Creating a 3D Library Learning Commons in Second Life: Information Literacy Instruction Goes Virtual

Grant Project Funded Through the San Diego State University Grant Program, January 2008 - June 2009

Abstract

Librarians are committed to providing creative and cutting edge instruction in online learning environments. We recognize the need for innovative ways to stimulate student learning in a digital age in which instruction is not always linked to the physical classroom or library buildings. The increase in distance education technologies continues to enhance how students learn. However, librarians are new to the world of completely simulated online learning environments. This project aims to make academic libraries more relevant, innovative, and contemporary for 21st-century learners by providing information literacy instruction in Second Life, an online, interactive, three-dimensional simulated world. Funding will be used to develop a virtual information literacy learning commons, provide library instruction and references services in Second Life, and assess the effectiveness of providing library services in this virtual world.

Primary Investigator

Pamela Jackson, Information Literacy Librarian
Library and Information Access, LA 1101C
5500 Campanile Dr.
San Diego, CA 92182-8050

Phone: (619) 594-3809
Fax: (619) 594-3270

pjackson@rohan.sdsu.edu

Project Description

Prologue
It’s fall. The year is 2007. Last week, my 13-year-old niece explained to me that she spends most of her free time ‘hanging out’ with friends in an online virtual environment called Gaia. Tonight, I’m having dinner with an 8-year-old boy who is explaining in striking detail his preferred online virtual environment, Toon Town. I’m taken aback by the fluency with which these children speak about their social networking via computer-generated characters, or avatars, online. Even more extraordinary is the fact that neither of them has access to a computer at home. These kids exemplify what experts in higher education organizations, such as Educause and the New Media Consortium (NMC), are heralding—a new age of online information sharing, gathering, and learning in elaborate virtual environments. Though young now, these kids are coming to college and statistics show that college age people already make up the primary users of current virtual worlds, such as Second Life. Librarians need to develop the expertise to meet their information and communication technology needs.

Background
Second Life belongs to a class of online interfaces called multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). It is a completely online, interactive, three-dimensional, graphically-simulated world, complete with its own real estate, commerce, and social systems. Second Life is not a video game; it is a graphical social network and, in essence, a second world with close to ten million residents. This second reality allows for a level of user participation and sense of presence unparalleled outside the physical world. Second Life residents can explore virtual environments, interact with each other in real time, attend virtual presentations and conferences, conduct virtual lab experiments, and actively participate in building their own environments. I’ve enclosed an appendix with images to give the uninitiated reader a better idea of what this virtual environment looks like.

Librarians are committed to providing creative and cutting edge instruction in online learning environments. We recognize the need for innovative ways to stimulate student learning in a digital age in which instruction is not always linked to the physical classroom or library buildings. Technological advances in the academic environment through virtual worlds, such as Second Life, make it increasingly possible for departmental and library faculty to collaborate on information literacy instruction and outreach to students.

Significance
Recent statistics show that 2/3 of Second Life users are of college age now, and over 200 universities, including SDSU, in 35 states are providing services in this virtual world (Kelton, AJ, “Second Life: Reaching into the Virtual World for Real-World Learning.” ) . According to the 2007 Educause Horizon Report, “Campuses, businesses, and other organizations increasingly have a presence in the virtual world, and the trend is likely to take off in a way that will echo the rise of the web in the mid-1990s” (6). Virtual worlds are listed as a priority for higher education, with time to adoption set at two to three years (i.e. by 2009-10, virtual environments will be prolific in higher education). A recent Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) study of undergraduate students found that 75.8% have laptops, 78.3% play computer video games, and 72.3% create their own computer graphics (Educause, “The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007"), making them particularly inclined to accept virtual learning environments.

Information literacy skills are a priority in higher education and are included in WASC reviews. While libraries have worked diligently to provide library services online, librarians are just beginning to skim the surface of distance education technologies, like virtual environments and online conferencing software. As class sizes continue to grow, sometimes between 200 – 500 students, it is more important than ever for the Library to assist faculty with instructional resources on both our physical and virtual campuses.

This project will make a significant educational impact on SDSU students, both current and future. By strengthening library outreach, instruction, and information literacy programs to better serve our students and faculty, libraries can help build confident researchers and support the academic success of all students. A recent review of the library literature shows only one substantive, scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article about librarian involvement in Second Life. While the library profession is encouraging proactive involvement in digital platforms, more research and practical examples of best practices are needed. This project and resulting conference presentation and journal article will make a significant contribution to the knowledge and scholarship about instruction, outreach, and information literacy.

Project Objectives and Research Plans

Objective 1
Develop and maintain an online library space in the virtual environment, Second Life.

Activities
With the help of an educational technology graduate student assistant, I will develop and maintain a virtual library space in Second Life. This information commons will allow students to work collaboratively with each other and SDSU librarians while learning to search for and evaluate research for their courses. The space will be a physical representation of a building with at least two collaborative spaces and room for virtual special collection exhibits. Both spaces will contain chairs, organized in a collaborative lounge environment. One space will contain an electronic whiteboard where students can work collaboratively to illustrate research topics (identify research ideas and key terms, and narrow topics). The second space will contain streaming information literacy instructional media, such as library database demonstrations and other instructional content developed by SDSU librarians.

Objective 2
Provide online information literacy instruction to SDSU students using Second Life.

Activities
Initially, I will collaborate with professors from the Department of Educational Technology to provide course-integrated library instruction for their distance education courses that participate in the Second Life community. Professor Cathy Arreguin and I have begun discussions about providing library services to her EDTEC course in Second Life. The People Information and Communication Technology program (pICT) and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) have organized a special exploratory endeavor into Second Life for the fall 2007 semester. Over 175 faculty, staff, and administrators at SDSU have joined the pICTsl Farm group to try out Second Life this fall (stats as of 9/13/07). Thus I anticipate possible growth of Second Life usage in disciplines across campus.

I will hold virtual office hours in Second Life where I can help instruct students in a synchronous learning environment (real-time) using the voice over and text-based chat features, streaming media, whiteboards, and eventually show-and-tell with live Internet search windows (on the Second Life horizon in the next year).

Objective 3
Raise SDSU librarians’ awareness of virtual environments and their impact on education.

Activities
I will serve as the SDSU liaison to Second Life, providing training and guidance to librarians interested in participating. I will present two workshops to librarians in spring and fall of 2008.

Objective 4
Assess the effectiveness of providing information literacy instruction in Second Life.

Activities
I will conduct a focus group with classes in Second Life during the fall 2008 and spring 2009 semesters to determine which activities worked and which did not. Additionally, I will conduct a survey of SDSU students and faculty using Second Life to ascertain how information literacy needs can be further met in the virtual environment.