Faculty Workshop 2008

JCU in Second Life

Application Deadline: Thursday, May 1, 2008

Second Life is an on-line environment in which millions of users worldwide interact through a graphic interface. While Second Life is most often used for social networking, it is also used for commercial and political purposes, as well as for education.

One of the five themes for John Carroll’s new FYS is “Social Justice in Second Life: Building a Utopia.” The faculty learning community planning this course learned of an existing opportunity for JCU to create a virtual representation of itself in a section of Second Life devoted to the Cleveland Area. Sue Shick and Wendy Shapiro, both former employees of John Carroll, have supervised the creation of a virtual representation of Case Western University. They would like to help John Carroll transition into this virtual world.

The graphic interface of Second Life makes it possible to simulate a wide variety of educational experiences that cannot be arranged in real life. For example, business students can become CEOs of virtual businesses. Chemistry students can mix virtual vials of dangerous chemicals. History students can visit a 3-D reconstruction of ancient Rome. These examples indicate that many JCU faculty could make Second Life a useful component of their courses.

The workshop will be devoted to thinking about the educational potential of Second Life and its main goal will be to develop a plan for the virtual representation of JCU. The graphic designer we will hire to create JCU in Second Life will be on hand to hear our ideas and provide feedback.

Each participant in the workshop will be asked to read three books and to make a presentation on one chapter from each book. Participants also will be asked to acquire a Second Life account and to complete its orientation tutorial before the beginning of the workshop.

The workshop will meet the week before Memorial Day in accordance with the following schedule.

Day One: Monday, May 19th

9:00 Presentation: “Introduction to Educational Applications in Second Life” by Wendy Shapiro
10:30 Faculty brainstorm applications for their courses and share.

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Presentation: “My experience teaching a course using Second Life” by Dan Palmer
2:30 Book Discussion: Michael Rymaszewski, Second Life: The Official Guide, 2nd ed. (Sybex, 2008)
4:00 End

Day Two: Tuesday, May 20th

9:00 Presentation: “Case Western campus in Second Life” by Sue Shick
10:30 Faculty brainstorm features for JCU campus in Second Life and share.

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Presentation: “Recruitment and Student Life visions for JCU in Second Life” by Recruitment and Student Affairs Representatives
2:30 Book Discussion: Tom Boellstorff, Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human (Princeton University Press, 2008)
4:00 End

Day Three: Thursday, May 22nd

9:00 Presentation: “John Carroll in Second Life” by the graphic designer we hire to create JCU in Second Life (TBA)
10:30 Faculty makes final decisions for implementation.

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Book Discussion: Mark Stephen Meadows, I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life (New Riders Press, 2008)
2:30 Future Planning
4:00 End

Participation in the workshop will be limited to the first ten faculty members who respond. Expressions of interest should be directed to Sharon Kaye in the PL Department (x4769).

Please respond no later than Thursday, May 1, 2008. Each faculty participant will receive a stipend of $150 per day for a total of $450.