Using Second Life to Teach Spatial Theory in Archaeology

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Using Second Life to Teach Spatial Theory in
Archaeology

• Palitha Edirisingha, Ming Nie, Mark
  Pluciennik, Matthew Wheeler and Ruth Young
• Beyond Distance Research Alliance, University of
  Leicester
• Distance Learning Unit, School of Archaeology
  Ancient History, University of Leicester

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University of Leicester

• Beyond Distance Alliance
• An alliance of academics interested in innovation
  and the development of new technologies in
  learning, particularly Distance education
  http//www.le.ac.uk/beyonddistance
• School of Archaeology and Ancient History
• Two members of academic staff the Director of
  Distance Learning and a DL lecturer
• External Collaboration
• TwoFour
• Two members of staff at TwoFour, Plymouth gave
  some technical assistance

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MOOSE project

• Moose modelling second life environments
• One year research and development project
  initiated and organised by the Beyond Distance
  Alliance
• Aim to investigate the tools and processes
  needed for students to establish socialisation
  and engagement to enhance learning through the
  medium of on-line 3-D multi user virtual
  environments

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Five stages to the project

• Designing and developing learning activities in
  SL
• Training students and lecturers in SL
• Training lecturers in SL moderation activities
• Carrying out SL sessions
• Researching student and staff engagement in SL
  and their perception of the learning outcomes

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Archaeology Distance Learning at Leicester

• http//www.le.ac.uk/archaeology/dl/index.html
• MA in Archaeology Heritage
• MA in Historical Archaeology
• Certificate in Archaeology (Level 1)
• Diploma in Archaeology (Level 2)

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Archaeological Theory module by DL
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Distance education and socialisation

• Research carried out using various technological
  media in distance education to reduce feelings of
  isolation and provide opportunities for
  collaborative learning, e.g. Smith and Stacey
  2003
• Research into the use of 3-D synchronous
  environments suggests that virtual worlds offer
  participants a sense of presence, immediacy,
  movement, artefacts, and communication
  unavailable within traditional internet-based
  learning environments Bronack et.al. (2006)

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Second Life

• http//secondlife.com/
• Second Life is a 3-D virtual world created by
  its Residents. Since opening to the public in
  2003, it has grown explosively and today is
  inhabited by millions of Residents from around
  the globe.
• From the moment you enter the World you'll
  discover a vast digital continent, teeming with
  people, entertainment, experiences and
  opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps
  you'll find a perfect parcel of land to build
  your house or business.
• You'll also be surrounded by the Creations of
  your fellow Residents. Because Residents retain
  intellectual property rights in their digital
  creations, they can buy, sell and trade with
  other Residents.
• The Marketplace currently supports millions of US
  dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is
  handled with the inworld unit of trade, the
  Linden dollar, which can be converted to US
  dollars at several thriving online Linden dollar
  exchanges.

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Second Life

• Second life is free
• Internet connection standard broadband, ISDN
• Computer good graphics card and processor not
  necessarily top end, but a couple of years old or
  newer
• Software download from web site
  http//secondlife.com/
• Hardware nothing special, headset or
  microcphone/speakers if want to use audio

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Training Students and Lecturers in SL

• All trained by Matthew Wheeler
• Student training took place entirely inworld as a
  group at a distance
• After two one hour training sessions student
  competent
• Lecturer training took place face to face

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Saami tents figures in the DL module reader
(Yates 1989)
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Kalasha people of Hindu Kush
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Saami tent in SL
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Summary of sessions

•  
• Learning activities designed for SL
• Activity and location
• A brief description of the activity and its
  objectives
• Archaeology Activity 1 22nd May (1500 1600)
  Seminar Dome 2 - Media Zoo Island
• This first session is to introduce you to the
  concept of Social Space and will take place in
  the Seminar Dome 2. The session will be
  facilitated by Dr Mark Pluciennik (Zbygniew
  Alter) and will give you an insight into the
  importance of space.
• Archaeology Activity 2
• 2nd June (1500 1600) Sami Tent Media Zoo
  Island
• The second session is focussed on the Saami Tent
  concept, again facilitated by Dr Mark Pluciennik
  (Zbygniew Alter). An explanation of the Saami
  Tent and a discussion on the implications of
  social space will be on offer, as well as this
  being your first experience of immersion in a
  Virtual World as the permissions of the Sami Tent
  are applied in practice!
• Archaeology Activity 3
• 5th June (1500 1600) Kalasha Village Media
  Zoo Island
• The third session will look at the use of social
  space on a different scale as Dr Ruth Young
  (Ruth2008 Seid) introduces you to the structuring
  of Kalasha society and economy and then takes you
  on a guided tour of a Kalasha Village replicated
  on the Media Zoo Island.
• Archaeology Activity 4
• 12th June (1500 1600) Kalasha Valley Media
  Zoo Island
• The final session is another immersion
  experience, this time based on gender. As you
  explore the Kalasha Village and Valley you will
  be asked to reflect on your experiences and how
  these social spaces related to your real-life
  experiences. 

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Introduction to Kalasha PowerPoint in SL
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Kalasha village and valley in SLthe menstruation
and child birth house
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Example of Chat-log learning and socialisation

•  
• Chat-log 3
• 742 You Well, I feel like a prune standing
  up here
• 742 Aixia Castaignede It's less anonymous
• 742 Eowyn Atlass ha ha
• 742 Aixia Castaignede Sit down!
• 742 Dracena McIntyre )
• 742 You I'm not sure I know how to yet! It
  might be embarrassing!
• 743 Eowyn Atlass We won't laugh. )
• 743 Aixia Castaignede Right-click on sit
• 743 You Thanks - that's helpful. But I might
  fly instead ...
• 743 Aixia Castaignede That would give you a
  different impression of space!

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Student feedback and socialisation

• It was perfect. ...I dont know where to start
  really. First of all it was good to meet others.
  Often you learn alone, usually at home, reading
  the text and thinking about things, on your own.
  It was good to see others who are doing the same.
  To meet somebody - meeting was good. Also -
  meeting the lecturer. I feel that they are not
  distant anymore (Dracaena).
• I felt like part of the group more than when I
  was studying from home. Even though it was
  virtual, I felt like I was participating in a
  class (Eowyn).

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Example of chat-log discussion of spatial issues

• 710 Eowyn Atlass I think it's socially
  structured, but maybe all three? It's neutral as
  far as gender goes I think.
• 710 Eowyn Atlass It's virtual so it's a
  little confusing
• 710 You Gender is an interesting one, as it
  is very easy to be transgender or opposite gender
  to real life, as we shall see next week
• 711 You Can we think about how far SL
  conforms to these kinds of approaches in turn?
• 711 You As far as I can experience it, SL
  uses Cartesian co-ordinates, so in that sense it
  tries to mimic the real world rather than do
  anything more creative
• 712 Aixia Castaignede But the same time it's
  three-dimensional, measurable and quantifiable.
• 712 You Do you think it would be possible to
  build a Third Life which used space in a
  different way (like Star Trek ...?
• 713 Eowyn Atlass Except everyone here seems
  to be equal and in the real world that's not so
• 713 You Equal in which way? Some spend money
  of things, others build and 'own' structures and
  can put permissions in, for example
• 714 Eowyn Atlass Men and women are equal in
  that they can both go everywhere and do
  everything equally
• 714 You But I don't think that's the case -
  as we shall see next week it depends on what the
  'owner' does when s/he builds it
• 714 Eowyn Atlass Well, that's true )

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Student feedback and engagement with topic

• I gained a better understanding because of
  the things we did in the village and the tent
  both the teaching and the exploration in the
  field.
• You think you understand when you read about
  those. But when you go in there Second Life it
  reinforces what you have learned, how they lived,
  and how you can and cannot go into some of the
  places. Reinforcing the concepts that are learned
  (Eowyn).

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Conclusions

• SL and the learning activities provided these
  students with the chance to socialise
• SL is an immersive environment which allowed
  students to be part of exploratory learning
  experiences
• Students were very positive about the SL
  sessions, both for socialising and for enhancing
  understanding
• Issues such as avatar communication and
  text-chat co-ordination sample size