Teaching My First Class in Second Life

Well, I’m excited about the prospect of teaching my first class in Second Life tomorrow, although it’s entirely possible (as it is with any first-time teaching experiment) that there will be elements that I will seek to improve.  

Last week my employment seminar had a training on how to use Second Life, and how to design their avatars.  Tomorrow, I’m going to “test” whether everyone completed their homework assignment by holding class at the University of the Pacific campus.  Eventually, we will be using Second Life as way to see what types of “cyberwork” are being developed.  

I’m wondering how many law professors use Second Life on a regular (or even irregular) basis and might be interested in a meetup there.  Please reply in comments if this at all appeals to you.  

Comments

[Eric Fink]

I've been doing research in SL for a while (I'll be presenting a piece based on that research at SEALS this summer), but haven't tried using it for teaching. In any event, I'd be interested in a meetup. Looking forward to hearing more about your experience using it in connection with your seminar.

[Jacqueline Lipton]

One of my colleagues at UF this semester, Michelle Jacobs, is doing some great work teaching the law of virtual worlds in SL. She walked me through her course and her virtual classroom and it's really impressive and sophisticated. So you should definitely reach out to her if you have any questions.

[Marc]

Hi Miriam,

I am curious about this. Do your students avatar into second life for the lecture or are these people that are not related to your classes at all.

This sounds really interesting.

Marc

[Miriam A. Cherry]

Hi, Eric, I'll definitely add you onto my list - I'm going to send out an email to a bunch of people who are either writing about Second Life or who I know are using it. I just think it would be more fun to use if I knew more people there (who are interested in some of the same things that I am). Jacqueline, Thank you for letting me know that, and I'll be sure to include Michelle Jacobs on my list as well. Marc, we spent some time in one of our classes last week making the avatars and now we are going to have our first class meeting there. I have a facilitator from the main UOP campus who is quite experienced with this, and he is going to "meet" us there and assist. So, we'll see how it goes... in only a couple of hours... in the meantime, blog posts to write and papers to grade! Cheers, Miriam

[Marc Blitz]

Thanks for the post Miriam. I've used Second Life in my National Security Law class, invited students to visit it in my Computer Law class, and hope to make some use of it my Law & Neuroscience seminar next Fall.

My main interest has been in designing visual (and in a few cases, interactive) exhibits that help students learn and remember legal principles or cases. For example, in National Security Law, I built a virtual museum, each floor and hall of which was dedicated to (and offered exhibits on) a different topic or sub-topic within the course. There was also a floor that provided four different hypotheticals, illustrated with text and a few visual aids.

The museum is still up on my university's Second Life island and will hopefully be joined by some new structures on other legal topics quite soon, so I'm happy to give a tour to any other Avatars who are interested and want to think about how it might inform their own teaching. I'd also like to see what others in legal academia are doing, so please add my name to the list and let me know of teaching workshops in Second Life.

P.S. SL's new Viewer provides some great new tools for building in Second Life: one can now make almost any surface into an in-world Web browser or video player, which will make it much easier to embed slide shows, educational videos, and other multimedia in Second Life environments. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv20U7rJuwU&feature=related for a demo of this).

[Miriam A. Cherry]

Marc, Thank you so much for the info and the post to the helpful demo! I can't wait to take a look around. I will definitely include you in the email I am preparing; and I can't wait to see your museum and get the tour. Did you build it yourself?? I have used Second Life in the past as a research tool but this was my first class experience. I look forward to learning from your experiences! Best, Miriam

[Marc Blitz]

Apart from a few items I purchased elsewhere in Second Life (like a rotating globe, and an American flag waving in the breeze), I did build the museum myself. I'm still just a novice at building structures in Second Life, and even more of a novice at writing scripts. Hope to learn a lot more with the help of books on the subject, in-world guides, and tutorials like the one I linked to above. Look forward to chatting more in Second Life. Thanks for the initiative in organizing a meeting of this sort among legal academics. It's a great idea.

[Kelly Browe Olson]

I'm very interested in looking at the family law issues and dispute resolution processes that are a part of the Second Life experience. I am an absolute novice and would love some guidance. Please include me on your list.
Thanks,
Kelly

[Miriam A. Cherry]

Definitely, Kelly. I haven't yet put together this list (have to finish getting my article placed, first) but I will add you to it. Thanks for your interest. It's a lot of fun!

[Jordan Hydro]

You are collaborating with some Huge name. This stuff is very impressive.

[Jordan 8]

Count your age with friends but not with years. Good luck to you!!