ZDNet Education

Christopher Dawson

Even with adult content regulated, Second Life is dead in ed

By Christopher Dawson | April 22, 2009, 1:38pm PDT

Summary: OK, so the title is a little cheesy, but I don’t think I’m wrong here. Linden Labs announced today that it would be regulating the adult content rampant on its virtual world, Second Life. According to TG Daily, The company will implement a three-tiered rating system - PG, mature, or adult - that [...]

OK, so the title is a little cheesy, but I don’t think I’m wrong here. Linden Labs announced today that it would be regulating the adult content rampant on its virtual world, Second Life. According to TG Daily,

The company will implement a three-tiered rating system - PG, mature, or adult - that will be used to identify content and set individual preferences for residents. In addition, Linden Lab will require Second Life users to verify their allegedly mature age before visiting sleazy red-light districts and accessing stimulating adult-oriented search results.

Hardcore content will also be pushed to a new “continent”, freeing the Second Life mainland from the more intense interactions later this year. TG Daily, among other sources, suggests that the new “PG” area could be a haven for educators in the virtual world. However, with so many great online tools for bringing teachers and students together, why would we possibly bring the tarnished brand of Second Life into our schools, whether K-12 or university?

Everything from BlackBoard to Moodle to Google Docs to any number of other so-called “learning management systems” exists, allowing real-time interaction and collaboration, as well as asynchronous communication tools. All have minimal or no client software to install and have drastically lower bandwidth requirements in most cases than Second Life. They are specialized for learning environments and many are completely turnkey; others can be easily customized.

Second Life is a fine time drain for those who have the time to spend. For me, though, Second Life is dead in ed (I just had to say that again).

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Second Life, Productivity, Christopher Dawson

Chris Dawson is a freelance writer and consultant with years of experience in educational technology and web-based systems. In 2011, he became the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., a virtual classroom and learning network SaaS provider.

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Christopher Dawson

Christopher Dawson is the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., by day and a freelance writer and educational technology consultant by night. Well, most of his colleagues at WizIQ are based in India, so really he's working with them whenever he can stay awake. He has worked for his local school district as a teacher and technology director, for the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and for Biogen, Inc. (now Biogen-IDEC, Inc.). He has also consulted with STATNet and Cytyc Corporation and retains close ties with X2 Development Corporation (now owned by Follett Software, the supplier of the student information system he administered for several years). Follett is paying him a monthly honorarium to act as a presenter for their "SIS Voices for Student Achievement" community (he produces occasional blog posts and hosts a monthly webinar on the use of student information systems to inform data-driven instruction and school-wide change. He regularly purchases and/or recommends Dell hardware. This is because Dell makes good hardware and has truly committed itself to education in innovative ways, particularly with their "Connected Classroom" initiative. It isn't because he has dealings with the company through his role at WizIQ (which he does) or because they have provided him with long-term loans of a variety of equipment for in-depth testing (which they have). Intel (reference designer for the Classmate PCs he has implemented in his local schools) has provided him with long-term loans of Classmate PCs for testing, as have Dell and Lenovo with their educational offerings. He may report on any of these companies as his experiences with them have direct bearing on educational technology; positive reports are not necessarily an endorsement and he receives no direct financial compensation from these companies or any others. Intel paid all expenses for his attendance at the 2009 Intel Classmate PC Ecosystem Summit which he attended as the sole representative of the technology press. He was invited to attend in 2010 but his wife would have killed him if he spent 3 days in Vegas geeking out and left her home alone with a new baby. Acer provided him with a 50% discount on an Aspire One netbook in early 2009 after he tested it for 30 days through their educational seed program. He liked the netbook at the time but it has since broken and sits unused in his office. Canonical sent him Ubuntu lanyards, t-shirts, and mousepads for his kids. He stole one of the lanyards and proudly hangs his keys from it and occasionally features his 8-year old wearing an oversized Ubuntu t-shirt on his Facebook profile. Gunnar Optiks sent him a pair of computer glasses to evaluate for a holiday gift guide. He is wearing them now as he types this because they never asked for them back and they rock out loud. Seriously - they work brilliantly and make it much easier to spend 20 hours a day staring at an LCD. If they ever asked for them back, he would fork over the $99 and buy a pair. Microsoft gave him 2 free copies of Office 2010 professional, a desktop clock, and a useless book on Office 2010 when he attended the launch of Office/Sharepoint 2010. He occasionally uses the SharePoint lanyard they gave him instead of the Ubuntu lanyard for his keys, but feels dirty afterwards. Adobe provided him with a pre-release version of the CS5 Master Collection for evaluation and ultimately provided a full, licensed copy for ongoing testing of educational applications of this admittedly expensive software. Like the Gunnars, if the license expires or they come out with CS6, he'd actually go out and buy it himself. Which is saying something, because he's actually pretty cheap. Any other companies wishing to send him cool things to evaluate, wear, or otherwise adorn his kids are more than welcome to; he promises to disclose it here if he keeps any of the stuff. Finally, because WizIQ is a virtual classroom and learning network provider, Chris, as VP of Marketing, frequently interacts with, seeks out deals with, and directly or indirectly competes with a whole lot of LMS, SIS, and other Education 2.0 companies. In general, he'll limit his reporting about these companies to news that does not impact his relationship with them or with WizIQ. If he reports on them, it's because what they are doing is newsworthy or worth the attention of his readers and not because he's trying to broker some deal, damage competition, or otherwise advance his position in his day job. LMS and SIS companies, along with other online learning communities, are a pretty important part of Ed Tech. If he stops reporting on them completely, there won't be a whole lot left. He'll be sure to call out any overt conflicts of interest if they are unavoidable. Finally, Follett Software Company pays him a little tiny honorarium every month to present on their SIS Voices webinars and to write the occasional blog or discussion thread for them. Since Follett recently bought X2 (maker of an awesome web-based SIS that Chris just happened to have used, served in advisory groups for, and frequently reported on), this is probably also worth disclosing.

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Dead means it was once not dead?

ioot@... Updated - 30th Apr 2009

So if SL is supposedly dead now, does that imply it used to be lively? SL has always been hyped, partly because people think virtual reality is soooo cool.

I guess that educators realize that education is about transcending the physical limitations of 3D space through learning how to expand your metacognitive awareness. The drawback of SL is that it's too similar to being there. You can't learn things faster or better because you're in Second Life. What you can learn, however, is a new kind of literacy. Bandwidth limitations are surely going to be a thing of the past, and eventually educators will get the high-bandwidth medium.

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Dead long ago

weemooseus@... 22nd Apr 2009

I investigated Second Life several years ago and it was dead then, IMHO, (as far as ed is concerned). I could find nothing that would keep me coming back.

Recently, because of a brief membership in ISTE, I went back. Considering the money that was spent purchasing a space on the server, I was very disapointed. In fact, I have not renewed my ISTE membership because I am wondering how much of the membership fees, (which are already high), goes towards a worthless space on a server, (that is only one of my questions for ISTE). Its pretty bad when one goes to a suposedly "education" site and finds chit-chat going on that has nothing to do with education.

It is truly a dead ed space.

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K-12 education is not the world.

Spiritusindomit@... Updated - 23rd Apr 2009

I do training for a living, in all technology platforms. Second Life represent something that will be picking up in the future: virtualized telepresence in the classroom. I've already done research into it, and people do seem to do a better job paying attention in a 'virtual classroom' than they do a typical phone + webex setting.

That said, second life, due to its shoddy, outdated code, and the fact that it was hacked together with opengl, is impossibly resource intensive, and thus, not an option for public schools.

Also, your opinion on what is an isn't useful for education, isn't relevant, because you aren't an educator, you're a school district tech. That's like the high school janitor commenting on the subject. People publish magazines about pornography, does that make scientific american or the economist any less valid(noy that I expect you to have ever *read* either, mind you)? Just because something was made for adults does not mean that the technology or concept is invalid.

To summarize, once again, your lack of qualification and well-rounded experience is showing. I know MANY professors that have full real world education programs in second life, and are doing quite well with it, it also has many arts based initiatives, so you're absolutely and positively incorrect on just about all your claims.

Things I'm certain you are completely unaware of:

1) Open Sim, a server you can run yourself without the grid
2) Georgia Tech has done a number of projects with second life
3) Second Life is Open Source, so you can tailor it to your need.
4) Soap and water

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My, my, my

ejhonda Updated - 23rd Apr 2009

Aren't you full of yourself...

Don't take it out on the author because you've realized you're wasting your career on something that no one of import respects. Go complain on SL - I'm sure you'll find a fellow pseudo-intellectual to give you sympathy.

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in defense...

bret307@... 23rd Apr 2009

In defense of Chris, if you have been following his blog for any period of time, you would know that he is an educator. He has taught in the high school classroom. In his current position as district technology director, he is still an educator - not just a technician.

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I agree that second life is rather dull

ca1ic0cat 23rd Apr 2009

But that's probably because I have other interests. For the folks who like it I'm sure it can be used as an education tool. Several universities have set up shop, I wonder if they actually could teach classes in SL. Stay tuned!

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classes in SL

bret307@... 23rd Apr 2009

If memory serves me correctly, there is a professor at Arizona State who is doing research and experimentation into the possibility of teaching distance classes using Second Life.

Some of the concerns of technology integration in the K-12 education setting are not present in the higher ed setting.

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RE: Even with adult content regulated, Second Life is dead in ed

aseries 23rd Apr 2009

Freud would find Dawson's reaction interesting.
BTW, one of the more popular "islands" is dedicated to National Public Radio Science Friday, the absolute best radio callin show for geeks.

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RE: Even with adult content regulated, Second Life is dead in ed

stryker141@... 23rd Apr 2009

Second Life is not the only place on the internet to have classes. There.com (owned by Mekenia Technologies) is a great place. It is rated at PG13 and has been since it started in 2003. I have met quite a lot of teachers in world who were checking it out as a possible site to teach and others who are using it to teach in now. The most recent is a professor from a university in Tiwain who is holding class for his students in world two nights per week now. There is also a very nice university in world where classes are scheduled in different fields. There.com is classified as a 3D interactive chat world but it is a very huge place and has a lot of different programs going on all the time. Check it out for yourself and see what you think. Admission is free. www.there.com

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there? doesn't work with Mac OS

marcyves 23rd Apr 2009

Nice advertising for there.com...
I just checked it now: the avatars are very minimalists and it doesn't work on my machine (MacBook).
That confirms what I think about 3D worlds: useless!

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RE: Even with adult content regulated, Second Life is dead in ed

feldsparepstein 28th Apr 2009

The Second Life Main Grid, which this story references, was never designed to be used by the K-12 education market - the kids are too young for the Main Grid. The Teen Grid would be the correct venue for those of the correct age.

As to education for adults. Every method of education is not suitable for every person; it would be foolish to believe that every person learns the same way. SL is the right way for _some_ people, and may not work at all for the rest. Why should the people for whom SL education is beneficial be forced to miss out just because it's not right for you?

SL may not be "The Way" of the future. Few things are that enduring. But I think it's likely that some elements of SL will endure, and will be seen in other products, other places.

SL is a beautiful breeding ground for ideas and innovations and education. Many educational institutions have attempted to create useful venues in SL; some have succeeded. Must we all succeed the first time around for SL to be a success at all? Some places have endured, some are flourishing. Where could the knowledge gained in these endeavours not take us?

_Zero_ of the changes referred to in the article are applicable in any way to the Teen Grid - the _only_ grid that anyone in the K-12 bracket is able to access.

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Thumbs down: errors of fact & no research

jessid 29th Apr 2009

Sorry to break the news to you, but you have several errors of fact in this piece. Overall, it's poorly conceived and an insult to educators doing serious work in SL.

First, educators can use "Mature" areas (that might permit, say, artwork with nudity for a college-level course). "Adult" will be for pornography, something of no interest to any educators I know in their professional lives.

Second, I've just learned that over 2000 educational institutions own land in SL. While some of that is mere presence, I ask you to look seriously at serious content before tossing out quips like "SL is dead in ed." From Montclair State's Virtual Theorists' project to Seaton Hall's House of Seven Gables to any number of good multimedia expositions done by colleges and universities, there are excellent simulations that are difficult or impossible to do in "real life" as well as outstanding creative work.

Third, I'll provide an example--one of many--of how simulations in virtual worlds enable work difficult or dangerous on the other side of the screen. Where else could students such as mine switch race or gender for a week and then test the reactions of others to them? I'll add a link to a blog post about this assignment. It shook writers' perceptions of themselves and led to excellent analysis by several students:
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2008/12/the-skin-youre.html

Before you dispense more "wisdom" of this sort, I suggest you do more homework.