Jess’ E-Learning Blog

This paper aims to develop a criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of the introductory islands to the virtual world, Second Life as well as to provide recommendations for improvement of the e-learning experience.  

It is very difficult to measure the extent to which learning has occurred in Second Life’s Orientation and Help Islands. This is because the learners are not required to provide feedback on their learning at any stage of the introduction. Therefore, only my experiences as a learner in Second Life can be drawn upon, which provides a very limited and biased evaluation of the extent to which learning occurs on both islands. 

Instead, this paper will evaluate the use and extent to which learning theories and techniques have been applied to the e-learning experience on Second Life’s introductory islands. Specifically, this paper will make use of Reeves (1997) fourteen pedagogical dimensions of Computer Based Education (CBE) which outline aspects of CBE which can be evaluated, each based upon learning theory or concept. In addition, this paper will discuss whether Second Life’s position on these dimensions benefit learning as well as providing recommendations for improvement. As an evaluation using all fourteen dimensions would be too extensive, this paper will evaluate Second Life through three criteria outlined in the model:

• Pedagogical Philosophy;
• Experiential Value;
• Value of Errors.

Pedagogical Philosophy

Pedagogical Philosophy refers to a scaling between Instructivist and Constructivist approaches to learning. Instructivist alignment infers the use of structured learning, often employing behavioural learning techniques. A Constructivist alignment emphasises the learner’s perspective with preference for exploration and discovery learning (Reeves, 1997). 

Both Orientation and Help Islands operate at the Constructivist end of this scaling. Second Life boasts near unlimited creativity and ownership (Second Life, 2007) as its major selling points, and this is reflected through both induction islands. Help Island is the second induction island and is highly constructivist. The Heads Up Display (HUD, shown below) used on Orientation Island is disabled, leaving learners to wander the island in search of learning. Learners do not have to participate in certain activities before leaving Help Island and therefore can choose what they wish to do and learn. 

 Orientation Island is slightly more Instructivist than Help Island in that learning is structured into four sections of the island, each with tasks to complete to gain stars and puzzle pieces (circled, below left). However, learners are given the freedom of which order they wish to complete each section. Learners are also free to repeat sections of Orientation island as they please, giving them the choice to explore and learn what they will, when they will. They may also leave Orientation Island at any time by interacting with the billboard (below right). 

 Sims, Dobbs and Hand (2002) mention that interactions between the user and the computer can include undirected exploration, directed involvement and specific manipulation, and that the level of interaction can affect the learner’s level of engagement with the computer. Whilst Second Life boasts near unlimited ownership and creativity (Second Life, 2007), a lack of structure and direction, in the form of computer-user interaction, negatively affects engagement with the learning environment. But, in order to realistically represent Second Life, the induction islands should reflect the freedom available to the learners. Therefore, a balance between instructivist and constructivist approaches should be used.  

Orientation Island achieves this balance. Individuals are encouraged, but not forced, to participate in the island’s activities. The learner interacts with the HUD and during the activities themselves. Help Island, by comparison, does not have as much interaction and thus is not as engaging to learners. Help Island lacks direction; individuals do not know what learning is available and thus cannot say with certainty that they have learnt enough to complete the island. An initiative which could provide more structure while maintaining a measure of exploration would be to mark learning activities on the mini-map in a bright colour. Each activity which has been visited turns grey, so it is available for reference, but distinguished from activities which haven’t been visited. In this way, learners still have control over their learning, but also have structure. 

Experiential Value

Experiential value refers to the degree to which learning can be transferred to the situation it was intended for. Learning which is learned in the context it is to be applied to is concrete, while learning that is highly separated from its context is abstract (Reeves, 1997). This concept relates to transfer of learning, where transfer refers to the ability for the learner to apply learnt knowledge to a practical situation (Pithers, 1998). The more similar a learning environment is to the learning’s intended context, the easier it is to transfer and the more effective the learning is, particularly in regards to practical skills.  

Both Islands in Second Life are highly concrete. The islands are actually a part of Second Life, not separate; Orientation Island’s position in Second Life can be seen as a yellow dot on the map below. As Second Life is the context for which learning occurs and both
Islands are in Second Life, then learning which occurs in them should be able to be transferred immediately if the experiential value is concrete, rather than abstract.

Orientation Island’s ‘Move’ area is a prime example of learning at the concrete end of the spectrum. The HUD provides knowledge, in the example below, on how to move to a vehicle and sit in it. The user then has the opportunity to transfer the knowledge into practical activity by following the directions. This also occurs on Communicate Volcano where knowledge, such as how to use gestures, is transferred into doing a hula in front of Pele. Having to practice the task ensures that the learners have the knowledge as well as the ability to transfer and because the controls and interface on Orientation Island are the same as on the rest of the island, transfer to the rest of Second Life becomes easier. Second Life’s alignment to the concrete end of the Experiential Value spectrum is very well chosen and implemented within Orientation Island and does not require any adjustments.

Value of Errors

This dimension refers to how the philosophy supporting the learning views learner errors. Errorless Learning occurs where designers believe that learning does not occur through errors and seek to reduce the mistakes that learners make. Learning which allows errors to occur under the premise that they enhance the learning experience is known as Learning from Experience (Reeves, 1997). Orientation Island aligns itself to Learning form Experience in each part of the island. Learners can make mistakes when completing HUD directed tasks and the F1 button can be used to provide assistance if needed. For instance, Second Life allows learners to attach lamps and parrots to the learner at the first stage of Appearance Castle, even though the learner is directed to attach a torch (shown below). While the learner can attach these items, the HUD does not move on until the learner attaches the torch. This encourages the learner to continue attempting until they attach a torch, whereupon the avatar jumps into the air and the HUD moves on.

Help Island, however, is not as aligned to learning from experience. The Build Kiosk (See below), for instance, does not provide an opportunity for students to experience, and therefore does not provide an opportunity for students to make errors. Instead, the learner passively receives information on how each button affects the prim. This part of Help Island is very aligned to Errorless Learning.  

Because this aspect of learning is very similar to other aspects of learning in Second Life in that it is practical rather than theoretical learning, it would be logical that it have a similar place along the value of errors scale. Practical skills and abilities are best learnt through practicing them, either during or after the initial learning period. Reinforcement of skills is important if they are to be remembered (Gale, 2005). Therefore, a practical skill, such as manipulating a prim, should be practiced as it is learnt and reinforced through more practice after it has been learnt. This can be done in two ways. Firstly, the Build Kiosk itself could allow learners to enter numbers into the appropriate areas to change the size and shape of the prim. In addition, a prim of certain dimensions can be shown. The learner then has to create a prim of their own to the same dimensions, using the Kiosk as a guiding tool. Secondly, providing a sandbox area next to the kiosk could encourage learners to practice the learnt skills after visiting the kiosk, which would reinforce their learning.  

This paper has evaluated Second Life’s induction islands in terms of three of Reeve’s Fourteen Pedagogical Dimensions, Pedagogical Philosophy, Experiential Value and Value of Errors. Orientation Island and Help Island were both found to be Constructivist. Whilst Orientation Island was slightly more Instructivist in is structure and level of direction, Help Island was found to be too Constructivist and required more structure.
Orientation Island was found to be highly concrete, meaning that the context of learning and its intended context were highly similar. This was found to be beneficial to the learning experience. The value of errors differed across both islands, with
Orientation Island valuing learning from experience and the prim kiosk on
Help Island leaning towards errorless learning. This could have been improved, with suggestions provided.  References

Gale, S.F., 2005, ‘Practice Makes Perfect’, PM Network, vol. 19, no. 11, pp. 10-13. 

Pithers, R.T., 1998, Improved Learning Through Effective Training, Social Science Press, Katoomba, pp. 188-201. 

Reeves, T., 1997, Evaluating What Really Matters in Computer-Based Education,  International Brain Research Organization, accessed 11 November 2007, http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/ibroedu/review/Reeves%20Evaluating%20What%20Really%20Matters%20in%20Computer-Based%20Education.htm. 

Second Life, 2007, FAQ, Second Life, accessed 12 November 2007, http://secondlife.com/whatis/faq.php. 

Sims, R., Dobbs, G. & Hand, T., 2002, ‘Enhancing Quality in Online Learning: Scaffolding planning and design through proactive evaluation’, Distance Education, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 135-148.