptically at the next new "silver bullet"  

> the techies are pushing.

>

> One way to avoid these perceptions and counteract the nay-sayers is  

> to be appropriately self-critical in our advocacy of new  

> technologies.  By all means, be excited and optimistic about SL,  

> and also point out the barriers and limitations, which, for SL, is  

> a long list.  Before we send practitioners off into the "brave new  

> virtual world," we need to make clear the investment  (and risks)  

> in terms of the time, effort, computing requirements, and new  

> social norms just to get started in SL.  We need to look at and  

> draw lesson from the available research data to know under what  

> conditions and for what purposes 3DVR might be more appropriate or  

> effective than other tools/environments for learning (many of which  

> you mention). For example, many tout the lively discussions and  

> knowledge sharing that go on in SL. When one looks with a critical  

> eye, however, it becomes apparent that much, if not most, of that  

> discourse takes place in plain vanilla blogs and listservs that are  

> not integrated with "in-world" activities. Where is the real value  

> for time spent?

>

> Yes, the techies among us (including my research group) will leap  

> at the opportunity to experience the sheer innovation and  

> compelling immersion of SL.  My concern is for the other 90% of  

> busy education professionals who are simply looking for ways to  

> engage their students and help them learn more effectively.  For  

> them, SL may be a rather large leap (of faith) even 2 years from  

> now.  Perhaps we need to advocate more *for* educators *to* vendors  

> like Linden Labs, so they build in more education-appropriate  

> features, and less for the vendors to the education community  

> (vendors have marketing budget for that). As a recognized authority  

> with a bully pulpit,  your voice can amplify the voices of  

> educators to influence developers to build the features needed to  

> move us toward the vision you describe.

>

>

> Mark Schlager

> Associate Director of Learning Communities

> Center for Technology in Learning

> SRI International

> 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025

> mark.schlager at sri.com

> (p) 650-859-2881 (fax) 650-859-3673

> ctl.sri.com  www.tappedin.org  www.cltnet.org

>

> "Technology: It never leaves you alone"

>

>

> On Aug 8, 2007, at 7:30 PM, David J. Rosen wrote:

>

>> Technology colleagues,

>>

>> I posted the message below to the professional development list

>> today. It may also be of interest here.

>>

>> David J. Rosen

>> djrosen at comcast.net

>> -----------------------------

>>

>>   ....there was one finding in the NSDC report that I think we should

>> pay special attention to. ..

>>

>> “Structured, course-based offerings scheduled during specific time

>> periods are being replaced by on-demand, individualized learning

>> opportunities.”

>>

>> What this means, I think, is "just-in-time" professional development,

>> including asynchronous online professional development that is

>> tailored to teachers' needs as they see them,  or tailored to

>> professional development requirements that, in any case, they must  

>> meet.

>>

>> What is your mental image of what this looks like?  Short,  Web-based

>> courses? Weekly "webinars"? "Podcasts"? Wikis? Blogs? Discussion

>> lists/forums?

>>

>> My mental image isn't any one of these; it's all of them and much,

>> much more. My image comes from my experience online with Second Life

>> (SL).  Some of what I will describe below is happening in SL now,

>> some is projection into the very near future, only a year or two.

>>

>> (Select the Web address below to see me in Second Life)

>> http://tinyurl.com/2vqf8k

>>

>> Second Life is a three-dimensional online environment, a bunch of

>> "islands" where some people build amazing architecture and where

>> other people -- moving about as their chosen "avatars", dressed

>> however they like -- explore, visit, spend time, and do things.  What

>> do people do in Second Life? That's like asking what do people do in

>> Europe or China.  Who can know all the things they do? But here's a

>> start: they walk, run, look around,  and fly (yes fly -- some of

>> those who are physically challenged in real life say it's amazingly

>> liberating.) They teleport themselves to another island, talk with

>> other avatars, gesture to them in normal and strange ways, sit down

>> (on furniture, floor, grass, park benches, and more), flirt (and

>> probably more), watch movies, shop (in real online stores with real

>> money, as well as with SL money called Linden Dollars).

>>

>> More to the point, they take seminars and courses at real (and

>> invented) colleges and universities.  And there is some talk of there

>> soon being a GED center on SL.

>>

>> All of that is happening in SL now, but let's fast forward a bit to

>> the near future, and imagine this scenario:

>>

>> I am a GED teacher (although my avatar dresses casually, not in

>> typical classroom garb) and in Second Life I am young and female, not

>> grey and male. I teleport from the entrance to the National Adult Ed

>> Teacher Professional Growth Center (remember this part is projection;

>> it is not real yet) where I see a billboard catalog of offerings.

>> Some offerings are short videos of teachers and classes, good

>> examples of content standards and best practices; some are seminars

>> ("webinars") and, since there are hundreds of adult ed teachers here

>> with me in real time, some can be just-in-time introductory courses,

>> workshops and study circles.  I sign up for a study circle on

>> workplace literacy that begins in two days, because I work part-time

>> and I have noticed that some of the part-time jobs for teachers who

>> work at companies sound interesting and pay better.

>>

>> I also sign up for a one-hour introduction to the workplace literacy

>> basic skills teacher professional development course. The intro is

>> offered right now.  There are seven other teachers (their avatars)

>> with me -- some look really weird!. Some say they have taken lots of

>> courses and workshops at the Professional Growth Center, some are

>> newbies like me.  In the intro to workplace basic skills, we listen,

>> chat in dyads (using Instant Messenger), ask questions that the

>> teacher answers (using SL's free voice software,) and at the end,

>> after getting a copy of the course schedule that my avatar keeps as

>> her own,  I head over to the Growth Center's coffee cafe for some

>> shop talk with one of the other teachers in the workplace literacy

>> basic skills Introduction, who it turns out in real life (IRL) is

>> from my state.

>>

>> This may seem far-fetched, but most of this can be designed on SL

>> right now, and many more "just-in-time" features can be linked in to

>> SL. This is a highly interactive environment.

>>

>> Have you been to Second Life? Have you been thinking -- as I am --

>> that this has very exciting potential for highly interactive

>> professional development? Is anyone working on building an adult

>> education PD center on SL now?  If so, let us know.  Maybe we can put

>> together an online PD work project group to first learn more about

>> SL, and then to experiment with building a PD center. Anyone  

>> interested?

>>

>> For those who are curious about SL, when you have a couple of hours,

>> start here:

>>

>> http://secondlife.com/whatis/

>>

>> David J. Rosen (aka DJ Duncan on SL)

>> djrosen at comcast.net

>>

>>

>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------

>> National Institute for Literacy

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>> Email delivered to mark.schlager at sri.com

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

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David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net